Page 238 of The Sun Sister

The racket had attracted Walter, who came out of the master bedroom in his pyjamas.

‘What on earth is going on in here?’

‘Your daughter has had a nigger child sleeping in her bed all night,’ proclaimed Dorothea. ‘It’s obscene!’

‘Right, that’s it!’ Cecily picked Stella up in her arms and calmly carried her to the attic, where Lankenua was hovering nervously at the top of the stairs.

‘Could you get yourself and Stella dressed and pack your things quickly, please. We’re leaving now.’

Lankenua looked from Cecily to Stella in confusion, but did as she was bid.

Cecily returned to her bedroom where she dressed, then threw some clothes into a holdall. She met Lankenua and Stella in the corridor and then led them downstairs into the entrance hall.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ Walter said from the top of the stairs, as he watched her bundle Stella into her coat, boots and hat in the hall.

‘Mama has said that Lankenua and Stella must leave the house, so I’m leaving with them, Papa.’

For a moment, they looked at each other, Cecily’s heart beating fast as she waited to see if he would come to their defence. But as her father made no move to speak, she turned away from him with a sad sigh.

‘Mary, fetch Archer now. And please pack up the rest of my things in my trunk. I will send Archer to pick them up for me later,’ she said to the housekeeper, who was standing, eyes wide with shock, nearby.

‘Yes, Miss Cecily.’

Donning her own coat, Cecily turned to her parents; her mother’s face was still red with anger, one hand nursing her wrist. Her father dropped his eyes away from her gaze.

‘Shame on you, Papa,’ she murmured, as Archer appeared by the front door. ‘Take Stella and put her and my maid in the car, then wait for me outside,’ she ordered Archer.

‘Yes, Miss Cecily.’ Archer reached out a hand and beckoned Stella towards him. The three of them disappeared through the open front door.

‘So this is the choice you are making? Choosingthemover us?’ Dorothea demanded.

‘If that is the choice you are giving me, then yes, I choose them.’

Brushing away the tears that were flowing down her face, she walked to the front door. Without turning back, Cecily stepped out into the freezing air and left her childhood home behind.

June 2008

‘And I never set foot through that front door again.’

Stella turned her head towards the New York skyline beyond the windows. Dusk and then night had come at some point, but neither of us had noticed.

‘I...don’t know what to say,’ I whispered, hauling myself upright. During the long hours of listening, I had placed a cushion beneath my head and lain down on the couch. I could only see the outline of my grandmother in the dim light, her proud profile just visible in the muted multitude of lights cast into the room from the city.

I tried to imagine her as the little girl she had once been; the baby saved by a stranger from certain death and brought here to New York. It was hard to reconcile the two.

‘Where did you go when Cecily took you away from the house?’

‘To Rosalind’s, of course. You know something? Even though I was terrified because of all the shouting and the harsh words I didn’t understand at the time, Archer took my hand, led me out into the car and put me on the back seat. He offered me a lollipop and told me I was to stay there, that it was all going to be okay. And I believed him.’ Stella gave a glimmer of a smile. ‘We stayed with Rosalind and her husband Terrence for several months – Dorothea revoked Cecily’s trust. So for a while, we were penniless. It was Kiki Preston who saved us.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She left her goddaughter a legacy – some shares and some cash – which eventually allowed us to buy an apartment a street away from Rosalind in Brooklyn. It was nothing like Cecily had been used to, and when I look back now, life must have been very hard for her. That day, she lost her entire family – because of me.’

‘She must have loved you very much.’

‘She did,’ Stella nodded. ‘And I adored her. She proved to be a talented teacher too, and between her and Rosalind, the little school they’d started went from strength to strength. By the time I was ten, they had managed to gather enough pupils to rent a building of their own. And by the time I left, they had eighty pupils – a few of them white, I might add – and six full-time teachers.’

‘She found her mission.’