‘And the other staff?’
‘I think most do not. They just wish you well.’
‘Who? Who wishes me well?’ asked Evelyn, desperate for confirmation that she was not alone.
‘The cook, Mrs Beecham, the chamber maids, the housekeeper, Miss Robbins.’
Tears stabbed at Evelyn’s eyes.
‘So many . . .’ she whispered.
‘Even a gardener asked after you. He sends his good wishes and hopes you will soon be well enough to see the kittens again.’
Salty tears clogged Evelyn’s throat. Drake had asked after her. How she longed to see him again.
Her voice, raw with emotion, was barely audible. ‘I hope to see the kittens again too.’
‘You will, one day.’
Evelyn looked at the maid. ‘What’s your name?’ In the past she would have known, now the world had seemed to pass her by.
‘Tilly, Miss Evelyn.’
‘Thank you.’
‘I’ve done nothing, miss, but drink some milk.’
You have done more than that, thought Evelyn. You have given me hope.
* * *
Something small and hard hit the windowpane, seizing Evelyn’s attention as if Drake himself had walked into the room. The noise was slight and sudden, like the chinking of wine glasses. She sat up and strained to listen for it again, her body prickling with alertness. If the sound had occurred during theday, with the hustle and bustle of the thirty indoor servants, Evelyn may have missed it. However, darkness had fallen some time ago and the house had retired to bed. Only the odd servant, silently and efficiently undertaking the last ministrations of their master and mistress, walked the corridors now. The tower clock chimed eleven. Yesterday, she would have begun to doubt what she had heard, but not now. Not any more. This time, a wave of small stones hit the window. She knew it must be Drake and he wanted to see her. And she wanted to see him.
She scrambled out of bed, forgetting her weakened state. The act of standing had been denied her for so long that the muscles in her legs, robbed of their purpose, had withered despite the nurse’s attempts to maintain them. Evelyn teetered briefly, before her legs gave way, crumpling beneath her like a pack of cards. She fell to the oak floor with a jaw wrenching jolt and lay for a moment, shaken, wide-eyed and trying to make sense of the world which was now tilted on its side.
Chink, chink. Drake was calling for her. She must get to the window, now, before he gave up and left. She may not get a chance to see him again. Evelyn began to crawl on her hands and knees despite her thighs shaking from the exertion. The window seemed so far away, yet with each grunt and soft moan, it came nearer, until finally the curtains and sill were within her reach. She wrapped one arm in a curtain and grasped the wooden sill with the other. With all the strength she could muster, she heaved herself up, to stand on her wobbly legs, before laying her body against the sill for support.
A bright moon greeted her. She looked down at the gardens beneath her window searching for movement. The night was cold, still and devoid of colour. The gardens appeared empty. Then a movement caught her eye and she saw Drake’s figure emerge from shadows of the old birch tree. He wore a large coat, with an upturned collar and was taller than she remembered.The vision began to fade until she could not see him any more. Realising what had happened, Evelyn frantically wiped the condensation, caused by her rapid breaths, from the ice-cold glass. His image, tall, sturdy and unmoving, re-emerged between the smudged droplets of water. He slowly lifted his hand and she knew he had seen her too.
She rested for a moment, her fingertips touching the glass, fearful he would think she had left. She took a deep breath to gather the little strength she had and reached for the latch. The window opened and cold air swept over her face, like a welcoming kiss. She gasped and felt alive again. She looked for Drake, her heart hammering so loud that surely he must hear it, but he was no longer looking up at her. His head was bent, his attention taken by something hidden beneath the warm weave of his coat.
Gradually a cat’s head emerged and looked about, as Drake unfastened the remainder of his buttons to reveal its body. It was Nicky, the kitten she had named after her brother and was taken to live in the stables. How he had grown! He had been no bigger than the palm of one’s hand, but now he snuggled against Drake’s chest and rubbed his face along his jawline. All the kittens would be the same size by now, she realised. She had missed out on seeing them grow. She had missed out on so much since her confinement.
Drake looked up and their eyes locked. Even in the darkness she could see his face. She had missed Drake so much, more than she had dared to examine before. Her body pulsed with each beat of her heart, its potency reaching every extremity and every secret place. Her body’s reaction, both unbidden and instinctual, frightened and thrilled her.
Where Tilly had given her hope, Drake’s visit had given her a goal — to escape this room and step into his arms — and to feel the provocative warmth of his body against her own.
For weeks, if not months, her days had merged into a continuous loop of despair, where any means of escape seemed lost to her in a fog of self-doubt. But now, with Drake’s eyes upon hers, the fog slipped away and her thinking became crystal clear.
She would survive this treatment and emerge stronger than before, but not because of Doctor Birch’s Rest Cure ministrations, butdespitethem. She will play his game until he pronounced her cured and she will listen gravely when her parents congratulate him for saving her soul. But Evelyn’s soul had changed, indelibly, resentfully.
She would never forget the tutor who had crushed her confidence and optimism for learning or that her parents had chosen not to believe her and later abandoned her to the mercy of Doctor Birch’s arrogance. She would not forget that the servants, who had known her all her life and had witnessed her humiliation at his hands, had chosen not to speak out. The people in her life that she should have been able to trust, had failed her. Only Drake and Tilly were her allies now. There was no one else.
Drake lifted his hand in farewell. Evelyn smiled and raised her own. Suddenly, he was gone, his dark, shadowy figure merging into the blackness of the night. It was as if he had never been there, waiting for her to appear. She lowered her hand and absently touched the dull ache in her chest as a new resolution formed in her mind.
One day she would walk her own path in life. Even dance along it if it took her fancy. And it would be the path she chose, not one that was made for her by others. Where would the path lead? Wherever her instinct and own judgement told her to go, even if it meant disregarding the rules of society, for society’s rules, which were aimed at protecting her from harm and ruin, had already let her down.
Each night that followed, as the distant tower clock struck eleven, Evelyn found Drake waiting for her in the shadow of the tree. His visits were short and wordless, but his silent and reliable presence brought her precious comfort and fed her resolve to survive. They also excited her for she never knew what he would do next to cheer her. He brought all the cats in turn to see her. Their visits made her smile as their inquisitive faces peeped out from behind his heavy coat. One night he brought a hedgehog and on another an indignant duck he had smuggled in from the wider estate. Unfortunately, amidst a flurry of flapping wings, the feathered creature broke free, landing with a thud and a squawk on the grass at his feet, before waddling away at a surprising speed. Drake gave chase and disappeared into the night, leaving Evelyn shaking with stifled laughter as she listened to distant quacking floating out of the darkness.
