Page 75 of Because I Could Not Stop for Death

“Sister, you can’t be running all over a strange city after a man you don’t know. I’m not just thinking of your safety, I’m thinking of your reputation as well. You could be ruined.”

“Ruined for what? Marriage? What loss would that be to me?” Emily folded her arms.

Miss Lavinia frowned. “What about the fact that Willa has been lying to you all this time?”

“I have not,” I cried, coming to my own defense for the first time.

“Oh, really? Have you told her about the diary?” Miss Lavinia’s eyes bored into me. “Have you?”

My heart sank.

Miss Lavinia nodded. “I can tell from your expression that you have not.” She turned to Emily. “Did she tell you about the diary? Did she tell you that she has her brother’s diary?”

Emily turned to me. “Willa?” There was hurt in her voice. “Is there a diary?”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. How could I say to her that I kept the diary to myself because it was the last piece of my brother, of my family, that I would ever have? And if that is true, how could I say to her I have had it for all this time but have been too frightened to read it from beginning to end for fear of being overcome by memory? Sometimes memories, even good memories, were better left buried in the far reaches of the mind for the pain they caused in the present.

“Willa?” Emily asked again. Her voice was sharper this time. “Is this true?”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “It’s true.”

Miss Lavinia smiled, pleased that she outed me this way.

“I want to see it,” Emily said.

“She doesn’t have it now.” Miss Lavinia stood up from the settee. “I hid it.” She left and went into the bedroom.

“Emily,” I said.

Emily frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“It’s the last thing that I have from my brother. I—I just wanted to keep it to myself for a while. Maybe I kept it secret for a little too long, but I always intended to show it to you after I read it myself.”

Her face softened. “If it were my brother, I would have felt the same way.”

Miss Lavinia ran back into the parlor. Her face was red. “The diary is gone.”

I looked her square in the eye. “That’s because I found it hidden behind the headboard in your room.” I removed the diary from my satchel. “You had no right to take it. It was left to me from my brother.”

Miss Lavinia pointed at me. “Do you see how she is behaving, Emily? She’s a maid and she’s keeping things from you.”

“Vinnie,” Emily said gently. “I know at some point in your life you gave yourself the job of protecting me. I’m grateful for that. There will be times I need protection, but I do not need protection from Willa. She is my friend.”

Miss Lavinia folded her arms. “She lied to you.”

“No, she omitted.”

“What is the difference?” Miss Lavinia wanted to know.

“Everything. Everything has secrets, even the skies,” Emily said. Again, she spoke in such a way as if she were testing the words on her tongue and deciding if they were sweet or bitter to her.

Miss Lavinia threw up her hands. “Very well. Even though I have misgivings, I will trust your judgment, Sister, when it comes to Willa. You leave me no choice.” She went into the bedroom, slamming the door after her.

Emily nodded to the diary. “Are you ready to share it now?”

I pressed my lips together. “I am.”

Emily and I pored over the diary for most of the night. In each day’s entry, Henry detailed how he spent his days. It seemed that most of his time was spent caring for the horses at the stables, but he was able to find time to slip away and continue his investigation. It seemed a favorite place for him to gather information was from the old men who sat day after day by the Amherst post office and then also outside of the town bakery and butcher shop.

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