Mrs. Harlowe’s whisper was high and sharp, and Lina strained to hear her response. “That was before I... should not say, but surely you have heard of the... rumors.”
Mr. Harlowe sighed loudly, and above her, Lina heard the loud clatter of a glass whiskey snifter upon the table. “Sharp tongues abound, even in polite society.”
“But what if they are true? What if...?”
“I suggest, Mrs. Harlowe, that if these rumors are those which I believe them to be, they are most inappropriate for a woman to speak of or so much as sully her mind with the thought of. Surely you are not behaving or thinking with such wanton indiscretion?”
There was a long pause.
“No, husband.”
“The matter is closed, then. We are left with no choice but to send Caroline to Mr. Blackstone. Dear wife, don’t pout so. I have not even told you the most marvelous aspect of our arrangement.”
There was another shuffling of feet, and Lina strained to hear the voices of her two guardians, but nothing was said for some time and she began to tire of holding her precarious stance on the stove. She crouched again, and waited, as the clink of crystal and a feminine giggle emanated from above.
“You shall be very pleased with this,” Mr. Harlowe teased, at last.
“Come then, dear husband, do not keep it from me.”
“Mr. Blackstone has arranged, dear wife,” and there was another long pause, presumably while Mr. Harlowe sipped his drink, during which time Lina’s heart raced and her impatience made her skin damp with sweat, despite the chill of the abandoned kitchen. “For our triumphant return to society. We shall attend balls in London, my dear.”
Mrs. Harlowe squealed quite audibly. “But how...?”
“My dear, a great deal can be brought to effect by the possession of wealth, and Mr. Blackstone, while he is without title or bearing, has much of that. These are new times we live in. But I digress. Think not of how such a change of fortune has occurred, but what it will mean for Evangeline, who shall at last be presented to society, and with any fortune, married off.”
Mrs. Harlowe’s excited breathing could be heard by Lina, and she could almost see her guardian clutching her chest in delight, eyes glittering.
“But... but... whatever shall we wear?” she said suddenly, in a cry of despair.
“But my dear wife, you should know that I would have thought of everything. The entire family shall be seen by the finest tailors in London, at Mr. Blackstone’s expense, as part of our arrangement.”
More heavy breathing punctuated a pause, as the furniture shifted above Lina, a result, no doubt, of Mrs. Harlowe’s ecstatic, and unladylike, collapse in her chair.
“A return to society,” she breathed. “Oh, I simply must tell Evangeline!”
Lina carefully climbed down from the stove with her heart racing, lest Mrs. Harlowe entertain the idea of performing this last act that very evening, which, judging by her breathless demeanor, was a distinct possibility.
Her skin tingling, her thoughts in a flurry, Lina worked her way back to her quarters, where she found Anna asleep and pillows piled beneath her own blankets. Shaking, though she knew not what from, Lina blew out the candle and tucked herself beneath the covers, struggling to breath more softly, lest Mrs. Harlowe burst into the room at any moment.
