Katherine’s household was once again a flurry of activity the following morning. The servants had begun preparing on short notice for an Easter dinner with guest, plus the addition of an extra maid who was to stay the night. Robbie was still glowing from the outing the day before - and Katherine was still glowering. When everyone else was out of earshot, Anne tried to lift her sister-in-law’s spirits by engaging in some light gossip.
“Katie, exactly who is Miss Rebecca Gordon?”
Katherine wasn’t sure that she wanted to tell the baroness that the charming little girl was actually the daughter of a widowed, orphaned hotel maid. “I met her before at the Wallace. I only know for sure that’s she’s a friend of Mr. Spears, however unlikely that sounds. I’ve heard that some of the rich men of Glasgow have unusual and sometimes abhorrent relationships, but from what I’ve seen Mr. Spears is a good Christian man towards her in every respect.”
“Yes, Katie, but there can’t just be a little girl at a hotel. Who is she?”
Katherine shrugged.
“Well, she’s obviously extremely well bred. I imagine she must be the illegitimate child of someone in the peerage. It’s the way that being perfect is both important and effortless.”
“Oh, Anne, don’t read too much into her behavior - she’s just a little girl.”
“Yes, but I'm a mother. Cam has talked of almost nothing else but Miss Gordon this morning. It’s been ‘Becky this and Becky that’. He’s an eight year old boy, Katie!” Anne sat thinking for a bit. “Her parents, whoever they are, must be very nice looking. Miss Gordon could well grow up to be the most beautiful young woman Glasgow has ever seen.”
Now that Anne had arrived at the topic of appearances, she moved on to another question for her dearly loved sister-in-law. “Katie, I’ve wondered for a long time. Why do you dress the way you do?”
“Oh, Anne, I could lecture you on what Mr. Morris and Mr. Rossetti have written concerning artistic dress or the warnings doctors have given about the fashion extremes of today, but I really just do it because it’s easier. I dress myself, you know, and living alone I have only myself to please. I’m in and out of poor women’s homes in my work and practical clothing is a boon.”
“What do people say about the way you dress?”
“Behind my back I neither know nor care. To my face, the poor women usually praise the fabric and needlework. The Minister and Priest at the parishes I work through are hardly going to be critical of a woman who dresses simply.”
“Katie, some men say that women who wear the artistic dress have low morals.”
Katherine laughed. “That might explain some things that happened when we were shopping for the carriage.”
Anne stared at Katherine for quite a while. “Katie, has Mr. Spears mentioned anything concerning the way you dress?”
“Leave me alone about Mr. Spears!” Katherine shouted back.
The silence hung heavy in the room. Katherine knelt to the floor before Anne, buried her face in Anne’s skirts, sobbing. “Oh, dear sister. That…was so mean. I’m never mean. What’s happening to me?”
“You’re very thin – you haven’t been eating well, have you? And you’re overly emotional. I wonder if you could be suffering from hysteria? Oh, Katie, they’ve developed some wonderful new treatments for hysteria.”
Katherine looked up and sniffed. “What?”
“Well, it’s ether that or you’ve fallen in love with Mr. Spears.”
YOU ARE READING
A Chance Meeting in Glasgow
RomanceVictorian Scotland in 1875 didn't present a woman with many options. Katherine Cameron was too old to marry, too high born to be a housekeeper, too uneducated to be a governess, from too disreputable a family to be a companion and too skinny to be...
