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This made me smile a little. “Thank you.”
“I wish there were something I could do. You know I don’t like to be helpless.” Delphia came to sit next to me on the window seat, placing her feet so they met mine.
Bookends, I thought. I would always have my sister. And the others, plus Mama and Papa. I had to remember this when feeling sorry for myself. I was blessed with love. “I understand, but in this case, we have to accept that not everything we want is what we will get.”
“What if it were only his job he’d lose?” Delphia asked. “Would he run from her then?”
“Yes, I think so. It’s his family he’s worried about, more than anything.”
“Has he told you that?” Delphia asked.
“No, we haven’t spoken as if there were things to weigh and sort through in this decision, because there aren’t. He must save his family.” I lifted my chin from my knees to get a better look at her. “What if it were me or Mama and Papa? What if you could save us? Wouldn’t you do so, no matter the cost to yourself?”
She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“I wish there were a way out of this,” I said. “But there isn’t. I’ve been all around it and back again in my mind. I shall be like Emily Dickinson, pining away for the man I loved all my life. Writing from a place of despair.”
“I can’t bear it. I simply can’t. Not when you fought off death. Not when you’re so good. I’d take the broken heart myself if I could. I don’t care for love anyway.”
Her sweetness brought on the tears I’d managed to keep at bay all afternoon. I laid my forehead on my knees and allowed myself to cry. Delphia took me in her arms, and I wept into her dress until it was nearly soaked through. All the while, she stroked my back and whispered that she would fix it, that everything would be all right in the end. But I could tell that even Delphia, who thought she could will the outcome she wanted simply because she was clever, didn’t believe it to be true.
* * *
With Delphia’s help,I managed to dress for dinner. After a cold compress on my eyes, the swelling reduced enough that I could make up my face. My sister did my hair for me, coaxing it into obedient waves.
Li and Fiona, as well as Cym and Viktor, were joining us for dinner. I was glad of it, knowing the conversation would be lively and distracting. I’d not be required to speak and thus could pretend in front of my family and the Masterses that I was quite fine.
We were descending the stairs together when Cym and Viktor arrived without their girls, who were staying with the nanny for the evening. Jasper was with them, having rushed to the door. I could only imagine the competitive streak the snooty Masterses had evoked in him. He would go out of his way to be the perfect English butler this evening. I had a feeling downstairs in the kitchen Lizzie and Mrs. Wu were putting together a meal for the ages.
Cym looked stunning in a sleeveless purple gown that emphasized her trim waist and wide shoulders. Although she claimed to be retired from ski jumping now that she had the girls, she still trained every day with Viktor. She said there might be a time when her muscles would come in handy again. There had been just a smidge of wistfulness in her voice. Who could blame her? She’d had the world record for longest jump when she retired after finding out she was pregnant with her second child.
“Hello, dear sisters.” Cym gave us each a kiss. “It seems like ages since I’ve seen you.”
“We’ve been busy,” Viktor said. “Your sister’s inventory is nearly wiped out, despite this depression.”
Viktor had decided not long after he and Cym married that banking wasn’t for him. His parents had owned a tailor shop all his life, and he’d admitted he missed having a product to sell instead of only counting money. In hindsight, we were glad of it, considering what had happened to the banking industry after the crash. Together, Cym and Viktor had opened a sports shop where they sold skis made by our brother-in-law Phillip, as well as clothes for various outdoor activities like fishing and skiing. Not just for men but women, too. Cym had insisted on that. Viktor’s father and mother now supplied much of the inventory, having hired helpers to create from their patterns. Although Mr. Olofsson still made custom dresses and suits, more and more of the business was focused on producing sportswear.
“You both look lovely, as always,” Viktor said, kissing each of our hands as Jasper disappeared down the stairway to the kitchen. “But I must say, Delphia, you seem distressed. What’s wrong?”
“You won’t believe everything that’s going on around here,” Delphia said in a loud whisper. “These people who have invaded—they’re horrible. Viktor, do you think our house is small?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Viktor lowered his voice to match Delphia. “No one could call this house small.” He gestured around the dark foyer with its gleaming walnut wainscoting and dark beams. “And beautiful. I can still remember the first time I ever came here, I thought I’d come to a palace.”
“See there,” Delphia said to me before turning back to Viktor. “This houseguest of ours said it was small. Can you believe the gall?”
“Miss Masters said that?” Cym said, lowering her voice. “Why would she say such a thing? Is she awful?”
“I’m afraid so,” Delphia said.
“Addie, what do you think of her?” Cym asked.
“She’s fine. A city person, that’s all.” I looked down at my hands and forced myself to keep my mouth from trembling.I mustn’t cry again. Not when I’d finally gotten the puffiness to go away.
“She’s jealous of Addie.” Delphia glanced down the hallway toward the parlor. “I bet it’s eating her alive right as we speak.”
“Jealous of Addie?” Viktor said, narrowing his eyes. “Why would that be?”
“Because Addie’s four thousand times prettier and smarter than…that woman,” Delphia said. “And James is taken with Addie. That much is obvious, even to Lena Masters.”
