“Oh, of course,” Rosalie nodded. “I apologize for taking up so much of your time.”
“No need to apologize,” Josephine’s warm smile made Rosalie’s urge to keep running subside. “Oh, and I almost forgot. You are called downstairs. Everyone is there.”
“Everyone?” Rosalie asked, pressing the tips of her fingers to her lips.
“Yes.” Josephine nodded.
“All right. I shall come downstairs shortly. Goodbye.” Rosalie waved, and Josephine closed the door behind her.
Rosalie walked over to the window, her lips trembling. She had to face everyone now, but she wasn’t certain she had the courage for it.
What she feared even more was something else. Someone else. Could he find her here? She wasn’t sure there was anywhere on earth she could hide from Broderick Loveless, but she felt too weak to walk, to run. Perhaps she could hide here, for a little while longer, and then continue on her mysterious path.
Chapter 6
The departure of Mr. Higgins found everyone at the parlor. The Countess sat in her armchair, a hoop with stretched fabric in one hand, and a needle with thread in the other. The girls rested comfortably on the sofa, occasionally whispering something to each other. This would usually lead to a bout of giggling. The Countess, as well as Edmund, already knew not to ask the reason behind this. Neither of the girls was willing to share, especially as of late.
Edmund himself was standing by the window, his arms behind his back. He was anxious, and it had everything to do with the uninvited guest, whom they were all waiting for. He gazed out the window, in an effort to find something to distract him, but he was looking at a familiar view, which could not provide that for him.
“Where is she?” he snapped out of nowhere.
He turned to his mother, who stopped with her needlework. The doll in Cecilia’s hands also stopped whispering into Madeline’s ear. Everyone noticed the sharp tone in Edmund’s voice.
“Hasn’t she been summoned?” he continued.
“Josephine had been instructed to tell her that she would be admitted in the parlor,” the Countess explained, as the girls curiously listened to the conversation.
“Mr. Higgins has departed,” Edmund just stated the obvious. “So, why is she not here already?”
“Are you in a particular hurry, Edmund?” the Countess wondered aloud. “Imagine the state that poor girl must be in. And the way she looked, as if most of her body was drained of its blood. I’m surprised Mr. Higgins didn’t find much wrong with her obviously delicate health.”
“What does that mean, Grandmother?” Madeline asked, her eyes wide with wonder. “That she was drained of blood?”
“Hush, child,” the Countess waved her hand dismissively. “You keep on playing with your sister. This is a conversation for grown-ups.”
Madeline didn’t seem to like that answer, her lips pouting, and her hands crossed over her chest. But she did as she was told.
“Don’t speak such things in front of the girls, Mother,” Edmund told her in a hushed voice, even though there was no point in whispering when the girls could hear a pin drop when they wished to. “The girl is probably just exhausted from the whole ordeal and needs to rest and eat well for her healthy complexion to come back. But that is something she will not be reclaiming under our roof.”
He remembered her as a strange vision in the darkness, but he attributed it to the elements. It was a dark and stormy night, and none of them could see well. He remembered the way the girl shivered in his arms when he took her. He remembered the sight of her white hair, but he had to be mistaken.
“I doubt she ever had a healthy complexion,” the Countess shook her head.
This seemed to raise the girls’ interest again. Madeline wasn’t pouting any longer. Even Cecilia had put down her doll and was listening intently. Images of whiteness kept coming back to Edmund, but he was certain that what he saw the previous night was not real.
“We were all under strain last night, and it affected our judgment, as well as vision,” Edmund kept on explaining, almost as much to himself as to others. “But, fortunately, our good judgment is back, and I would like her to come down, so I could discuss serious things with her.”
“What serious things?” the Countess inquired, her eyes staring at him curiously.
“Well, for one the fact that she needs to leave our home as soon as possible. Hopefully tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow!” the Countess exclaimed. “You can’t possibly mean that.”
“I do,” he nodded. “And I also intend- “
But he didn’t finish his thought. Madeline jumped from the sofa, pulling her sister after her. She had that wicked gleam in her eyes.
“Uncle, may we leave for a moment?” She smiled her coyest smile, the one Edmund liked the least, as it always hid something. “I forgot my doll in our room, and I wish to play with Cecilia.”
