The maid looked at her with startled eyes and she explained,
“It creates an impression of gloom which no one wants in an employee. Besides, if Uncle Edward suspects that I have gone to France and searches for me there, he will obviously ask if they have seen a young woman in deep mourning and it might make his task that much easier.”
“But it’s disrespectful to your beloved mother!” Gennie objected.
“I loved Mama and I will never love anybody else as much,” Theresa replied. “At the same time I know she would understand, and certainly Grandmère would, that the most important thing at the moment is for us to escape from Uncle Edward and the man he has chosen to become my husband.”
“It’s not right to suggest such a thing, the moment your mother is dead!” Gennie muttered.
“It makes little
