Innocent Darkness by Suzanne Lazear Read Free Book Online

a scientist or inventor be considerable a respectable profession for a woman?
    After a soft rap on the open door, another girl entered. This one had neatly plaited, wheat-colored hair, topped by a white fabric cap. She wore a blue, high-necked dress with white lace, buttons, and a starched white apron. The dress hung to the floor in soft folds and held the appearance of a uniform. That wasn’t what they wore … was it?
    “Your tea, Miss Gregory?” The girl carried a silver tray set with a tea service and was shorter, younger, and plumper than Rosemarie had been. Her strong and slightly calloused hands did more than embroider and wave a fan.
    “Thank you, Claire,” Miss Gregory replied.
    Claire set the tray on the table and turned. “Anything else, Miss Gregory?”
    Miss Gregory stiffly smiled. “We have little in the way of service staff here at Findlay House. Instead, the girls assist in upkeep. This provides discipline and teaches them how to run a household efficiently.”
    “Even manual chores?” Mama’s lips pursed in disapproval. Although fine ladies did many things around the house, manual chores weren’t among them. Noli privately wondered who would clean the house and do laundry. Not only was her mama too tired at the end of the day, but such tasks were below women like her. She might be distressed gentry and forced to work, but she’d never stoop to scrubbing her own floors and would never admit Noli did.
    Miss Gregory poured the tea. “Here at Findlay we find hard work good for the soul. It pushes out impurities. The harshest of household tasks are usually meted out for punishment. Girls do equal parts work around the house, schoolwork, and lessons on decorum, spending free time sewing, playing an instrument, sitting in the garden, and for some, learning skills to make them productive in society. Claire is learning to cook.”
    Noli didn’t mind hard work, but her stomach still wouldn’t unclench. Something about this place just felt wrong. What, she didn’t know.
    “How long have you been here, Claire?” Officer Davies asked.
    “Nearly a year, sir.” She didn’t meet his gaze.
    “Do you like it here?” Concern lurked in Mama’s eyes. Good.
    “Findlay’s a wonderful place.” Her words felt rehearsed and insincere.
    Miss Gregory gave a curt nod. “Thank you, Claire. You may return to the kitchen now.”
    Claire curtsied and left. She seemed nice enough, unlike that stiff, mindless Rosemarie.
    “Claire is one of our girls making very good progress. Being unmarriageable, we’re teaching her to cook and bake so she can get a position at a fine house.”
    What made her unmarriageable? Plumpness might be unfashionable, but some men liked women with certain large parts. She didn’t seem brain-addled.
    During tea, Miss Gregory went over the curriculum and expectations. Noli sat up straight, not that her corset permitted her to slouch. Ankles crossed demurely, she kept her gloved hands folded in her lap when not holding her teacup. Every time she bit her lip or twisted her hands her mother glared. Nothing about this place seemed to put her at ease.
    “Would you prefer being assigned to mending and sewing, Magnolia? Being a dressmaker’s daughter, I expect you’re quite accomplished already. Do you wish her to be trained?” Miss Gregory asked her mother.
    Mama took a sip of tea. “I’m a dressmaker out of necessity, since my husband disappeared, which I explained in the cable. I’d like to have Noli educated as a lady in order for her to make a match and carry on our family’s good name.”
    “I see.” Miss Gregory looked down her nose at Noli as if she found it to be preposterous but wasn’t about to say it out loud.
    “May I work in the gardens?” Noli asked softly. “I’m fond of bo—” Botany probably wasn’t ladylike. “Flowers … and flower arranging.”
    “Noli grows lovely roses.” Mama smiled, pride radiating in her voice. She always kept vases of them in the