LTSV - Lost & Found 2 (Patreon)

Starting over in a new life was never easy, but this was the first time in a very, very long time that she’d lived in a society with general access to both sophisticated industrial technology and magic. Humans always seemed to prioritize one over the other even in worlds where both were possible, so she hardly ever landed in a world like this and those worlds always ended up being one of her favorites.

Mira got more hints about Violet’s circumstances when Anna brought over a box of cosmetics and lotions. Neither of them brought up the possibility of her getting out of the bed. If she couldn’t hold her own cup then Mira wasn’t ready to see what it would be like if she tried to walk so she submitted to being wiped down and made up while still in bed. The soaps and lotions Anna brought out all had the faint scent of magic to them and Anna used it all with the kind of confidence that said she wasn’t concerned about replacing anything that got used up. Anna didn’t seem stupid or careless, so that implied good things about Mira’s financial situation. 

Just because Violet had been frightened to death about her prospects didn’t mean she had no personal assets; just that she had no experience managing personal property nor any idea of how to start. Hopefully that was the case. If not, then Mira had a lot of work to do and no healthy body to do it with and that would be hard. 

Matron Byrde returned from her errands just as Anna finished putting Mira’s hair back up into a silk bed cap. Mira didn’t notice her right away until she heard a soft ‘oh!’ from the open door.

The older woman from her earlier memory stood just inside with a coat draped over one forearm and her fingertips resting gently on the doorframe. She had soft, gentle features and wore her graying hair up in a cottage loaf pompadour. Looking at her evoked a slew of memories–enough to know that this was not only Violet’s nanny, but she was also a major maternal figure in Violet’s life.

Nanny Byrde had once been Violet’s mother’s personal attendant and got promoted to nanny when her mistress died in childbirth. Violet’s memories of her nanny were all of soft hands and Nanny Byrde’s blatant partisanship on her behalf. Violet’s relationship with her family looked strained in those memories so Nanny Byrde must have been her central support while growing up. It was no wonder, then, that the older woman went along when Violet left home to be married.

Another realization Mira had, and this one was less welcome, was that she should have been able to see Nanny Byrde in her peripheral vision from where she was seated.

There was something wrong with one of her eyes.

“Miss, you’re awake,” Nanny Byrde dumped her coat and hat on one of the chairs near at hand and hurried over to fuss over Mira. “How are you feeling? Have you had anything to eat or drink?”

“I’m fine,” Mira’s hands came up to cover Nanny Byrde’s seemingly of their own volition, which confirmed that Violet had had a closer than usual relationship with this woman. Mira had had biological mothers who didn’t touch her with this much care, including her first one. “A bit confused,” she added. “Anna helped me take some water and soup.”

“Good girls, good girls,” Nanny sighed. “What’s this about confusion, miss?”

Mira was an old hand at this particular con, but it was still frightening every time she had to do it; like putting your foot over a ledge and trusting there would be a glass bridge there to catch you.

“I’m having trouble remembering things,” she admitted, making sure to sell her hesitation and vulnerability. It wasn’t difficult. She was scared. She was confused. So, those feelings were available for her to draw on.

“She didn’t remember the seizure earlier, but I’ve heard that’s normal surrounding a fainting spell,” Anna admitted as she stepped back to give Nanny room to fuss. “Are you having trouble remembering anything else, miss?”

“Most things,” Mira ducked her head and concentrated on the feeling of lowering her eyelids. Only one of them moved and the urge to touch her face was overwhelming. Nanny and Anna didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with her face so whatever was wrong with her eye had been wrong since before the seizure. 

She’d been thinking that Violet’s engagement had fallen through for financial reasons, but that might not be the case. What had happened to this child?

“The memories are there,” she hastened to reassure Nanny, who’d gone a ghastly shade of greenish white. “They just seem to need prompting. I remembered a bit of the incident in the sitting room when Anna mentioned it, but… everything feels so vague.”

Nanny nodded slowly. “I–I understand, miss. Anna, use my crystal to call the doctor back…”

“A different doctor, please, Anna,” Mira reminded her. 

“...the Capitol Teaching Hospital then,” Nanny corrected herself. She didn’t argue with Mira’s direction either and she pivoted smoothly enough that she had to have already been considering alternatives. “Describe Miss Violet’s condition to the dispatch nurse and ask for the best visiting physician who is available and don’t…”

“I won’t use her name,” Anna promised, which was an interesting wrinkle. Was there a scandal going on that Mira didn’t know about? Was that why Violet’s marriage failed? 

“The petty cash chit is in my reticule. Use that if they ask you to pay a deposit,” Nanny directed and Anna hurried out of the bedroom. 

