The Stowaway

XXXII

Katy's bright blue eyes, which had always been mirrors to her thoughts, were filled with grave concern as she kissed Mrs Banes' cheek in return.

"We came as soon as we heard," Katy told Mrs Banes. "Harry will be along just as soon as he can."

"I am grateful you are come, Katy, my dear," Mrs Banes said sincerely. "You and Eliza have always had a precious bond. I hope that she will talk to you."

It did seriously grieve Mrs Banes that she could not help Eliza, that she could not heal her. The only information that she had managed to extract from Eliza was that Tom was gone, without any additions about what exactly had transpired.

"Is it safe to be travelling in your condition?" Mrs Banes suddenly asked. "I hadn't thought. How selfish of me," she cursed herself.

Katy placed her hand on her stomach, though it was covered protectively by her thick cloak. "The doctor visited me last week, and believes I still have another two months before the baby comes," she assured Mrs Banes.

The news of another grandchild had been the only grace in the last five months. Part of Mrs Banes' anger with Eliza had been the undue stress that she had put on Katy. Katy had revealed that she was expecting only a few weeks after Eliza's flight.

"Has she said anything?" Katy asked as she ushered Rachel inside the house. "Do you know the man?"

Mrs Banes shook her head on both accounts. "She returned from her visit with him at the harbour, and fell to her knees on this very floor," she said, pointing to the foyer floor they were standing on. "She wailed for me in such an agonised way that I thought someone had died. I fell to my knees beside her and cradled her as she wept. She shook with such violent sobs, and all I could do was hold her. She had been above stairs since."

Katy hugged Mrs Banes tightly, and she immediately fell to pieces in sobs. Mrs Banes clung to Katy for support, and her ever reliable, compassionate, and kind daughter gave her exactly what she needed.

"Do not worry, I am here," assured Katy. "I have no plan to leave you, or Eliza, any time soon. Harry is to follow with more of our things just as soon as they can be organised for the near future."

Even though Mrs Banes knew such an arrangement could never be permanent, she felt such a weight lifted at the knowledge that Katy would be there to help poor Eliza.

Mrs Banes, in turn, would be able to make herself useful in caring for Rachel and Lizzie, and Katy when she would let her. Mrs Banes would make sure that she took proper care of Katy, especially as her confinement neared.

"I will go up to her," Katy told Mrs Banes. "Would you watch my girls for me?"

Mrs Banes smiled. There was a time, of which she was now deeply ashamed, that she felt a great deal of jealousy over Katy, in particularly Eliza's preference for her over Mrs Banes herself. It was before she truly allowed herself to realise her own deep affection for Katy, and before she knew just how precious she, too, was to the Banes family.

Katy, whether she knew it or not, had long been the person to hold them all together, and Mrs Banes prayed that she would be the one to help put Eliza back together.

If anyone could help her poor child, it would be Katy.

Adjusting Lizzie on her hip, and taking Rachel's hand, Mrs Banes said, "Why do we not go and see what Grandpapa is up to? Mama is going to have a little visit with Aunt Eliza."

***

Katy had made several promises to Eliza over the years, most of them generally surrounding Eliza's need for Katy not to be angry with her whenever she did something foolish.