Their mother did not need the major’s protection. If this woman meant to humiliate or cow Eugenia Summers, she was to be disappointed.
Mamma lifted her chin and calmly replied, “Indeed. We lost my husband, and the estate, being entailed, went to a distant male relative. But my girls and I have made a success of the guest house here, thanks to the initiative of my daughter Sarah, and we have all lent a hand. There is no shame in expending effort to provide for one’s family.”
“So you want a cheap servant for yourself, is that it? Perhaps a chamber maid rather than a scullery maid. But in the end it amounts to the same thing.”
Again Mamma managed a calm reply. “If Cora comes to live with us, she will be expected to help around the house just as my daughters and I do. But help is not what motivates me. If I simply wanted another servant, I would engage one older and more experienced.”
Before the disgruntled cook could fashion another retort, Mrs. Fulford stood and gave an impassioned appeal on their behalf, describing the Summers family as most charitable and deeply involved with both the poor house and the school. Lady Kennaway seconded her appeal.
They were well acquainted with both Mrs. Fulford and Lady Kennaway, and Georgie had known they could count on their support. Of the others, she was less certain.
Cora, as a child, was not asked nor allowed to give an opinion. But Mr. Ward spoke on her behalf, confirming Cora’s fondness for Georgiana as well as her sister Mrs. Emily Thomson and her husband, who all regularly visited the school to play games or read to the children.
The vicar asked, “Even so, has the girl even met Mrs. Summers herself, the one petitioning for custody?”
“She has, sir,” Mr. Ward replied. “Cora told me with great satisfaction that Mrs. Summers and Miss Georgiana visited her grandmother recently to bring gifts of food and clothing. The only people to visit the ailing woman in several weeks, I might add.” He did not glance at the vicar as he said it, but others did.
The vicar looked down.
While the governors conferred among themselves, Mamma, Viola, and Jack had a private conversation that Georgie could not hear.
In the end, the governors were swayed to grant temporary custody to Mrs. Summers, with the caveat that they would need to consult a lawyer to verify the legality of such an outcome.
But for now, Cora would move from the vicarage to Sea View.
ELEVEN
Thy welcome eve, loved Christmas now arrived,
The parish bells, their tuneful peals resound,
And mirth and gladness every breast pervade.
—RJ Thorn, “Christmas”
Mamma and Emily hurried home to alert Sarah and request her help in preparing one of the attic rooms near Georgiana’s.
Meanwhile, Georgie, Viola, and Jack went to the vicarage to help Cora gather her things, and to protect the girl from any retaliation from the disgruntled cook.
They discovered that Cora had slept on a rough pallet on the scullery floor, which was propped against the wall when not in use.
The cook now stood in the doorway, arms crossed and scowling. “That pallet belongs to the vicar.”
Viola said, “We have no intention of taking it, I assure you.”
They gathered Cora’s few belongings into her small valise, and then the girl, emboldened by the presence of supportive friends, asked, “Mrs. Browland, where is my grandmother’s trunk?”
For a moment, the woman glared at her. “What need have you for a grown woman’s things? Have I not undergone the trouble and expense of feeding and training you?”
“She has only been here a short time,” Jack retorted. “Moreover,any expense was borne by the vicar, who compensates you for yourtrouble. If he wishes to present me with an accounting, I shall pay it, but we will have Mrs. Limbrick’s trunk, and every single one of her and Cora’s belongings.” Major Hutton stood tall, shoulders back and presence commanding. He was every inch the military leader in that moment. And not a man to cross.
Cora stared at him, likely transfixed by the scars that webbed half his face and made him doubly intimidating.
Even so, Georgiana wondered if Colin’s charm would have been more effective, or at least more pleasant. She was oddly glad the major’s younger brother did not possess the same fierce bearing.
Viola, in conciliatory tones, added, “And we will happily reimburse you for any out-of-pocket expenses you have borne. Won’t we, my dear?”
Jack’s nostrils flared. “If and when every one of Cora’s belongings has been returned to her.”
