“I don’t think it’s that easy,” Gertrude argued.
Reverend Perry inclined his head. “Then allow me to point out something to you. When Mrs. Davenport asked for your forgiveness, you didn’t hesitate to give it to her, did you?”
“Of course I didn’t. I care about her.”
“And you believe God doesn’t care about you, one of His children?”
Gertrude blinked. “I suppose I didn’t consider it in quite that light.”
“Well, now you can,” Reverend Perry said before he turned to Mrs. Davenport. “And we know God drew you here today because you needed to release the hurt and fear you hold of being abandoned, which will now allow you to move forward and seize your life, hopefully in a more productive and less illegal way.” He then turned to Miss Henrietta and Miss Mabel. “As for the two of you, I may be reaching with this last bit, but I imagine God wants to encourage you to use that keen proficiency with observation to help others, such as you just helped Temperance.”
“You could work with the Pinkerton and other agencies of the law,” Edwina piped in as she smiled at Agent McParland. “Wouldn’t the Huxley sisters be awonderfulsource for you and your fellow agents?”
Harrison felt a tic begin throbbing on his forehead when he realized that Agent McParland had completely missed the question Edwina posed, probably because he’d returned to gazing at her with eyes that were once again decidedly unfocused.
“Beg pardon?” Agent McParland finally asked, which had Edwina smiling far too brightly back at him before she took hold of the man’s arm and steered him to an empty pew where they both sat down and began chatting as if they’d been fast friends forever.
“And here I was so longing to bring her out,” Mrs. Davenport said.
“No need to fret, dear,” Miss Henrietta said. “We still have Gertrude.”
As all eyes, except for those of Edwina and Agent McParland, turned to Gertrude, Harrison stepped forward, wanting to distract everyone from a topic that was clearly embarrassing Gertrude, whose cheeks were now looking overly heated. Before he could draw everyone’s attention, though, Mrs. Davenport begantsking in a way that turned all eyesherway.
“We don’t still have Gertrude because—” she lifted her chin—“usingmykeen proficiency with observation, I’ve observed that matters are progressing nicely between her and Harrison, which means she has no need of being taken in hand.”
Finding himself the center of attention a mere second later, attention that came with an air of expectation, Harrison drew in a breath, then paused when an unexpected thought sprang to the forefront of his mind.
He could, right here and now, appease them all by proclaiming his very great affection for Gertrude while standing in the midst of God’s house.
Since that idea might have come directly from above, and because he was a man who believed in following where God led, he knew it was an idea he should act upon.
Drawing in another breath, he opened his mouth, but then he glanced to Gertrude and found her not looking back at him in an anticipatory way, but with an expression on her face that seemed to be one of ... horror.
Not understanding the horror in the least because he’d been under the impression she held him in some esteem, Harrison struggled to understand the look, breathing a sigh of relief a second later when a perfectly reasonable explanation sprang to mind.
Gertrude had been without the attention of a mother figure forever, and yet now not only Mrs. Davenport but Miss Henrietta and Miss Mabel as well were anxious to take her in hand, smothering her in feminine attention if he was understanding their intentions correctly.
That was why she was obviously not anxious for him to declare his intentions, because that would deprive her of fulfilling a need she’d been longing to experience most of her life.
Realizing he’d evidently misunderstood God’s subtle nudge, he inclined his head Gertrude’s way before smiling at Mrs. Davenport.
“While I willingly admit that Gertrude and I have been progressing nicely as I do believe you mentioned, we’re progressing nicely asfriends. She has become one of the most important ladies in my life. As such, I wouldn’t do her the disservice of discouraging you, Mrs. Davenport—or Miss Henrietta, or Miss Mabel—from taking her in hand. My greatest hope is that you’ll see her well-settled with her very own happily-ever-after in the not-so-distant future.”
For a brief moment, silence settled over the church, until Mrs. Davenport let out a completely unexpected snort, took Gertrude by the arm, and then marched her way up the aisle, muttering something about what an idiot he was when she brushed past him.
He was not reassured when Temperance sent him a sad shake of her head before she followed Mrs. Davenport and Gertrude, nor did it bode well for the situation when Miss Henrietta and Miss Mabel cast pitying looks his way before they, too, marched up the aisle. Edwina and Agent McParland left next, although they didn’t bother to even acknowledge him, apparently having missed everything he’d said because they seemed interested only in each other.
Before he knew it, he was standing alone in the sanctuary save for Reverend Perry, a gentleman who tossed what might have been a commiserating glance his way before he bowed his head and began to quietly pray aloud, his prayer seemingly centered around the topic of misunderstandings.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
TWODAYSLATER
MISSSNOOK’SSCHOOLFORTHEEDUCATION
OFTHEFEMININEMIND
