‘I’m so sorry.’
Hélène didn’t seem to hear but gave a sharp little laugh. ‘And do you know what she talked about? All that time?’
Florence shook her head.
‘You. You and Rosalie. Nothing else. When Élise andVictoria arrived, she barely looked at her granddaughter. And you just swan around Malta and arrive at the eleventh hour with Jack.’
Florence gasped. ‘I wasn’t swanning. I was doing what she wanted me to do. She begged me, Hélène, begged me to find Rosalie.’
‘How convenient, and now I suppose you want my blessing?’
The bitter wind of the English winter served only to make the atmosphere more strained.
‘Please, Hélène. This isn’t you. Can’t we try to be civilised?’
Hélène snorted disdainfully. ‘You didn’t care about being civilised when you took what you wanted.’
‘It wasn’t like that.’
‘No?’
‘Of course not.’
‘How was it then? You knew I loved Jack, Florence, you knew and yet you still did it.’
Florence hung her head. That much was true.
‘You thought I was going to say, never mind,youhave him, little sister. You thought I was going to say that?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Florence began carefully, needing to choose her words and hating herself for hurting her sister. ‘I hoped with the passage of time you’d understand.’
It was awful seeing Hélène’s eyes so full of hurt that Florence’s heart twisted. Her sister’s nerves had clearly been wound terribly tight from the exhausting vigil of looking after Claudette. And now Jack turning up on top of all that must be just one thing too many.
‘And, while we’re on the subject of being civilised, couldn’t you have done more for Claudette?’
‘This isn’t fair. She asked me to find Rosalie. I told you,’ Florence said quietly. ‘Doesn’t that count for anything?’
‘Before. I’m talking about before.’
Florence felt defenceless but stood her ground. ‘I offered to stay with her, help her. She told me to go.’
‘And you didn’t think to tell me she was ill then? I could have done something. Something more than sitting and watching her slowly die.’
Florence kept her voice calm. ‘That isn’t fair either. I know it must have been awful for you but you’re being unreasonable. I told you she wanted me to find Rosalie. I didn’t know she was ill. How could I have known? She said she was fine.’
‘And it suited you to believe her.’
‘I tried.’
‘Not hard enough.’
The afternoon slowed, came to a standstill. Florence opened her mouth but nothing would come out. Her eyes watered but she swallowed her misery. Hélène did have a point.
‘And now sweet little Florence is going to cry.’
It had been such a long, hard day and now this. Florence gulped back her tears. ‘You know what, we have just buried our mother,’ she said, trying to speak calmly. ‘This is not like you.’
They stared at each other. Florence was shocked by Hélène’s cold stare.
