Page 16 of The Midnight Secret

‘What’s the feathery thing there?’ Peony asked from her perch, pointing imperiously towards the trunk.

‘This?’ Veronica pulled out an extravagant ostrich-feather fan, opening it and swatting the air in front of her a few times.

‘I hope there’s a scene where I can use that?’ Peony asked. ‘It could make a feature of my eyes.’ She held a hand in front of her nose, batting her eyelashes coquettishly.

‘I’m not sure.’

Peony raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow. ‘Ronnie, if there’sscope for an opera cape in your wartime novella, there’s scope for a fan.’

Bitsy glanced at Effie, positioned at the window again. ‘What are you always looking for out there, Effie?’ she queried. ‘Devising an exit strategy?’

‘Of course not—’

‘Come over here,’ Bitsy commanded.

Effie reluctantly crossed the room. No one ever said no to Bitsy, it seemed.

‘Have you ever had a go on a rocking horse?’

‘No.’ What little wood ever drifted onto St Kilda’s beach had always been put to better use than modelling racehorses.

‘Well, now’s your chance,’ Bitsy smiled, patting the leather saddle on its back.

Effie looked at her in confusion. ‘But it’s a child’s toy.’

‘Lucky, then, that you’re the size of a twelve-year-old girl. Some of us have big bones and can’t share in the fun. Come along, hop on!’

Effie looked at the large black-and-white speckled horse. Its legs sat upon huge wooden bows; it had a long white mane of real hair, glass eyes, and teeth bared in a menacing smile. Effie wasn’t sure she’d have gone near it if she were a child.

‘Throw a leg over. Don’t worry about being ladylike; it’s only us girls here, after all. We can have a giggle, can’t we?’

It wasn’t being ladylike that Effie had a problem with; she simply couldn’t understand the attraction of sitting atop this menacing wooden horse. Still, she was never one to show weakness, and she swung easily onto the seat, immediately grabbing the mane as the toy rocked forward, then back, under her weight.

She giggled nervously, catching Bitsy’s eye as the other woman pushed her back and forth. ‘See? Such fun, isn’t it?’

‘...Aye,’ Effie nodded after a moment. ‘It is.’

The rhythm was soothing as she rocked back and forth, the fire crackling in the background, music playing through the gramophone, and she felt herself capture, again, another fleeting feeling of contentment in this strange new world in which she found herself. Fun. It could have different definitions, she realized; it wasn’t just confined to scaling vertical cliffs.

‘Do you ride, Effie?’ Peony asked, watching from one of the sofas she had collapsed into. She always seemed perpetually exhausted, as if being upright, or awake, taxed her body.

‘No,’ Effie said, shaking her head.

‘Oh?’ Peony gave a small frown. ‘That’s odd, I was sure I heard you did. Didn’t you, Bits?’

‘Mm, yes, now you mention it,’ Bitsy replied.

Effie felt her stomach pitch. She had been on a horse only once in her life and, but for the grace of God, it might have killed her. Lady Sibyl, Sholto’s former fiancée, had pulled her mount into a full gallop across the Dumfries estate, knowing full well she was a novice. Sholto had been furious, and it had taken Effie hours to recover from the shakes, but there was no way they could know about that...Not unless someone had told them. Sholto had no reason to mention it, but...

Oh, God. Were these women friends of Sibyl’s? The scandal of Sholto calling off his engagement to her in the summer had been reignited when word spread of his engagement to Effie instead, but Sholto had assured her it was old news, that no one would call sides. And yet...

‘A little more?’ Bitsy asked, pushing her a little harder. The pendulum swing increased, the horse tipping right to the very edges of the front and back bows.

Effie gave another squeal, but the delight had gone now, and she shook her head. Just a little harder and she would topple over, crashing face first into the table.

‘Oh, yes, it’s great fun!’

‘No, I’d rather not—’

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