by Nancy Moser
Edna invited the core group to dinner that night, and everyone went to help her with the preparations. Everyone but Annie.
She needed solitude, if only for an hour. Once everyone had left, worry fell upon her shoulders with such weight that she gave way upon the window seat, unsure for a fleeting moment whether it would be strong enough to hold her.
She fell on her side, cradling her head in her arms, letting the sobs come. “Help us, Lord. Please, help us.”
Although her tears did not last long, she did not sit up but turned on her back, using an arm as her pillow. Despite her mood, she enjoyed the mesmerizing ripple of the lace curtains as the autumn breeze washed over her. She took a calming breath, in and out, in and out. Her heartbeat slowed. The baby fluttered inside her. She smiled. How could she not smile at the reminder that she was carrying a new life?
“Thank You, God. Forgive my worry. You tell us to ‘fear not,’ and I have trouble with that. Please give me the faith I need to believe Your promises.”
As peace flowed over her, she closed her eyes. She drifted…
Annie was drawn awake by distinct voices in front of the building, on the sidewalk below. One voice was familiar…
“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me,” said the woman with an English accent. “I’m looking for Annie Wood? Do you know her?”
“There ain’t no Annie Wood here, but there is…”
No! It can’t be! Annie bolted upright. She looked out the window and saw that it was true. “Miss Henrietta?” she called out.
The mistress from her past life as a maid stood below her. She held her hat in place as she looked up, then smiled and waved.
“I found you!” Miss Henrietta said.
Found me? “I’ll come down,” Annie said.
“No, I’ll come up.” She counted the stories. “Two up?”
“I’ll meet you on the landing.”
Annie smoothed her dress and hair, her thoughts swirling with questions. She went out to the hall.
Miss Henrietta turned to climb the last set of stairs and spotted her. “These stairs are testing my mettle.” As she reached the top, she pressed a hand to her midsection. “I’m quite knackered.”
Annie laughed at the term she hadn’t heard since leaving England. “I’ve gotten used to the climb.”
Then Annie was faced with a delicate dilemma. Should she bob a curtsy like she used to do when she was a housemaid? Or shake Henrietta’s hand? Or—Henrietta took her hands then kissed Annie’s cheeks. “It is ever so good to see you, Annie Wood. You were not an easy woman to find.”
“Why were you looking for me?”
Henrietta peered into the workshop. “You were in here? May I sit?”
“Of course. I’ve forgotten my manners. This is our workshop.” She pulled out two chairs and set them near the window to catch the breeze.
Henrietta lingered at the cutting table and picked up a pair of shears. “So…it appears you are a full-fledged seamstress now?”
“I am.”
“Your colleagues at Butterick said you had left to start a design business.”
“So that’s how you found me.”
“I knew about Butterick after seeing you in Paris last April, at Paquin, yes?”
“Yes. At the House of Paquin.”
“You were working for Butterick, adapting Paris couture designs for home sewers.”
“You remembered.”
“How could I forget? To see you there was quite the surprise.”
“A pleasant one,” Annie said. “To see you and your mother was awkward at first, for it was the first time we’d seen each other since I…”
“Ran away from service?”
“Yes,” Annie said. “I did run away from your relative’s house. There is no kinder way to say it. I apologized then, and I apologize now.”
“You left a note, which Mother and I took to heart. Discovering that our lady’s maids were taking credit for your sewing work was good reason for you to leave.”
“But I still regret hurting both of you. Your family was always good to me, letting me come to work at Crompton Hall when I was only fourteen. It was hard work but a good living, and a much better situation than I had at home.”
She nodded and fingered a ruby earring that Annie recognized. “By the by, Annie, your parents still live in the same place in Summerfield.”
Annie felt guilty for having little thought of them. “Is my father still…?” She could think of no delicate way to say it. “Is he still a drunk?”
“I’ve heard talk. They do not strive for anonymity.”
“Though they should.”
Henrietta shrugged. “Beyond the drunkenness of your father, your mother got in a spat of trouble for pinching something from the mercantile.”
“It’s about time she got caught.”
Her eyebrows rose. “So she’s stolen things before?”
“You don’t wish to know.”
“Well then.” Henrietta took a deep breath, clearly enjoying the breeze. “I’m sorry there’s not better news on that front.”
Annie needed to change the subject. “Did you come over on the White Star line?”
“Cunard. Why do you ask?”
“My friends and I were supposed to sail back from Europe on the White Star’s Titanic, but we missed the sailing.”
Henrietta put a hand to her chest. “Oh my. So close. Thank God you did.”
Annie nodded. “We do thank Him.” She shook the memory of the close call away, replacing it with memories of Paris, seeing Henrietta when she was ordering a trousseau for her wedding. “When does your return trip sail?”
“It doesn’t.”
Annie was taken aback. “Did your husband come with you?”
“I have no husband.”
“But you were betrothed.”
“We were. But Hank didn’t love me. Not really. And more importantly, I didn’t love him.”
“Well then,” Annie said.
They both laughed at having shared the phrase.
“Actually, Annie, you are the reason I broke our engagement, and the reason I booked a one-way passage.”
“How did I do that?”
