Page 81 of The Lovers
“Does Molly?”
James shook his head. “Our father paid for our keep but never saw fit to educate us. The couple who looked after us were simple people, and illiterate like most. I learned to read and write once I was brought back to London. Once I mastered my letters, I helped myself to some books from the library. I never imagined that reading could bring such pleasure.”
“What did you enjoy most?” Elise asked. She hadn’t read many books but had been taught how to read, write, and do simple sums. Her father often required her help with the books. She didn’t keep the accounts, but sometimes she took dictation and filled the numbers in the columns.
“There were some books on astronomy, and a few historical accounts. But what I really liked were the plays. My father had several folios of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ben Johnson, and Thomas Middleton. My father is quite fond of the theater, or he used to be.”
“I’ve never been to the theater,” Elise said. “I’ve never been anywhere. Oh, how I would love to see a play or watch mummers perform. Have you ever been to the theater, James?”
“Yes, many times.”
“Will you take me once we are back in London?” Elise asked.
“I would like to, but that’s not a promise I can make.”
Elise understood only too well. Edward would not welcome James home, even once the child was born. She might not see him again once they returned to town, at least not until Edward required his services again.
“I’m going to teach Mercy to read and write while she’s here,” Elise announced.
James stopped and looked at her. “Will you? That’s very kind of you. It will serve Mercy well.”
“I want to do something to help her, James. Whether her parents live or die, having certain abilities might give her more options as she gets older.”
“There aren’t many options for girls,” James replied matter-of-factly. “Mercy will marry and look after her family at best or go into service and look after someone else’s family at worst. Neither requires reading or writing. But perhaps she will find some pleasure in reading a story or having the ability to teach her sons their letters. Being literate can certainly help a man.”
Elise nodded. She didn’t wish to argue with James, but it rankled her the way men simply dismissed half the population. It wasn’t just her own lot in life to be a wife and mother—it was every woman’s. And if she had no family of her own, she spent her life doing menial work for pitiful wages. Even daughters of nobility had little say in their lives. They were paraded in front of eligible men, married off, and expected to produce as many children as they could before they either got too old or died in childbirth. There were no choices for them, and remaining unmarried was a fate worse than death. Unmarried women were treated like lepers—unless they were very wealthy, of course, in which case they were desirable prospects for fortune hunters.
Elise marveled at the fact that after having a woman—a strong and cunning woman—on the throne for nearly half a century, women were still dismissed as nothing more than a means to an end.Someday that will change, Elise thought hotly.Someday women will be able to choose their own destiny.
SIXTY
The days settled into a pleasant routine. The house was far enough from the town to afford privacy, and there were no servants, save Mistress Benford, Peg, and Pete the stable boy, who had little to do since Edward had taken the carriage and horses. Mercy took to her lessons like fish to water, but what surprised Elise was how much time she spent in the kitchen. Mercy liked to cook, and she was eager to learn how to make new dishes.
“Me mam never ’ad much use for cooking,” Mercy told Elise after one of their lessons. “She were always too busy taking care of us and the ’ouse to do much more than make a stew or a pot of pottage. Oh, we always ’ad enough to eat, mind ye, but there wasn’t much in the way of variety.”
“And what would you like to cook?” Elise asked, amused.
“I’d like to make pies and pastries, and roast a swan. Me da told me once that at court, they roast whole swans and then replace the feathers and insert rubies instead of eyes before presenting the birds to the king and ’is courtiers.”
Mercy looked enthralled with the idea, her eyes sparkling with the wonder of it. “And they make other grand dishes too, using spun sugar and marzipan. ’Ave you ever seen such things?”
“Lord Asher had some fantastical dishes at our wedding feast. He’d hired one of the palace cooks to see to the preparations. There was a concoction of sugared fruit and nuts decorated to look like a blooming rose bush with a butterfly on each bloom. It was too lovely to eat.”
“I wish I could ’ave seen that,” Mercy said sadly. “I always dream of getting out of Blackfriars and living at the palace. If God sees fit to take me family, it’s because I’d wished to leave them,” Mercy whispered, her eyes huge with regret.
“Mercy, your desire to better your lot has nothing to do with what’s happening in the city. It’s no more your fault than yesterday’s rain or tomorrow’s drought. One little girl’s dream cannot bring about the death of her family, and I won’t stand for you blaming yourself. There’s nothing wrong with dreaming.”
Mercy nodded, somewhat appeased. “Thank you, me lady. Ye are very kind. I can see why Uncle James is so taken with ye. Me mam always said to put me silly notions out of me foolish head.”
She would, Elise thought. She’d only met Molly once, but she got the impression that the woman didn’t hold with sentiment or wild-goose chases. Molly seemed pragmatic to a fault, possibly a trait she’d inherited from her estranged father. Elise was sure that Molly loved her children fiercely, but she wanted them to find satisfaction in the here and now, not in indulging in daydreams of things that could never be. Well, perhaps Elise could do something for Mercy, something that would help her at least try to reach for her dreams.
SIXTY-ONE
The next few months were the happiest Elise had ever known. For the first time in her life, she was her own mistress, having no father or husband to lord over her from day to day. She was free to do as she pleased, and although she didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, it felt wonderful to do it without the watchful stare of a domineering male. Mercy was thriving, and so was the baby. Elise no longer fit into any of her gowns, so Peg sewed several new skirts to accommodate her expanding middle and laced her bodices loosely to allow extra room for her swollen breasts.
Elise completely ignored the advice of the doctor and went for long walks in the fragrant summer wood, enjoying the soothing tranquility of the country. James rarely came to the house for fear of betraying their relationship to the servants, but he joined her for daily walks, which inevitably led to a stolen hour at the gamekeeper’s cottage. James’s presence was like a balm to her soul. He gave her the love and affection she craved so desperately, but he made no move to control or patronize her. He simply loved her, which was such a novel feeling that Elise had to stop and remind herself that such a thing was really possible.
They spoke no more of the future, but Elise still harbored a hope that they might build a life together. Things had a way of changing when you least expected them to, and although she held no ill will toward Edward, she hoped that her marital status might change at some point in the future.
