“It was only a short sermon,” she pointed out mildly. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” To her surprise, he led her straight to the parlor bar. A good deal of the wooden chairs had been cleared out of the room along with most of the small circular tables. Instead, two plush armchairs and a sofa had been set next to the fireplace, upholstered in a matching peach colored brocade. To her astonishment, she saw her own silver teapot sat on one of the tables that remained along with a very pretty tea set of cobalt and gold. A rosewood workbox was sat next to the sofa on which a beautiful Chinese shawl was spread out and against the opposite wall, an elegant lady’s writing desk stood complete with little drawers, a penholder, and a matching chair.
“I-I don’t know what to say,” Mina blurted after staring in astonishment at the room’s transformation. “Really, I don’t.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” Nye shrugged. “It’s for you to use.”
“Me?” she turned to him blankly. “But whose are these things?” she said, pointing to the workbox and shawl and giving a sweeping gesture to incorporate the china service.
“Yours now,” he replied shortly.
“Mine? But—”
“I’ll send Edna to fetch your tea.”
“Wait- “
The door shut behind him. Mina wondered why every word he spoke to her seemed to take monumental effort. Was it all women he did not like, or just her? She remembered how Edna also seemed to avoid him. Maybe she shouldn’t take it personally. Maybe he just loathed all women. For some reason, she thought suddenly of Ivy and wondered if he was also averse to the blonde barmaid.
Mina turned in a circle, taking in the mostly empty expanse of the parlor bar now. Her new seating area only took up about a third of the space. She walked over to the large handsome mantlepiece over the fire. It had been quite bare the other day when she had polished its every carved nook and cranny, but now it had two very pretty candelabra set on it which were dripping with crystal droplets designed to catch the light.
A decorative box of gold enamel sat between them which had a coral cameo in the center of the lid, bearing the profile of a classical maiden. When Mina lifted the lid, it started to play a tinkling tune, so she quickly slammed it shut and moved away. How could they be her things, she wondered blankly? Clearly, they were expensive items and no doubt someone’s treasured possessions. Moving over to the sofa, she admired the delicate peach upholstery and then lifted the Chinese shawl to examine the exquisite patterning of pink blossom adorning the teal-colored silk. She had never seen one so pretty.
Absently, she draped it over her shoulders and walked back to the mirrored over-mantle. Was it merely her imagination or did the shawl immediately brighten her appearance? Not just the unalleviated black of her mourning, but also endowing her skin with an illusion of blooming. She shrugged it off quickly. It was a beautiful thing, but to imagine it could beautify her was just nonsense. She set it down carefully onto the sofa and sat down beside it.
Edna brought her hot water for her tea and seemed to cautiously approve of the new set up. “Silver teapot looks right at home,” she said, nodding with satisfaction. “It’s my half day tomorrow, Mrs. Nye,” she said, catching Mina off guard. “I mean to hitch a ride to St Ives to meet my aunt on the pier.”
For a moment, Mina had thought Edna was going to invite her to join her. She felt a stab of disappointment. “Oh, how nice. Is St Ives big town?”
Edna nodded. “It’s a fishing port,” she explained.
Mina nodded. “Does your aunt live there?”
Edna shook her head. “It’s halfway between us, so a good point to meet.”
“Well, I hope you have a lovely visit, Edna.”
“Would there be anything you wanted me to fetch you back, Mrs. Nye? From the shops, I mean.”
“Oh.” Mina thought a moment. “That’s very kind of you, Edna. Let me consider and I will let you know.”
Edna nodded. “I’ll make a seed cake this afternoon. If I have the time,” she added briskly before leaving the room.
Mina thought of her half-sovereign as she measured tea leaves into the pot and added the hot water. Would it be a good idea to break into it when it constituted her only wealth in the world? It might be a nice gesture to replace Ivy’s bottle of lotion and to buy Edna some scented soap after their kindness toward her.
She was still debating this when the small brass key in the latch of the workbox at her feet caught her attention. Deciding she would look inside while the tea brewed, she lifted the box onto her knee. Inside was a jumble of embroidery tools, sewing needles, silk threads, and fancy buttons. It was lined with blue silk and had lots of dividers for organizing things, so Mina could only imagine that someone had turned it upside down at some point for it have got into such a mess.
Impulsively, she upended it now on the sofa and determined to sort the contents that very minute. She spent an enjoyable twenty minutes reordering the box to her satisfaction and drinking two cups of tea during the process. Then she nipped upstairs to collect her own meagre sewing kit to add to the box. She had a silver thimble and a small pair of sewing scissors in a decorative sheath to add along with a quantity of cheap black darning wool she used for her stockings.
It was only after she had sat back down again that she recalled the matching pair of Staffordshire china dogs
