“What do you mean? What does Fletcher have to do with us?”
* * *
Meredith was struggling to restrain the torrent of tears silently gushing down her face, as she was lying flat on her back staring at the ceiling of her room. After Anthony had explained the details of his callous ninety-day deal with Fletcher, Meredith found that she did not have the strength to remain standing.
It was a good thing Mr. Tulk had come up the stairs with something just then. She asked him to watch Cecilia for a bit, before she practically sprinted towards her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
So was it all just a game to him? Some kind of sick challenge? Was he really going to allow Mr. Fletcher to dismiss me if he had gotten bored with me by the end of the ninety days?
The numbness she was feeling in the center of her heart was not enough to mute the anger that she felt. Not just towards him, but at herself as well.
I can’t believe that I let myself get swept up in his games! As soon as Cecilia is better, I shall leave this ridiculous house. And I don’t care if they are willing to give me positive references, either! I have had quite enough!
She turned onto her stomach and let the pillow absorb her tears.
Chapter 26
“So I just stormed off in the opposite direction and came back downstairs. I mean, what else am I supposed to do? She refused to hear me out at all. I can’t believe she can’t see how I was doing it to protect her and give our relationship a fighting chance! I proposed it to Fletcher as a way to buy some time. Of course there was no way I would ever let him dismiss her.”
His friend nodded, “Then maybe that’s exactly what you should say to her.”
“Like I said, I tried! But she wouldn’t have it! I suppose you’re going to say that you told me so. Isn’t that right?”
Colin threw his head back, “Oh, you’ve ruined the surprise. It wouldn’t be any fun saying it now. Besides, you’re hurt and anxious at the moment, so I shall save it for later.”
Glancing at the paperweight that had once been hurled as a projectile, suddenly reminded Anthony, “By the way, why isn’t Kenny with you?”
He threw his hands up in the air. “What can I say? He’s still unconscious. I mean, you know how he can sleep. We were drinking last night, you see.”
After his argument with Meredith, Anthony came downstairs just as Colin arrived. So Anthony brought him into the study and briefed him on everything that had taken place, including finally disclosing the ninety-day pact.
“Is anyone on your estate also currently suffering from the influenza, Colin?”
Colin tapped his fingers on the desk. “No, not to my knowledge.”
Anthony sighed, “You’re quite fortunate, old boy. Meanwhile, everything here has been gradually driving me mad. Did you know that about two weeks ago, Fletcher and I had even suspected foul play?”
Colin raised his eyebrows. “Foul play? When? By whom?”
“When Timothy died, Fletcher was convinced that it wasn’t an accident. He suspected it could have been a prank by the stable boys that had got out of hand or something similar.”
“But they all swore that it was nothing of that sort. Even our stable master—Mr. Hawkins—vouched for them, saying that Timothy had paid off his debts to other lads by running errands and performing certain chores on their behalf. It was certainly a strange and most uncomfortable conversation to have.”
Just the memory of it was enough to make Anthony shudder.
Leaning forward, Colin asked, “And did you ever find out if there was any foul play or anything of that sort?”
“No, because then even more staff fell ill and we got swept up with trying to maintain order in the house.”
Within several minutes of conversation, he felt himself becoming considerably calmer.
Maybe Meredith was right about my needing to be more accepting of help.
“Anthony, when was the last time you were angry at me? Do you remember?”
“Hmm, do you mean angry as in ticked or angry as in livid?” he asked. “Because if you’re referring to the former, then the answer would be a few minutes ago when you admitted to wanting to say, ‘I told you so.’”
Colin smiled. “No, I meant a time when you were genuinely upset with something I had done.”
