The Shoemaker

by Lisa Prysock

  “Mark my words; they shall come for the ball this evening. Ye shall have no need of entertainment,” Kingston informed them. “Northampton and Glad Crown folk never let a blizzard deter them from any dance. The losers shall have to perform the next evening.” The ladies erupted with laughter, smiles, and began dancing jigs around the room.

  Joyous chaos ensued as Mrs. Glenwood addressed the Duke: “Beggin’ yer pardon, my Lord, but, in all fairness, we did not expect anyone to come. May we be excused? Mr. Andrews shall have to take upon our responsibilities for the tournament. We have too much to do before eight o’clock in the evening! Hattie and the house servants must come with us at once.”

  “Have no fear, Mrs. Glenwood. I baked the cakes last night,” Mrs. Childers beamed.

  “Oh, Polly, ye are a God send!” Mrs. Glenwood breathed.

  “Just the same, you may be excused ladies. I know you have much to do,” Kingston relented as Alton stepped forward. “Yes, you may have the footmen, Alton.”

  Servants scattered to the kitchen and the Servant’s Hall. Ladies’ maids didn’t even wait to be excused. They ran behind their joyful ladies up the staircase to ready their ball gowns. There was no hope of completing an extra round in the tournament as the ladies scattered to prepare for the evening, leaving the gentlemen to play without the others.

  “If I win, you must announce your engagement tonight, Kingley!” Maguire tossed the shuttle into the air at the Duke who hit it straight back at Maguire.

  “I haven’t had a moment alone to ask if that is agreeable…” Kingston retorted as Maguire fired the shuttle back. Kingston shot it toward Crane and finished his sentence, “You’ll get me into a fine kettle of fish with my bride! It took forever to get her to say yes.”

  “A whole week!” Crane cajoled as his paddle hit the shuttle toward Boggs. Maguire rolled his eyes at Kingley and echoed Crane’s response.

  “So you have popped the question!” Boggs said as he returned the shuttle from Crane and fired it as hard as he could at Maguire. They seldom played the game as it should be played when not in the company of women. Maguire hit the shuttle with his paddle sending it toward Kingston.

  “If this game had a net,” the Duke ran for the shuttle and swung his paddle hard, directing the shuttle back toward Maguire, “right in the middle… something on wooden legs… it would catch on rather well I think.”

  “A net…?” Maguire laughed as he dove for the shuttle. He landed hard but managed to save the shuttle from hitting the ground. He swung the paddle and directed the shuttle toward Crane. “What a peculiar idea! I don’t think it would catch on…”

  Carl fussed over the lighting of a yule log in the great fireplace of the Ball Room that somehow the servants had managed to rustle up in spite of the weather. Though occasionally the windows rattled from the winds outside, they had plenty of candlelight, warmth, food, cheer, and laughter throughout the house on that second day of the blizzard after the tournament. Andrews returned to his cottage at the end of the row of stables and barns, holding firmly onto the rope through the whirling snow. There he found his wife cleaning his front office with her dusting cloth.

  He stomped his boots on the rug after he closed the front door to shake the snow off and entered the office with a grin the likes of which she hadn’t seen in many months. “The Annual Christmas Ball is on for tonight, Mrs. Andrews! And I’ve overheard something most encouraging! It looks as though our young Duke has found himself a wife after all! We shall get to keep our jobs! Put on your finest dress, my dear. We shall celebrate with cake and dancing after supper!”

  “Why are you in such a state of tears Beatrice?” Miss Lyndon asked as she returned to her room after an invigorating morning and a late afternoon tea in the Morning Room after the tournament. There she found Beatrice clinging to a freshly laundered shift she was about to lay out for that evening’s wear, trembling and tearful.

  “Oh, Miss Lyndon! I am in the possession of knowledge which makes me feel gravely ill and puts me at a great disadvantage. If I tell you, and if it comes out that I have told you, then I could be accused of something I did not do.”

  “What on earth? Tell me what it is. I will try my best to keep your name clear of the matter.”

