Two Hearts That Could Never Meet novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Gray Silk

I put on my coat over the quilt and went down the stairs in my bare feet.

Lawrence slept on, one arm flung across my side of the bed.

I let him.

The shop was dark, the buckets stacked and the floor wet from last night's boots.

I unlocked the front door and stepped out onto the pavement.

The cold went up through my soles.

Constance stood at the edge of the curb in the pale light, in her gray wool coat and no gloves.

I had never seen her hands bare in winter.

"Good morning, Millicent," she said.

"You're standing in front of my friend's shop at six in the morning."

"I know. I walked from Beacon Hill. I wanted to see whether I still could."

Her voice was thin.

She had no pearls. Her hair, which I had never seen out of its knot, was pinned back badly.

"The board met last night," she said. "Nine to one. They want my seat, my vote and my name taken off the east wing."

"Who was the one?"

"The senator. He owes me a favor." She almost smiled. "Lawrence told them what I did, and he did not raise his voice. That was the worst part."

"I'm sorry it was hard to hear."

"No, you're not."

"No," I said. "I'm not."

She nodded slowly.

"I came to give you something."

She drew a key from her pocket. It was the iron one to the Beacon Hill house.

"The house is yours," Constance said. "The guest house, the garden, the contents. I'll go to my sister's in Maine. You can have it all in writing by noon."

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