‘But we must dosomething. I cannot bear the thought of her out there, roaming around as though she has not destroyedeverything.’
Odette imagines Leo pacing, pulling at the lock of hair at his forehead that curls like his sister’s, marching about the room as though he can demand the world stop and reorganise itself along the lines of his own wanting.
‘I am so terribly sorry, dear boy.’ Claudine’s voice is soft. Does she place a gentle hand on his arm, an encouragement to sink further into his grief?
‘What she did to my mother – my sister – the girl pulled my family to pieces, and for what? Her own mad delusions? It is – it is – Icannotlet it lie.’
‘And you are right not to,’ says Claudine. ‘She has done the same to me, though I am fortunate that things have not yet gone so far. George is blinded by his fatherly feeling, but you and I know better. The girl cannot be allowed to roam free.’
No, no, it is wrong,wrong. Everything laid at her door should rightly be laid at Claudine’s. Odette cannot let it stand. She will no longer suffer the lie. They speak so boldly when they do not know she has the measure of them, that she spies on them even now.
Leo gives a bitter laugh. ‘Well, you tried to lock her up, but fortune favours her even there. God, if any harm had come to that poor girl travelling with her I could never have forgiven myself.’
‘I was a soft-hearted fool. I never imagined she would stoop toso evil a trick.’
‘If she comes back here, I – I—’ Leo stops himself, laughs again, choked and short. ‘Well, I do not quite know what I would do, but perhaps it is better if she never returns to find out.’
A pause. Claudine eking out the tension. ‘I cannot help but think – no, I should not say.’
Leo takes the bait. ‘What?’
Odette creeps down another step. What? What is it Claudine plans now?
‘No, I cannot bother you with my thoughts,’ says Claudine. ‘You carry too much of your own burden.’
‘Please. I insist. There is no one else in this world now who understands me as you do.’
Odette frowns in distaste. How wholly Leo allows himself to be taken in. She expected more of him, though she is not sure why anymore. They are all fools, and they deserve what is coming to them.
Another pause. ‘I feel the same,’ says Claudine. ‘Forgive me, but I find myself thinking too often that the wrong person has died.’
‘You do not need to hide such thoughts from me.’ Leo is soft now, confiding. ‘I – well, I share them.’
Claudine sighs. ‘We would all be better off without her. We know she is mad and dangerous. She will never stop. You saw how she hunted me.’
‘Yes,’ says Leo, ‘yes.’
‘And again, I find myself thinking .?.?. a mad girl like that could come to many nasty ends.’
Odette covers her mouth with her hands to hide her gasp.
‘What are you saying?’ asks Leo, hesitant.
‘I am saying that it would be no surprise if she lost hold of herself and took her own life. Don’t you think?’
‘But .?.?. would she?’
Claudine is firmer now. ‘We can makesureshe does.’
‘I don’t – oh. Oh. I understand.’ He is too quiet. Too calm.
Odette is dizzy, dizzy, slipping out of herself and half down the stairs, half into the street, with Claudine and Leo and their plan to murder her, with her mother waiting for her on the other side of the veil. What is she to do?
‘In the drawer in my dressing table,’ says Claudine, ‘there is a revolver. It is only small – for a woman’s protection, you must understand.’
‘You mean—’
‘I mean if – when – Odette returns here, there could be a tragic end. The key is to fire at close quarters, then place the gun into her hand at once.’