  “Yes, ma’am… I knew you would know what do. ‘Tis Lady Myriah ma’am; I found all of those things… the items everyone is missing … in her room in a bureau drawer.” Beatrice began to cry again, harder this time. “I feel so awful and I do not know what I should do. You do believe me, don’t you? I didn’t take those things, but I would have no proof if she is exposed and attempts to blame me.”

  Catherine considered the matter prayerfully, remembering how quiet Lady Myriah had been on Wednesday evening. “Yes, of course, I believe you. I’m so very saddened to find that one of these ladies… one of our ladies among us… is involved in this dreadful business of petty thievery.”

  Beatrice nodded, sniffling, her lace cap bobbing emphatically. “I was only trying to find her a quality pair of gloves to lay out with tonight’s ball gown… and that’s when I found all of those missing items in one o’ her drawers.”

  “I wonder why Lady Myriah would do such a thing,” Catherine remarked softly. “Perhaps her family has fallen on hard times. Beatrice, let us pray for guidance. I am not certain of what to do.”

  Beatrice nodded. Together, they prayed silently.

  Almost instantly after they had prayed, Catherine heard the still, small voice again. Just show her mercy. Lead her back to me. Catherine’s eyes widened. “I know what to do.”

  Beatrice took a deep breath but still appeared a tad skeptical. She added a few logs to the fireplace as the blizzard rattled the windows. “I don’t want to lose my position at Hillbrook Hall, ma’am.”

  “Don’t worry,” Catherine insisted. “The Lord will direct my path.”

  “If you say so, Miss Lyndon… ‘Tis such a shame… Lady Myriah has so many beautiful gowns and a bright future. Some of her shoes and gloves are beginning to look worn, but she could sell a few of those gowns and buy all of those items she has apparently taken. She has twice the number of gowns that you have in her wardrobe.”

  “’Tis very sad when we do not see a clear path and we stumble around making poor choices,” Miss Lyndon replied. “I suppose I should buy some new frocks and gowns soon, but with the weather so cold; our busy social schedule; the house full of guests; Christmas upon us; I haven’t had a spare moment to consider much shopping. I would rather wait until the holidays are over.”

  Beatrice nodded, efficiently helping her slip out of the brown and peach day dress and into the rose silk ball gown with the demi-train. The gown featured a hidden wristlet sewn into the train to hold the train up when she danced. An empire waist with a long bow that tied in the back of the gown and enormous puffed sleeves completed the gown’s simplistic beauty. She took extra time to style Winnie’s hair with rose silk ribbon woven into the braided coil at the crown. She parted the rest of Winnie’s hair and used an iron heated above the fire in the fireplace to make three curls on each side of her part. Then she pinned tiny silk rosettes in her hair around the crown and made a few wisps of hair look elegantly curled. Beatrice handed her a cream lace shawl trimmed in fringe and the rose silk slippers.

  “Oh Miss Lyndon, you look just beautiful. You’ll surely need this dance card, too,” Beatrice added, giving her the little card in the shape of heart attached to a gold thread that dangled from the wrist. “Lady Anne-Marie asked me to give one of these to all of the ladies.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I’ll need that if Kingston…” Catherine stopped herself from saying another word as she reluctantly pulled on her longest pair of white gloves and slid the card on her wrist.

  “… Dances with you all evening,” Beatrice finished for her as Catherine pinched her cheeks for color.

  Catherine and Beatrice exchanged looks and burst into joyful laughter. “I suppose everyone has heard…” Catherine laughed.


  “The pearl bobs for earrings and the pearl necklace…?” Beatrice inquired. “Yes, everyone has heard… and I see you are wearing a new ring…” Catherine nodded and blushed, admiring her wedding ring. The pearls had been a rare and special gift from Mama and Father on her eighteenth birthday. She touched the pearl necklace after Beatrice closed the clasp, remembering how much she cherished the gift and her family, in spite of how difficult and impoverished life had been over the years. They had love, faith, peace, and for the most part, joy. Those were the things that mattered most. She realized she wouldn’t trade those things for anything in the entire world.

