Twin Willows: A Novel by Kay Cornelius

creak behind her. She turned, ready to invent some excuse for being caught downstairs before daylight.
    Even in the predawn dimness, Anna realized with relief that the approaching figure was far too tall to be Miss Martin. When Stuart came closer, he raised a finger to his lips to caution silence, then took Anna’s arm and guided her through the back hallway to the rear door, where he stopped beside his luggage.
    Without speaking, Stuart took Anna into his arms and drew her head down to rest on his shoulder. Heedless of the rough cloth of his cloak against her cheek, Anna felt a peace and contentment that she’d never before known.
    After a long moment, Stuart spoke quietly. “I wasn’t certain you’d come.”
    “I wasn’t certain you wanted me to.”
    In reply Stuart tightened his embrace, and Anna raised her arms to circle his neck. Stuart kissed her again, this time with a great deal more feeling and for much longer than he had the evening before. He drew back briefly, then tightened his hold even further and kissed her again. This time, Anna kissed him back with equal passion. They stood thus for several long moments, their bodies pressed together, until Stuart put his hands on Anna’s shoulders and took a half step away from her. “I should never have done that—forgive me.”
    Anna felt breathless and bewildered. “For what?”
    “For a moment, I forgot myself. I would not for the world take advantage of you.”
    Anna wished for more light, so that Stuart could read in her face the yearning of her heart for him. “If that is what that was, then I hope you will keep doing it.”
    Stuart smiled as he bent his head to kiss her again, finally drawing back with a reluctance that matched hers. He remained silent for a moment, then sighed and spoke in a much firmer voice. “I must leave now.”
    “When will you be back?”
    “I don’t know. But believe me, I will come back to you as soon as I can. Good-bye, Anna Willow.”
    “Good-bye to you—Stuart.” It was the first time Anna had spoken his first name, and she could only hope it would not be the last.
    Then he picked up his luggage and left, admitting a blast of freezing air through the door that left Anna shivering in the cold darkness. Savoring the feelings that Stuart had aroused in her with his embrace, Anna longed for them to be repeated.

4

    P HILADELPHIA
    As winter faded into spring, Anna tried hard to accept the fact that Stuart Martin would probably never have a part in her life. She also became more concerned that she had heard nothing from her father. Miss Martin’s Commencement tapestry was almost finished, and the other girls who would be completing their studies were discussing their future plans. Anna could no longer ignore the nagging possibility that something could have happened to Ian McKnight.
    “What will you do after Commencement?” Felicia asked Anna late one March evening when they both lay sleepless in their attic room.
    “I suppose I’ll have to return to the farm. Even though I don’t want to go there and they don’t want me. I won’t know what else to do until I hear from my father.”
    “What if he has met with some kind of accident?”
    Anna had lately asked herself the same question. “I wouldn’t stay with my kin, that’s for certain. I would return to the city, I suppose. There must be hundreds of employers here in Philadelphia eager to take in skilled young ladies like us.”
    Anna’s tone brought the intended laugh from Felicia. “Ah, Anna, you can always find something to be merry about. In your place, I’m not sure that I could.”
    “Well, it’s not June, and I haven’t given up yet,” Anna said.
    On Father or on Stuart Martin, either
, she added to herself. Stuart had not been back since Christmas, but Miss Martin mentioned that he had become a private tutor, and his duties confined him to the Princeton area. In the meantime, Miss Martin had hired Mr. Fogelman, a half-deaf former headmaster who