Unchaining Alice

Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Internally she was crying out for him, begging him to stay with her and protect her but she knew he couldn’t. If he did that then Sarah would happily send her to the police with a smile and a wave.

“He’s got that look in his eyes, Jacqueline,” Eloise said to Alice as soon as she closed the door. “The look that Mr Brown had all those years ago when we first married. Why must you avoid him?”

Alice looked into the kind, grey eyes of the woman who’d only arrived the day before. She’d already proved herself to be a marvellous cook and Alice was sure her waist would expand if she continued to eat her glorious meals. “He cannot belong to me, Madame,” Alice said regretfully. “Just send ‘im away if ‘e comes again.”

Eloise looked at Alice pitifully as she held her hand to Alice’s cheek. She was going to be a great mother figure for the children, Alice was sure, and to herself also. Eloise had no children of her own so she’d been content in working for families with young ones. An orphanage was her next step after her husband had bought out a tavern on the other side of town.

“If you ever wish to talk to me about, I promise I’ll listen.” Eloise went back down the hallway to the kitchen where she had lunch on the stove already simmering away, filling the halls of the building with delicious aromas.

Soon June became July and the rare summer heat was affecting everyone. To keep cool Alice was wrapping wet rags around the necks of all the children, including herself, and was allowing them to stay in their nightgowns all day instead of piling on clothes. Even she made do with just her plain dresses, abandoning the chemise she usually had underneath.

Eloise, who had become a great friend to Alice, had resorted to serving cold meat sandwiches to the children for their meals as opposed to hot stews and casseroles. She truly was a gifted cook. She was much better than Alice ever had been at cooking.

James had come by almost everyday but Eloise had dealt with him for her. It got too hard to see him knowing that if she interacted with him, Sarah would most definitely find out and she would be thrown on a ship back to France to be executed before she had a chance to beg for sanctuary at the church she had been frequenting. But what she loved was that he would come without fail even when he knew he would be turned away. He’d kept his word, he wasn’t giving up on her.

Eloise had never asked for an explanation from Alice. She understood that she had her reasons to remain quiet. Eloise had truly taken Alice under her wing. She’d even been giving Alice English lessons when the children were in the schoolroom with Joseph.

She’d noticed the differences in conversation. She was able to keep up much easier and she no longer got lost on particular words. Eloise had even leant Alice a copy of her Northanger Abbey to practice her reading. She found that she could sound the words out and read them phonetically. Without accents it was much easier to read English than French. Eventually her reading became as fluent as her speech.

One Sunday afternoon, while the children were in Sunday school, Alice was helping Eloise slice up the fruit that Joseph had provided them with.

“Why did you and your ‘usband never have children, Eloise?” Alice asked her. She knew Eloise would be a great mother. She’d proved it over the month that she had been working at the orphanage.                                                                                                       

“I always wanted to,” Eloise replied with a smile. She carefully sliced an apple into segments and placed them on a plate ready to be eaten. “But it never happened.”