He didn’t need to say that. I knew what I had to do. I waved Scarlett back to the house, and then started running. “Katherine, wait.”
My sister kept going. Soon, we both were at the banks.
The sun had begun to set. It glowed over the waves.
The timberyard building and the shipping warehouse were along the Thames.
The river.
Rough and turning.
Loud with ferryboats and commerce.
Side by side, my sister and I watched things move.
But we stayed still and silent.
The wharf Papa used to own was nearby. The brewery too. Tavis sold them all for gambling debts.
And we did nothing to stop him.
“Why did you kiss him, Georgina? You know how Mama stressed our reputations. You saw how I failed. My carrying on shamed the family. I put so much strain on her weak shoulders. No wonder she died a year after Lydia was born.”
“She lived long enough for you to wed. That’s something. But Mama was always in pain. She kept getting sick. You didn’t kill her. She wanted you happy. She consented to you marrying Tavis and made Papa come around.”
Katherine swiped at a tear. “You know our father didn’t want ‘no broke White man with a title’ taking advantage of the hard work his Black hands had done. But that’s exactly what I did.”
“But Mama thought Tavis was what you wanted. You loved him, and his title made us respectable.”
“Respectable to whom, Georgina? Tavis’s debts robbed our family of dowries and the marriage opportunities for you girls that his title was supposed to bring. We are less secure because of him . . . because of me.”
Her head dipped and she rubbed her wrist against her wet cheeks. “The duke has brought us new clients, but how long do you think he will keep the creditors at bay? We may still have to sell Wilcox Coal to pay off my husband’s debt and get dowries for you and the girls.”
“Don’t do that for me. Maybe the duke’s plan will work, and some wonderful person will find me at the ball and not require a bribe to marry me.”
“You want to be the coal Cinderella? Or as the duke would say,Vasilisa, the heroine of a Russian folktale about a disadvantaged girl who survives and wins.”
“I don’t look at us as disadvantaged. We’re having hard times. Everyone has hard times. Katherine, you know a lot of Russian for a man you can’t stand.”
She left me and went a little closer to the water’s edge as if she chased the sun. “Go back inside. I’ve lost to the Duke of Torrance. He knows what’s best.”
“It’s not like that,” I said. “It’s—”
“What is it, then? Another scandal that would break Mama’s heart? I need to fix this and make up for all of Papa’s sacrifices. I will sell the business I love if that will make you girls acceptable brides for the uptight people across the river.”
“I don’t want uptight. I don’t even know if I want marriage. But you are not in competition with the duke. He wants to help. He’s been helping.”
Her chuckles sounded bitter. “Then you aren’t paying attention. The duke wants me humiliated.”
“Why, Katherine? The man has been nothing but nice to us. I asked him to help. He’s offered money, but I knew you’d never take it. So, he’s gotten us clients. That’s his way of doing something.”
“Behind my back. All the whispering and walks you two did with Scarlett and Lydia was to tell him how badly we needed his help to be saved.” She dropped to the ground and drew arms about her knees. “No one is loyal.”
“Loyal to what? Katherine, if you haven’t noticed, we’re destitute. Lydia might be learning math, but Scarlett and I can add and subtract quite well. Your husband stole money from the coal company. He put loans on our house. That’s why we tried to sell everything up to the moment he died. That’s why so many things that Mama decorated the halls of our house with are gone.”
“Tavis gambled all the time. He wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t get him to. I tried.”
“And you covered up his sins. You did everything for him and financially hurt us.”
