Skirting Tradition

by Kay Moser

  Sarah turned in a full circle until her gaze fell upon a large window that went down to the floor and looked out onto the front garden and the future location of the fountain. A shiver ran down Sarah’s spine as she thought of sitting there reading poetry while listening to a fountain. “Oh, the poetry must go over here.” She ran to the window and turned to face Miss Victoria. “So you can see and hear the fountain!”

  “Done!” Miss Victoria picked up a placard with the word poetry written on it. “We’ll simply alphabetize the books by the authors’ last names, and I know the very crate we should start with. This one here. Come help me unload it. It’s going to be a terrible mess, but I promise it’s full of treasures. Like this one!” Miss Victoria triumphantly held up a book. “Come see.”

  Sarah hurried to her side and held her breath as Mrs. Hodges peeled off the brown paper. “Christina Rossetti,” Miss Victoria announced as she handed the book to Sarah. “You see, there’s more than one lady poet, Sarah.”

  “Really?” Sarah held the book as carefully as if it were a newborn infant. The rich green leather cover was tooled in elaborate gold swirls. “It’s the grandest book I’ve ever seen!”

  Miss Victoria laughed and hugged her. “You are a book lover through and through, Sarah, and you are going to think you’re in heaven for the next few weeks.”

  “Weeks?”

  “Oh yes, this project will take weeks, maybe months.”

  “But I did promise to work for Mrs. Bellows—”

  “And so you shall, as much as she needs you, but you and I shall work on the library when you’re free. Maybe we’ll finish it by Thanksgiving. I hope so, because my mother and sister are coming for the holidays, and I plan to host a Christmas ball.”

  Sarah’s mouth flew open, but before she could exclaim, Miss Victoria hurried on, “There’s a ballroom on the third floor, you know, and it hasn’t been used in years. You must help me, Sarah. We’ll decorate the whole house with greenery and candles and invite all of Riverford society.” She held out the sides of her skirt and tried to waltz among the crates as Sarah laughed.

  “Too many obstacles!” Miss Victoria exclaimed as she grabbed Sarah’s hand and pulled her out into the entry. “Plenty of room out here. Let’s dance!” She whirled Sarah around the room while she sang, “After the ball is over, after the break of morn, after the dancers’ leaving, after the stars are gone ...”

  Sarah twirled and twirled until she was giddy and giggling like a kid.

  “We’ll waltz until dawn!” Miss Victoria exclaimed gaily. “We’ll laugh and—” Suddenly she stopped in her tracks and turned her head abruptly toward the door.

  Sarah’s dizzy eyes followed the lady’s gaze, and she gasped “Oh!” when she saw the reason for the end of their dance.

  There in the doorway stood Lee Logan.

  CHAPTER 4

  Sarah felt herself blush as she raked loose curls off her forehead and hastily tucked in her blouse. Tall and slender in his pressed black suit, his precisely parted dark hair curling over his stiff white collar, his warm brown eyes flashing in his tanned face, Lee Logan locked eyes with her and grinned. He is the handsomest man I have ever seen! The words flew through Sarah’s mind, flustering her more.

  Sarah’s spirits sank as she remembered her own faded-blue wrinkled cotton dress and scuffed thin-soled brown boots. Adding insult to injury, her traitorous hair fell loose again and covered her face. She snatched it back and struggled to pin it in place as shame seared her face. Discombobulated: the new word flew through her mind as surely as if it had been invented just for her present feelings. Frozen in place, she watched in amazement as Miss Victoria walked effortlessly toward Lee Logan, laughing and holding out her hand.

  “Goodness me!” Miss Victoria exclaimed. “You startled me considerably, young man.”

  “I’m terribly sorry, ma’am. I rang the bell and knocked on the door, but—”

  “We ladies were having too much fun to hear you,” Miss Victoria finished his apology. “Don’t worry about it. What can I do for you?”

  “If I may introduce myself, ma’am—”

  “Of course.”

  “I’m Robert Lee Logan, ma’am. Folks call me Lee.”

