The Family Way (Molly Murphy, #12)

“He said he couldn’t marry me.” Emily squeezed her eyes shut as if she was trying to hold back tears. “He was a young English painter. He came to paint the river and my grandfather saw him and thought he was pretty good. So he let him stay in one of the outbuildings on the estate while he worked. We met and fell in love. But he had no money. He said it was for the best that he went away. I didn’t know I was with child until he had gone.” She paused. “It wouldn’t have been any use anyway. He couldn’t have supported us. Not like Mr. Clifton with his fine big house.”


Sid glanced at Gus. “Emily, listen to me,” she said. “If you really don’t want to marry this man, maybe we can help you.”

“How can you help me?” Emily asked angrily. “Why should you want to help me? You don’t know me from Eve.”

“That’s an easy question to answer. We are passionate about the rights of women. It angers us to see someone like you treated so unfairly.”

“You’re very kind.” Emily managed a weak smile. “But I really don’t see what you could do. My mother won’t change her mind. I’ve nowhere else to go.”

“Listen, Emily,” Sid said. “We live in the city. We have sufficient money to live our lives as we choose and we have friends who are also independent women. I’m sure we could find you a place to stay and some kind of employment.”

There was a flicker of hope in her eyes that was extinguished in a second. “That sounds wonderful, but it would be no good. They keep me a virtual prisoner here. I’m allowed to meet no one. I’m surprised my mother allowed me to talk with you. She only did so because Mr. Clifton was here and she couldn’t make a scene. I’m sure she has sent a spy out to follow me around the grounds. You can bet there is someone watching us at this moment.”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Sid said. “Slip out in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. Your friend Maureen did it, didn’t she? Nobody saw her leave an enclosed convent.”

Emily nodded at this. “I suppose.”

Sid fished into her handbag. “I’ll give you my card. We were planning to stay a couple of weeks on the river, but we can cut our stay short if necessary.”

“Don’t cut short your vacation on my account,” Emily said. “I’m sure I could put up with things for another two weeks.”

“In the meantime we will write to friends, to see if any of the women we know needs a private secretary or companion,” Gus said. “And of course you can stay at our house until you have found a situation.”

Emily looked from one face to the next. “I can’t believe you’d do this for a perfect stranger,” she said.

“We all belong to the same sisterhood,” Sid said. “We see it as our duty to help a sister in distress and I can’t think of a bigger distress than marrying Mr. Clifton.”

We had to laugh at this, and Emily joined in.

“We’ll look for you in two weeks then,” Sid said, “and may I suggest that you act as if you are learning to accept your coming marriage. If you begin to show enthusiasm for your upcoming role as a bride, then they will not watch you so closely.”

“You’re right,” Emily said. “I’ll try to be nice to Mr. Clifton, however repugnant that is to me.” She looked up and turned back to us. “My mother is approaching. I knew she couldn’t leave us alone for long.”

“There was one more thing,” I said hastily, drawing Emily close to me so that nobody else heard what I was saying. “Do you remember that Maureen had a little carved statue?”

“I do.”

“Then would it surprise you to know she left it behind when she ran off?”

“She left it behind?” Emily looked up warily as her mother approached us.

“It was found in a wastebasket,” I said.

Emily nodded. “Then my guess would be Sister Angelique. Maureen stood up to her, you see. Stealing her statue and hiding it in a wastebasket would be just the kind of mean-spirited thing she might do. So no, it wouldn’t surprise me at all.”

“Ah, there you are, ladies,” Emily’s mother called to us. “Emily, my dear. Don’t forget we have the dressmaker coming.”

Emily gave her a convincing smile. “Of course, Mama.”





Nineteen

We took our leave and retrieved Bridie from the ducklings. I noticed that Emily’s mother had not offered us any refreshment and was clearly anxious to be rid of us.

“I’m sorry my daughter is busy and doesn’t have time to be sociable at the moment. Weddings are hectic occasions, aren’t they?” she said. “It was kind of you to visit my daughter and to bring news of a friend. I hope it hasn’t taken you too far out of your way.”

“Not at all,” I said. “We were glad to meet up with an old school friend again, and the journey here was most refreshing after the heat of New York.”