“Sarah, my dear, I hope you’ve come to tell me what a wonderful time you had at the opera with Richard,” she exclaimed, rising from her chair and hurrying over to give her daughter a kiss.
Sarah felt a twinge of guilt. She probably should have come over much sooner to give her mother a report on her first outing with the very eligible Mr. Dennis. She also felt guilty that wasn’t her reason for being here today, either. Still, her mother never had to know it. “I did have a wonderful time, Mother,” she said, taking a seat beside her mother on an exquisite brocaded sofa. “Do you want to hear about every thrilling aria and all the glorious costumes?”
“Of course not,” her mother said. “I want to know how you and Richard got along.” She folded her hands expectantly.
Sarah didn’t want to disappoint her mother. Mrs. Decker had been hoping to see her daughter married to someone she considered suitable ever since the day Tom Brandt had died. Both of her daughters had married men she considered unworthy of them. That decision had cost Sarah’s sister Maggie her life. Sarah’s choice had given her three joyous years followed by three years of mourning after Tom’s death. She couldn’t blame her mother for wanting to see her settled again. Unfortunately, she’d never see her settled with Richard Dennis. Sarah couldn’t bear to tell her that, however. At least not so soon.
“We got along very well,” Sarah said quite truthfully. “He’s a very charming man.”
Mrs. Decker frowned. “You don’t like him.”
“I like him very much,” Sarah protested, wondering how her mother could have come to such a conclusion.
“What should I have said?” Sarah asked contritely.
Mrs. Decker sighed in mock dismay. “You should have said he was handsome and exciting and the most fascinating man you’ve ever met.”
“But we hardly know each other,” she protested good-naturedly.
“Which is exactly why you could have found him fascinating. Fascination seldom survives long acquaintance, as I’m sure you know.”
Sarah didn’t bother to hide her smile. “I’m sorry to be such a constant source of disappointment to you, Mother.”
Mrs. Decker waved her disappointment away. “I’m growing used to it now, Sarah. I’ve despaired of ever finding a man who will suit you.”
For some reason, Sarah thought of Frank Malloy. No one would consider him suitable for her, least of all Frank Malloy, but she had to admit the idea was intriguing. She didn’t mention it to her mother, however.
“I’m afraid Richard isn’t ready to remarry either,” she confessed.
Mrs. Decker was surprised at that. “Hazel has been gone at least four years now.”
“Five, I think. But he’s still married to her in his mind. In fact, I don’t think he would have invited me to the opera if he thought I was seriously interested in a relationship with him.”
“Why else would he have invited you, then?” her mother asked in amazement.
Sarah couldn’t believe how easily she had brought the subject up. “He wanted me to help him understand his wife better.”
“But you didn’t even know her.”
“No, but I do have some understanding of the work she was doing when she died.”
“Yes, Hazel Dennis was helping at the Prodigal Son Mission down by Mulberry Bend in Little Italy.”
Mrs. Decker absorbed this astonishing piece of information. “She hardly seemed the type, from what I remember of her. What is this place like? What kind of work do they do there?”
“They help young girls. Some of them have been abandoned by their families and others have run away from theirs because things were so bad for them there. They have no place to go and no honest way to make a living. The mission gives them a place to live and food to eat and an education. They also teach them how to operate a sewing machine and other skills they can use to get a job.”
Her mother was frowning again. “How do you know so much about it?”
“Because Richard and I went there on Sunday afternoon for a visit.”
She brightened instantly. “You went there together?”
“He asked me to accompany him. He wanted to find out why Hazel had been so interested in their work.”
“That was kind of you, Sarah.”
“I’m a kind person, Mother,” she reminded her with a grin.
“Of course you are,” Mrs. Decker said with a grin of her own. “And a lovely one.”
“At any rate, Richard was pleased with what he saw at the mission, and so was I. In fact, I was just thinking on the way over here today that I’d like to do something to help them myself.”
Mrs. Decker surprised her by frowning yet again. This frown looked worried. “That’s an admirable sentiment, Sarah, but I must warn you, it’s very difficult to compete with a ghost.”
For a moment, Sarah had no idea what her mother was talking about, but then it hit her. “I have no intention of competing with Hazel Dennis,” Sarah assured her.
“That’s the spirit,” Mrs. Decker said, making Sarah want to roll her eyes.
“I mean it, Mother,” she insisted. “I’m not interested in taking Hazel’s place in Richard’s life.”
“You would be foolish to even try.”
Sarah was beginning to think her mother was deliberately misunderstanding her, but she didn’t want to take the time to find out. She had a more important task to accomplish today.
“I do, however, want to help the mission, if I can.”
“Are you going to offer to deliver babies for them?” her mother asked doubtfully.
Sarah almost laughed at the notion. “I think the idea of the mission is to prevent them from having babies. No, I had something more practical in mind.”
Her mother was an intelligent woman. She guessed instantly. “And you want me to help.”
“Yes, I want you to have a party.”
“For the people at the mission?” She was horrified at the very thought.
“No, for your rich friends, so we can ask them to make a donation to the mission.”
Sarah didn’t know what reaction she’d expected, but her mother had heard only one word in that sentence.
She’d said that by accident, but it had turned out to be the magic word. “Well, I haven’t actually asked him, but I’d like Richard to help host the party. He already said he was going to make a donation himself, in Hazel’s memory. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind asking others to do the same.”
“How could he possibly refuse?” her mother asked. “We’ll ask
Sarah could see she was already mentally composing a guest list. “How soon can you arrange it?”
“I’ll have to check my calendar, but I think a week should be enough time. I’ll have my secretary start making out the invitations this afternoon. As soon as I hear from you that Richard has agreed to participate,” she added shrewdly.
Her mother drove a hard bargain. “I’ll stop by his office on the way home and ask him.”
Sarah was probably being cruel, getting her mother’s hopes up like this. Still, she knew perfectly well Richard Dennis wasn’t any more interested in marriage than she was. Sarah would never have to refuse a marriage proposal she hadn’t received, and her mother would have a few weeks of happiness, imagining her daughter marrying her way back into Society’s Four Hundred.
Frank was only too familiar with the Prodigal Son Mission. He’d watched its transformation from a rundown boardinghouse into its present incarnation when Reverend Wells first took possession of it. He’d also watched a parade of young girls going through there during the past several years. Some had gone on to find respectable jobs and even to marry. Others had escaped back into the world they’d originally fled, managing to find men to mistreat and abuse them and make their lives even more miserable than before. He’d long since ceased to wonder why some chose one path and others another.
