Vampyre Bride ✔️

XV⎮The Great Looming Spider

Emma was much surprised when, just before luncheon, Milly sought her out in the attic where she was writing her weekly missive to their mother and father.

"I feel I ought to apologize for my cross words last night," said she, coming to sit beside Emma and resting her chin atop her sister's shoulder.

Emma set her pen down and kissed Milly's brow. "Think no more of it."

Milli shook her head. "Do you know, I envy you."

"Whatever for?" Emma snorted, good-naturedly.

"You are so accomplished, Em, and even uncle stops to listen when you speak. I would that I had half your patience and your wit. No, let me finished," she said, holding up her hand when Emma made to interject. "I do not begrudge you the esteem that others naturally feel in your presence, Lord knows I feel it also, but I thought, for once, that I had awakened that impression, if even by a small degree, in Victoria."

"My dear!" — and Emma took her sister's hands in hers with a warmth of feeling — "of course she must feel that way, for why else would she invite us to Whitby? I assure you," she said with a wink, "it was not done for the sake of my company."

"I hope you are right." Then Milli gave an awkward giggle, contrite of a sudden. "Not about Victoria's preferring my company over yours, mind, but I do not like to think that she only cares for me because I may be of some use to her; though, I cannot think how."

"If it was I that made you feel this way, then I am truly sorry for it." She was exceedingly regretful, in point of fact, that her suspicions had prickled her sister's sensibilities; but, however, not in the least bit sorry for how little she trusted Victoria.

Milly smiled, somewhat mollified. "So you discredit Mrs. Leblanc's letter after all?" There was a hopeful gleam in her blue eyes.

"As you say," she said, altogether too nonchalantly, "I hardly know her." In truth, she remained dubious of both Victoria and Anna. And as for Winterly himself...? Well, that gentleman remained a mystery still. He had not seemed at all pleased by the prospect of their visiting his estate in Yorkshire, and she had to wonder at the strange dynamic between brother and sister.

Emma had lain awake all night, weighing what she knew against what she felt and, by dawn, had realized very little and attained nothing more considerable than an exhausted malaise of the mind. Whatever the pretext of Victoria's inviting them to Yorkshire, Emma knew that she would keep her doubts to herself until such a time as she had more substantial proof of what was now only a niggling in her bones.

It had not occurred to her that by expressing those doubts, she was, at least to Milly's way of thinking, depreciating her sister's capacity for securing the condescension, and even the friendship, of such a grand lady as Victoria Winterly.

Well, she would not have her sister questioning her own worth. They were perhaps not the social equals of the coteries they had had the misfortune to walk amongst last night, but her sister was far more charming and far lovelier than any of the debutantes at Almack's.

Her ability to put others at ease, to laugh easily, to never hold a grudge, and to admit when she was wrong, was part of that infinite charm and grace that was so lacking in others, but which Milli possessed in abundance. All of this she told her sister directly.

But she was, in the next instant, to receive the same lecture from Milli because she too was wont to underestimate her own consequence.

At length, they embraced and were once more as easy as they had been before last night, Anna's letter, for the nonce, ignored; but not forgotten. At least, not by Emma.