Miracle on Ladies' Mile (A Gilded Age Holiday Novella) by Joanna Shupe

Author:Joanna Shupe [Shupe, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Grace filled her arms with as many ducklings as she could manage and hurried toward the basement stairs. A small figure darted into her path, startling her.

“Hello, Grace!”

“Sarah. Goodness, you gave me a scare.” An older woman hovered nearby. Could this be a relative or governess? “Hello to you both.”

“Good morning, Miss Grace,” the woman said. “I pardon the disruption. I am Sarah’s governess, Mrs. Beadle. Sarah insisted on returning to Mac & Arm’s in order to assist you. She said the two of you discussed this at length yesterday.”

At length? Grace shot Sarah a knowing look. The little scamp. Still, she didn’t have the heart to turn the little girl away. “Yes, we did. I’ll be glad for her help, if it’s not a problem for you.” Lord knew the girl’s father wouldn’t mind. From what Sarah had said, he was anxious to wash his hands of his daughter.

“Yes, that would be fine. Her father has agreed to the occasional visit. Correct, Sarah?”

Sarah nodded in a manner that struck Grace as slightly desperate. “Yes, he did. Thank you very much, Mrs. Beadle.”

“I have two windows to design today,” Grace told them, “so I’ll take Sarah upstairs with me most of the day. Would you care to wait here, Mrs. Beadle, or perhaps the café on the second floor?”

“If you don’t mind, I will visit my sister. She lives a few blocks away. What time shall I return to collect Sarah?”

“Let’s say four o’clock. In plenty of time to get washed up for supper, right?”

“Yes, I should say so. Sarah, mind Miss Grace and I’ll see you this afternoon. And please, try not to bother your father at work. He’s a very busy man, and he won’t appreciate distractions.”

Grace clamped her lips shut, pressing hard to prevent herself from inserting any unwarranted comments about the girl’s father. Children were not distractions. While she had no offspring of her own, she would never treat them as if they were a nuisance.

“Yes, Mrs. Beadle,” Sarah replied dutifully.

With a final nod, Mrs. Beadle disappeared toward the stairs. Grace smirked knowingly at Sarah. “You have a promising future as a confidence man, little lady.”

Sarah blinked up at her, brown eyes crinkled in confusion. “You said I could come back to help any time.”

“So I did. Grab the rest of those ducklings off that counter over there, will you? We’ll take them up to the window.”

The girl practically skipped to the counter. She collected the ducklings and followed Grace up the stairs into the store. The two of them quickly navigated the crowds to reach the holiday windows. Grace pulled the door open, allowing Sarah to enter before she followed.

“It’s so dark in here,” Sarah whispered as the door closed behind them. Heavy brown paper covered the glass, where only a sliver of daylight showed around the edges.

“Hold on.” Grace put her ducks down and pulled the chain to turn on the electric bulb on the ceiling. Light flooded the space. “There. Now we can see what we’re doing.

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