"The Marquis was here," Sabrina informed her, then added after Mary's gasp of surprise, "and now is on his way to Verrick House, or maybe already there."
Mary sat down weakly on the sofa, her hands shaking. Sending the majordomo for tea, Sabrina walked over to stand in front of her sister, looking down at her compassionately.
"You knew, didn't you?"
"Yes," Mary whispered, then looking at Sabrina with anguished eyes explained chokingly, "I knew something strange was happening, but when you disappeared, I attributed what I saw to that—only now I know I was wrong. You see, I could see your face. The violet eyes, the dimple, everything so familiar, and yet, different. It wasn't quite right, not quite you, and yet who else could it have been? Now I know—the Marquis. You look like him, Sabrina, that's why I couldn't separate the two of you. I'm sorry. If only I'd told you."
"Damn his eyes to hell!" Sabrina cursed the Marquis, her face stormy. "What are we going to do? How dare he go to our home after all these years."
Sabrina stood fuming as the tea tray was set up, waiting until they were alone again before continuing angrily, "I hate the thought of him at Verrick House. We're the ones who made it liveable, made it our home. He has no right to go there."
Mary poured the steaming tea into wafer-thin cups and held one out enticingly to Sabrina. Sabrina accepted it and sipped at it gratefully.
"No sense in ranting and raving," she spoke thoughtfully, "for it will do us little good. What we must do, however, is take care of Richard's eyeglasses, and then as soon as possible leave the Marquis' house. I do not care to be here when he returns, which will not be for some time, hopefully.
"In fact, I think it would be wise if we sought other lodgings until we've finished our business here." She shook her head in exasperation. "We certainly can't go back home, not with the Marquis possibly at Verrick House, but at least we have until Thursday or Friday until we need leave here. You can't tell me how long it will take with Richard, can you?" Sabrina asked.
Mary shook her head apologetically. "I'm afraid not, Rina."
"Then we had better get some sleep, for we shall be busy in the next few days. I just hope that all goes well for Richard, it means so much to him, and to us."
When they reached their bedchamber several maids were waiting to help them undress and prepare for bed. Brass warming pans had been placed in the cavernous bed, warming the cold pockets beneath the sheets. Sabrina stretched out tiredly next to Mary.
"I prefer wood fires to this messy, black coal," Sabrina said sleepily as she watched the smouldering coals behind the firegrate.
Mary smiled in the darkness. "You're a rustic, Rina. You like apple logs scenting the hearth, dogs sleeping before it, and you supping on homemade mead and pigeon pie."
Sabrina snorted indignantly. "Pigeon pie, indeed! I'll sup on lobster and champagne, and almond cheesecake any day. And I'd wear satin and lace rather than linsey-woolsey, and perfume my body and wear diamonds in my hair, and—"
"—and ride through Berkeley Square in a golden coach-and-six, wearing a powdered wig and black velvet petticoat as you are presented to the King," Mary added ridiculously.
Sabrina couldn't help but laugh at her absurdities, and as she laughed she felt some of the tension leave her body as she relaxed against the soft mattress.
"Thanks, Mary," she whispered.
The next morning she and Richard left early for their appointment with Mr. Smithson. Richard had nervously sat through breakfast, fiddling with his eggs and chocolate. He was dressed in a gray cloth suit with gold buttons and a silver brocaded waistcoat, his neckcloth and stockings snowy white. He looked like a small, well-dressed gentleman until he rubbed the round toes of his buckled shoes 148 nervously on the back of his calves, leaving a black smudge across their white surface.
"Are we going now, Rina?" he demanded time and time again.
"Yes, now we are going," she was finally able to answer him as they finished breakfast.
With one of the Marquis' coachmen to guide them, they set off. Sabrina pulled her pelisse closer about her throat, the morning air still cool and fresh as they traveled along the London streets. Leaving the big squares and stately homes they made their way along the cobbled streets with their small, sash-windowed shops and swinging signs proclaiming their trade. Booksellers, tea dealers, goldsmiths and silk mercers competed for dominance down the narrow alleys and courts with perfumers, wig makers, chandlers, drapers and undertakers.
