Tears flooded Octavia’s eyes and she vehemently blinked them back. “Excuse me for a moment,” she said as she fled from the room.
As she stepped into the hall, she placed her back against the wall and let the tears fall down her cheeks. Roswell had warned her about the pain associated with not being remembered by their mother but she hadn’t understood until it had happened to her.
How could her mother not remember her? She knew it wasn’t her fault, but it felt awful to be forgotten.
Fredrick’s concerned voice came from down the hall. “Whatever is the matter?” he asked.
“She has forgotten me,” Octavia replied in between breaths.
He approached her and opened his arms out wide. She rushed into them and threw her arms around him, sobbing into his chest.
“It will be all right,” Fredrick said as he attempted to comfort her. “Mother means nothing by this. Surely you know that.”
“I do, but I had hoped it wouldn’t have come to this,” Octavia said.
Fredrick leaned back and looked her in the eyes. “Mother doesn’t love you any less. Her mind is just slipping and we need to be patient.”
Octavia bit her lower lip. “I know, but may I just cry for a little bit longer?”
His eyes held compassion. “You can cry for as long as you need to,” he informed her. “I have nowhere else to go.”
“I am not hurting your shoulder, am I?”
“You are not, and even if you were, it wouldn’t matter.”
“Thank you,” she replied as she laid her head on his chest.
As her head rested against his chest, taking comfort in the steady rhythm of his heart, he gently informed her, “Although, Harred is waiting for you in the drawing room.”
“Harred is here?” she asked.
“He is,” Fredrick replied. “I invited him for dinner and perhaps a game or two after. I thought you might enjoy that, considering you have been moping around all day.”
Octavia took a step back. “I have not been moping about,” she argued.
“Forgive me, but it seemed a lot like moping.” He paused and grew somber. “Tell me what I can do to help you.”
“I could use a biscuit,” she joked.
His lips twitched slightly. “I will see what I can do. Anything else?”
Octavia could hear the sincerity in her brother’s voice and knew that he was trying to help ease her pain. “I don’t need anything.”
Fredrick considered her for a moment before saying, “I think you do, and he is downstairs waiting for you.”
Unsure of his meaning, Octavia asked, “Pardon?”
“You, my dear sister, are messy, complicated and vexing, but I love you,” Fredrick said. “I want you to be happy.”
Octavia held his gaze as she asserted, “I am happy.”
Fredrick pointed towards her eyes. “I see the sadness creeping in and it worries me. So much so that I decided to help you.”
“How exactly did you help me?”
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “You will see, and then I will undoubtedly be your favorite brother.”
“I don’t know. Roswell married my dearest friend. Where is your wife?”
