Though Isabel hated to admit it, her eyes were sore from looking at the computer screen. She closed the laptop and called for a servant to bring her a cold compress for her stinging eyes and throbbing forehead. The servant returned several minutes later with a washcloth soaked in lavender water and Isabel placed the cool cloth over her eyes and stretched out on the sofa.
“You have a guest, Mrs. Denmark,” the servant said. “But I’ll tell her you’re resting.”
Isabel sat bolt upright, and the wet cloth slid off her face and landed with a plop on her lap. “A guest? she asked. “Who?”
“It’s a young woman named Sophia Wells,” the servant said. “She claims she’s an old friend.”
“Sophia?” Isabel asked, bewildered. “Let her in right away.”
She stood from the sofa and listened
