Maids of Misfortune Read Online Free PDF

a half ago. Because Mr. Stein was away so much on business, and Mrs. Stein no longer wanted the time-consuming care of running an entire household herself, they had been delighted to become the occupants of Annie's most elegant upstairs suite of rooms. Mr. Stein had also been very supportive of her decision to set up as Madam Sibyl.
    The Steins, both in their mid-sixties, radiated a sense of well-being. Mr. Stein, almost entirely bald, more than made up for this loss of hair by the luxuriousness of the sideburns, mustache, and beard that bloomed below. Esther Stein's hair was now pure white and tightly braided into an intricate circlet that defied dislodging by stray Bay winds or the exploring fingers of grandchildren. Both were dressed in quiet elegance, but the cut of the clothes of both testified to their greater love of rich food and comfort than of fashion. Annie suspected that Beatrice’s excellent reputation as a cook had been almost as important in their decision to move into her boarding house as had been their desire to help out the niece of old friends.
    Breaking into their usual good-natured greetings, Annie whispered urgently, "Please, could you do me a very great favor? In the drawing room, there is a young lawyer, Mr. Nathaniel Dawson. He has come to see Sibyl, something about the death of Matthew Voss. Mr. Dawson seems to have gotten an entirely wrong impression of everything. Could you please go in and introduce yourselves and perhaps impress upon him the respectability of both this establishment and Madam Sibyl? He has met me as Mrs. Fuller, but I am going to change into Sibyl. For now, I don't want him to realize the connection. I'll explain later."
    Esther Stein laughed and said, "Oh Annie, what mischief are you up to now? Of course we will go in and vouch for you. But if you mistrust this young man's intentions, maybe Herman should go into your interview with you?"
    Herman Stein broke in at this point. "Young Nate Dawson? His father's a rancher outside of San Jose, but he's in his uncle's law firm. Good, respectable firm. I've not met the young fellow. Harvard law degree. I've heard he's a go-getter, but with a good head on his shoulders. Whatever would he want with Madam Sibyl?"
    Mr. Stein frowned for a moment. "Well, in any case, I don't think we need worry about leaving our Annie alone with him, Esther. He may be part of this new modern generation, but he will be a gentleman all the same."
    Annie wasn't so sure about that, but then again, she wasn't sure she would be acting like a lady in their upcoming meeting, so she didn't quibble. Instead, she profusely thanked both of the Steins and ran up the stairs to change out of her dress and begin her transformation into Madam Sibyl, one extremely angry clairvoyant.

Chapter Five
     
    By the time the maidservant announced that Madam Sibyl was waiting for him across the hall, Nate Dawson was a shaken man. For twenty minutes, he had listened to one of the most respected businessmen in the city portray Mrs. Annie Fuller as a paragon of virtue. He learned how she had bravely survived the ordeal of her mother's death when she was a child and how she left California to go to New York with her father to become both companion and housekeeper to him until she married. He heard the tragic story of how she had lost both her beloved father and her husband within a year and how her fortune had been lost as well in the terrible economic collapse that had started six years ago. Finally, he listened to her praised for her valiant efforts to support herself by running an elegant boarding house.
    As Nate followed the maid into a smaller but stylish parlor, his only thought was the hope that no one would learn of his mistake. He hadn’t wanted to come on this errand in the first place; he had thought they should contact the woman Sibyl by post. Now he had potentially alienated a respectable woman with important friends. Worst of all, he hated feeling the fool.
    As the maid