Jane Orcutt - All the Tea in China

My heart stirred. I too often forgot about those beyond our university setting. Oxford had its share of thriving trade and prominent town members, as well as the academicians and servants of the university. Yet Christ Church itself hovered above a collection of unseemly and no doubt disease-ridden hovels, which were too easily ignored in the constant quest for learning and commerce.

Uncle Toby peered at me. “Is this something you wish to do, Izzy?” he asked softly, evidently reading the expression on my face. To Snowe he said, “My niece is tenderhearted to a fault.”

Snowe rocked on his heels, digesting this bit of information, one finger still at his lips as though preventing himself from saying more.

“I would see your group’s work in action, Mr. Snowe,” I said. “Provided Uncle Toby and I will not be a burden to you.”

Uncle chuckled. “Not me, dear child. I have work to attend to tomorrow. Flora may accompany you. Mr. Snowe, I trust my niece’s curiosity will be satisfied. And perhaps her heart uplifted.”

Snowe positively beamed. “Miss Goodrich?”

I glanced at Snowe then Uncle Toby then back to Snowe. “I… would be delighted,” I said, hoping that once again I had not spoken or acted in haste.

What dress does a young lady wear to serve the poor?

I brooded over it at great length until Flora solved the issue by thrusting a white cotton batiste with vertical blue stripes into my hands. “This will look lovely on you, Miss Isabella. Especially with that new blue-ribboned poke bonnet.”

Thank goodness for Flora. I had an eye for fashion and normally knew just what to wear, but I was quite at a loss that day. I certainly was not dressing for Phineas Snowe, but I suppose I wanted to make an impression on the young lady who would be joining us. It is quite true that ladies do not dress for gentlemen but for other ladies.

Mr. Snowe arrived promptly as scheduled, escorting Flora and me to the waiting carriage. There we were introduced to a Miss Julia Whipple, and I knew instantly that all fashion worries had been for naught. She was clothed in the most unimaginative brown cotton dress and matching bonnet I thought I had ever seen. Oddly, she did not seem to notice my clothes, glancing away shyly as we were introduced. No wonder she sought to become a missionary. She obviously lacked the fortitude for society and its graces.

We spoke little during the ride, which was blessedly short. As the familiar streets around the university gave way to a meaner, dirtier area, Flora drew close to me. Ragged children with dirty faces ran after our carriage, shouting to us for money. Old men in tattered clothes staggered aimlessly down the dirty, unpaved road. A woman wearing an entirely too revealing dress and garish shawl called out to Phineas as we alit from the carriage carrying baskets of food and blankets. He approached her, and she smiled, angling the shawl off her shoulders. However, he spoke a few quiet words, then handed her a loaf of bread. She shrugged but accepted it, then called out to a young girl, who took the bread and ran up the street while the woman moved in the opposite direction.

“Flora,” I whispered, “is that a Cyprian?” I had heard of women who accepted money from men in exchange for favors.

“Yes,” she said, her lips tight. “I am sorry that you should see it.”

I knew such existed, of course, but instead of revulsion, my heart melted. The poor girl was younger than me, I was certain. Miss Whipple seemed equally disturbed, glancing away to shield her eyes, obviously shocked by the brazen display, or perhaps she was afraid.

I felt a moment of fear myself, then inwardly chided myself. Snowe would not bring us to a desperate situation. He had chosen to do God’s work, but he was also a gentleman. He would not put three ladies in danger.

Behind the spectacles, Snowe’s eyes seemed sad, or perhaps it was merely a reflection of the sun, which oddly enough did not seem to shine so bright in these sooty streets. He took Miss Whipple’s arm. “Are you all right?” he said.

She nodded, squaring her shoulders. “Where should we begin to serve?”

I had no designs on Phineas Snowe, of course, but something in the way he beamed at Julia Whipple’s eagerness made me want to be noticed as well.

“Perhaps we should split up,” he said. “Miss Goodrich and Miss Florey can take one side of the street, and Miss Whipple and I the other.”

“If I may differ, perhaps we should all remain together,” I said.

“I agree,” Flora said, pulling her pelisse closer as several children raced past, their grimy hands outstretched.

“Very well,” Snowe said. “Let us begin.”

He walked boldly to the nearest door and knocked. A girl of perhaps four and ten answered, her face expressionless as Snowe stated we were there to provide food and clothing.

She stepped back without a word, hanging her head. We entered the cramped home, or should I say hovel, for though it was obviously carefully tended, there was no ignoring the decrepit nature of the rotting beams and walls, the decayed wood floor, and the bugs that scuttled into the walls. A poorly ventilated chimney allowed smoke to seep into the room, while something vile smelling bubbled in an iron pot over the fire. We ladies coughed. Loud snores emanated from behind a curtain in the corner of the room.

An elderly woman rocked in a chair by the fire, staring at us blankly.

To my surprise, Snowe knelt beside her and spoke softly. “Is that your husband behind the curtain?”

She nodded, yet she never ceased rocking. “I wouldn’t try to speak to ’im, though. ’E’s a bit cup-shot, sir.”

Snowe touched her hand. “I am sorry to hear that, madam. Please accept some of the food we have brought for your family. Do you need blankets?”

The gentleness of his voice-still a great surprise to me!-must have swayed her vacant expression, for she turned to him then to the rest of us. “Bless ye. Thank ye. We could use a bit of warmth for the cold nights.”

Snowe nodded at me, and I reached into the large basket I held and placed two coarse woolen blankets on the table. He turned back to the woman. “I wish we could do more,” he said.

She nodded as if to say she understood. Snowe rose to his feet, and he and Miss Whipple left bread and cheese on the table beside the blanket. He motioned us to leave, and the expressionless girl showed us out.

Back on the street, I somehow found my voice. “Why was her husband abed in the middle of the day? I have never heard of an ill person snoring like that.”

Snowe sighed. “He is given to much drink. It is sad enough for him but sadder still for his family.”

“He should provide for them as a gentleman should,” Flora said.

“He is no gentleman, Miss Florey,” Snowe said. “He has not the benefit of birth as many in England and therefore finds it difficult to make a better life for himself. I am in agreement that he should provide for his family, however, and I pray that someone will show him the error of his ways. Unfortunately, it cannot be me, for I must return to China.”

“They are so poor here,” I murmured, glancing back at the house, my heart stirring with pity.

“They are indeed,” Snowe said. “Yet even they would be richer than many in China.”

I had no response, for I could not fathom such poverty. I had read of such situations, of course, but literature often made the condition seem noble or the poor at least responsible for their dire situation. The woman and her daughter could not be faulted for the man’s decision to drink. What could I do to help?

Mr. Snowe took Miss Whipple’s arm again and led the way to the next house. Flora and I fell silently in step behind them, clutching our baskets as though for dear life. I felt like a kitten who had just opened its eyes for the first time and, upon opening them, was quite shocked to learn of its surroundings.