Leading Lady by Lawana Blackwell

of a tutor in Mrs. Blake’s home, and was stunned by Sarah’s crippled left hand and the resemblance she bore to his brother’s late wife. He went to Daniel with the news and helped him find proof that Sarah was his daughter. With his typical consideration for others, Daniel decided against barging into Sarah’s life with the news right away, but instead applied for the position as her tutor.
    The two formed an affectionate teacher-student bond. And Daniel and Naomi fell in love, later to marry. When an opportunistic curate, Ethan Knight, courted Sarah for the wealth she would inherit, Daniel revealed his own identityin order to expose Ethan’s true nature. Sarah was overjoyed to learn that her tutor was her father and that she had an “instant” extended family consisting of Uncle James, Aunt Virginia, and their daughters, Catherine and Jewel. Her joy was tempered with sadness, however, when her beloved Mrs. Blake passed on, leaving Sarah her fortune as well as Blake Shipping Company. As Sarah was coming out of mourning, she realized that she loved William and told him so.
    The lesson being, Father had said more than once over the years, that a person must never give up hope that God can turn ashes to gold. Had he himself continued down a path of self-destruction by alcohol after losing his first family, he would have never been reunited with Sarah or met Mother. Hence, Bethia and Danny would never have been born. And Sarah could possibly be married to Ethan Knight instead of William Doyle, thereby canceling out John’s existence.
    ****
    “This is from us,” Sarah was saying as she handed Bethia another small box. “We have to confess some collusion—I was with Naomi and Father when they bought your ring.”
    The box contained ear wires of the same turquoise stones. The food had not yet arrived, so Bethia excused herself for the lady’s lounge to remove her gold pair and exchange them for the new ones.
    “Very nice,” fifteen-year-old John said when she brushed back her hair with her fingers for all to see.
    “Thank you, John,” she said, touched by so simple a compliment, for her nephew could not have cared less about feminine baubles. Sports of every variety were his passion, and over his relatively short life-span he had broken both arms, his right foot, and a finger.
    The food arrived and commanded their attention for a few minutes—William and John squeezing lemon slices on their veal cutlets, Mother asking for tartar mustard for her baked cod, Father dousing his stewed mutton kidneys withmushroom ketchup, Sarah and Bethia dousing fried whitings with malt vinegar.
    “Mr. Pearce hasn’t attempted to contact you up here, has he?” Father asked at length.
    “I believe he’s forgotten all about me,” Bethia replied, not directly answering his question. She hoped her reply to be the truth, for two weeks had passed since Douglas had appeared in church, and she had received no more telephone calls or letters.
    “I’m relieved,” Mother said.
    “So am I.” Sarah shook her head. “He seemed rather unstable.”
    “Small wonder,” William said while sprinkling salt upon his green beans. “Was he the one who once kicked Mr. Duffy?”
    “That was his twin, Bernard.”
    “Why would anyone kick Mr. Duffy?” John asked with the same outrage as if learning that someone had kicked the elderly Queen. Mr. Duffy, gone to heaven some five years ago, was more than a gardener—he was a gentle giant whose perpetual good mood infected everyone about him for the better. His widow, Claire, became the housekeeper when Mrs. Bacon retired on a pension.
    “Because Mr. Duffy stopped his sister, Muriel, from feeding green tomatoes to a horse,” William replied.
    John’s gray eyes widened. “Aren’t they poisonous to horses?”
    “Lethally so, in most cases.”
    “Then, why . . . ?”
    “Because she’s Muriel,” Bethia said quickly. “And may we please change the subject?”
    “Good idea.” William