“I’ll be happy to share my books with you. Maybe you can come upstairs for a few minutes every day and let Miss Blake tutor you, too.”
Eve stared at her lap, twisting her napkin.
“What’s wrong?” Audrey asked.
When Eve looked up, her smile seemed forced. “Nothing. Now it’s your turn to tell me what you’d wish for.”
Audrey didn’t hesitate. “I wish I were as brave as you. You have so much courage.”
Her answer seemed to amuse Eve. “What would you do with your courage once you had it?”
“Well . . . my brother wants to teach me to sail Father’s boat this summer.” A shudder rippled up Audrey’s spine at the very thought of it. “I don’t want to let him down, but I’m afraid to go out on the open water, and it would be even more frightening without Father. I could never take the wheel myself.”
Eve rested her elbow on the table and propped her chin on her hand as if giving the matter some thought. Mother would be appalled. As for Audrey’s fears, Mother would roll her eyes and say, “Oh, for pity’s sake, Audrey.”
“Hmm . . . Sailing a boat would take a lot of courage,” Eve finally said. “Why don’t you start by doing things that are only a little bit scary and get braver gradually? Maybe you could make a list of things and check them off one by one.”
“I’m afraid of so many things, I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Eve laughed the same joyous way she had laughed in the woods the first time Audrey met her. “I think I know one! Remember those beetles the girls put in your bed? I can bring you some dead ones from the scullery so you can get used to them.”
Audrey shuddered as she forced a smile. “That would be very kind of you.”
“It will be our secret. Now, I’ll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell anyone.”
Audrey tried to recall the ritual Eve had taught her. She placed her hand over her heart and said, “Cross my heart and hope to die. I swear by my very life not to tell.”
Eve leaned close and said, “I’m learning to drive an automobile! Williams, your driver, is teaching me.”
“Why do you want to do that?”
“Because I don’t have people to drive me everywhere like you do, and there’s someplace I want to go.”
“Where?”
“To London. I want to put flowers on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. He might be my father, you know.”
Audrey couldn’t imagine such a thing. But Eve was her best friend and she could see this was important to her. “I have an idea,” Audrey said. “We always close up Wellingford Hall and go to our London town house for the Season from April until June, and—”
“I know. My mum has to go with yours and I don’t see her for three whole months. Mrs. Smith says the rest of us have to scrub Wellingford Hall from top to bottom while you’re away.”
Audrey waved her hand to erase Eve’s words. “No, listen. I’ll ask Mrs. Smith if you can work at the town house. Then we could visit the tomb together.”
“Do you think they’ll let me?”
“Maybe . . . if I ask . . .” Audrey didn’t know where she would get the courage—but the longing on her friend’s face made her determined to try.
After that first tea date, Audrey made sure Eve was invited upstairs for tea at least once a week. Little by little, Audrey’s courage grew, especially after Eve delivered two dead beetles for Audrey to hold. Eve paged through the schoolbooks after they’d taken tea and Audrey explained Miss Blake’s lessons. Sometimes Eve took a book downstairs to read. Spending time with Eve made Audrey happier than she’d felt in her life. At last, she knew the joy of having a best friend.
“I’m not the scullery maid anymore,” Eve announced one afternoon, her voice high-pitched with excitement. “They hired a new one and made me the kitchen maid instead.”
“That sounds nice. What does a kitchen maid do?”
“I help Tildy all day, washing and chopping vegetables, peeling potatoes, and running to the storeroom whenever she needs something. I also get to stir things on the stove when she’s doing something else. It gets very busy down there, especially when your mother invites guests for dinner. Tildy yells at me and everyone else!”
“But no more cold, dark scullery?”
Eve laughed. “No. Now I get to work in a boiling-hot kitchen. I don’t know which is worse!”
Audrey didn’t understand how Eve could laugh at such terrible conditions. It made her ashamed to complain about anything.