“I remembered you as soon as you walked in,” Mira consoled her former-nanny before she could ask and that did seem to help as some of the tension seeped out of Nanny’s shoulders. “It took a moment to remember Anna though.”

“She’s new, dearie,” Nanny sighed as she pulled a chair over to the side of Mira’s bed. “I don’t have any doubts about her loyalties. She’s my sister’s girl and I hired her special when we learned that we’d have to leave your lord father’s house. I didn’t want to take any of the girls your stepmother sent over the years.” She looked away and huffed at the mere thought of it.

While the words ‘your lord father’ didn’t pay out any useful memories, it was a useful hint about who she was in this world and where she fit into it. ‘Your stepmother’ evoked a sense of anxious nausea and a brief flash of a woman with red hair and golden eyes who always seemed to be looking down at Violet from a great height.

“Were they that bad?” Mira asked, wondering just how broken that relationship was. Maybe, if she was lucky, she’d been totally disowned and would never have to deal with the woman personally. 

Nanny glanced back at her and softened once more. “Nothing too sinister, dearie. They were just very stupid and prone to thoughtless chit chat. They never had bad intentions, but if we’d brought any of them along then they’d soon give your private business away in exchange for a pat on the head. Anna is a friendly girl, but she understands what you can and cannot say to outsiders.”

“Why did we leave my father’s house?” Mira asked. Might as well go for the big question. “I remember you saying that a Sir Fenby would not send us a welcome letter.”

Actually, even just saying the words ‘welcome letter’ stirred up yet more memories. These were less episodic and felt more like she was recalling something she’d learnt once, but then forgot. The ‘welcome letter’ was part of the marriage process in this world. Interestingly, there wasn’t just one kind of marriage although the exact details of the different types eluded Mira at present, but what she could remember was that Violet was in the middle of the process of a common citizen’s civil union when everything came apart. Civil unions took place in two parts; Violet had to be released from one family and then formally welcomed into the other. That, then, must be where the ‘welcome letter’ came in. 

Mira closed her eyes as she triggered yet more memories of Violet’s last anxious days. She hadn’t wanted the marriage, that was sure, but she also felt cornered by something else. Sir Fenby must have waited until after Violet was released by her birth family to break the news that he’d be reneging on the engagement. 

What a piece of garbage. 

“Perhaps it would be better to wait until the doctor has come to see you,” Nanny said as she hesitated. “Dear, you had a nasty shock already and look what happened.”

“Then reassure me,” Mira said, trying a different angle. “How secure are we here? Do I have money to support us?”

Fortunately, Nanny just chuckled and tapped Mira’s chin fondly with one knuckle. “There’s nothing to be concerned about there, miss. I’ve managed your accounts since you were a little girl and you’ve never been a hard spender. Even if we only had your leftover allowance, we could all live comfortably on that for some time without needing to budget. There’s also your bridal properties, which I haven’t yet shown you. There wasn’t time before, but we can do it now if that will set your mind at ease. Shall I get the ledger?”

“Yes, please,” Mira replied and was pleased to find, once Nanny brought over a little maroon leather folio, that Violet was a very wealthy young woman. Not only was there her savings, but -whatever her relationship was with her father- he’d sent her off with a substantial dowry and an experienced manager for it all in the form of Nanny Byrde. There was a lump sum of cash from him in addition to a few properties, mostly shop space that had already been rented out to long term tenants that generated a tidy monthly income, but then she discovered that she also had received a townhouse, several businesses, and two hefty annuity funds through her biological mother.

“...the millinery and the dry goods shops are managed, along with the rental properties, by an agent’s office for the moment,” Nanny explained. “They settle rents monthly and profits from the shops quarterly. You also have some money invested in the Four Percent Fund, which pays out annually. So, dearie, even if you lived in this hotel for the rest of your life and did nothing except eat bonbons, you won’t ever have to worry about expenses or paying your staff.”

That came as a relief, but Mira had the persistent feeling that Violet knew nothing of this. Nothing Nanny had said stirred a single memory for her, as if it was all new information to this body, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Violet would still be here if someone had had the foresight to sit her down and explain her resources to her. 

In fact, just looking at the ledger gave her a subtle sense of wrongness, like her absent memories were trying to project something else into that space and failing.

“Nanny…” Mira glanced over at Nanny Byrde. The word ‘nanny’ sprang so naturally to her lips when addressing the older woman so it must be what Violet had called her. Muscle memory to the rescue! “...this doesn’t feel right. I can’t think of what’s wrong, though, it just seems like too much.”