This early in the morning the streets were clogged with farmers herding their cattle to market, grocers heading to Covent Garden to buy fruit and vegetables, and street vendors hawking food. Pie-men and muffin-men, oysters sold from wheelbarrows; fishmongers and butchers, their shops open-fronted to display their products—all crying their pitch to the passersby.
Sabrina held a delicately-scented handkerchief to her nose at the strong odors that wafted in through the coach windows. The stench of the open sewers and gutters blended with the smell of fish and garbage was almost overpowering.
Richard wrinkled his nose distastefully. "Phew! What a stink."
"Richard, really," Sabrina laughed uncomfortably, her breakfast sitting queasily in her stomach.
The coach left the busy thoroughfare and came to a rest before a small neat shop in a quiet court. The liveried groom hopped down, and opening the door helped Sabrina to descend, Richard crowding close behind her. She looked about interestedly at the shop front, the blue sky blocked from view by their overhanging eaves and crowding rooftops. A chemist's shop and a print seller's were wedged close against the little shop whose address Sabrina had given the coachman.
Above the door in small lettering was printed smith-son's optical instrument makers. Grasping Richard's hand with her gloved fingers, Sabrina entered the shop, a tinkling bell over the door announcing their arrival. It was clean and cool within, a display case with various oddities in it against one wall, while a long counter with assorted paraphernalia stretched along another. There was a small fireplace, and before it a rug and several chairs. Somewhere in the shop a clock chimed the hour and from a flight of stairs a stooped man in a black silk coat and breeches with matching stockings descended slowly. He wore the old-fashioned full-bottomed wig and was checking the time on a heavy gold pocket watch.
"Good morning to you, Mistress, may I be of some small service to you?" he inquired courteously, with an old-world charm.
Sabrina pulled the shy Richard forward. "Good morning. I'm Lady Sabrina Verrick, and this is my brother, Lord Richard Faver. Are you Mr. Smithson?"
At his nod, she reached into her purse for the note from Mrs. Taylor and handed it across to him. He looked curiously at it, then withdrawing a pair of eyeglasses from his waistcoat pocket and perching them on his high-bridged nose, read the note. A smile curved his thin lips and brightened his austere features as he carefully folded it up and put it in his pocket.
He looked at them both intently for a brief moment, the young boy with bright red hair hanging shyly back behind the beautiful girl with jet-black hair under a small, sky-blue silk hat, a matching blue ribbon tied around the small column of her neck and matching the blue satin of her gown.
"So, you are the young lady who has befriended my sister? It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Ladyship," he told her sincerely, nothing servile in his manner to indicate they were on different social levels. "And how are those two large nephews of mine?"
Sabrina's smile widened and warmed her eyes. "As big as ever," she replied, relaxing as she told him all about Mrs. Taylor and Will and John, answering his questions patiently until finally coming to the reason for their visit.
"Mrs. Taylor recommended you to me. You see, my brother, Richard, has difficulty seeing things in the distance, and we were hoping you might be able to help him."
Mr. Smithson narrowed his eyes as he looked at Richard's pale, upturned face. "Well, young Lord Richard, let us see what we can do for
you." He motioned to the chairs and invited Sabrina to take a seat while he examined Richard. He held up a variety of lenses, directing Richard to look through them into the street. Mr. Smith-son made copious notations, murmuring and mumbling beneath his breath, until finally with a sigh of satisfaction he replaced his instruments in their velvet-padded wooden box and led Richard over to take a seat next to Sabrina. Before he sat down Mr. Smithson pulled a bellpull hanging nearby.
"I hope you will give me the honor of sharing tea with me? My housekeeper will bring it down shortly."
"Thank you, that would be welcomed," Sabrina accepted his invitation graciously. "Do you live above your shop?"