  “How do you do, Lee Logan.” Miss Victoria boldly shook his hand. “I’m Mrs. Hodges, and—” She gestured toward Sarah, “This is Miss Sarah Novak, my assistant.”

  Lee beamed at Sarah. “I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting Miss Novak, although I must say it wasn’t the kind of introduction I would have preferred.”

  Miss Victoria’s eyes darted from the young man’s eager face to Sarah’s heated one. “I see.” A knowing smile tugged at her lips.

  “Miss Novak,” Lee addressed Sarah directly. “I hope you haven’t suffered any ill effects from our—I mean, the way we met.”

  The memory of herself sprawled all over the boardwalk assailed Sarah, and she couldn’t respond.

  “It was all my fault, I assure you.” Apparently taking her silence for disapproval, he walked toward Sarah, pleading his case with every step. “I take complete responsibility. I hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me for what I’m sure was an excruciatingly embarrassing incident.”

  Still unable to speak, Sarah held up her hand, and Lee halted. “Oh, I see.” A look of keen disappointment covered his face. “I do beg your pardon again. I seem to have assumed too much.”

  “No!” Sarah finally found her tongue. “I mean ... it’s okay. Please don’t think of it again.”

  “Thank you.” He took her upheld hand in his. “I am most grateful.”

  Sarah felt a wave of heat start at her feet and shoot up through her body. Then she remembered the roughness of her work-hardened hand and snatched it away

  “Well, Mr. Logan”—Miss Victoria stepped forward to ease the awkward situation—“I’m delighted to meet you. What can we do for you today?”

  “I’ve come to deliver some papers to Mr. Hodges, ma’am,” he answered without taking his eyes from Sarah’s. “You see, I work for a bank in Fort Worth, and they sent me down with a contract.”

  Miss Victoria looked from his enamored face to Sarah’s embarrassed one. “I see.”

  Mr. Logan reached into his coat pocket and withdrew an envelope. “I’d be much obliged if you would give it to him, ma’am.” He finally turned away from Sarah as he held out the envelope.

  Miss Victoria grinned. “I’d be glad to, Mr. Logan, but don’t you think your employer would be happier if you took the contract to Hodges Store?”

  Lee grinned.

  “This is Hodges House.” Miss Victoria smiled indulgently. “Surely, one would expect to find Mr. Hodges at the store in the middle of the morning.”

  Mr. Logan turned back to Sarah. “I seem to have made the most serendipitous mistake, Miss Novak.”

  Sarah ducked her head as she searched her memory for the meaning of his strange word.

  “If indeed it was a mistake ... Either way, such a fortunate mistake calls for a bit of a celebration, I would say.” Miss Victoria filled the conversational void. “Don’t you agree, Sarah? At the very least we must offer Mr. Logan a cup of tea.”

  Sarah managed a quick nod.

  “Oh, I wish I could stay, ma’am.” Lee addressed Miss Victoria but continued to stare at Sarah. “I’m afraid I must deliver this contract and catch the train back to Fort Worth.”

  “That’s too bad,” Miss Victoria said. “Perhaps some other time.”

  “Actually, I come to Riverford often,” Lee Logan offered. “You see, my mother and sister live here, and the bank sends me down about once a week on business.”

  “Then you must come for tea next time you’re in town. Don’t you agree, Sarah?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Next time ... or ... soon. Well, whenever you can. I mean, I’m sure Miss Victoria would be glad to have your company.”

  “And will you be here?” Lee Logan asked.

  “I ... well, it depends on my work schedul
e. I don’t know ...”

  Miss Victoria rescued Sarah by gesturing toward the door. “Perhaps serendipity will favor you again, Mr. Logan. And there’s always prayer ...”

  Lee Logan took the hint. “Until we meet again.” He bowed to Sarah before leaving.

  The minute the front door closed, Sarah darted back to the library, bent over a crate, and began feverishly gathering up books.

  “A handsome young man,” Miss Victoria observed when she joined her. “He’s obviously quite taken with you. Perhaps enough to track you down?”

  Sarah continued rummaging among the packing straw. “That’s impossible. He’s a professional man and educated, too. I didn’t even know some of the words he used. Besides, just look at my clothes, and my hands are so rough—”

  “Sarah! Look at me.”

