The Apothecary's Daughter

Chapter 42

Home. What a strange concept.

The shop looked exactly as she left it three months ago. It was as if no time had passed. The orders were still strewn about her desk. There was lavender left on her work bench still needing to be turned into oil.

Emmeline went upstairs to the family's apartment and her breath caught. Her father's jacket was still hanging by the door, his medical bag still sitting below it. She was almost certain that he would emerge from his room in his plainclothes and ask Emmeline what was for supper. 

This was a silly fantasy, she knew, but she allowed her to indulge in the sweet melancholy for a few moments. She took her father's jacket into her arms and held it close. It smelled of sage and santolina flower. She allowed the memories to flood her senses. She could hear her mother's melodious laugh floating through the apartment as her father told tales of the patients from the day. Emmeline remembered sitting by the hearth, peeling potatoes as her mother prepared a stew. After dinner, her father would sit her in his lap and he and Eleanor would tell her tales of the great Fairy Queen. 

That was a world that would now only exist in memories. Emmeline removed herself from the couch and went back down to the office to look over the ledgers. Mr. O'Malley was coming in the morning and she did not want to be ill prepared. She did not know the extent of the debt her father had accrued but she knew it would not be a minor amount.

~ 

1000 pounds. Her father had left her £1000 in debt. That was over five year's salary if there were no added expenses. Emmeline's heart collapsed when she did the calculations. How could her father leave her in such a state?

Emmeline did not sleep that night. Instead she unpacked her bags and began to go through items she could sell to begin to repay it. It was going to be hard enough to convince the courts to let her run the shop without all the debt.

 But Emmeline was determined. She was not a frivolous girl. She could sell some of the wares in the home. She did not need multiple ballgowns when one suited her just fine. She dug through her jewelry. She would not get rid of any sentimental pieces she decided. As she rifled through what little jewelry she had she came across the hair comb Matilda had given her. Her mind raced back to the night of the ball, the night that ended all "what could have beens". She had no use for the silly comb. It was much finer than anything else she owned, but yet she could not part with it. She then remembered the necklace Lord Hargrave had given her. What a foolish fantasy.  She ran her fingers over the fine pearls. She could sell it if she needed too. Perhaps it could go to another young girl with hope in her eyes, eager to find her Prince Charming.

~

By the time the dawn broke, Emmeline had come up with a plan to pay down the debts, starting with selling the frivolous jewelry she had been given. She would simply explain to Matilda that the fairies needed the items back to fight against the dark witch. It would not be proper for her to have such gifts from Lord Hargrave, especially were he to take a wife.

~

Mr. O'Malley arrived at the shop promptly at nine o'clock. Emmeline dressed in her most masculine looking frock and did her best to appear like a proper businesswoman. 

She led him to the back office where she had organized the ledgers. 

She took a seat in her father's chair and offered the one across the desk to Mr. O'Malley.

"I understand my father has accrued a large number of debts over the years, primarily due to his inability to turn down a patient, and the fact that he had the financial reasoning of an adolescent. But I have a plan to pay them back."