Mr. Smithson nodded serenely, his gentle hands spread and encompassing his surroundings. "This is my home, where I was born, and where I shall die. Today, the modern merchant or professional man leaves his shop to live in a villa outside of town. It is no longer fashionable to live above your shop. But me . . ." he paused as his housekeeper entered carrying a heavy tray and placed it on a small table beside Sabrina. "If you would be so kind to pour?" he asked. And as Sabrina complied, he continued thoughtfully, "but me, I am old-fashioned and too set in my ways to change this late in the day." He thanked Sabrina for his tea, and sat sipping it ruminatively.
"I am quite pleased with my examination of young Lord Richard," he finally told them. "If you will return in a week, I think I can promise you that your brother, with a little practice, of course," he warned, smiling at Richard's eager blue eyes, "will be able to shoot the center out of a half-crown like the best of marksmen."
Richard jumped to his feet and hopped around the room ecstatically, his tea forgotten. Sabrina leaned forward and touched Mr. Smithson's hand lightly. "How can I ever thank you enough? I feel criminal as it is, by not having noticed his infirmity before this," she told him remorsefully, "but I just never knew until a few days ago. He kept it from us, and of course one is always too busy to really look at the people closest to them," Sabrina berated herself.
"My dear child, don't be so harsh on yourself. The young gentleman will now be able to see normally, and from his conversation I would allow that he is far better off than his contemporaries, for his years of enforced confinement and devotion to his studies have matured him and given him a mind of his own. You can be very proud of him." Mr. Smithson patted her hand reassuringly.
Sabrina placed a light kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," she said fervently, tears glistening in her eyes, much to Mr. Smithson's dismay.
"Come along, Richard, we must be off," Sabrina called as the bell above the door tinkled and another customer entered the shop.
"Friday," Mr. Smithson called after their departing figures and received two smiling waves in answer.
They arrived back at the house a little before two, flushed and excited and loaded down with packages. Richard ran into the salon with a laughing face, twirling a new amber-headed cane in one hand and a package of brand-new books, securely tied together, tucked under his other arm. A dab of dark chocolate still smeared the corner of his mouth as he threw himself down on the rug and eagerly opened his books.
Sabrina flopped into a chair and gave a tired smile. "Richard shall have his new eyeglasses on Friday, and will see as well as you or I," she told Mary, who'd been watching Richard in amazement, her face mirroring her hopes.
"That's wonderful! I can scarcely believe the change in him already, Rina," Mary sighed in relief, then chuckled, "of course, it could be those new books he is poring over."
Sabrina smiled in satisfaction and sorted through the packages in her lap, giving Mary, Aunt Margaret and Hobbs each a gaily wrapped parcel.
Hobbs' cheeks flushed red as she undid the wrapping to find several delicate lace handkerchiefs and matching gauze mobcaps. She fingered the frilly caps lovingly with shaking hands, tears in her eyes as she looked up at the faces around her.
"Oh, Lady Sabrina," she gulped, her thin face puckered with emotion, "these are the nicest pretties I've ever seen, or ever had. Are they really for me?" she asked hesitantly, afraid someone might snatch them from her as she tightened her bony fingers over the box.
"They are yours to wear to church on Sundays, or whenever you feel like dressing up," Sabrina declared stoutly.
"Oh, thank you," she crooned, her eyes devouring the
little bits of lace.
"Aunt Margaret, see what we bought you," Sabrina told her aunt who was for once watching everything around her with interest. She moved her ever-present sewing aside as Sabrina put a large package on her lap. Mary crowded close to watch as Aunt Margaret excitedly opened her present She gave a gasp of sheer pleasure as her eyes feasted on the beautiful black japanned box. Opening it she gave a squeal of delight as she saw the piles of colorful silk threads: three shades of green, four of blue, five of purple, countless shades of every hue available in the shops.
"Oh, my dears, thank you! So precious," she murmured as she excitedly fingered through all of the colors, inspecting them carefully.
"Mary, for you." Sabrina gave her a small package.
"I wonder what it is?" she asked excitedly, as she carefully unwrapped the gift while Sabrina watched impatiently. Mary drew out an ornate gold box with colorful pictures enamelled on its surface, and opening it found a small, gold heart-shaped locket attached to a thin gold chain. "It's beautiful, Rina," Mary breathed, a soft smile curving her mouth. "I won't say thank you, because it isn't enough, but you know what this means to me. Mother had one very similar." She reached up and hugged Sabrina, then asked, "What did you get for yourself? You did buy something?"
