* * *
“We won’t accept it. Take it back.” Susannah scowled at the maid before her, drawing herself up to her full height—small though that was. “While we appreciate Mr. Hale’s generosity—”
“Sue, please.” Nan popped her head around the door frame and eyed the basket of food hungrily. “It’s a hospitable gesture and nothing more. Don’t be so missish.”
Susannah glared at her younger sister, who responded by widening her already large brown eyes appealingly. Then she swallowed, for the tantalizing smells drifting up from the basket the servant held were almost too good to endure. They’d finished the cinnamon bread at luncheon, and after a hard day of scrubbing and putting the cottage to rights, all three sisters were famished.
“Mr. Hale said he must insist.” The maid shifted her weight from one foot to the other and placed the heavy basket on the front stoop. “I’ll just leave it here and be on me way. I’m late for me own tea as ʼtis.” The maid rubbed her palms on her apron, and with a cheeky wave, set off across the dwindling path toward Goodwin Hall.
Nan scooped up the basket. “Becky, there’s food,” she called indoors. “Oh, ’tis heavy. Susannah, grab hold and help me carry it.”
Susannah unfolded her arms and grabbed one of the basket handles. Oh, gracious, was that chicken she smelled? A roast chicken? Her stomach grumbled in appreciation.
“Food? From whom?” Becky hastened forward to help, and together, the three sisters plunked the basket on the table. Susannah took a step backward as her sisters plundered the basket. As they dug out dish after dish, a scrap of foolscap fluttered to the bare wood floor. She grasped it and unrolled it carefully.
“Pies—meat and fruit. Oh, Becky, it’s fairly oozing berries. I cannot wait to try this.”
“Nan, do look! Bread and cheese, and a tin of tea. It’s too much, I tell you. We shall feast for a week on this.”
Susannah eyed her sisters as she opened the parchment. They were too busy to take any notice of her, so she strolled over to the firelight to better read the note. Good gracious, Daniel’s handwriting had grown wobbly over the years.
Dear Susannah,
I thought perhaps you’d have few provisions laid in and thought I would send a few things from the Hall. Perhaps this will help make your first few days in Tansley more enjoyable.
Please do not hesitate to call upon me if you are in need of anything.
I am, as ever,
Your humble servant Daniel
“Whatever are you reading, Sue?” Nan demanded, a loaf of crusty bread in each hand. “Come, sit down. We shall have a feast worthy of all our hard work.”
“She’s reading a love letter from her fiancé, no doubt,” Becky answered, giving Nan a wink. “After all, we owe this largesse to him.”
“Hush. Both of you.” Susannah cast the foolscap into the fire and folded her arms across her chest. “My engagement to Daniel helped us out of a dreadful situation. ’Tis no cause for levity.”
Becky bit her lip and cast her eyes down at her plate. “I’m sorry.”
Susannah sighed, looking at them both. They had worked hard all day—and they had earned a decent meal. In fact, until Daniel’s servant showed up at the door, she’d had no idea what they were going to eat for dinner. So...she would merely have to swallow her pride on this one. Let the girls enjoy a real feast. It was terribly kind of Daniel to think of them, after all.
“Enjoy your feast,” she said quietly. “You’ve earned every mouthful.”
“You, too, Sue.” Nan patted the chair beside her. “You’ll feel much better after you’ve had a bite to eat.” She bowed her head and led them in prayer.
And the remarkable thing was—she did. ’Twas amazing how a dinner of chicken, bread and cheese could take the edge off the harshness of life. And there were apples, too. She crunched into the bright red fruit happily, relishing its sweet juice. Even the thinness seemed to go out of her sisters’ cheeks and they looked positively rosy.
As darkness fell over the cottage, illuminated only by a few candles and the firelight, even its rough edges appeared more attractive. Susannah sat back in her chair, meditatively twirling the apple core on her plate. They might—just might—do quite well in Tansley. The baker had thought so, and she was a woman who had her own shop. She had started young, too. So perhaps this was no chance meeting this morning. Perhaps it was a good omen. A sign of His blessing, even.
She glanced across the table at her sisters. Nan had pushed her plate aside and laid her head down on the burnished wood. The slow rise and fall of her shoulders indicated that she was sleeping deeply. Susannah shook her head and a smile lifted the corners of her mouth. She’d have to move Nan soon, or her sister would awaken with a terribly stiff neck.
“Susy?” Becky murmured softly. “What made you decide to marry Daniel Hale?”
Susannah stopped toying with her apple core. “You know why. Uncle was going to make me marry that lout Sheppard. And so I asked Daniel for his help.”
“Yes, but why Daniel? There were other boys living near us. Why did you go to him above anyone else? Why did you seek him out instead of running away?” Becky tilted her head and gazed at Susannah intently.
“Well, if I had run away, I would have had to leave you two behind. So that would have been a foolish idea.” She sighed. Why had she asked Daniel? It had seemed like the natural decision back then. She hadn’t even questioned it. “Well, he was there. He had come to Bath to visit some of his family, and we could meet each other that way. It all just fell into place, you see. And I suppose I asked Daniel because he always knew how to get out of tricky situations. That was his charm. I knew I could depend on him to help me out of that mess.”
Becky leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “That’s nice. So why don’t you think you can depend on him now?”
Susannah flicked a glance at Nan as she lay cradling her head on the table. “Shush. You’ll wake your sister.” In truth, she didn’t want to think about the matter, much less hash it over with Becky. She couldn’t focus on the past. She had to plan for the future.
“She’s sleeping. She’ll sleep for hours like that if we let her.” Becky wound her shawl more tightly around her shoulders. “Doesn’t it seem...odd...to you that we should come home to Tansley only to find your fiancé here? Almost like fate or destiny.” Her tone grew shivery and romantic.
Susannah resisted the urge to roll her eyes and crush her sister’s romantic visions. Becky had always been the dreamer of the three, the most inclined to moon over Byron. Susannah, with her iron fist of practicality, had learned the difficult way to rein herself in around Becky over the years and not ride roughshod over Becky’s girlish ideals.
“It’s not fate or destiny. Both of our families are from the village. It’s just...common ground.” She rubbed her eyes with a weary hand. What an exhausting day it had been. “I think I’ll rouse Nan enough to help her upstairs.”
“Wait. You never answered my question.” Becky was nothing if not persistent. “Why can’t you depend on him now? Can’t you become Daniel’s wife in truth?”
“Don’t be absurd. He never thought about me in all those years. Why do you persist in making our engagement something it wasn’t?” She rose stiffly, shaking out her skirts. “He helped a long time ago because I asked for his assistance. What kind of woman would I be if, years later, I showed up on his doorstep begging for help again? I must earn my own way in this world. True independence is my only hope for freedom.”
“Hmm.” Becky smothered a yawn with her palm. “All this talk of being alone...I don’t know. He’s awfully handsome,