A March to Remember by Anna Loan-Wilsey

crowd.
    â€œNonsense,” Sir Arthur said. “Such a curiosity as this shouldn’t be missed.”
    â€œI hope you’re right, Sir Arthur,” Chester said, shaking his head in doubt.
    I hope so too, I thought, too excited to worry about the repercussions Chester had implied.
    * * *
    â€œHattie!”
    I turned at the sound of my name. Walter was ascending the steps with a tall blond woman on his arm who had Walter’s sparkling blue eyes and brilliant white teeth. She was laughing.
    â€œExcuse me a moment, sir?” I said. Sir Arthur, deep in conversation discussing the relative strength of the British pound with Chester Smith as we waited outside for the senator to rejoin us, nodded slightly.
    â€œI must say this city does agree with me, like a sunflower on a warm summer’s day. I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived, but it’s been marvelous, Walter, simply marvelous. I was saying to Mildred the other . . .” She stopped mid-sentence when I skipped down the flight of stairs to meet them and she saw me for the first time.
    â€œOh, darling boy,” she said, without taking her eyes off me, “who is this charming creature?”
    Walter pulled away gently from the woman who could only be his sister and came to my side, taking my arm. “Who we came to meet,” he said, smiling at me.
    â€œOh?”
    â€œHattie, this is my sister, Mrs. Sarah Clayworth, and this, Sister dear, is Miss Hattie Davish, my intended.”
    Sarah had reached out to offer her hand but let it float in midair the minute she heard Walter’s last words. Only the caw of a crow and the plodding clomp, clomp of the horses in the street filled the silence between us. I braced myself for the coldness that would sweep over Walter’s sister now. As if I were the object of an employer’s displeasure, I kept my professional composure and maintained eye contact. If I were to marry Walter, I would have to stay strong as his wife, even if his family disapproved. Instead, I felt a rush of air as Walter’s sister threw her arms about me. She smelled of lilies of the valley and face powder. I stood there dumbfounded and wasn’t sure if I should embrace her in return. As she didn’t seem inclined to let go, I lightly set my hand on the woman’s back. Her peacock blue dress was made of the softest silk.
    â€œI’m so pleased!” she said, releasing me. She placed one hand on my shoulder and another on Walter’s. “Yes, very pleased indeed. You are most welcome to the family.”
    â€œThank you, Mrs. Clayworth,” I said, still stunned by my reception. How could the daughter be so different from the mother? Obviously his sister was more like Walter than I’d expected.
    â€œDo call me Sarah and I’ll call you Hattie. We are soon to be sisters, are we not?”
    â€œYes, I suppose we are.” Walter smiled at my shyness but knew I had not been expecting such a warm reception.
    â€œSo you aren’t cross with me for not telling you about the engagement, Sarah?” Walter said.
    â€œCross? Why would I be cross? You told me you were coming to visit and you had a surprise. I wouldn’t have wanted you to spoil the surprise now, would I?”
    So Walter hadn’t told her about our engagement after all. Wasn’t that why he’d had luncheon with her instead of accompanying me? Was he, like me in speaking with Sir Arthur, unsure how to broach the subject? Or was it simply to surprise her, as she thought? But what else hadn’t he told her? Did she know I worked for a living? That I was an orphan? My hopes that Sarah was different from her mother were premature if she knew nothing about me.
    â€œShall we join the others?” Walter said.
    â€œYes, there’s Daniel.” Sarah picked up her skirts slightly and proceeded up the stairs.
    Walter and I followed. In the few minutes we’d been talking, Senator Smith had