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The air whooshed out of her lungs. Was this love? Was that the source of the pain that roared in her chest like an animal?
Confusion was plain on Anne’s face. “This house is enormous. There’s plenty of space for you. I gave you your own parlor.”
“Forwork!” she cried. “That’s where you see me. Not as an equal, but as someone whodoesthings for you.”
“That’s not true,” Anne said, hurt in her voice.
“I can’t stay,” Letty said, rising from the sofa. “Robert has never seen the Wilsons before, and there is much that he doesn’t understand.”
“The problem is easily solved, Letty. I could give him money. You could have asked me for funds, you know. Your son doesn’t have to suffer.”
Anger coursed through her. “Do you think I can’t provide for him? Do you consider working an honest job to besuffering?”
“Of course you can provide,” Anne said, her tone gentle, “but you said Robert wants to be a gentleman.”
“Money won’t make him any more legitimate,” she snapped. “Working is a better pursuit in life compared to earning no coin and whiling time away on frivolities, like the scores of so-called gentlemen that contribute nothing to society. That’s no life for me, and no life for my son. I earn my keep, Anne.”
“I know how much you enjoy working on this house.”
“I did. But the house is finished.”
“No,” Anne whispered. “There’s still plenty to do. Maybe we should reconsider the ballroom, or the library.”
Letty smiled sadly. “They don’t need any work. There is plenty more to do at Hawthorne House, but I don’t think it’s what you would consider to be important. The servants’ quarters. The attics. The mews. You aren’t considering the places where people work, are you?”
“Hawthorne and I work hard in the estate,” Anne said, anger now in her voice. “You know the work we put into the dukedom.”
“What about the work that the lowest chambermaid puts into this house? All of us are together in this, working dusk until dawn, supporting the duchy.” Letty waved a hand. “They scrub for theirliving. I dream up space for people to live. You sign off on projects and petitions. We all have different types of work.”
Anne didn’t say anything, her face white and pinched.
“We should agree the house is done, and then I can find a new job.”
Anne frowned. “A new job?”
“This wasn’t going to be my last one I ever took. I wanted to make a name for myself.”
“And you will. This house will be a showcase. Your name will be remembered.”
Letty blinked. “I don’t care about beingremembered. I care about making use of my timenow, to work to bring joy to other households. Other families.”
“The name is always more important than the individual job. The name is eternal, representative of the body of work.”
“Maybe when your name is Hawthorne, you can afford the luxury of thinking that way.”
“I am trying to help,” Anne said.
“I know. I appreciate it, really I do.” Letty looked around the room in all its splendor. She appreciated everything that Anne had given to her, and that she had allowed her to put her ideas into action. But was appreciation enough? “I need to see my son.” She hesitated. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
“How can you go to him after the way he spoke to you?” The shock was plain on Anne’s face.
Letty paused, one hand on the back of her chair. “He is my son, Anne. He’s hurt and misguided. And he’s all I’ve got.”
“You have me,” she said, her eyes large and shiny with tears.
“Ithoughtwe had each other. Now I wonder if we ever understood each other.”
She could see the alarm on Anne’s face. “You are coming back, aren’t you?”
