The Judge Wore Lamp Black by Shelley Adina

Author:Shelley Adina [Adina, Shelley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781950854172
Publisher: Moonshell Books, Inc.

Chapter 11

Monday, 2:35 p.m.

As she was ushered into a front parlor with a fine view of everything passing on the street, Daisy had a moment to be thankful she had dressed soberly to see Papa, yet with a certain richness in matters of lace and fabric. Mrs. Willamette, receiving in black silk with her three eldest daughters, eyed her up and down and evidently found satisfaction in the fact that her own girls were dressed to the teeth in the latest fashions despite the fact that they had to be the grey and lavender of mourning. However, this was mitigated somewhat by the ruby on Daisy’s finger, which elevated her status in a way her girls could not hope to reach.

On a spindle-legged table in solitary splendor was a daguerreotype of a young man in a silver frame. A black scarf draped it. The only son, who had killed a desert flower and thus prevented his sisters from dressing in the colors to which they were no doubt accustomed.

“Miss Linden,” their mother said graciously, pulling the bell rope for tea, “may we offer you our felicitations on your engagement. I hope you and your young man will be very happy.”

“You are too kind,” Daisy said, seating herself opposite the sofa, which she observed was becoming a little worn on the corners. A square or two on the wallpaper told her that the lady’s desire to see her daughters suitably married was not simply pride, but possibly held a touch of desperation. Their home was pleasant but thankfully not as opulent as the Bonnell home, and contained only a fraction of the ferns, pictures, and curiosities of the latter. One could, at least, breathe in this house.

The eldest shared with her what was euphemistically called a love seat. “May I see your ring, Miss Linden?” she asked shyly. Daisy offered her hand, and the other girls leaned over the back of the seat to coo with appreciation. “When is the happy day?”

As soon as may be after Papa is released from gaol.

They clearly had not heard the news yet, either of the judge’s death or of her father’s incarceration, and Daisy must complete her business here before they did. “We have not yet decided,” she said at last. “Mr. Barnicott’s family is in Boston, so there is also the location to be thought of. But all in good time.”

Tea came, and Daisy was grateful for it after the rigors of the day. Could it be only this morning she had awakened in the large guest room with Freddie and Elizabeth, innocent of the horrors yet to come?

Mrs. Willamette gestured for the eldest girl, Maylene, to pour. After several sips from her delicate porcelain cup, Daisy was ready to dispense with discussions of whether it might rain.

“I am so glad the Bonnells had fine weather for Rose’s wedding,” she said. “I understand that here one may not count on its being fine from one day to the next.”

“That is so,” Maylene said after a glance at her mother.

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