  Sarah emerged from the crate, wiping tears from her cheeks.

  “You and I have just met, but already I know you are a capable young woman with dreams of a better life.”

  “But that’s all I have, just dreams.”

  “You can be anything you want to be, my dear, because you are a smart young woman. It will take much hard work, but you can earn an education and have the choice of leading a professional life or being a wife or even doing both. You’ll be swimming upstream the whole way, but you’re strong enough to do it. The only question is, what do you want?”

  “I want to be a teacher.”

  “Then you shall be.”

  “How? My pa won’t even let me come to school.”

  “Your pa will let you come to work, and I shall teach you.”

  “But I can’t work and study at the same time.”

  “Who says? It depends on your work, doesn’t it? And that’s up to me.”

  “You would do that for me? Why?”

  “Because it would give me joy to help you. Because I see myself, my own struggles in you. I have paid a heavy price for my life of freedom. Helping you makes my struggle worthwhile. Perhaps I can enable you to stand on the shoulders of the few women of my generation who have achieved an education.”

  Sarah looked deeply into the older woman’s eyes and recognized her sincerity. A great lump formed in her throat, but she finally managed to whisper, “Kindred spirits.”

  “Without a doubt,” Miss Victoria agreed, then glanced down at the book on top of the nearest stack. “Wordsworth!” she announced. “Just the thing we need. Quick, Sarah!” She handed the volume to Sarah. “Find a poem called ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,’ and read it to me while I dig into this crate some more.”

  “Oh, but you should be doing the reading, Miss Victoria, and I should be doing the work.”

  Miss Victoria laughed as she shook a wad of packing straw at Sarah. “Obey your employer, young lady! Read!”

  Sarah took the heavy forest-green leather-bound volume, sat down on a stool, and happily studied the table of contents until she found the poem. “I wandered lonely as a cloud,” she read hesitantly.

  Miss Victoria raised her hand in the air and began directing Sarah as if she were a chorus, “Sing it out, Sarah! You can do it.”

  Sarah began again.

  I wandered lonely as a cloud

  That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

  When all at once I saw a crowd,

  A host, of golden daffodils;

  Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

  Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

  She paused, her heart thrilling to the beauty of the words, and whispered, “trees, breeze,” as she lifted her eyes to meet Miss Victoria’s.

  “Oh, Sarah, if you could only see your eyes! They are like the stars he describes in the next line. Keep reading! Keep reading!” Miss Victoria turned back to the crate, a smile of happy understanding and contentment glowing on her face.

  Sarah continued reading without pause, enjoying the melody as well as the words, until she was well into the last verse.

  For oft, when on my couch I lie

  In vacant or in pensive mood,

  They flash upon that inward eye

  Which is the bliss of solitude;

  Sarah stopped reading, and the loss of her eager voice produced a vacuum in the room.

  Surprised, Miss Victoria looked up from the crate. “What’s wrong? Why didn’t you finish it?”

  Sarah was frowning down at the page and shaking her head furiously. “Stupid, stupid!” she hissed. “I’m so stupid. I don’t even know the meaning of ‘pensive.’ And what’s the ‘inward eye’? I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

  Much to her amazement, Miss Victoria strode to her side and plopped down on the floor so she could look up into Sarah’s lowered eyes. “Raise your chin!” she commanded. “And never lower it again in my sight.” Startled, Sarah obeyed. “You are not stupid, Sarah; you are uneducated. There is a world of difference. As I’ve already said, you can be educated if you wish.”

  “I do!” Sarah flung the words at her employer. “I do. Oh, believe me, I do more than anything.”

  “Then you shall be. You are very smart, Sarah. You will learn quickly.”

  Sarah ached to believe that this amazing woman believed in her, and she began to hope, but then she remembered. “But I’m a girl,” she whispered.

  “Even a girl can chart her own course, Sarah. You just have to be willing to work harder than the boys, and sometimes there is a heavy price to pay. But if you want something different, if you are something different, then that is what God made you, isn’t it?”

  “But what if ... what if people won’t let you?”