“You inspired me.”
“Again, I ask, how did I do that?”
Henrietta’s face glowed with excitement. “When I saw you in Paris and witnessed how you’d risen from housemaid to pattern artist, I took a long look at my own life. I decided I deserved better than to marry a man I didn’t love because he deemed me good enough.”
Annie was stunned. “But you seemed so happy.”
Henrietta shrugged. “I was happy to have lost some weight, but I was unhappy because I lost it to please him.” She put her hands on her hips. “I have gained back a little but not all of it. For I do enjoy eating.”
“Clotted cream and scones is a favorite, if I remember.”
“It is and always will be. Now I believe I have found a weight that suits me and allows me to eat most things. In moderation.”
“That sounds very wise.”
“It does, doesn’t it? No more ordering dresses with extra-wide seam allowances to allow for my ups and downs. Or should I say my ins and outs.” Her smile was testament to her good nature.
Annie remembered taking out the seams in many a dress, as Henrietta’s weight had previously tended toward the up more than the down. “I think you look quite excellent,” she said. “Just right.”
“I feel just right. In all ways. For just as you would not settle for your lot, I will not settle for mine. I want my life to mean something. I want to be like you, Annie. I want to find my purpose.”
Annie felt like an impostor, for her purpose seemed tenuous. “How long are you staying in New York?”
“Indefinitely.”
“You’re not simply visiting your relatives?”
She shook her head adamantly. “They do not even know I am here.”
“Do your parents know?”
/> “I left a note. But they won’t understand what I’m doing.”
“I can’t imagine they would. They had a plan for you, and—”
“I’ve turned that plan upside down.”
Annie’s memories of Lady Newley were of a kind and stately woman for whom family was all-important.
“They have my brother at home. Adam is the heir. He has married and his wife has produced an heir for yet another generation. He is the one who matters.”
“That’s not true.” Or was it? English aristocracy had many rungs to its ladder that had to be climbed until the next generation took over the title. Those not in line were deemed less…vital.
“I truly believe my purpose can be better played out in New York City rather than living in some country estate in tiny Summerfield.”
Summerfield, with its one mercantile, one bakery, one smithy, one sewing…“Does the Summerfield Sewing Workshop still exist?”
Henrietta beamed. “My cousin Pin still runs it.”
“Miss Pin taught me how to sew!”
“I remember. Many a village woman has learned how to sew in that room.” She paused. “Including me.”
“You?”
“Again, Annie, you are my inspiration. I even bought a Butterick pattern in their London store and made it from scratch. It didn’t fit well, but I learned much in the process.” She swept a hand across the room. “As we speak of sewing, tell me what all this is about.”
Annie told her everything, from working at Butterick, quitting to design with Mrs. Sampson, the change of heart and break-up with her patrons, and her current dreams of opening a shop. “Yet all this may amount to nothing.”
“Why? Unruffled sounds delightful. If anyone can appreciate the word unruffled it is I.”
“As I said, the Sampsons are no longer backing us.”
Henrietta bit her lip, looked out the window, then back at Annie. “I have money. Father has given me a hefty allowance. I can fund your company.”
Annie’s first reaction was to say, You can’t do that. But then she remembered all the prayers that had been offered up. Was this God’s answer?
“You’d do that?”
“With much joy.” She got out of her chair, knelt before Annie, and took her hands. “Please, Annie. Let me do this. Let me give back to you the hope you gave to me.”
Annie realized how absurd it was, that the daughter of a viscount—a woman who used to be her mistress—now knelt before her as Annie had often knelt to help Henrietta with her shoes. That one act revealed how much Henrietta had changed.
To relieve the incongruity of the scene, Annie stood, drawing Henrietta to standing with her. “Thank you. I accept your offer. We accept it. Yet a thank you doesn’t seem enough.”
Henrietta cupped her chin in her hand and peered into Annie’s eyes. “It is I who thank you.” She let go. “But who are these ‘we’ people? Let me meet them.”
Upon Annie entering Edna’s flat and announcing that her companion was Miss Henrietta Kidd, Edna, Vesta, and Maude took a step back and looked unsure of the proper protocol.
“Are we supposed to curtsy?” Edna whispered.
Henrietta laughed. “There will be none of that.” She held out her hand for them to shake. “It’s nice to meet you…?”
“Edna. Edna Holmquist.”
“And I’m Maude Nascato.”
Henrietta looked at Sean, and he stepped forward to offer a greeting.
Henrietta smiled. “I remember seeing you in Paris. Congratulations for marrying such an amazing woman.”
He winked at his wife. “She is a prize.”
Having enough of the flattery, Annie moved toward the final person. She drew Vesta forward. “This is my mother-in-law Vesta Culver.”
“Miss Kidd,” Vesta said with a nod.
“Please. I am Miss Kidd in England. But this is America. Here I am Henrietta.”
Annie shook her head. “I’m not sure I can do that. Without the ‘miss.’”
“Please try. I don’t wish to stand out; I wish to fit in.”
Edna asked a question. “To be clear…are you the same woman Annie served at Crompton Hall?”
“She served my mother and me.”
“Your mother is a viscountess?”
