“Then why say it was lost in the sea?”
Cilla dropped the umbrella and went to the table that held her paints. “Now, why do you think?”
Laura’s voice sounded raspy to her ears. “You killed her?” She couldn’t take it in. “You killed Amanda? I thought you loved her.”
Cilla turned, her hazel eyes stony. “You’ve never loved anyone to the point of madness?”
“I love Nathaniel. I would die for him.”
“But if he made love to another woman, would you want to kill him?”
“No.” Laura tried to breathe, the air stagnant like heat in her lungs. Her head spun, and she grew fearful she might faint. “I could never kill a living soul.”
“Passionless!” Cilla’s gaze darted around theroom.
Laura wanted to bolt from the cottage; she seemed rooted to the spot as she leaned back against the sofa, clutching the rough fabric in her curled fingers. “But why, Cilla?”
“You wouldn’t understand what it’s like to love and hate in equal measure.” Cilla shrugged. “When I told Amanda I loved her, she laughed at me. The way we once laughed at Mallory and Rudge and her other conquests. While I enjoyed participating in her games, I did not like being the subject of them.”
“What games?”
“She tested every man she met and had no respect for any of them. When Nathaniel was away in London, she slept with both Rudge and Mallory. She used to compare them. She was out of control. The only man she respected was Nathaniel. She never spoke badly of him. Perhaps she knew I wouldn’t have been party to it.”
“She must have loved Nathaniel.”
“She never loved anyone,” Cilla spat. “But Nathaniel is one of the few I trust. I did him a favor killing Amanda. But he cares for you, and I regret hurting him.” Cilla shook her head at Laura as if she was a child who couldn’t learn her lesson. “I told you, Amanda was incapable of love. But she knew on which side her bread was buttered. Nathaniel wanted a child, so she was prepared to oblige him. And she didn’t care whose it was.”
Laura edged toward the door where the dogswaited.
“No, you don’t!” Cilla leapt forward and grabbed Laura’s hair, twisting her fingers in it, scatteringcombs.
“Let go of me!” Laura winced and tried to pull away. With horror, she saw the small knife Cilla held. She must have snatched it from her paint box. Laura felt the sharp edge at her throat and stilled infear.
“I’m sorry, Laura. I really like you, but I can’t let you live to tell your little tale. You are going to disappear in the same way your predecessor did, my dear. A tidy end, I feel.”
Laura’s throat blocked. She swallowed desperately. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears. “Let me go. They’ll know it was you. Leave Cornwall. I’ll say nothing. You can get away.”
Cilla hissed in her ear. “Out the back door. I could slit your throat, but it would make a terrible mess, which I won’t be able to explain away.”
Laura’s blood turned to ice. Her fight to stay alive in the sea had weakened her more than she realized. Robbed of her usual strength, Cilla’s grip felt like a strong man’s. Laura wished she could think, but fear for her baby clouded her mind. Nathaniel! He couldn’t go through thisagain.
“How did Amanda die?” Desperate, Laura tried to distract Cilla as she propelled Laura out the back door of thecottage.
“I asked her to pose nude for me after the baby came.” Cilla drew in a sharp breath and tightened her grip on Laura. “She sneered at me. Told me I was lewd. That I fancied women because no man wanted me.” She made a guttural sound low in her throat. “I walked with Amanda to the end of the lane; it was almost dusk. She remembered she’d forgotten her parasol, and because she tired easily, I told her to walk on, while I went to fetch it. I was halfway home when I realized both of us couldn’t remain at Wolfram. She didn’t deserve to live; she had so little regard for me. I stalked her from behind the trees until she walked by the cliff.”
Cilla looked at Laura blindly, as if she gazed inward. “She rubbed the small of her back as she stared out to sea.”
The tender image of a pregnant woman filled Laura with compassion. Fear for her own baby tore at her heart. “If you tell me she stumbled and fell, we’ll say no more about it!”
“Nice try, Laura. Do you think I’m stupid?” Cilla held Laura’s long hair in a brutal grip, while she stroked the edge of the knife over Laura’s throat, as if it was Amanda’s throat laid bare. “Killing her was easy after Simone.”
Her hair felt as if it was being ripped from her skull. Laura bit down on a scream and forced herself to sound calm. “Simone?”
“My French lover. She fell to her death down a flight of stairs.”
“You killed her too?” Laura’s voice choked over thewords.
“Simone deserved it.” Cilla sounded unmoved by her devastatingpronouncement.
