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Show 173 family?" The thought of returning home gripped Elise, yet she could not answer in words the spectrum of emotions that were warring within her breast. Prentiss went on. "You will be comfortable and well-cared for all the days of your life. You will never want. You will travel. You will mingle with Lords and Ladies. You will have a place of honor in the -family." Elise looked down at the freckled gnarled hands of a scrubwoman that were folded in her lap. They had at one time been her most attractive feature. She remembered that when she first came to live with the Lathrops, at the end of the day she used to secretly rub her hands with lemon, hoping they would stay white and not succomb to the ravages of the sun because of her working in the garden and performing other outdoor tasks. Mistress Hannah had given her lanolin to use to keep her hands soft, but with the passage of time and the continual use of them performing the menial, she could not prevent their becoming leathered. She had finally accepted them as indicative of her working class station. "Me? With Lords and Ladies?" She looked up into the eyes of Prentiss. "You're my sister. The past is the past." Elise nodded in assent. "But the past is also the key to the future." "If you prefer England to France, you may stay |
