Notice: sorry for not updating for while! My life has been insanely busy! Hope you forgive me for being busy. I also wanted to say that the characters Sid, Gus and Ryan aren't mine, they are the creation of Rhys Bowen and I just love them so much that I had to put them in. If you want to see them then they are in the Molly Murphy Mysteries by Rhys Bowen, but they are introduced in book 2.
Secret Vesper
Chapter Thirteen
I woke up late in the morning. Fee, Ann and I had spent the night in the Realms, but we hadn't seen Kiran, who we had expected and had started to spend a lot of time with us. I looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearing 9 o'clock. Fee was still asleep, but Ann's bed was empty. I sat up and pulled my robe on just as Ann opened the door and walked in.
"Morning Gemma," she said. She was glowing just like every time that we came back from the Realms. I just saw Chermona, she said that she's giving everyone the day off since everyone was up late last night." Ann said as she started to pull her hair back. She had started to do other things with her hair besides a bun now that she was on the stage and I have to admit, she looked so much better just with that.
I got up and started to dress and pulled my hair up. It was warm in the city; for once I was glad that I had my light muslin dress. Felicity was up soon after we were and got dressed. Soon we were all ready and headed downstairs for a late breakfast. Chermona was down there, finishing her tea and reading the morning paper. She looked up as we entered.
"Good morning," she said with a smile. "I thought that we would give the girls the day off. Mrs. Kelly said that she and Mr. Fowlson would be willing to take the girls to the park across the street if any would want to, but they can spend their day relaxing. I thought that the four of us and your brother," she nodded to me, "might be willing to come with me to pay a call on some friends of mine."
At that moment Tom came through the door and looked at them. "What am I getting dragged into?" he asked, sitting down with his tea. Chermona laughed slightly, as we all ate.
"Actually, you will be coming with us to make some visits. I have some friends that I think you would enjoy meeting." She said as she stood, "I'll let you finish your breakfast before we go." She said with a smile.
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By ten-thirty we were off; some of the girls were up and eating a small brunch. Mrs. Kelly had promised to look after them, along with Mr. Fowlson, who seemed to enjoy sitting in the sun in the library.
Chermona led us down the street and motioned for us to follow her. She jumped up onto the streetcar, Ann and I easily following and Fee and Tom following more carefully. We paid out fare and were soon speeding across the city. I smiled, feeling the wind in my hair, it ripped at some of my curls and I saw Fee trying to keep a hold of her hat. I laughed and smiled as we stepped off after Chermona.
I recognized where we were, we were in Greenwich Village, near the university. I had been here a few times with some of the other students from the university and had witnessed quite a few oddities that Grandmother would call scandalous. Chermona led the way to Patchin Place, up to a house and knocked on the door. It was opened after a moment by a woman with short dark hair. She took one look at Chermona and a smile broke across her face.
"Currie!" she exclaimed, pulling Chermona into a hug. When she backed away I was able to see she was wearing trousers and a smoking jacket. I looked over to see Tom's shocked expression quickly covered up. "My dear, you must come in, Gus will be so glad to see you and your friends." The woman pulled Chermona into the room and Chermona motioned for us to follow. We walked upstairs and into an open kitchen and dinning area.
"Darling!" the woman called; "You'll never guess who came to visit!" she called as another woman came out of a conservatory. She was in a painting smock over a salwar-kameez. When she saw Chermona, a grin broke across her face.
"Dear," she said with a smile and then looked into the conservatory, "This is perfect timing." The second woman moved back into the room she had come from. When she came back there was a young man in a frilled poetic shirt that was opened at the neck following her. He took one look at Chermona and threw his hand to his heart, gasping.
"My dear Currie!" he said theatrically, "I have been simply pinning for you, and now, here you are!" he said happily, taking her hands and kissing her on each cheek. Chermona laughed and kissed him back. She finally turned to us and smiled slightly.
"I'm sorry," she said, "I fear I have been terribly rude." She suddenly became very proper and brought the two groups closer together. "May I introduce the chaperones for Spence's trip to America, Miss Gemma Doyle and her brother Mr. Thomas Doyle, Miss Felicity Worthington and Miss Ann Bradshaw."
"Now, these are my dear friends, Miss Augusta Walcott, of the Boston Walcott's, Miss Elena Goldfarb and Mr. Ryan O'Hare," Ryan cleared his throat slightly and Chermona laughed, "The great and famous play-write," she said with a laugh and then turned to Ryan. "Was that good enough for you?" she asked, teasing Ryan, who just smiled and nodded.
"It's just wonderful to hear that beautiful voice again," he said, kissing her on the cheek. Chermona laughed and then turned back to us.
"We are very informal here, usually first name basis. If that's alright with you?" she said, not waiting for the answer, "So in that case, you're meeting Gus, Sid and Ryan," she said with a smile.
Suddenly we heard a buzzer going off and Sid looked up. "Oh gosh!" she said, "I forgot lunch!" she said, hurrying into the kitchen. Suddenly I smelled something spicy coming from the kitchen and Gus was looking over at us.
"We've just discovered the beauty of India, Sid and I hope to go there someday, but at the present moment we are just much too busy in the going-ons of New York." Gus said with a smile, "Oh, forgive me, you must stay for lunch. Sid found a wonderful recipe for Indian curry."
Chermona smiled as she nodded, "Of course we'll stay, and I didn't just drop in for a minute of visits. Plus, I believe that Felicity would like enjoy hearing some of the things that you and Sid are doing and I think that Ryan would love to speak to Ann about the theatre." Ryan looked over at Ann with his eyebrows raised.
Gus led the way into the dinning room and quickly set the table. I glanced over at Tom, who looked slightly horrified that the woman we were visiting was doing something that maids did. Sid came out of the kitchen just as we were sitting, with a large pot filled with spicy smelling curry. Sid smiled as she ladled bowls out to everyone along with some flat bread.
We ate dinner, Chermona and her friends catching up with each other. Ann and Ryan got along wonderfully, both talking of the theater. While Felicity started to talk to Gus and Chermona about art, something that Gus was passionate about. Sid and Tom started a spirited argument; apparently Sid thought that women should have the same rights as men. I listened in on their conversation, silently agreeing with Sid and a little put off when Sid asked my opinion. I stuttered slightly, unsure of what to say as Tom stared at me.
I had to agree with Sid, now that I had been in America for two years, I had seen some of the injustices and knew found it unfair that half of the population had no say in what controlled our life. Tom wasn't happy with my answer, but Sid laughed in delight with me. I soon realized that Sid and Gus both were more like Felicity, Ann and I than I would have thought. It was like seeing our American mirror images in them and Chermona. We spent the rest of day with Sid, Gus and Ryan, who simply had to tell us everything about his new play. It was wonderful fun and we spent our time enjoying ourselves, not worrying about class distinction. I even saw Tom loosen up a bit and relax around them. Shame he couldn't always be like this.