Danielle Steel: A Good Woman

“I don’t think it’s going to be as difficult as you think to convince her,” Consuelo said, beaming at him, in the dappled sunlight of the warm October afternoon. Thanks to him, it had been a perfect day. She was only sorry she didn’t have Arthur to share it with, and she suspected that he would have been pleased as well.

They were still chatting amiably with each other, about Josiah’s plan, when Annabelle strode into the garden with her hospital apron on. There was blood on it, and her mother made a face.

“Take that thing off,” Consuelo scolded her, “and go wash your hands. For heaven’s sake, Annabelle, you’re bringing germs into the house.” She shooed her away, and Annabelle returned five minutes later, without the apron, in her severe black dress. She looked almost like a young nun. It was a sober look, but she was wreathed in smiles when she saw Josiah, and the only thing somber about her was her dress. She seemed to be in a great mood.

“I had a terrific day,” she announced, then noticed the champagne they were drinking. She always observed everything, and never missed a detail. “Why are you two drinking champagne? What are you celebrating?”

“Josiah just came to tell me he got a promotion at the bank,” her mother replied smoothly. “They’ve given him all sorts of new accounts to handle. And I thought we should congratulate him. Would you like a glass too?” Annabelle nodded. She loved champagne, and went to get a glass herself, and then duly congratulated Josiah on his promotion, although she never found banking very exciting. It had bored her when her father and Robert talked about it too. She was far more interested in science.

“What did you do at the hospital today?” he asked her gently. He suddenly felt as though she were already his wife, and he was feeling extremely tender emotions toward her, which he couldn’t allow to show.

“Lots of interesting things,” she said, smiling openly at him, and then taking a sip of the champagne. She had no idea she was toasting her own future engagement, and knowing that made both him and Consuelo smile too. They had become co-conspirators that afternoon. “They let me watch while they sewed up a nasty wound.”

“If you tell me about it, I’ll be sick,” her mother warned, and Annabelle laughed, as they shifted the subject to something else. “You’ll have to stop doing that someday,” Consuelo said cryptically. “One day you’ll be grown up and married, and you can’t hang around hospitals, watching them sew up wounds.”

“You do,” Annabelle reminded her with a smile.

“I do not. I carry trays to patients in a far more civilized hospital, and I didn’t have time to do that when you were small. You can go back to it when you’re older.”

“I don’t see why I’d have to stop if I married,” Annabelle complained. “Lots of women have children and still work at the hospital. Besides, I might never marry. Who knows?”

“I don’t want to hear that!” her mother said, frowning, and then turned to Josiah. She could hardly wait for them to be married, and start having babies. It would be a whole new chapter in their lives, and she knew that Annabelle would be a wonderful mother. She was so patient and loving, and she thought she would make an excellent wife for Josiah.

They talked about Hortie’s wedding then, which was only weeks away. She was so busy that Annabelle hardly saw her now. And Josiah said he was going to the wedding. Annabelle quietly said she couldn’t, and then was surprised by her mother.

“I don’t see why you can’t go to the church service,” Consuelo said benevolently. “There’s nothing that says we can’t go to church. In fact, we should probably go more often. You can come home after that, and avoid the reception. But at least you could see Hortie get married. After all, she is your oldest and dearest friend.” And would probably be Annabelle’s matron of honor, Consuelo knew, when she married Josiah.

“I’d be happy to take both of you,” Josiah was quick to offer, as he turned to his future bride, who had no idea what he was thinking. It would be his first opportunity to escort her in public, and he was excited by the prospect.

“I don’t think I should go,” Consuelo said quietly. She wasn’t ready to be out in public yet. “But it would be lovely if you escort Annabelle to the service.”

“Would you like that?” he asked Annabelle directly. She smiled broadly as she nodded.

“I’d love it.” All her friends would be there. Hortie had wanted her as maid of honor, and now she couldn’t do it. This way, at least, she could be at the wedding. And it would be fun to go with Josiah, a little like going with Robert. Her brother had often escorted her to parties, although they had been small ones before her debut. And Hortie was having a gigantic wedding. Eight hundred people had been invited, and more than likely, most were coming.

“We’ll have to find you something to wear,” her mother said thoughtfully. Annabelle would have to wear a suitable black gown, and she had nothing formal in dark colors.

“It’s going to be so much fun!” Annabelle said, clapping her hands, looking like a child as her mother and Josiah smiled at her.

“It’s all going to be fun from now on,” her mother said to her with a loving look. She was so relieved by Josiah’s intended proposal.

And with that, Annabelle put her arms around Josiah’s neck and hugged him. He looked particularly delighted. “Thank you for taking me,” she said happily.

“It’s one of those sacrifices one has to make in life,” he teased her. “I’ll muddle through it.” He could hardly wait for the next six months to pass, and then, with luck, they’d be going to their own wedding. Her mother had the same thought at the same moment, and she and Josiah exchanged a knowing look over Annabelle’s head, and smiled. Annabelle didn’t know it yet, but her future was secure now. It was all her mother had ever wanted for her since she was born.

Chapter 5

Annabelle was almost as excited as Hortie herself, as she dressed for her best friend’s wedding. Her mother had called her dressmaker, and she had whipped up a beautiful black taffeta gown in record time. The bodice and hem were bordered in black velvet. And there was a matching black velvet jacket and hat trimmed in sable, which softened it as the fur lit up her face. Annabelle looked like a Russian princess. And bending the rules about no jewelry during a period of mourning, her mother had loaned her a pair of diamond earrings. She looked exquisite when Josiah came to get her. And so did he, in white tie and tails, and an elegant top hat he’d had made in Paris. They were a spectacular couple, and Consuelo had damp eyes as she watched them. She only wished that Arthur were there to see it. But if he were, perhaps it would never have happened. Josiah had only begun visiting them out of sympathy in their bereavement. So destiny took strange turns and pathways.

Consuelo had urged them to take her car, and Thomas the driver, and they drove to the wedding in the impeccable Hispano-Suiza that had been her father’s prize possession, and was only used for important occasions. As far as Consuelo was concerned, this was an event of significant proportions. It was the first time her future son-in-law would be seen in public with her only daughter. How much more important could it get, except their wedding?

She watched them lovingly as they went out the door, and then went up to her bedroom, lost in her own thoughts. She was remembering the first time she had gone out with Arthur, after he had asked her father for her hand. It had been to a friend’s coming-out ball. And she had been only a year younger than her daughter at the time.