Henrietta corrected Edna’s pronunciation. “It’s pronounced vy-countess. And yes, you’re right. Mother is a viscountess, which makes my father a viscount. Lord and Lady Newley.”
“But your surname is Kidd,” Sean said. “So shouldn’t it be Lord and Lady Kidd?”
Henrietta hesitated, as if she’d never been asked the question. “No. Newley is the title.”
“So Viscount Newley is your father.”
She shook her head. “You never use the word ‘viscount’ in speech.”
“Why not?” Vesta asked.
She laughed. “I don’t honestly know. But my parents are called Lord and Lady Newley.”
“Which makes you…?”
“Their daughter. I have no title.” She put a hand to her mouth. “I may be called ‘honorable,’ but I’m not sure.”
“Why not?”
“Because that term is never said aloud either.”
Annie stifled a laugh. Maude also looked on the verge.
“Do you have a brother?” Edna asked.
“Adam.”
“What is his title?”
“The Honorable Adam Kidd.”
“Shame on you,” Maude said.
“For what?”
“You said ‘honorable’ aloud.”
Henrietta chuckled. “I did. And the honorable in regard to Adam is stretching it. He struggles with the honorable part on occasion. He can be quite a card.”
“But he gets to use your last name.” Annie grinned. “Or is that also never spoken?”
Henrietta put her hands on her hips. “Now you’re getting cheeky.”
They all laughed. It was odd for Annie to see Miss Henrietta laugh—Henrietta laugh. To see her as a person and not a mistress tapped into some long-hidden insecurities from when Annie’s status was that of a lower servant, not a businesswoman.
Speaking of business…
“Let’s sit,” Annie said. “Henrietta has something to talk to us about.”
As they moved into the parlor, Edna rushed to fluff a Niagara Falls pillow and pick up a stack of books that was topsy-turvy on the end table.
“We meant no disrespect with all our teasing,” Maude said, as Henrietta sat on the sofa.
“I know you didn’t. Actually, I rather enjoy a good go of it, back and forth.”
“It’s all done in fun,” Sean added.
“I’ve been on my own for nearly two weeks, traveling here from Summerfield, so I appreciate the camaraderie.”
“If I may be bold, why did you come here?” Vesta asked. “And how did you find our Annie?”
Henrietta told her story of a chance meeting in Paris, second thoughts about a wedding, and finding courage enough to travel across the ocean to start anew. “Annie inspired all of it. That’s why I am here. To be a part of whatever Annie is undertaking in her amazing life.”
“I told her about Unruffled.”
“What an exciting enterprise that is.” Henrietta looked at each face. “You are all a part of it?”
“One and all,” Maude said.
“For better or worse,” Edna added.
At the wedding vow terminology Annie smiled. “It does seem a bit like a marriage.”
“And as such, we have high hopes,” Sean said.
“Perhaps too high,” Edna said.
“No!” Henrietta said with a sudden ferocity. “I will not allow you to have doubts. Annie has told me what you need, and I am here to provide it.”
Sean looked at Annie, his face asking questions. “Meaning?”
“Money,” Annie said. “Henrietta has offered to fund our business.”
Mouths dropped open, making the lot of them look like fish in a bowl.
Henr
ietta laughed. “Close your mouths, ladies and gentleman. Money is the least I can provide for dear Annie, the woman who changed my life in so many ways.”
The silence was ended by cheers and happy chatter. Everyone came to thank Henrietta with handshakes and hugs. Annie stepped back, enjoying the scene. Marveling at it.
Sean stepped beside her. “It’s hard to believe.”
“No, it’s not,” she said with a grin. “Don’t you know that God always provides?”
In abundance.
Annie helped Vesta tuck a sheet and blanket on the sofa. Having her mother-in-law stay with them the past three days had been a challenge, not due to Vesta herself, but due to having any third person in the small space.
Vesta set a pillow into place. “I like Henrietta. She’s not at all what I would expect from someone of her status.”
“Yes indeed,” Sean said, folding up the day’s newspaper to stack near the stove. “She is quite honorable.”
“Very funny,” Annie said.
“I feel badly you had no sofa to offer her since I am here. Though even with her humble nature, I’m not sure her sleeping on a mere sofa would be proper.”
“Don’t worry about any of that,” Annie said. “She told me she already has a room at the Hotel Astor.”
Sean laughed. “Fancy. Maybe we should go stay with her.”
Vesta ignored him. “Her offer of funding should ease the situation greatly. I still wish I could have helped financially, but it was not to be.”
Annie adjusted the opened window to allow a breeze suitable for sleeping. “Do you realize when you spoke with Richard about it, Henrietta was already on her way to New York?”
Vesta held a second pillow to her chest. “God was sending an answer to our prayers in an extraordinary, unexpected way. Meaning my money was not the answer.” Her face brightened. “God knew Richard would say no.”
“And Maude’s mother would have no money to offer,” Annie said.
“And He knew the Sampsons would pull their money to start off this mess,” Sean added.
The notion that God had a plan set in place long before they even knew they had a problem, overwhelmed her. “He knew,” Annie whispered.
“He knew all about that detail,” Sean said, “which means He knows what we need in the future too.”