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“So, here you are.” Her sister’s eyes narrowed.
“Here I am.”
“I will never understand you.”
Theo closed the gate to the chicken coop and carefully latched it. “The feeling is quite mutual, I assure you.”
“How dare you speak to Grandfather about what you think you heard?”
“About how you called me bran-faced? About how you mocked my skin?” She pointed to her cheek. “I did not need to tell him. You said it often enough that even his aged ears heard you.”
Was that a trace of remorse? “That wasn’t what he spoke of.”
“No? Then I don’t know what he refers to.”
Her sister’s gaze grew piercing, before she glanced away. “You thought I stole Roger from you.”
Breath hitched. Dear heavens, she hoped Grandfather had not said that in there.
“I didn’t steal him,” Seraphina insisted. “Roger never liked you. He never cared for you that way. You know that, don’t you?”
“Thank you for making it very plain.”
Seraphina sighed. “It doesn’t help that you’ve always been jealous of me. I can’t help if I was born with blonde hair and not red. I can’t help it if my skin was clear and not marked. And it wasn’t my fault that I managed to marry and move away.”
“And you always did so well at refraining from pointing out such things to me,” Theo said ironically.
“I know you have never appreciated my plain speaking, but I do not say these things because I wish for acrimony between us.”
“No? How do you like to justify yourself, then?”
“See? This is what you always do. You always blame me. It is hardly the act of a good Christian.”
Theo found a laugh. “You’re right. I wish I was a better Christian. If I was, then maybe I would have learned how to forget your many rudenesses by now. But I can’t. I may have forgiven you, or maybe I haven’t because I cannot seem to forget, because every time I see you, you spout more, and it just brings it all back.”
“You talk to me about rudenesses? I—”
“I will speak to you about rudenesses,” Theo ruthlessly cut her off. “Like your utter disregard for others. Your constant focus on yourself. When was the last time you wrote to poor Mama and asked about her? Have you even asked about her health while you’ve been here?”
“Of course, I—”
“Have you given heed to Grandfather, or is he just the old man in whose house you stay? Have you even bothered to have a conversation with him while you’ve been here? Whyareyou even here? Doesn’t your husband have employment anymore? What about your house, Seraphina? When will you move back there?”
Her sister’s cheeks flushed to a most unbecoming bright pink. “I do not answer to you.”
“No.” The new voice spun them both to see their grandfather. “But you will answer to me.” The general’s eyes sparked dangerously. “I wish to know the truth.”
Seraphina ground her teeth.
“I heard you years ago, when you boasted to your friend about how you were so glad to leave this area, laughing at us, laughing at your sister there. You disgusted me, and I was never so glad as when you left.”
Seraphina’s mouth fell open.
“And now you are back, making trouble again, and I want answers to Theo’s questions. Why are you here? What has happened to your house?”
Seraphina paled and shook her head.
“No? Well, if you will not do me the courtesy of an answer, then I will not do you the courtesy of providing a place for you to live anymore.”
