But even though she’d love to believe that, she wasn’t sure that she did.
She held her tongue until Blake ushered them into the house, but then she snapped.
“What’s going on? Is Seraphina okay?”
Like the Council House reception chamber, this foyer was prone to echoing. Her questions bounced back at her, and they sounded even more hollow and scared than she’d imagined.
“Seraphina!” Iris called, hoping her sister would answer her.
Blake shook his head. It was a quick, bird-like movement.
“She isn’t here. She’s at the Council House, helping to host the wake.”
That made sense. It was the kind of role people always wanted Seraphina to step into.
If Seraphina was busy serving tea and sparkling fruit juice at the wake, she couldn’t be in really bad shape, could she? That was a little bit reassuring, at least.
Blake scrubbed one hand over his face. “I’m handling this badly,” he said, almost to himself. “I’m putting you on edge when I should be putting you at ease.” His gaze flashed to them, and he added, with a rare sense of humor, “I’m being a poor host.”
“I’m just worried,” Iris said in a small voice.
“Don’t be, please. As far as I know, Seraphina is in perfect health.”
“But you said she was under the weather,” Keith said.
He wasn’t saying it, but Iris knew what they were all thinking. Unicorns in Blake’s position didn’t usually tell little white lies to smooth out difficult situations. Abbotts would, supposedly, always tell you the truth. They were the kind of people who would unhesitatingly tell you that you looked tired.
“I know,” Blake said regretfully. “I didn’t want to lie, but I don’t know how to begin talking about this. The truth is ... I’m afraid Seraphina may have had something to do with Lady Marianne’s death.”
18
“What?”Keith and Iris said in unison.
If Keith was shocked, he couldn’t even begin to understand how Iris was feeling. This was hersister. The tight-knit bond between them had withstood all their differences and all those rocky years of mismatched needs and ambitions. Seraphina was the reason Iris had fish. Iris was so afraid of disappointing her again that she was prepared to spend the rest of her life pretending—at least when Seraphina was around—that she was boring, picture-perfect, and joyless.
If she’d found out that her beloved sister was sick, that would have been bad enough. This was worse.