Sabrina laughed. "Of course, I'm not that unselfish."
She unwrapped a large package and lifted from its folds a lavender-blue velvet, fur-trimmed pelisse. She slipped her arms into the arm slits and rubbed the fur with the tip of her chin.
"How lovely, Sabrina," Mary cried out in admiration. "Turn around and let me see the back."
Sabrina paraded around the room, spinning and whirling to their delight. "We are going to relax and enjoy ourselves, and not worry about anything for the rest of our stay in London. Everything is working out perfectly," Sabrina stated confidently as she hugged the fur pelisse around her.
From then on the days passed quickly. They toured the city, watching the big ships dock on the Thames, and they shopped and explored the parks, feeding the ducks and watching the swans regally glide past on the placid lake.
By the end of the week Aunt Margaret had stocked up on Bohea tea and her favorite snuff and scent and accompanied Sabrina and Mary on their trips to the milliner, dressmaker and bootmaker, where they placed orders to be sent to Verrick House and added to their wardrobes several hats and gloves purchased on the spot.
By Friday they were packed and ready to leave London. It had dawned stormy, and the cobbled streets were slippery and dangerous as Sabrina, snug in her fur-trimmed pelisse, and Richard left for Mr. Smithson's. With a cheerful fire burning behind the firegrate in his shop, Mr. Smithson fitted Richard's eyeglasses.
Richard stood silent as he gazed out on a sharply defined scene, the cobbles and windows across the court clearly visible. Sabrina held her breath as she watched the back of Richard's head as he stood so still. When he turned and looked at her a solitary tear was clinging to his cheek.
"I can see everything, Rina! I can see as good as you, now." He hugged Sabrina fiercely, then held out a small hand to the very quiet Mr. Smithson. "Thank you, sir, you've given me something I can never repay," he told the old gentleman seriously, his young face very adult behind the gold-rimmed eyeglasses now sitting snugly on the bridge of his small nose.
Mr. Smithson took the extended hand and shook it heartily. "It was my pleasure, Lord Richard, my pleasure indeed."
Sabrina paid Mr. Smithson, and with messages for Mrs. Taylor and his nephews, they left him standing in the doorway waving as their coach rumbled down the street.
Richard craned his head out of t
he window constantly, pointing to this building or that monument, jumping around the coach like a small monkey in a tree. "It's so wonderful, Rina! I can see the river and the ships going down it, and the docks, and look at that!" he called to Sabrina as they turned off before reaching an overturned carriage that had collided with a farm wagon loaded with poultry, feathers floating down on the crowd that had gathered around the mishap, the road blocked as traffic clogged the intersection.
"I wonder if anyone was hurt?" Richard asked, still straining to catch sight of the accident. "I can hardly wait to get back to Verrick House and go riding," Richard confided, his excitement bubbling over.
As they entered the town house Richard's hand found Sabrina's and he asked diffidently, "Will you help me learn how to ride properly?"
"Of course, and I'll be a hard taskmaster," Sabrina teased, thankful to see his eyes shining behind the small, round eyeglasses. "And if you learn quickly I'll take you to a special place and we can have a picnic," Sabrina promised him, noticing for the first time the nervous tension of the footmen standing in the hall, and the harassed look on Cooper's face as he greeted them and held open the door to the salon, his back very stiff and his manners at their most formal.
Sabrina frowned in puzzlement as she walked into the room. Richard bounced in, unaware of the tensions within as Mary sat quietly, a frozen expression on her face, and Aunt Margaret was huddled over her needlepoint, the top of a white, starched cap bobbing every so often as her fingers busily moved.
"Mary?" Sabrina asked oddly. "What is the—"
"Well, well, if it isn't little Sabrina," a mocking voice spoke softly from the corner of the room.
Sabrina stopped walking abruptly, Richard bumping into her from behind. She reached out automatically to catch him as she turned to face the voice. Richard stood silently beside her, Sabrina's arm protectively across his shoulders.
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