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.“It’s time for me to return home.I’ve been sufficiently long on my outing.” She looks at Hannah.“Tell Rebecca she can blame me if the children grow spoiled.”“Let me escort you,” Kelman says; he cannot bring himself to add “Miss Beale.” He knows he shouldn’t say “Martha” in this public place.“Thank you, no, Mr.Kelman.That would not be seemly—or befitting to my father’s memory to be seen in the company of a recent acquaintance.” She pauses, her display of energy now spent.“You will apply to Mr.Simms, will you not, if you have further news concerning my father’s death to impart? Or of this … this hermit …? Mr.Simms will be … he will be my ears and my mouthpiece for a while …”“I would prefer to talk with you directly … should I gain information—”“No.That will not be possible.” Martha seems about to speak further; instead, her gloved right hand reaches up and lightly touches her neck.“Let us say farewell, then, Mr.Kelman.” Then she summons what little remains of her strength and walks in a slow, straight line from the market building.It’s ruth who spots the girl running.Running and crying, then stumbling and nearly falling in her haste to escape the Shambles.“Stop, child!” she calls out, and hurries behind, catching Ella in her arms after a block-and-a-half chase.“Stop.Child.What ails you? Has someone done you harm?”Ella stares up at the Negress.Her first instinct is to flee; her second is to rail against her captor; her third is to sag into the taller woman’s arms.“A lady bought me oranges,” she finally manages to mumble.Ruth gazes into the child’s fearful eyes.“And were you afraid of what she might demand in exchange for the oranges?”“No …” Ella looks down at her feet.“But she wanted to know about my mother …”Ruth nods; she continues to hold the frightened girl.“What’s your name, child?” she asks at length.“Ella.”“Well, Ella, mine is Ruth.Do you know that name from the Bible?”Ella shakes her head.“Ruth was a young widow lady.When her husband died, her old mother-in-law, who was also widowed, decided to leave the country of her husband’s family and return to her own people.Ruth went with her, although this meant traveling to a far-off land.” Ruth pauses; Ella continues to regard her.“But this Ruth was very good and very brave, and when her mother-in-law told her to lie with powerful King Boaz, she did—”“The king paid the mother-in-law?” Ella asks with a quick, angry scowl.Ruth also frowns.“No.It was not like that … I think her mother-in-law believed the king would marry Ruth if he slept with her.”“Ah,” murmurs Ella.“And the child this Ruth and her king would make together would also become a king, the grandfather of an even greater king named David.And so Ruth would be remembered forever.”“Ah,” Ella repeats, but with less enthusiasm.Royal people are of little interest in her world.Then she stands straighter, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.“And do you have a son you call David?” she asks.“I have no son.I did once, but I do no longer.”Ella doesn’t question this statement, although she recognizes the great sadness in Ruth’s voice.“I had a mother once, too,” she says in empathy.Ruth nods.“And a father also, I’ll warrant.” Her tone is gentle, but Ella stiffens instantly.“My father sold me,” Ella states, but the sound of the words is defiant rather than sorrowful.“And who do you dwell with now, that you are running away from fine ladies shopping in the Shambles?” Even as Ruth poses this kindly query, she realizes that she’s heard the girl’s voice before.“I saw you walking some days ago … with a man I thought was your parent—” Then Ruth grasps Ella’s shoulders in steely and determined fingers, staring hard into her face.“What do you know about the club-footed tailor who escaped from Cherry Hill? Josiah, by name—?”But Ella, quick as a flash, shakes herself free and is on the run again [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]