Glancing over my shoulder, I smiled, seeing Morella ensconced in the bed, holding her belly and talking to the babies. How terrifying to feel as though you might lose something so precious.
“Annaleigh?” Verity called after me.
Morella looked up, surprised she wasn’t alone. She offered me a small smile, bidding me farewell.
After retrieving my robe and running a comb quickly through my hair, I headed down to the Blue Room. There were several familiar names in Morella’s notes. Sterland Henricks and Regnard Forth topped the guest list.
They were two of Papa’s oldest friends and captains under the Thaumas banner. All three attended the naval academy together as young men. It would be good to see them. They were like uncles to us.
There were a few other captains, whom I knew in name only, and a pair of Papa’s clerks from the Vasa offices. I wondered if they would still be welcome after the incident Papa was currently trying to fix.
Running my fingers over the last name on the list, I froze. “Captain Walter Corum.”
Cassius’s father! He must have sent in his response before getting sick. But perhaps the tinctures Cassius picked up had worked and he’d be ready to travel next week. Cassius might even have to accompany him as caretaker.
I looked up and down the corridor, imagining Cassius walking it. Cassius roaming the grounds of Highmoor. Cassius and I sneaking into the solarium to steal kisses under the cover of an enormous frond…
I pushed the thoughts aside. There was a stack of papers to go through, and we’d need all the time we could get. I could lose myself in fevered daydreams later, once everything was managed.
Turning into the Blue Room, I stopped short. My sisters were scattered throughout the room, as if arranged by a portraitist trying to capture everyone in the very best light.
All of them.
Camille stood by the piano, her hand resting on the lid. Rosalie and Ligeia were on the love seat, with arms cozily linked behind their backs. Lenore stood behind them, her fingers perched on Rosalie’s shoulder. Honor posed at the window with an open book in hand, though it was upside down. Mercy and Verity were sprawled out near the fire on a thick rug. They appeared to be deep in a game of jacks, but nothing lay before them.
Everyone looked up as I entered, their heads turning in jerky unison. I blinked at the unnatural movement, and for a terrible second, my other sisters materialized into the scene. Octavia stood in front of Honor, reading the book right side up. Elizabeth sat at the piano, playing a song for Camille to sing. Eulalie was between Verity and Mercy, snatching up a handful of jacks, and Ava was next to Lenore, completing their eerie tableau with her fingertips on Ligeia’s shoulder.
“We’ll take care of everything, Morella,” Camille mimicked, breaking the moment.
Everything returned to normal. Only seven of my sisters were now in the room. I squinted, trying to re-create the monstrous image, but the vision was gone.
“Aren’t you the dutiful daughter today? Taking care of your poor, ailing stepmother, stepping in to oversee First Night. You’ll be volunteering as the Thaumas masthead before we know it.”
I ignored her barbs, joining the triplets in sorting through the notes on the coffee table. “I didn’t see you racing in to help.”
“Nor will I,” she quipped. “She brought this on herself.”
“She can’t help what the babies are doing.”
Camille shrugged. “Such ambitions and all for naught. She dreamt of running this estate, and she can’t even handle putting together Churning. I’m not helping her. Let her fail, and Papa will see what a miserable and useless creature he married.”
“Camille!” Rosalie exclaimed. “Whether you like her or not, that’s hardly a way to speak about our stepmother.”
“She’s no mother of mine.” She stormed out of the parlor. Her pounding footsteps echoed through the hall.
Rosalie blew a strand of hair from her face, glaring at the doorway.
“What set her off?”
“She’s not been getting much sleep,” Lenore murmured.
I sniffed. “Because of the dancing? Why doesn’t she take a night off?”
Lenore picked at her skirt. “She’s desperate to find a beau. Last night, she kept going on and on about how you’d already found someone on Astrea and she was going to be a spinster for the rest of her life.”
“Oh, Camille.” I chewed on the inside of my mouth. Right now there were bigger issues to deal with. I thought of Morella, left alone in that big bed, waiting for Papa’s return. I’d never seen her look so small and lost.
I shook my head. “Churning begins next week. We only have six days to make sure everything is prepared for First Night.”
