“So you’ve decided to be just like our uncle?”
“You are being ridiculous.”
“But uncle would treat us just like this,” Augusta went on. “He would not tell us anything either, so tell me why staying here with you is any better than being back with him?”
That hurt Charity more than she let show.
“Mind your words, Augusta,” she said. “You don’t know the full extent of what he is capable of.”
“Because you’re protecting me from it?” Augusta scoffed. “I suppose that is all rather convenient for you, isn’t it? I would like to know what he is capable of, if he is such a danger.”
Charity stayed silent, but Augusta had not yet finished speaking.
“I understand if you want to keep some things hidden from Matilda. She is too small to know anything about the world, but do you really think the same of me?”
“I think you’re more emotional than rational,” Charity nodded. “And that is no fault of your own, only something that has to do with your age.”
“There you are bringing up my age again,” Augusta said, thoroughly frustrated. “It’s like you refuse to see me as anything but a child.”
Charity felt for Augusta, but she did not know how she was going to bring herself to tell her what had happened exactly.
How would she let her know that an attempt had been made on her life? And that their uncle would do anything possible to have access to their wealth?
She should not be worrying about any of these things, and Charity felt as though it was her responsibility to protect her from these things.
“Augusta, if you want me to treat you like an adult….”
“Yes, I do!” Augusta cut in. “It is about time that you do.”
“Then you must stop pushing me for answers. When all is revealed to you, you will understand why I’ve been so on edge.”
“And why does it have to be in the future?” Augusta demanded. “Why can’t it be right now that you tell me?”
“Because you’re far too emotional right now,” Charity said. “And I don’t want you to be more troubled than you are already. When you’ve settled in the estate, and things are normal….”
“Things will never go back to being normal,” Augusta said in an accusatory voice. “That much is very clear to me.”
“Augusta….”
“Are you not going to tell me?”
Charity felt as though she was being pressured into something that she did not wish to be a part of.
She wished that she had Duncan’s sense of knowing how to handle situations but she found herself failing here.
She didn’t know how to handle her own teenage sister, and that was a failing of her own.
“Augusta, I will tell you later. When you are ready,” she said. “But right now, I can’t tell you anything. That is the end of this conversation.”
Augusta did not react kindly to that. She stormed to the other side of the room, and for the rest of the night, avoided her sister entirely.
The conversation with Augusta had left Charity feeling all manner of unsettled and she needed someone to speak to.
She surprised herself when that person was Duncan.
“I thought you would be sleeping by now,” Duncan said, looking at her with curiosity when she stepped into his study. He then noticed the expression on her face. “Is something the matter?”
She sighed dramatically and plopped herself down on the sofa.
