Page 22 of Nineteen Eighty

“On it,” Maureen replied, moving slowly but deliberately toward the stairs. “Why, look at this beautiful girl, Leena!”

“She is lovely, isn’t she?”

Maureen climbed the stairs, cooing at Adrienne.

“Augustus will take Nicolas and I’ll take the girls,” Colleen said, letting her planning give her strength. Control. “We’ll take them for as long as is needed, so don’t worry about that. They say Ana can leave the hospital tomorrow morning, and I’m sure it will be nice for her to have her cousin around.” She put her hand on Cordelia’s arm. The other woman looked down in surprise. “I know Nicolas is your son, but I think for the time being, it would be best if he stayed with Augustus. It would give him some normalcy.”

Cordelia nodded, looking toward the stairs. Toward a scene Colleen couldn’t even imagine, but that Cordelia would likely conjure the rest of her life. “I think that’s best. For now,” she said. “Besides, someone needs to stay with Charles.”

Colleen almost sagged in relief. She’d been hoping Cordelia would take on that particular assignment, because someone needed to, and everyone else already had a role to play in the tragedy. “He has a room at the Bourbon Orleans.”

“I know.”

“He also has that flat in the Quarter, but at least at a hotel, you can get help quickly, if needed.”

“You don’t have to convince me. I was already thinking about it.”

Colleen nodded. Where was Augustus? She felt terrible, pulling him from Ana’s bedside, but Mama was there, and Ana would recover from her accident, soon, and with no lingering effects.

“Before your other brother gets here,” Cordelia went on, seeming to choose her words with care. “Look, Charles is out of his mind right now. He’s someone else entirely right now, and he’s been saying some things… things that, if Augustus overheard, he might take to be true, when they’re not.”

Colleen frowned. “What do you mean?”

Cordelia looked again toward the stairs. “You have to remember, he’s out of his mind. He’s not thinking straight.”

“Tell me.”

“He’s… well, he’s saying that he killed Ekatherina and this is his punishment. That the universe has taken Lisette from him as retribution. An eye for an eye.”

Colleen wanted to laugh. That’s how absurd this sounded. And she would have, had it been anyone else saying the words.

Could it be true? It didn’t seem like something Charles would do, not to an innocent young woman, but her brother had been on a slow but sure descent into madness for years. Perhaps he’d convinced himself she was evil. She’d no doubt broken Augustus’ heart many times over, but….

“Like I said, he’s out of his mind with grief,” Cordelia was saying. “We both know better than to take that seriously, but Augustus might do well not to have to hear it, is all I’m saying.”

This killed Colleen’s suggestion of having Augustus take Charles to the hotel. Whether the words were true or not, they’d plant a thought in Augustus that would take root and never die. He would always wonder, and it would ruin whatever relationship existed between the brothers, forever.

“Are you okay to drive?” Colleen asked Cordelia.

She nodded.

“Good. I’ll need you to take him to the hotel. Augustus will take Nicolas with him back to the hospital, and once I get the girls settled at The Gardens with Noah, I can come by the hotel and try to talk to him as well. I’ll see to all the arrangements for Lisette myself, because he won’t be in the frame of mind to do it. Do you have any information for Lisette’s mother? If not, I know Mama will.”

Cordelia nodded. “I can get it.”

Gravel crunched outside as a car passed down the drive. Augustus had arrived.

“Good.” Colleen this time followed her sister-in-law’s gaze toward the stairs. “Can you help Maureen get bags packed for all the children? A diaper bag for Adrienne would also be a great help, but if you don’t have things ready, I can get them in town as well.”

“No. We do,” Cordelia said, voice distant. “How will we get him out?”

Colleen smiled joylessly. “The locks on these skeleton keys aren’t hard to pick. But I also have a brother who isn’t afraid to kick down a door.”

Cordelia nodded. Augustus stepped into the foyer, and both women went to their assigned tasks.

Augustus paused on the stairs, staying Colleen with a hand on her arm. “What happened, exactly?”

“The doctor is in the parlor writing it up, but it seems she bled to death during delivery. Had she been at a hospital, things might’ve ended differently. I don’t know.” Colleen exhaled and drew in a long, hard breath for strength. “Look, I think I’ve got Charles covered for now. Can you go help Maureen and Cordelia get the kids ready? I don’t know how long they’ll be with us, but I’d like to get them out of here as soon as we can. Charles is unpredictable when he’s like this.”

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