A knock came from the door. “Amelia? I mean, Pearl?” Julia’s voice said.
“Come in.”
Julia sneaked inside. Her light-yellow morning dress complimented her eyes, but enhanced her pale cheeks. “How are you?”
“I’ve been better.”
Julia sat next to her and hugged her. “I’m so sorry about your father. Benedict told me what happened.”
Pearl rested her head on Julia’s shoulder. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“Why don’t we do something to distract you until the others come back from the station? How does horse-riding sound?”
“Wonderful.” Better than staying in her room, crying and worrying.
~ * ~
SORE MUSCLES WERE a great cure for melancholia. Hours later, Pearl’s sorrow hadn’t gone, but dark thoughts didn’t cram her mind any longer. She hadn’t forgiven her father, that would take a long time, but she managed to think of him without bursting into tears. She sipped tea in the sitting room, waiting for Christopher to return, although a storm of anxiety raged inside her. The grandfather clock chimed four times. She peeked out of the window, searching the horizon for the telling cloud of dust that signalled the arrival of a carriage. Why was it taking so long?
“They’re here.” Julia stood up and pointed at the window.
Christopher’s carriage was approaching, and the closer it moved, the more Pearl’s insides twisted.
When the carriage stopped at the front door, only Christopher and Benedict exited.
“Where are Cowasj and Dorian?” Julia asked.
Pearl wiped her clammy hands on her skirt and rose from the chair on unsteady legs.
The door of the sitting room opened, and Florence strode inside to bring more tea. “Lord Lyons is here.”
Yes, she knew this.
Christopher’s presence seemed to suck all the light in the room when he entered. He put his tall hat on a table and removed his coat while Benedict trudged inside.
“Well?” she asked, forgetting to address him properly.
He released a long exhalation. “The money was in the box. All of it.”
It shouldn’t have hurt, but it did. Hard.
She bit down a sob. It was good, wasn’t it? Now those poor robbed people would have their money back, and some of the pain Father had caused would be healed.
“Great. Yes. It’s great,” she said in a shaky voice.
A tiny part of her had hoped they wouldn’t find anything, that Papa had been innocent, and the whole thing had been a mistake.
Christopher nodded, and Benedict and Julia left the room on their tiptoes.
Pearl dropped into the armchair. All the grief she’s been able to keep at bay during the day washed over her in cold waves, leaving only destruction in their wake. Her life was a disaster and a lie.
“Pearl.”
She hadn’t heard Christopher moving, but he was crouched in front of her. His black eyes shining with a riot of emotions.
“It hurts so much.”
He drew circles on her knuckles with his thumb. “I know.”
