Although…
That would be what a governess would do.
And Amelia was no governess.
So, she thought back to her own younger years.
Of course.
Amelia crossed to the bed, sat and heaved Phoebe into her arms.
“Get off,” cried her charge, hands flailing. “What are you doing? I don’t need–”
“Cry all your tears into me,” Amelia said softly. “I’m strong enough.”
For a moment, she thought Phoebe might jerk away but then she felt the girl shudder and grip her arm, her head coming to rest upon Amelia’s shoulder, tears falling without shame.
She just held Phoebe for a while, as Amelia’s own mother had done to her.
Sometimes words were not required. Just sympathy and silent strength.
Little by little, the tears abated, hiccups abounded and Amelia produced a handkerchief.
“What happened at your great-aunt Rebecca’s?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Anything that makes you cry matters. Tell me.”
“She…” A tear seeped down the young girl’s cheek, her nose red and lips atremble. “She said awful lies about my parents. Called my mother vulgar and my father a…a…perfidious serpent. Said I was their unnatural spawn.”
Amelia closed her eyes and thought some very uncouth words. How could the woman say such things to a grief-stricken girl? She wished to meet this great-aunt – who didn’t seemgreatin the slightest – equipped with a leather muzzle.
“Has she said words like this to you before?”
Phoebe sniffed. “S-she’s hinted but never anything so…” She swiped at her eyes and choked.
“Your aunt is not a pleasant woman at all.”
“Father once said Great-Aunt Rebecca admired the man her sister married, that she was jealous. I do not know if it is so.”
“It seems to me it’s your great-aunt’s bitterness, her own anger, that spews forth such vileness.”
A faint shrug of black shoulders.
“I…” Amelia breathed deep. She never discussed her own past and although Phoebe could use this against her, it surely mattered not. Her time here was coming to an end. “When I was growing up, many people were…unkind to me.”
Her chin raised, brow knotted. “Why?”
“Well, you see…my parents did not…live together, were not exactly…married.”
Black eyes widened. “Ooooh.”
“Precisely. Many did not call me i-illegitimate to my face but…” She grimaced. “They made sure I heard them in corridors. At the dressmaker’s or in shops. Even new maids or supposed friends. I believe it made them feel better about themselves, to demean or belittle someone else.”
“How awful! It wasn’t your fault.” Phoebe dabbed at her eyes. “People can be so horrible. I hope you ignored them all. And it wasn’t just Great-Aunt’s words about me. It was m-my father too… She said my father’s now in hell, being burned by the devil… That he was a Judas.” Phoebe gazed up. “Because t-they say, they say…my father k-killed himself.”
“Oh, Phoebe,” Amelia whispered, clutching her close. “I’m so sor–”
