They were so preoccupied that they didn’t notice the door creaking open, with Wilhelmina slipping in and closing it behind her. Elizabeth turned and met her sister’s eyes. They were inslits. She might be able to pretend among the twins, but not with Wilhelmina.
“You’re hiding something,” she remarked.
Elizabeth knew it would be the beginning of a conversation that she didn’t want the twins to hear.
“Daphne, Vicky, may I be excused? I think Mina wants to show me something in her room,” she said gently.
The two girls grumbled but agreed that their two sisters needed some time to catch up.
Wilhelmina closed the door to her room, but she didn’t lock it. It was an unspoken rule in the house.
“I am not hiding anything,” Elizabeth insisted, as she brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.
“You are, Lizzie,” Wilhelmina declared, her eyes unblinking. “Don’t insult my intelligence.”
“Mina,” she warned.
Wilhelmina took a deep breath and watched her solemnly. There was something both odd and humorous about her clasping her hands in front of her.
“You know I’ll be here for you no matter what, Lizzie. Did you get rid of him? Is he writhing in pain in one of Redmoor’s large rooms?”
“W-what?” Elizabeth spluttered.
“Among your sisters, I am the one most likely to help you move the body. Well, Vicky would volunteer, but she is still too small. We can say we buried a large fox, or a deer.”
“Mina!” Elizabeth laughed. She was shocked and delighted at her sister’s dark humor.
“Ah. I knew it,” Wilhelmina murmured, grinning. “There it is. You needed a laugh. It means you are not all right.”
Elizabeth sighed. She flung her arms up and down again. Then, she threw herself on Wilhelmina’s bed.
“Just to be clear: Alasdair is alive and unharmed. However, we have gone our separate ways. I don’t know what is the ideal way to describe that in a world of supposed good manners.”
“Oh. I am so sorry. I was just joking with you, but I see I managed to hit a mark.”
“Yes, you did. You know me well.”
“What are sisters for?” Wilhelmina shrugged. “But why? He seemed like a good match for you. Handsome, kind and protective, a little naughty. Just what you needed.”
“Because I look meek and mild?” Elizabeth asked, lifting her upper body with the help of her elbows.
“I’m not saying you’re weak, Lizzie. You’re resilient, kind. He would have wanted to protect you from the very beginning,” Wilhelmina explained.
“Alasdair is chasing something, Mina, something that might destroy him. I know that he didn’t leave me because he wanted to. He had just gone back to the mission he had given himself since he was a youth. I understand, but it also scares me that he might not come back. I asked him to choose our life over his past, but he wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t. He believes that if he does not go through with his duty, he’d see himself as a coward. Forever.”
Wilhelmina frowned. “Your husband chose revenge over you.”
“No, Mina. He chose justice. There’s a difference. I hope there is, anyway. I don’t want him using calculation to… enact violence. It’s a journey that he was already undertaking before I interrupted it. He didn’t plan to marry me at all.”He didn’tchooseme.Lady Grisham forced his hand.”
“Listen to yourself, Lizzie,” Wilhelmina said. “He chose to marry you. You can look at it any other way you want, but if he didn’tcare so much about you marrying someone else and suffering for it, he would not have done it. He chose to be with you.”
“I am still the one who went out the door first,” Elizabeth admitted. “I could have just waited for him, prayed that he would survive his quest.”
“Mm. Still. We know where his priorities are at the moment.”
Elizabeth looked at her younger sister, who was at the cusp of being a grown woman. During the period she was away, her sisters seemed to have grown older quickly. There was a fire in Mina’s eyes. Both of them might not fully understand the situation, but they had each other’s backs.
“Alasdair believes in what he is doing. I can’t blame him for wanting to clear his father’s name. I would probably fight for any of you until the end of my life, Mina. It just hurts.”