Chapter 5
“Hello?”Anxiety tainted Iris’s voice as she called out into the dark room. “Is anyonethere?”
The door squeaked, and the sound was so loud it made Iris skittish. As she stepped inside she was unnerved to see how different her father’s office appeared. Without his dominating presence behind that desk, with his face not glowing in the light, the entire room had an empty coldness that wasn’t there before. The books looked dustier than they had before, the desk looked devoid of any life, there was even a dirtiness to the carpet that Iris hadn’t noticedbefore.
It was exactly the same, yet totallydifferent.
Iris gulped, hating the way that made her feel inside. Maybe she missed her father more than she thought she would. Or, not so much, but the comfort blanket that he offered her. Iris never really noticed it before, but now that he was gone she had nothing. He had always been the wall separating her from the rest of theworld.
"Miss Warwick," a semi-friendly voice called out to her through the darkness. Even with the natural light pouring through the window it seemed black inside. "How good to see youagain."
“A... again?” she stammered as he took her hand and shook it far too vigorously. “We have met before?” She studied his face carefully, but she didn’t recognize anything about him atall.
“Oh, I am sorry.” He slapped his palm against his forehead looking like he’d forgotten something frightfully important. Iris cocked her head to one side curiously, while slowly slipping her hands back down to her sides. “I suppose you must have been too young the last time you met me while you were in the right frame ofmind.”
The right frame ofmind?
Those words were so insulting that it actually took Iris back for a moment. She wasn't aware that anyone outside of the family was truly aware of what had happened to her. As far as she was aware, her father had gone to great lengths to hide it, but it seemed that this man knew. Maybe it was through rumours, or maybe her father had confided in him. Iris couldn't picture Robert Warwick speaking to anyone about anything personal, but it was highly likely that there were a lot of things about him that she wasn't awareof.
“When did I meet you?” she askedfirmly.
“I am Mr. Langley, your father’s lawyer. I met you after your mother’spassing.”
As he stepped backwards and the light streamed across his face, Iris got a better view of him. He had that formal, stiff appearance that she associated with businessmen. His lips were pursed tightly together, causing lines to run down the sides of his mouth. His skin sagged below his deep, dark eyes, and his shoulders were so hunched up that he appeared to have the world resting on his back. He was weary, tired of life, and for so many reasons Iris took an instant dislike tohim.
Still, she certainly didn’t recognizehim.
“It is good to meet you, Mr. Langley,” she replied stiffly, trying her best to keep her judgment inside. “I just wish that it was under bettercircumstances.”
“Of course, me too.” He hung his head low in regret, but Iris could tell that he didn’t truly mean it. Maybe there was a part of him that was sad for Robert’s death, but his visits here were all business, that much was clear. “I am terribly sorry that I have been forced to come and see you on such a terrible day, I would not have done so if it wasn’t for your father’s strictinstructions.”
“What...”
Before Iris could – possibly unwisely – ask Mr. Langley what the rush was, Olivia walked in the room with Elizabeth and her husband not far behind her. Almost instantly the attention was taken off of Iris and she could feel herself almost visible shrinking in onherself.
Iris wasn’t bold at the best of times, but with her remaining family members in the room she faded away to almost nothing. It was an automatic reaction; one she did not seem to have any controlover.
“What is this?” Olivia demanded, while throwing her hands onto her hips. Her cheeks tainted red and her nostrils flared in temper. “Why must we do this now? I have childrenwaiting...”
“Oh, your children are not even here,” Elizabeth scoffed in a bemused tone of voice. “They are with their paternal grandmother for the day. If this has to be now, it is for a good reason, so let us just hear himout.”
As Elizabeth took a seat, Iris shot her a proud look but she quickly noticed that her husband looked less than pleased with her outburst. He was a stuffy, older gentleman with clear ideas about the way women should be seen and not heard. He was not the sort of man that Elizabeth should be married to, she deserved someone much morefun.
She wished that she could help her sister, but it was a situation that left her totallyhopeless.
Iris sat down too, near to her sister, and eventually, Olivia followed suit. She clearly was not happy with the arrangement but if no one else was going to make a fuss about it, then she wouldn'teither.
“Right.” Mr. Langley slipped his glasses over his eyes and he made a big show of examining the paper in front of him. “I have the information of your father’s will here for you. Would you like me to go over all the legal bits with you, or are you simply interested in what each of you shallreceive?”
Iris glanced anxiously at Elizabeth, but neither of them needed to talk because Olivia jumped in rightaway.
“Do not try to make us sound heartless, Mr. Langley. This is the day of our father’s funeral. Please give us the details in a few a words aspossible.”
“Certainly,Miss.”
Iris wrapped her fingers around the chair below her and she sucked in a deep, tense breath of air. She gripped so tightly to the wood that she could almost feel her knuckles turningwhite.
“Olivia Bolen, nee Warwick, your father has bequeathed to you the house, for you to raise your childrenin...”
