by Beth Byers
“What is your name?”
“Anna.” The girl dimpled again and cast another look at Victor.
“Would it be all right, do you think? If we were to take you for an ice cream?”
The girl glanced at the house, at the twins, and the promise of sweets seemed to be enough to get her to take the dog inside and slip back out.
Victor seated Anna in the car as though he were escorting her personally while Violet placed herself in the back seat.
“Are you quite close to Helen?”
The girl hesitated before answering. “We used to be quite close. When we were both at school. Now…”
“It’s hard when you get separated, isn’t it? Victor and I were, of course, since he went to the boys’ school and I to the girls’. Even in the same town, it was hard to see each other.”
Victor glanced at Vi. “We used to sneak out at night and meet. Run wild. Got sent down from school a few times for that.”
“And we had a drop place where we’d leave each other notes and things. Ciphers for a while when we were obsessed with spy novels.” Violet grinned and winked Victor parked the automobile.
They all ordered ice cream and found a little table to enjoy the treat.
“Tell us about Helen,” Violet said, nudging her brother. “What happened? How can we help?”
The girl glanced between them and then down at her ice cream. Her face went solemn and worried, and Violet asked, “Is it her lover?”
The girl glanced up at Vi with a swift expression and then at Victor before returning to playing with her ice cream.
“Victor,” Violet said, “would you be so good as to go get me some more paper from that little shop while we’re here? And maybe some things for Anna to take back to school with her. Are you going soon?”
“Tomorrow,” she said, her mouth squirming up into a scowl.
Victor nodded and rose.
“Buy for her,” Violet said before he stepped away, “like her sister would. Sisters spoil each other, you know.”
As soon as Victor was gone, Violet reached out and took Anna’s hand. “I know about having a little sister. Sometimes we need our big sisters and don’t have them. Talk me to me as though I were Helen, and I’ll do my best for you.”
The girl bit her lip and Violet waited. She had to admire the tenacity of the girl. She fought telling all, but the silence and her worries were too much for her.
“She..it was the lover. She…she…he was going to marry someone else. Someone he didn’t love. For the money!”
Violet gasped appropriately and kept her gentle hand on Anna’s. She squeezed it lightly. “Poor Helen.”
“He was never good enough for her!”
“They never are,” Violet agreed gently.
“It was worse than that. He was rich and she wanted to be rich. Always flashing about money. Papa works hard for us. He puts money aside, watches every little purchase. But he’s quite strict with purchases and allowances. Helen hated it. All our friends have spending money, buckets of it. But we barely have enough for things we actually need.”
Violet could imagine how hard that would be, especially at a school for wealthy girls without the corresponding allowance. Helen must have been slighted and teased often.
“She always swore she’d find a rich man someday. One who would spoil her. And when she found one, he was…well…he wasn’t what you’d want.”
“Older?” Violet asked.
Anna nodded and whispered, “Older even than Papa. And fat!”
“Oh,” Violet moaned. “Helen is so beautiful. She could have someone else.”
“But she didn’t want to wait,” Anna said. “She didn’t like being home from school and not having any money. Papa keeps an eye on where she goes, too. But he trusted this man, so he’d let him take her out and not the men more her age.”
“Oh your poor sister. I feel quite angry for her.”
Anna nodded, not seeing the gleam in Vi’s eye. She did feel quite sorry for Helen, but any girl who decided that Danvers was the best bet had to be sick in the head.
“So she…well…I shouldn’t say.”
“Talk to me like I’m your sister,” Violet instructed. “You need to get this off your chest before you go back to school or it’ll wear you down and you’ll find yourself telling some untrustworthy young miss.”
Anna looked alarmed at that idea and when Violet waited yet again, Anna finally continued. “Helen thought that she had to let him…well…you know…”
Violet nodded.
“And then she found out…”
“There was a result,” Violet said gently.
Anna nodded, glancing around to ensure no one was listening and then she hissed, “But then he threw her over for a richer girl. Papa said it was better, the man was too old for Helen. She should have never imagined that it would be anything other than him showing Helen about. Papa didn’t realize that they’d…well…and that Helen was…well…”
Violet nodded. It was as she suspected. She didn’t need Anna to say the words aloud.
“Did she try to end it?”
Anna shook her head. “She couldn’t find anywhere. She doesn’t know anyone who would know how. Helen wasn’t feeling well. Being alone without getting out was too hard. She’s quite needy to interact with others. She gets blue when she doesn’t. All of that together, she was just…sad.” The look at Anna’s face told Vi the depth of that sadness. It had been too much for the poor, spurned girl.
Violet leaned back, shocked. “I see…”
Helen had tried to end herself, not the baby. Violet wanted to murder Danvers herself. He’d ruined the heart of a young girl and had expected her to arrive at the wedding. Of all the dastardly, no good, evil things to do to a poor girl barely out of the school room. And to imagine him flailing about on the top of poor— Violet shuddered and put the idea out of her head before she sicked-up in her bowl of melted ice cream.
“Listen to me,” Violet said gently. “Your sister is sad. I hope your father is taking her somewhere that will see to her.”
