Sky Pirates

Chapter 36

Mildred, who had received a friendly welcome in the Wickliffe's parlor, was now seated next to the vicar's wife who immediately put Edith and Mildred to work balling periwinkle blue yarn from a large skein she had recently purchased from a nearby village sheep farmer. The girls laughed when they momentarily became tangled together.

Once their work was easily underway again, Mrs. Wickliffe asked: "So, to what do we owe your visit, today?"

Mildred looked first to Edith, then at Mrs. Wickliffe, and finally allowed her eyes to settle once again on the ball of yarn that was growing larger and larger with each spin of her hand.

"It's okay, Mildred. You can talk to her. Really you can," Edith prompted her new friend. She would have patted Mildred's hand for encouragement except both of her hands were occupied as a spindle for the skein.

Mrs. Wickliffe lowered the knitting needles she'd been manipulating with a steady click, click, click into her lap and offered her complete attention to the young woman so fearful of speaking.

The silence turned deafening to Mildred who blurted out: "Last night, after your family left our home, my brother turned Miss Canton out of the house. Now, I find I'm without a caregiver." She kept her eyes on the ball of yarn that had grown misshapen at her lack of attention. "That's not really the issue. We have a house filled with servants to care for us and I'm not a little girl anymore. What I need help with..."

Mrs. Wickliffe did not speak while Edith lowered herself to the floor so that she could attempt to make eye contact with her friend. Those eyes offered great encouragement, and when she added a nod and "go on," Mildred smiled at her.

"Oh, Mrs. Wickliffe," Mildred implored, thrusting her tear stained face upward, "it all seems to be falling apart. It's all a mess. As if losing Miss Canton isn't enough, Cole and I had a terrible row this morning over breakfast and our windows. It's all falling apart. I want to run our house, but don't know the first thing about it."

"Now, now, young one, it isn't as bad as all that." Mrs. Wickliffe's voice was motherly and soothing. "We shall unravel everything together, just as you girls are unraveling the yarn. These moments in one's life are simply the raw material that you'll make something wonderful out of."

"Just like the yarn becoming a scarf, Mother's making me a scarf with this," Edith chimed in with her singsong voice.

Mildred placed the ball of yarn in her lap and looked around the room. The walls were freshly painted. The fireplace was sparkling clean. She could actually see her own reflection in the high polish of the wooden floors. As she admired the cleanliness of the house one of the serving girls arrived with a silver tea service on a platter.

"Place it there, please, Sarah," said Mrs. Wickliffe.

The girl, who looked familiar to Mildred, placed the tray, curtsied, and left the room.

Mrs. Wickliffe took a cup from the tray, filled it with hot tea, added a bit of sugar, and handed it to Mildred without asking if she wanted it. Next, after Edith had freed herself from the yarn, she gave a cup to her daughter, and finally poured one for herself. "So, what is it that I can do to help you?" It was obvious from the tone of her voice and the language unspoken, offered by her body language, that Mrs. Wickliffe was sincere in her offering.

Mildred was steadier now. The tea and sympathy had helped her find a familiar voice. "I realized this morning, as I sat at the breakfast table waiting for Cole, who is always late, that if he was now the man of the house, until Uncle's return anyway, that that made me the Lady of the Manor. Yet, I've received no instruction in how to be that or do that. What are my tasks? How do I talk to the servants? Do I have to plan meals and the like, or does the cook take care of that?" Mildred only stopped because she'd grown flush and out of breath.

"Well, it seems we have a great deal to discuss." Mrs. Wickliffe smiled, not only with her lips, but with her entire face. "And, as we help our dear friend, Mildred, you, too, Edith, shall receive an education about how one becomes the lady of her own home. Neither of you are too young for this training. I have to admit that I'm a little surprised that Miss Canton..." she stopped herself. "Well, it matters not how you have found yourself in desire of this knowledge. What does matter is that you have come to me and I will be more than happy to help you."

"Really? You won't find it a bother to teach me these things?"

"A bother? Certainly not. A girl of breeding and class, such as yourself, and you, too, Edith, must learn how best to run a household so that you will one day make the perfect wife to some lord or barrister."

"See!" Edithexclaimed brightly. "I told you Mother would help."

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