Free The Masque of a Murderer by Susanna Calkins Page A

from her sorrow. “Did you embroider it yourself?”
    An odd, almost smug look crossed Deborah’s features. “A remnant from before I became a Quaker,” she said, holding out the linen for Lucy to examine. “I know that such frippery is not the Quaker way.”
    “She clasped a little posy, a posy full of grace,” Lucy read. “Oh, I remember that tune.” Under her breath, she hummed the first few notes as the song from her childhood came to her mind. Beside her Theodora coughed, and Lucy stopped abruptly, feeling a bit embarrassed.
    “Thou shouldst burn that cloth,” Esther said, all but wagging her finger at Deborah. In a more gentle tone she added, “Best embrace the Lord and leave your worldly goods behind, as he would wish.” The other women nodded.
    “I keep it for the memory of my earlier days,” Deborah explained, dabbing her eyes again. “My mother crafted this cloth for me when I was still a child. Before she died of the galloping sickness.”
    “In time, you will learn, my child,” Joan said, with a kind smile. “Such frippery simply does not matter to those who follow the Light of God. But for now, I think no one minds that thou dost hold something so dear, kept close to thy heart.”
    Sarah turned back to Esther, seeming impatient at the interruption. “Thou wert just about to tell us how thou met thy husband.”
    Esther smiled sadly. “When Jacob met me, he said there was no other woman in the world he could love more than me.”
    Lucy noticed Sarah stiffen. “Had you already become a Quaker then?” Lucy asked hastily so no one would notice Sarah’s expression.
    “No, my dear Jacob had already been called. He was so very glad when my conscience brought me to the cause of the Friends as well.”
    “Is that when you met everyone here?” Lucy asked. Or are some of these people strangers to you? she wanted to add.
    “This piece isn’t about me, is it?” the widow asked. “’Tis about my dear husband, is it not?”
    “Oh yes, of course.” Lucy looked around the room. The other Quakers were also looking at her a bit distrustfully. “I’m just interested in how Quakers became Quakers,” she stammered, “when they decided to, er, leave the church.” She thought her answer sounded lame to her own ears, but to her surprise, the Quakers now looked approving.
    “Is it thy wish to know more about the Friends?” Joan asked kindly. “About our calling?”
    Sarah jumped in then. “Alas, Lucy must return to her work now. Perhaps another time.”
    As they stood up to go, Esther looked straight at Lucy with her shining violet eyes. “My dear Jacob. He had already become a Quaker, and it was he who convinced me of my wayward ways, of the path that I needed to take. Not so long after, we got married in the Quaker way. He announced our intent to wed in every public spot. I felt he was very pleased indeed to marry me.” She smiled at the memory.
    As Lucy wrote down the words, she wondered what a Quaker wedding would be like. No trappings, no finery, that was for sure.
    “Oh, thou art confused,” she said to Lucy, correctly reading her thoughts. “Naturally, we Quakers do not post banns. Instead we openly declare our love and fidelity where the public may hear of our betrothal—in the markets, by the shops, and even before a church, though we do not share their conviction. Jacob took my hands and said, ‘This, my Friend Esther, until death.’” She began to weep, and the women in the room rushed to attend to her.
    After a short spell, Esther wiped her eyes. “I was ever so grateful to be welcomed into thy loving fold,” she said, fluttering her hand to include the women gathered around her.
    Joan looked up at Lucy. “Thou art welcome here anytime, child. Perhaps thou wilt find what thou art seeking with us.” For a second she paused and looked at Theodora, who puckered her lips. “If thou art able to join us, we will be meeting at our Devonshire house in two days’ time, near