The House Of Secrets. Elizabeth Blackwell

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ would be in season. Since Alma was paying for everything and hosting the reception in her home, Evelyn acquiesced immediately. It was a relief to be spared potential social disaster.

      The only decision Evelyn made was the style of her wedding dress, which was sewn by her mother, Katherine. Evelyn’s earliest memories were of Katherine holding a needle, with a pincushion and scissors tucked into a white apron wrapped around her waist. Even when Evelyn’s father, Thomas, was alive and Katherine spent most days helping him at the family’s general store, she’d always had fabric and needles tucked behind the counter, waiting for a lull. When Thomas died and they were forced to sell the store to cover unexpected bills and debts, Katherine refused to despair. “We’ll get by,” she told Evelyn. “I always have my sewing.”

      And so, Katherine had transformed herself from meek assistant to breadwinner, eventually becoming the dressmaker to many of Chesapeake County’s richest families. And it had all begun with a wedding. Evelyn could still remember the day Katherine had flung open the front door and shouted for her.

      “What is it? What’s happened?” Evelyn asked breathlessly as she raced down the stairs, bracing herself for bad news. Though only sixteen, she had none of the naive hopefulness common among girls her age. Already, life had taught her to be wary of change.

      “Lavinia Brewster’s getting married,” Katherine announced. “Mabel Goodridge and two other ladies have already asked me to make dresses for them, and I’m sure there will be more to come. If they like my work, they’ll hire me again, I just know it. Thank heavens for the Brewsters!”

      The Brewsters. The richest family in Oak Hill. The ones who set the tone for everyone else to follow. If Alma Brewster, the matriarch, wore purple ostrich plumes in her hat at church, the rest of the women in town scrambled to find purple feathers for the next week. The lives of her three children were tracked and discussed as if they were royalty. William, the eldest, known as the family ne’er-do-well, had been shipped off to boarding school at a young age and was now reportedly doing his best to squander his allowance in Europe. Charles, the middle child, was the heir apparent. After graduating from Harvard University and spending a year in London, he was being groomed as the future leader of Brewster Shipping. Their younger sister, Lavinia, had been given a lavish coming-out ball in Baltimore and had dazzled her way through cotillions and debutante dances in New York and Paris.

      Now Lavinia was getting married. Half the women invited to the wedding hired Katherine to make their dresses. Although it meant working well into the night for weeks, the money earned from that one event brought Evelyn one step closer to her dream of going to college.

      Thanks to Lavinia Brewster’s wedding, Katherine was able to set aside enough money for Evelyn to enroll in a teacher-training program when she was eighteen. Over the next five years, she continued her studies in fits and starts, completing courses whenever she had earned enough money tutoring the spoiled children of rich Baltimore families. During visits home, Katherine would update her on the local gossip, usually dominated by news of the Brewsters: William hadn’t come home for his father’s funeral, Lavinia had given birth to a baby girl. To Evelyn, the Brewsters seemed more like legendary figures than real people. Until the day she was summoned to their mansion on the hill. The place where her life changed forever.

      It was a few months after she had received her teaching degree. Evelyn was accompanying her mother to a meeting of their church’s Bible study group, which usually focused more on gossip than Gospel. She had recently received an offer to teach at a private girls’ school in Philadelphia. The salary was tempting, but Evelyn was torn at the thought of leaving her mother. As the two women walked through town, Evelyn was distracted by the decision she faced. Then a carriage clattered past and stopped suddenly just a few steps ahead of them.

      “That’s Mrs. Brewster,” Katherine noted, walking quickly toward the carriage.

      As they approached, an elegant older woman leaned out a side window. An enormous plumed hat only partially obscured her high forehead. She held her neck and shoulders rigid, as if to counteract the drooping skin around her chin and eyes. Her thin lips curved in a perfect half-moon of a smile, but her deep blue eyes held no trace of warmth.

      “Mrs. O’Keefe,” she said.

      “Mrs. Brewster.” Katherine tilted her head in submission. “Allow me to introduce my daughter, Evelyn.”

      Evelyn started to bow, but quickly pulled herself upright. It was bad enough that her mother was acting like a servant.

      “You’re the one attending the ladies’ college?” Mrs. Brewster asked, her soothing voice at odds with the stiffness of her posture.

      “Yes,” Katherine confirmed. “Evelyn received her degree in June. She was the top-ranked student in her class.”

      Mrs. Brewster stared at Evelyn intently. “Do you plan to pursue teaching?”

      “Yes, I’m considering an offer in Philadelphia.”

      Mrs. Brewster nodded thoughtfully. “Lavinia’s daughter, Beatrice, has just turned six, and she’s beyond the capabilities of her nanny,” she said. “We shall have a proper English governess once she is older, of course, but for the next few years she needs someone to teach her writing and comportment and that sort of thing.” She raised her shoulders slightly in a hint of a shrug. “If you’re free Friday morning, we can discuss the position in further detail.” It was phrased as an invitation, but Alma’s tone made it clear she wasn’t used to being denied.

      “Thank you so much,” Katherine gushed, filling the void of Evelyn’s silence. “She can be there at whatever time is convenient.”

      “We’ll say ten o’clock sharp,” Mrs. Brewster declared. “See Hayes at the front entrance when you arrive.”

      Katherine thanked her effusively, but Evelyn said nothing as Mrs. Brewster slid the carriage window shut and drove away.

      Katherine grabbed Evelyn’s arm and pulled her daughter close.

      “Oh, darling, how wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Imagine, a position with the Brewsters!”

      “Until the real English governess arrives,” Evelyn said.

      “You can’t possibly take offense at that!” Katherine scolded with a gentle slap to Evelyn’s arm. “Besides, you weren’t planning on working more than a few years, were you? After you earn some money, you’ll want to think about getting married.”

      “I suppose,” said Evelyn.

      “And she wants you to come to the front entrance,” Katherine gushed. “That’s a very good sign. When I started doing alterations for her, I had to use the servants’ entrance. It was years before I was welcome at the front door.”

      “No matter which door I walk through, I’ll still be a servant,” Evelyn said, not bothering to hide her irritation.

      “Have those professors at school been filling your head with socialist nonsense?” Katherine scoffed. “The Brewsters’ money has supported us through difficult times, as you should know. Mrs. Brewster deserves the courtesy of your consideration.”

      “Yes, Mother,” Evelyn said.

      “I know she seems high-and-mighty, but that’s just her manner. Besides, if you’re Lavinia’s daughter’s governess, you’ll hardly see Mrs. Brewster. Lavinia has her own home on the estate.”

      “Then СКАЧАТЬ