  “I’d best hurry if I am to find Lady Myriah alone. I think it best if I have a little heart to heart with her. Which room is she occupying again?”

  Moments later, Winnie found her way to the Blue Room and knocked on the door, hoping to find Lady Myriah without a roommate at hand. The Lord must have answered her prayer on that count as Lady Myriah opened the door to reveal that she alone occupied the pleasant guest room at present.

  “If I may come in, I need a moment of your time.” Catherine pulled her shawl close and Myriah stepped aside, surprised to see Miss Lyndon knocking at her door.

  “Do come in, but please hurry as Lady Frances has already gone down to the Drawing Room. She is expecting me to join her shortly. We wanted to be dressed early and stitch our samplers until guests arrive.” Lady Myriah crossed the room to the vanity and continued applying last minute touches to her hair, selecting jewelry, and adding a dab of perfume to her wrists and ears.

  “This will only take a few minutes, if you are cooperative,” Miss Lyndon replied, closing the door.

  “Cooperative? Of course I will oblige you. What is it that you require?”

  “I will get right to the point, Lady Myriah. I need to know why you have taken all of those missing items when you very obviously come from such a fine family and have so many other resources at your disposal.”

  Lady Myriah swung around to face Winnie, the demi-train of her emerald green silk gown rustling as she turned. She looked stunned and shocked to see that Miss Catherine Edwina Lyndon had spoken such an accusation. She stumbled over her words, appearing appalled. “Pardon me? I… I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “Oh, I believe you do. I’ve had a detailed talk with one of the maids. Your secret will soon be well known. ‘Tis no avail to try to hide the matter now…”

  “Which maid…? I shall have her sacked at once for making such accusations.”

  “’Tis no use Lady Myriah. The maid doesn’t want to lose her job any more than you desire me to inform Kingston. Now you may confess, or shall I go at once and invite the Duke into this argument?”

  There was a long pause while Myriah weighed her options. “Who will even miss those items? These girls have everything and then some…” She suddenly burst into tears, seeing she had none left. After pacing the length of the bedroom three times, she plopped down hard at the vanity bench and buried her face in her hands, sobbing. “M-m-my family has n-nothing… and you-- you are about to marry the man I came here to marry; the only man I know who could save my family from financial ruin and devastation.”

  “Are you telling me that your family has fallen on hard times-- so it doesn’t matter if you steal from other people and take their possessions?”

  “Of course not!” she snapped, tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s just that they have so much… and my family is suffering so horribly. I have several younger sisters at home and a number of cousins, my mother… an aunt. I wanted t-t-to bring them… s-something for Christmas. I’m tired of seeing them do without. It’s much harder when one is born wealthy and suffers loss. They haven’t been able to adjust.”

  “Lady Myriah, I am very sorry to hear about the suffering of your family, but no matter your intentions, your methods must not break the Lord’s commands. The Lord is very clear about how He feels about the possessions of other people. He wants you to come to Him when you have needs instead of trying to take matters into your own hands.”

  Lady Myriah stared at her numbly. She looked as though only a mere sliver of truth was beginning to dawn. “I suppose you are going to be like all the rest and tell me everything is going to be all right and walk away, leaving me to grapple with all of this.”

  “I can’t repair your problems, Lady Myriah. I wish that I could, but only God can set things right for you and your family. I do know that if you will ask Him for help, He will hear from Heaven if you really mean to follow Him. He hears our prayers. He may not always answer them in the way that we want or expect, but He hears us and gives us what is best for us. You know that marrying the Duke for wealth would be a detestable reason to embark upon a marriage. There has to be something more to it than that; some sort of divine governance and romantic inclination on the part of both parties.”

