Victorian San Francisco Stories by M. Louisa Locke Page B

us back those china dolls from his trip to New Orleans. Don’t you remember, Millicent? And Jasper hid yours in the privy! Jasper was only seven at the time, but he was always getting into trouble. Mrs. Fuller, you r emember, Jasper was our baby brother, and we were so used to taking care of him that we came all the way out west, just to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble out here. Of course…”
    Annie saw Miss Millie place her hand on her older sister’s arm, and the flow of remini scences faltered. She found herself holding her breath, waiting to see if Miss Millie would say something. The two women sitting in front of her, in their identical black-silk dresses, were physically so alike they could be twins. They were both tiny, with ramrod straight postures, white hair parted neatly in the center and swept back under identical lace caps, and merry light-blue eyes. Miss Minnie seemed to walk a little more stiffly than her younger sister, and the effects of a lifetime of needlework (slight reddening around the eyes and swollen knuckles) were more prominent in her as well. But one didn’t need to look that closely to determine which of the two women was which, because the difference was unmistakable. The elder, Miss Minnie, never stopped talking, and the younger, Miss Millie, never said a word. Ever. The only reason Annie knew that she could speak was that Kathleen, her maid, had heard them talking to each other up in their attic workroom. Annie had always wondered if Miss Minnie spoke so much because her sister didn’t or if Miss Millie had given up trying to speak around her extremely loquacious older sister.
    Annie saw Miss Minnie look quickly at her younger sister, and then she began to speak again. “Mrs. Fuller, Millicent has reminded me that Miss Kathleen mentioned that your nice young man, Mr. Dawson, was stopping by this evening, and we wouldn’t want to inconvenience you. Of course, back when I was young, it was considered a lady’s prerogative to keep a gentl eman waiting.”
    Annie took advantage of the brief pause that followed this last statement, and she said, “Please, Miss Minnie, do tell me how I might be of service to you and your sister. Do you need anything to make your rooms more comfortable? Mrs. O’Rourke had mentioned that you could use an additional lamp in your work room now that the days are growing so short.”
    “Oh, Mrs. Fuller, no, we are quite comfortable. No one could be more obliging. No, it is your advice we need. ‘A trouble shared is a trouble halved,’ I always say. We are quite out of our depth, you see. But we feel we must do something. It is our moral responsibility. But sister and I don’t quite agree on how to proceed. Millicent suggested that you might be able to help. Because of Madam Sibyl. She pointed out that you get paid to give advice as Madam Sibyl and that you might actually have run across a similar problem. We would be willing to pay…”
    “Oh please, Miss Minnie, there is no need. If I can be of help to you, it is my pleasure. If you could just tell me what the problem is exactly!” Annie broke in, appalled that these two hard-working women would feel the need to spend a single penny for her help.
    Miss Minnie again looked at her sister, as if expecting her to speak, but Miss Millie remained mute, so she resumed. “You see, Mrs. Fuller, it concerns two of our clients. One, a young woman, I shall call her Mrs. P, has been married less than a year, and she is expecting a child next month. We believe that her husband has taken up with another of our clients. I shall call her Mrs. J. This second client, a former actress, is married to a much older man to whom, I am sorry to say, she is frequently unfaithful. I believe that it is our duty to tell the first woman that her husband has violated their wedding vows, but my sister says that this would be too unkind, that there must be another way.”
    Annie, thoroughly surprised, said the first thing that