Devoted in Love by Cecily Wolfe

Author:Cecily Wolfe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian
Publisher: Cecily Wolfe
Published: 2022-07-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Evie had never been so busy in her life.

As soon as she began a daily routine of visiting the bookshop and spending hours in conversation with Ash, Claudia took a turn for the worse with a high fever that nearly took her away from them forever.

When she pulled through, her hearing was gone.

An exhausted Faith stumbled around the house smiling with relief as Evie encouraged her to rest, but all her cousin wanted to do was pray, as they had done while Claudia was ill.

“That girl. So much like her mother.”

The cook shook her head indulgently at Faith’s call to prayer, although the servants were agreeable to her cousin’s plea and they were all grateful for the child’s recovery.

“And here she is, our miracle girl.”

Claudia, with her nurse at her side, padded into the parlor in tiny slippers Faith insisted on buying from a shop a few blocks away.

Nico had taken her for a long walk a few days after the doctor proclaimed Claudia would live, and Faith came back with shopping bags full of dresses and ribbons, stockings and shoes for the girl.

Her cousin’s suitor shook his head at the extravagance, but Claudia was thrilled at the chance to dress up.

The rosy pink dress she wore today was a perfect complement to her dark complexion and ebony hair, but she scratched at her waist with a frown as Faith greeted her.

“It itches.”

If they didn’t know better, it would seem as if Claudia could still hear, but the doctor said she was lip reading.

And today, they would have a tutor begin teaching them all how to make signs to communicate with her.

The woman was meant to arrive earlier, before Evie left for the bookshop, but she had been delayed and would be there any moment now.

Evie hoped she wouldn’t miss too much when she left with Connie, who wanted to visit the bookshop before he drove them to Delmonico’s for dinner.

She sighed, smiling at Claudia as the girl tugged at the bow on her waist.

As pretty as the dresses were, they weren’t comfortable, and Evie knew how that was.

Even as fashions had changed over the past few years and the styles were more practical, she could do without corsets, and she suspected the d’Amici women felt the same.

Finally, after much fidgeting, Claudia settled her hands on her hips and pouted, lifting her chin.

“I smell polpette.”

Her voice had lost most of its roughness, and her tone was varied, but it made sense as she couldn’t hear herself speak.

Not that it was holding her back from making sure others heard her.

“I’ll take her into the kitchen, Faith. Clearly there’s no hiding her mother’s cooking from her.”

Claudia grabbed Evie’s hand and shook her head, frowning.

“Not when I can’t see you. Only talk when I can watch.”

This was going to take time to get used to, Evie knew, and she hoped Claudia wouldn’t be too frustrated when she returned home.

After all, her family thrived on loud conversation, singing and shouting, laughter and song.

They could hope her hearing would return in time, but there was no guarantee.

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