Terror wrapped an icy hand around Phoebe’s lungs, clenching into a savage fist.
Ellen laughed softly. “I said a great many things. First and foremost, that there was something in the punch.” She squeezed her eyes shut again. “I know my twin, Phoebe. She will be outraged initially, but in less than a day, she will forgive you and demand to be allowed to pick your wedding gown with you. She angers quickly but does not hold grudges.”
“Daniel wishes to marry her,” Phoebe insisted.
Ellen shrugged, her eyes still closed. “And if you would allow Joanna to marry him, knowing what you know, maybe you are not the protector that you have always been to us.”
“You are mistaken,” Phoebe repeated, though even she could hear how weak it sounded.
Ellen smiled. “Very well. Maybe I am. But believe me when I say that Joanna would rather lose him than you, and I do not think you will be able to be near them if they do marry. No one is that strong.” She sighed. “Nor do I think you will be able to forgive yourself when she writes to you, telling you how she is trying everything, but cannot make Daniel love her.”
“I am not confirming these… ridiculous ideas, but are you going to tell Joanna of your suspicions?” Phoebe’s hands shook, wondering how the tables had been turned so sharply on her.
Indeed, Ellen was acting like the mother, offering gentle advice.
Ellen shook her head and flipped over, turning her back to Phoebe. “It is not my place. I am just giving my suggestion. You may take it or leave it, but do remember that if you tell the truth, only one person will suffer—and briefly, at that. If you do not tell the truth, both of you will suffer rather more permanently.”
“Ellen, I…” Phoebe did not know where to begin, the tale too complicated for her tired mind to unravel.
Ellen wriggled more vigorously. “I am weary, dear sister. I should like to sleep now.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “Seize it, Phoebe. Seize joy. For once in almost twenty years, do not worry about Joanna and me. She will find someone better suited, and then, one day, we will all laugh about this tangled, little knot. Indeed, if you cannot seize joy for your own sake, seize it for Joanna’s. Do not let her be second best to anyone.Thatwould be desperately unfair.”
With that, she turned back around and pulled the coverlets up to her ears, letting Phoebe know that the conversation was over.
Her sister had said everything that needed to be said and more that needed to be heard.
When did you grow up so much?
Phoebe smiled sadly at her sister before retreating from the room and closing the door behind her.
But rather than return to the ballroom and the noise and the festivities, Phoebe made her way to her own bedchamber. After all, Ellen had given her a great deal to think about, and the kind of thinking that lay ahead of her could not be done with any distractions whatsoever.
It may never be me who marries Daniel.
She remembered what he had said in the center of the maze about love and pain and loss.
But I cannot let it be Joanna.
In hindsight, thatwouldbe desperately unfair.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
“Sister?” A soft, frightened voice startled Phoebe out of her deep slumber.
She squinted at the figure looming over her, her heart lurching into her throat. “Who is there?”
“It is Joanna.”
Phoebe rubbed her bleary eyes, pushing herself into a sitting position with a wheeze of exertion. “Can you not sleep?” She opened up one side of the coverlets. “Did you want me to stroke your hair as I did the other night?”
“I… think something is wrong,” Joanna whispered.
Phoebe frowned, noting her sister’s pale complexion for the first time. Joanna looked as if she had seen a ghost.
“What is wrong?” She tried to make out the time on the carriage clock opposite, but it was too far and too dark. “What time is it?”
“Just past four,” Joanna replied. “I… had a bad dream. Or I thought it was a dream, but… I… Well, I heard horses. It was in my dream, but then I woke up, and the sound was still there. I went to the window, and… there was a carriage pulling out of the gates.”
Phoebe nodded, still half asleep. “It was likely some of the guests departing. You will probably be hearing horses until long after dawn.”
