The Duchess Hoax (World of Jordinia)

Chapter 3: Elsi

ELSI HAD PACED THE STREETS aimlessly till sundown. She'd no place else to go but back to Mrs. Steinar's house, to the little room she presently called home—though, for how much longer, she was afraid to guess.

Mrs. Steinar was setting the table when Elsi returned. The other tenant, Steinar's niece, who worked as a day maid for a well-to-do family uptown, was already seated, serviette in lap. She glanced up at Elsi but did not greet her.

"Ah, Elsibet, just in time." Mrs. Steinar was laying out the cutlery. "Won't you join us for supper?"

Again, not a good time to remind the landlady that she hated being called Elsibet. Especially not if the woman would offer her a hot meal. "Delighted to," said Elsi, relieved at least to know she'd be eating tonight. "Just need to wash up first."

The landlady indicated Elsi's plain white shirtwaist and skirts. "Where is your apron, dear?"

Oh. Elsi wrung her wrists. She hadn't quite been ready for that conversation yet.

"Well...I," she stammered, not knowing where to begin. "The thing is, Mrs. Steinar... I was sort of..." she gulped, "let go from the shop today."

The woman didn't appear cross. Her niece, too, had the courtesy to pretend Elsi hadn't spoken.

Elsi dug into her pockets and proffered her penny, the only money she'd earned, from the single sale of daisies she'd made that afternoon. "I'm sorry this is all I've got for now. I promise I'll come up with the rest soon."

She felt truly pitiful when the older woman responded by gently closing Elsi's fist back over her piddly retributions.

"Not to worry." Mrs. Steinar used a tone one would typically reserve for the sick and dying. "The rent is on me, dear."

Elsi couldn't decide what was worse: being seen as a charity case, or accepting the charity. She lowered her head in shame. "Thank you, ma'am."

After washing up, she sat down for a quiet meal. She helped with the dishes before retreating upstairs to her room. There was a small balcony off to the side, of which she often took advantage on warm nights like those. Perhaps the fresh air would be good medicine to her trampled spirits.

She stepped outdoors, fingers closing over the iron balustrade as she watched the lamplighter tending the streetlights below. She slouched, resting her chin in her hands.

A tiny sound, so faint she almost hadn't heard it, issued beneath her. Elsi peered down.

Out from the shadows crawled a bony white cat—why, the very same from the shop. She knew it had to be, because of the patch of fur missing by its left ear.

"Well, I'll be." In spite of herself, she grinned down at it. "Do you realize the trouble you've caused me today?"

At the sound of her voice, the cat looked up. She couldn't tell whether it recognized her. It watched her, swaying its long tail pensively.

"If you stay there, I'll bring you a bite," she offered. She wasn't sure why she was talking to a cat, only that it felt good to be talking to someone who couldn't make her feel worse than she already did. "But you can't run off on me again."

True to her word, Elsi retreated inside, snuck down to the kitchen, and went to the breadbasket. Beneath the fresh loaf was a hardened slice of bread leftover from the previous batch. She didn't imagine Mrs. Steinar would miss it.

From the cabinet, she borrowed a dish. She filled it halfway with milk and dunked the bread. Careful not to make a sound, Elsi slipped out the kitchen door.