“Cora? What are you doing here?” Georgie asked. “Should you not be at school?”
“Stayed home today. My nan is feeling poorly.”
Georgie turned to introduce her companion. “This is my mother, Mrs. Summers. Mamma, this is Cora. Mrs. Limbrick’s granddaughter.”
“Ah, Cora! Georgiana speaks of you often and fondly.”
Cora gave her a shy smile, although worry still shadowed her eyes.
Georgie lifted the basket. “We’ve brought some things for your grandmother. But if she is not equal to visitors ...?”
“I dunno. I shall ask her.” The girl turned and dashed into the next room, leaving them standing in the dank passage.
They heard “Nan? Miss Georgie and her mum are here. Can they come in and see you? They’ve brought you something.”
“Yes, of course. Show them in, although I no doubt look a fright.”
Cora returned to them. “She says come in.”
As they stepped inside, Georgie closed the door behind them and took in the small parlour—not squalid but certainly humble. Chilly as well.
They followed Cora to the open door of the bedchamber, which held two narrow beds. An elderly woman lay in one, covered with several blankets.
They introduced themselves and made polite conversation, asking how long the two had been in Sidmouth and where they were from originally.
The woman replied, “Over a year now. Came from Longhope, in Gloucestershire.”
“Ah! We are from May Hill,” Mamma replied, expression brightening. “A small village three or four miles north of there.”
“Oh yes. I remember visiting the hill as a girl.”
Mamma said, “I went to school with a Miss Esther Limbrick. Any relation?”
A smile broke over the woman’s face. “You never! Esther was my daughter. And Cora’s mum. Sadly, we lost her and her husband several years back.”
“I am terribly sorry for your loss. Both of you.”
The woman nodded. “It’s been hard, I can’t deny. But at least Cora and I have each other.” She sent her granddaughter a fond look.
Cora came over and took her hand. “That’s right, Nan. We get on perfectly well, the two of us.”
Mamma studied Cora and said, “It has been many years, but seeing you ... yes. There is a marked resemblance to the young lady I remember.”
“I look like her?” Cora asked.
“Indeed you do.”
“I am glad.”
Mamma turned back to Mrs. Limbrick. “Cora is so young, while my youngest here is already seventeen. Hard to believe her mother and I were at school together.”
“You married quite young,” Georgie reminded her.
“True. And as I remember, Esther was determined not to marry for any inducement other than true love.”
Mrs. Limbrick nodded. “That was my Esther. She waited many years to find her Mr. Griffith, and how she loved him.”
Silence fell after that, and to fill it, Georgie gestured toward the items in the basket. “We’ve brought some bread rolls and preserves. Oh, and this is a jar of Mrs. Besley’s chicken soup, which always makes me feel better when I’m poorly. And some nice warm stockings and mittens too.”
