A tiny worried frown marred the perfection of Adeline’s features, and her hands fluttered agitatedly in front of her. She looked away from her sister, then back. “W-w-why?” she stammered. “Does he think Mr. Wilmot might harm Mr. Danielson?”
“I cannot say,” Vanessa replied distractedly, failing to notice the extent of her sister’s dismay. “My summation is it has something to do with business. Perhaps the negotiations for a wedding settlement or dowry,” Vanessa suggested sardonically. “I have the feeling Father is playing games within games, and I resent my involvement.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure yet. I need to contemplate this further.”
Adeline shivered slightly. “It terrifies me to even consider it.”
The sisters sat silently for a few moments, considering their father’s strange behavior. Finally, Adeline roused herself, shaking her head as if to shake out all troublesome thoughts.
“Oh, dear, I nearly forgot my flowers. I must get them between blotting paper and weighted before they wilt.”
“I’ll help you,” offered Vanessa. “Perhaps I shall have an easier time solving my dilemma if I don’t dwell on it constantly.”
Adeline laughed softly. “I suppose at this juncture you could do no worse. Come, before Father returns and reclaims his library, let’s see if we can get all these pressed.”
* * *
“That’s all of them. Now what?” Vanessa asked as she slid the last blossom and leaf set between the pages of a heavy law book.
“Now we check on the progress of some I laid down earlier this spring. Let’s see. I used the Greek books for those,” Adeline said, dragging a small stool over to one of the tall bookshelves and climbing up on it. Standing on tiptoe, she reached up to grab a thick volume of Greek plays.
“Do you keep track of what you press by what type of book it’s in?”
“Yes. Well, that’s how I recordwhenI pressed it.” She handed the book to Vanessa before turning to grab another. “For example, today we used all law books, so tonight in my journal I shall make a note of what we pressed and where they are.”
“How many Greek books are there?” Vanessa asked as Adeline passed her another weighty tome and she staggered under the weight.
“Four,” Adeline replied distractedly, tugging at a particularly thick book of Greek essays.
“I hadn’t realized the Mannion women were bluestockings,” said a warm baritone voice from the door.
Vanessa, her arms full of books, turned around to stare in surprise at Hugh Talverton standing in the doorway of the library.
Adeline teetered on the stool as she spun around, her arms flailing outward to restore her balance.
“Vanessa! Look out!” Hugh warned as the heavy book in Adeline’s hand swung in a wide arc and smacked Vanessa in the face.
He caught her as she fell sideways.
“Vanessa!” screamed Adeline. Jumping off the stool, she ran to her sister’s side, the book she held falling heedlessly to the floor.
“Vanessa! I’m so sorry! Are you all right?”
She moaned, a hand fluttering up to her face as she sagged against Mr. Talverton.
With a grim expression marring his handsome features, he picked her up in his arms as if she were a featherweight. “Where can I lay her down?”
Adeline jumped at his harsh tone. “What? Oh, yes, of course. The parlor, I believe.”
Carrying his precious burden, he turned on his heel, heading for the parlor. In his arms, Vanessa moaned and whimpered. Adeline ran behind him, her hands twisting together.
They passed Jonas in the hall.
“Jonas,” called Adeline, “Vanessa’s been hurt. Get some lavender water from Leila.”
“No,” contradicted Talverton harshly, “fetch a side of beef.”