  “Who will you follow, Sarah? God—who defined you when He created you—or the people who think they have the right to mold you?”

  Sarah stared down at the book in her lap.

  “What does the poem say next, Sarah?”

  “And then my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils.” Slowly the corners of Sarah’s lips lifted, and she sought Miss Victoria’s eyes. “I can do that, can’t I? In my mind, I can dance with the daffodils.”

  “Or experience anything you want to. Your mind can take the beauty around you, no matter how simple it may be, and make it the definer of your world.”

  Sarah nodded solemnly, her eyes still locked on Miss Victoria’s.

  “Focus on the beauty of life, Sarah. It can transport you. God has given you that ability. You must use it to lift yourself. Then—and only then—can you lift others.”

  “I want to. I just never thought I had the right.”

  “It’s a new day for you, my dear. A new day!”

  ***

  Sarah worked hard in the library all day after Miss Victoria left in the carriage to shop, but it was a labor of sweet love. She opened many books, flipped through their pages, and discovered that God’s creation was so much larger and more magnificent than she had ever imagined.

  When Miss Victoria returned and invited her to sit on the verandah and sip tea from a fine porcelain cup, Sarah was thrilled. The tea table was set with beautiful appointments, but as much as Sarah appreciated her first experience with such fineness, she felt something more significant beneath the experience. That something was hope: expectation, a glimpse of more possibilities.

  “I want you to take home this copy of Little Women.” Miss Victoria handed Sarah a blue leather-covered volume. “You’ll love this story, especially the character of Jo. You have a lot in common with her.”

  “Oh, I don’t know if I should.” Sarah stroked the book reverently. “I mean, it’s so beautiful. What if something happens to it?”

  Miss Victoria laughed. “That book is safer in your hands, my dear, than it is in a bank vault! I’m not the least bit worried.” She poured Sarah another cup of tea. “And also, I found this little notebook for you. I want you to write down any word you read that you don’t understand. Tomorrow we’ll talk about those words and both be better educated for the effort.”

  Sarah’s face lit up when she saw the notebook’s pa
dded fabric cover, a romantic vision of flowers and butterflies. “I’ve never seen a book like this. It’s so pretty, so happy! Where did you get such a book?”

  “You know, I can’t even remember ... somewhere in Paris, I think. It is pretty, isn’t it? But open it, Sarah. See, it’s full of empty paper, just waiting for you to make it useful. Oh, that reminds me! Do you have a pen and ink?”

  “I have a pencil.”

  “Pen and ink would be better. After all, you must learn to write with them as soon as you can. Don’t worry. We’ll surely find some extras in the drawers of that huge desk in the library.”

  “But I must pay you—”

  “Oh, you will,” Miss Victoria cut off her protests. “There’s absolutely endless work around here, and I simply can’t do it without you.”

  Sarah beamed.

  “It’s getting late, and you’ve got a long walk home. Do you want me to order the buggy around?”

  “No!” Sarah’s protest was fueled by a sudden vision of her father’s face if she were to arrive at the farm in the Hodges’ buggy. “Oh, no, I better walk. My pa—”

  “I understand. Let’s get you a pen and ink and get you on your way. The sky is simply littered with cumulous clouds so the light will be absolutely magnificent for the next hour as the sun sets. I almost envy you the walk.”

  As Sarah was leaving, a man she recognized as Hayden Hodges dashed up the steps and planted an enthusiastic kiss on Miss Victoria’s lips. “Did you miss me?” he demanded.

  Miss Victoria laughed and pushed him away. “Hayden, this is Miss Sarah Novak, my new personal secretary.”

  “How do you do, Miss Novak.” Mr. Hodges winked at her as he gravely bowed. “I hope you won’t get the wrong impression from my wife’s less-than-enthusiastic response to my kiss. She adores me, you know. She literally threw herself at me when we first met.”

  Miss Victoria’s eyes twinkled as she struggled to glare at him.

  Hayden feigned surprise. “You did tell her about our dramatic meeting, didn’t you?”

  “No, I did not,” Miss Victoria answered. “We women have much more important things to discuss.”