Page 69 of The Devil of Clan Sinclair
Beyond the door were normal sounds. Ellice laughed. Eudora said something to one of the maids, who answered with a lilting voice.
“What are we going to do?” she asked, all thoughts of Cornwall pushed to the back of her mind.
Enid picked up the pen in front of her, studied it, then let it slide from her fingers.
“What can we do?”
When she didn’t answer, Enid continued. “Employ him for the rest of his life or ours. Ensure he’s happy.”
If she told Enid that Paul looked at her oddly, would Enid do anything about the situation?
Her mother-in-law couldn’t dismiss him, for all their sakes. The minute she did, Paul would go to Jeremy. This elaborate ruse they’d concocted would come falling down.
As she folded her hands tidily on her lap, a stanza from Sir Walter Scott came to mind:
Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!
She couldn’t help but think that Enid and Paul were spiders on either side of an elaborate web, while she was in the middle, trapped like a fly.
Chapter 18
Virginia knew something was wrong because of the silence. Eudora and Ellice were not chattering at each other. Ellice was not picking up her skirts and flying down the hall, violating at least three of her mother’s tenets. The maids weren’t congregating at the stairwell engaged in gossip.
Even the day was quiet. The garden was perfectly still, without a gentle breeze.
She found Enid in the doorway of her eldest daughter’s room. Her mother-in-law was pale, perspiration dotting her upper lip and forehead. Before she could ask what was wrong, Enid shut the bedroom door and leaned back against it.
“Where is Elliot?” Enid asked, her voice quavering.
“In the nursery. I’ve put him down for a nap. Mary’s watching him.”
Enid nodded. “Good. Good.”
“What is it, Enid?” she asked, taking a few steps back from the doorway.
“You need to keep him on the third floor.”
“Why?”
“I’ve only seen it once before,” Enid said, “and I hope my memory is false. If not, my darling Eudora is very ill.”
“Enid, what is it?” She pressed her fingers against the brooch at her neck. A gift from Enid, it contained a lock of Lawrence’s hair.
“Smallpox.” Enid pressed a hand to her chest as if uttering the word had caused her heart to flutter.
“I was never vaccinated,” Virginia said. Her hands were cold, panic stiffening her spine.
“We were,” Enid said. “But somehow, my darling Eudora is still ill.”
Virginia wanted to gather up her child right this moment, leave her belongings behind and simply race away from this house. They’d go to Cornwall, or America, or even Scotland. Somewhere safe, where the hint of disease couldn’t touch them.
Was any place safe in the world?
She grabbed her left wrist with her right hand, holding on so she didn’t fly to pieces.
“Do not be around Elliot, Virginia,” Enid said, leaning her head back against the door. “Keep Mary and only Mary with him. She doesn’t mingle with the rest of the staff.”