“I threw a fit until he swore he’d take her to the seaside. She feels better in the sun. I made him swear he’d be kind. He was so angry. I’d never seen him like that. But he wasn’t angry at her. He was sad for her. So, I think…I think…”
“The sun will be just the thing. The sun, time, healing. It just takes time. You write to your sister. Remind her of good things. Send her books and letters and things to keep her mind filled. Make your father use that money he has put away.” Violet pulled out a notebook from her drawstring bag. “Give me your address at school.”
Anna listed it off.
“And Helen’s address.”
Anna hesitated and then listed it off.
Violet said, “I will send her a care package as you have never seen before.”
Anna grinned and squealed a little.
Violet frowned, thoughtful, then told Anna,, “I will be your patroness. Expect a small allowance from me.”
The girl’s mouth dropped.
“You are bright. You are kind. You are loving. In return, you swear to me you will do well in school. It’s a new day for women, but only if we take. Will you take it?”
The girl nodded.
“You’ll work hard?”
She nodded, eyes wide.
“Qualify for college, and I’ll see to it you can go. Now, put Helen out of your mind beyond your letters and care. Your sister will get better. Things will improve with time. She has escaped that fiend even if she doesn’t know it yet. She will realize it one day.”
Anna nodded, and as she finished her ice cream, Violet made a list of things that Hargreaves would need to see regularly sent to the girl with her allowance. If Violet was going to be in Belgium with Isolde, preventing sadness and being locked away from turning her into Helen, then someone else would need to see to the day-to-day of caring for the girl.
“Thank you, love,” Violet told her as
they walked back out to the car and found Victor with a large box. “I will be careful with your confidences. I look forward to our alliance.” Violet turned to her brother. “Victor, give her your card. I expect to hear how you are doing at school,” she said to Anna. “And a report of when you’ll be back in London, so we can get together and have a good gossip. Send me the details of all your friends, so I’m ready to discuss the ins and outs.”
Anna nodded, and they returned her home chattering brightly. The shadows were gone from her eyes when they reached the house, and she squealed as Victor walked her up to the house with the large box and saw her inside.
When he returned to the car, he said, “I don’t know what you said to her, but whatever it was—it was well done.”
“I’ll be giving her the first of scholarships for girls in Aunt Agatha’s name. If her father was clever with how he moved money, Anna might get out of this mess with something to support her. But if he was not, she might lose everything. I won’t have her lose schooling and the life that was promised.”
“It was a stolen life,” Victor said.
“She didn’t steal it, though, did she? She’s a good kid. I feel certain Aunt Agatha would approve.”
“Then my approval means nothing next to that.” He grinned, but he took her hand and squeezed and the approval in his eyes meant everything.
“Not true, brother.” She winked. “Just less.”
“And where does Jack fall in the line-up?”
An elbow in Victor’s side was his answer.
Chapter 14
They walked into the house and saw Hargreaves hovering anxiously outside of the parlor. The twins glanced at each other.
“Uh oh. I’ll endeavor to see what is wrong.” Violet handed Hargreaves her coat and walked into the parlor. Her gaze narrowed on the sight before her. Her sister was sitting on a settee and Hugo Danvers had pressed far too close.
As she entered, she could hear him murmur, “Do you remember when we first met?”
Violet watched the two of them who had yet to notice her presence. Isolde shook her head and leaned back. Hugo leaned closer.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he murmured. He was speaking like a lover and his tone made Vi ill. As far as Hugo Danvers knew, Isolde had lost her intended and was in mourning. “You hair was flowing down your back, you wore this pale pink dress. You looked like an angel. I’ve always thought of you as an angel.”
“I…” Isolde scooted over a little as Hugo took her hand.
“I know that you were pressured into the alliance with my father.” Hugo said ‘father’ like it was a curse. “I’ll make sure that never happens again.”
Vi’s gaze narrowed on him. Who was he to protect Isolde? No one!
“I…” Isolde’s head was turned so that she could still see Hugo but arched as far away from him as she could be. The angle of her neck had to be painful, but Hugo didn’t seem to notice. Or, perhaps, he did not care. “Please…”
Hugo didn’t listen of her pleading. Violet noted the way Isolde was tugging her hand away from Hugo, but he didn’t seem to notice. There were fingerprints on Isolde’s skin where he was digging in.
“Our condolences on the loss of your father,” Violet told Hugo, announcing her presence.
They both started. Isolde’s expression flashed with relief while Hugo looked as though Violet was very unwelcome. He had yet to learn her capacity for making him unwelcome.
She crossed and took Isolde’s hand, pulling her to her feet. Hugo’s expression was utterly shocked as Violet forced him to scoot back and wrapped her arm around her sister. Vi seated Isolde next to herself on the Chesterfield, with Isolde tucked between her and the side of the sofa.
“I imagine,” Violet continued as though she hadn’t just pulled that maneuver, “that your father’s death was quite the shock.”
“It was, of course. Thank you,” Hugo replied.
The expression on his face declared he’d like to see the last of Violet. It wasn’t Violet, however, that he’d be seeing the last of. He waited and as he did Victor entered the room, took in Violet’s position, the way Isolde was cowering behind her elder sister, and his eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing here?” Victor demanded.