  Lady Myriah burst into more sobbing. “Of course I know all of that, and I realize he is smitten with you. I do want the two of you to be very happy together. It’s just been so hard lately. I don’t know why I have behaved this way. It’s not like me at all…”

  Catherine drew near and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know… it is so easy to take a turn down the wrong path. God asked me to come here and show you mercy, and lead you back to Him. He is waiting for you with open arms if you will ask for His forgiveness, return those items to their proper owners, and then trust Him. He will get you through this. He is a merciful, just, and kind God… full of compassion when we turn to Him with all of our heart.”

  Myriah nodded. “I really do know all of this and somehow… I seem to have lost my way, forgotten what I should do in a time of trouble. Of course I will return the items...” A steady stream of tears ran down her face. She swirled around in her seat and lay a weary head on the vanity, her whole body sobbing.

  “We all lose our way sometimes and need to find our way back, even me,” Catherine added gently sitting down beside Lady Myriah. She paused and then continued, allowing the tone of her voice to become uplifting. She needed no further berating. She needed someone to take her by the hand and befriend her. “A little birdie told me you have a number of beautiful gowns… many more than I do, for instance. It’s just a thought, but perhaps you might consider selling a few of your gowns to raise the funds for Christmas gifts. If not, if you ask the Lord for help, He will provide a way where there seems to be no way. In fact, perhaps you may want to consider selling me a few of your extra dresses. I have a little set aside which I would be willing to part with for a few attractive gowns that need minimal adjustments. It would help me a great deal, too, since I haven’t had time to make any purchases for new gowns.”

  Lady Myriah wiped her tears away with a handkerchief and hiccupped. “You would? You would purchase my old dresses so I can purchase gifts for my little sisters, my Mama, my dear cousins, and my aunt?”

  “I certainly would consider it if you promise to completely repent of stealing from others and return those items to their rightful owners at once. I hate to see you suffer so… and I am not looking forward to spending hours at a seamstress in this weather… when I could perhaps have the dresses come to me right here.”

  Lady Myriah rose and looking Miss Lyndon over briefly, she flung open the mahogany wardrobe doors. “We do seem to be about the same build and stature. Please, after you pray with me,” she said as she wiped more tears away with her handkerchief, “take your pick, Miss Lyndon!”

  Catherine thought the Good Lord had the oddest way of working things out for her good in ways she did not expect. Somehow, the Lord had used her to help a distressed young lady, while at the same time, filling some of her own needs. Though it was not filling her yearning desire for a new dress all her own yet… it was a start. In time, all in good time, she told herself. Cultivate patience she told herself.

  Ezra 3:11, KJV

  And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy e
ndureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

  Chapter 13

  The Wedding Shoes

  Friday was also St. Thomas Day. The traditions of the day passed unfulfilled as carolers were not able to make it to Hillbrook Hall in the terrible weather. This was a disappointment to everyone. The weather howled louder than ever. The snow seemed to whirl up faster, howling and threatening them whenever they opened the doors or windows to check the weather. The ladies grew disappointed and concerned about the snow as they attempted to pass the last hour before the event, waiting to see if guests would indeed venture out in the worst blizzard of the year for the Duke’s Annual Christmas Ball. Obviously the carolers had opted to stay home than to risk their lives out in the weather. Would the Ball indeed commence that evening? Their nerves were on edge. They passed the time languishing with stitching samplers and making paper flowers in the Drawing Room while they wished they were able to pass out food to carolers, and hoped that none would risk their lives for a loaf of bread or a pie; hoping that the weather would permit guests to come to the Ball.

  “Have no fear, they carolers shall call when the weather breaks,” Lady Anne-Marie tried to console the ladies who voiced concerns for the poor and the disappointment of having been unable to gift any carolers.

  “The poor and the widows have not horse drawn sleighs to ride out in this weather,” Miss Lyndon had pointed out gently.

  “Ah, I had not considered that,” Lady Elizabeth remarked. “Here we are being selfish and glum to be unable to not carry on the tradition of St. Thomas Day, sulking over the gifts some of the household made to give them, and they have not even a means to travel here nor safe weather to travel in.”

  “Nor likely the stamina to survive this weather if they have been low on provisions or are elderly and cannot take exercise,” Lady Amiée-Jo added.