Hugo cleared his throat and adjusted his awkward seat to state, “Just giving Isolde my condolences.”
“Which you’ve done,” Victor said. The indication was clear that Hugo was invited to leave.
Hugo’s head cocked, and he looked quizzical.
Violet could feel Isolde shuddering under her hand. Vi’s furious face told Victor all he needed to know.
“Have I done something to offend you?” Hugo asked, refusing to stand. “Surely, as Isolde and I have experienced the greatest loss, it is reasonable that we are best able to comfort each other.”
“Is that the lie you are telling yourself?” Victor wasn’t even pretending at manners. “You think it is acceptable to visit a very young, very shocked girl at home alone? After such a harrowing trial?”
“Besides,” Violet said lightly, “you said yourself you knew that Isolde was pressured into a relationship with your father. You know she isn’t grieving as you must be, so why did you come?”
Hugo glanced between the twins and then seemed to appeal to Isolde, but Violet did her best to block his view of her little sister.
“Leave, Danvers,” Victor said. “It’s long past time for you to go.”
“You can’t keep me from Isolde. This isn’t a prison.”
Isolde squeaked, and as they all turned to look at her, she tucked her face into Violet’s shoulder.
Violet lift a single brow at Hugo and his face flushed furiously.
“This isn’t quite the thing, and you are well aware you behavior isn’t apropos. Did you wait until we’d left her alone or did you inquire to see if she was alone when you appeared?”
Hugo flushed and didn’t answer.
Victor continued. “Once this murder investigation is over, Isolde will be leaving London and you will not see her again.”
Hugo almost growled, and Isolde shuddered at the noise.
“Now I say—” Hugo tried.
“Out,” Victor demanded, interrupting him.
“Isolde is nearly family,” Hugo protested.
“Isolde,” Violet said, “is with her family. And the only other connections she’ll be forming is with other travelers and then college students.”
“College?”
“College,” Victor repeated. “Not another too old for her beau who wishes to pressure her into something she doesn’t want.”
Hugo was brilliantly red at that point, but he turned and appealed to Isolde. “You wish to leave? Leave? Travel? College?”
Violet would have answered for her sister, but he needed to hear it from Isolde, and she needed to learn how to speak for herself. Seeing her as crumpled as she’d been when Vi had arrived had shown just how easy it was to squash the burgeoning independent woman in Isolde.
Violet nudged Isolde, and she said, “I…I…do.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Hugo declared. “You have options.”
When Isolde didn’t speak, Vi nudged her again, and Isolde said, “I want to go to college. And to travel. And to breathe a little after…everything.”
Victor stepped forward. He was shorter and more slender than Hugo, but Victor still seemed intimidating.
“You heard it from her. You heard it from me. Out. Don’t bother her again.”
Hugo snarled as he slammed from the parlor. Victor followed.
Isolde moaned as he left, curling onto her side and placing her head on Violet’s lap. “Oh, that was awful!”
Violet ran her hand along her sister’s back, soothing her as Vi would a baby. Over and over again until Isolde was quivering and then finally she started to cry. She didn’t talk as she cried, just let the tears fall slowly and silently.
Violet didn’t say a word either. Isolde n
eeded to have a good cry. Not just over Danvers dying, though perhaps also that, but over the fact that her mother had cornered her into a marriage that was clearly destined for misery.
Victor returned long enough to see Isolde weeping and left in a fury. After quite a long while, Isolde slipped into sleep. Violet left her and found that Jack had arrived again.
“I was hoping to ask a few questions of Isolde, only…”
Violet shook her head. “Maybe we can help? She barely fell asleep, and given the circles under her eyes I don’t think she’s been sleeping well—perhaps for weeks.”
Victor snorted., “Jack is here because he knows Cook is excellent.”
“Its hours before dinner,” Jack protested.
“And just in time for tea,” Violet said with a grin and a wink. “Hargreaves, in the library, please. Leave Isolde be and let her sleep.”
“Yes, m’lady,” he said.
Beatrice brought in the tea, which was cucumber or smoked salmon sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and fruit tarts. Jack asked about the Kenningtons, and they had to admit they didn't know much regarding the details of those connections.
“We’ve been pursuing a few leads that have been harder to track down than I’d have expected.”
“Perhaps,” Violet suggested as she set down her cucumber sandwich, “you are referring to Mr. Mathers and his daughter?”
Jack’s gaze narrowed on her, and she knew that she’d given away they’d inquired into the murder.
“We might have stopped by to see Helen,” Violet admitted.
“Perhaps. Maybe. If you aren’t too angry,” Victor mocked.
Violet nudged him with her elbow and confessed, “It is possible that in stopping by we took Helen’s little sister out for ice cream, and she and I gossiped a bit.”
Jack frowned. She could almost see him debating. He wanted to know what she’d discovered and he wanted to scold her thoroughly. She waited to see what he’d choose.
He finally said, “We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere with that angle.”
Violet grinned at him and Victor clapped Jack on the back. “Bravo, good man! Way to accept the inevitable.”
