Charles looked up at the house, and I could see the loss in his eyes. It was a grief…a mourning for what could have been.
“But things grew worse?”
“Much worse. Much, much worse.” He dropped his hands and rested his head back against the seat, his eyes closed. “The birth was traumatic. The doctor barely delivered the baby alive, and Catherine lost so much blood. I thought I was going to lose them both.”
Charles had always been a stoic man, so seeing his lip tremble with emotion brought a sudden mistiness to my own eyes. I blinked it away, trying to remain strong. For him and for Catherine.
“But she is all right?”
“Physically, yes,” he reiterated. “The doctor successfully delivered Hazel and tended to Catherine. She was so strong, Alice. You would have been proud. Catherine nursed our baby within an hour after delivery, even while she could barley open her eyes. I’d never seen such strength. Such resilience. The doctor, too, was amazed by her tenacity.”
“That sounds like Catherine,” I said with a small smile. Charles returned it, but the memory leeched away, light and color draining from his eyes like the setting sun.
“Having Hazel has helped pull Catherine through, I’m sure, but she hasn’t fixed everything.”
“Is Catherine still seeing things?” I looked back to the house just as a shadow moved across an upstairs window. Whoever had been standing there was gone now, but the curtain swayed in their wake. I wondered if it was Catherine.
Charles shrugged. “I think so, but she won’t tell me anything. Not anymore. I’ve lost her trust.”
“How?”
“By not moving our family as soon as she asked.”
“She was pregnant,” I said, reaching out to comfort him once again. “Moving would have been a large upheaval. Surely Catherine doesn’t blame you for staying.”
“She didn’t until the accident.”
I pulled my hand back and blinked. “What accident?”
Rather than answer my question, Charles threw open his door and climbed out of the car. He reached into the backseat to free my case from where it was wedged. We met at the front of the car, the engine making clicking sounds at it cooled down from the drive.
“What accident?” I repeated.
“I’ll let Catherine tell you more,” he said. “No one knows what happened out there. Maybe not even Catherine. But she will not talk to me about it anymore.”
I looked back up at the house, wishing I could know all of its secrets. Instead of answers, I saw only cracks in the façade. From a distance, they were not visible, but up close, things were beginning to flake away. Paint chipped around the window frames, weeds grew up in boxes where flowers had once been, and dust collected on the steps and the walkway with no one to sweep it away.
The house was of a good size and build, but the vastness of the heather fields seemed to overwhelm it. Rather than sitting proudly on the hill, the ground seemed to be wrapped around the edges of the house, swallowing it up bit by bit until there would be nothing left soon.
I couldn’t be certain how much of my assessment was based upon the ominous information Charles had just divulged, but the fact remained either way: the house gave me an eerie feeling, and I couldn’t blame Catherine for wanting to get away.
When Charles pushed open the front door and ushered me inside, I had to admit the interior of the home felt much cozier than the exterior.
There was a large stone fireplace in the sitting room to the right of the entrance, and I could imagine a nice evening curled up in one of the armchairs, a book in hand. Charles’ study sat behind glass French doors across the hall, and a dining room with a large wooden table and chairs was a bit further down. It was a comfortable home with a lot of potential for entertaining, which made it all the more strange that it was almost perfectly silent.
Then, there was the sound of water splashing, and I turned towards a swinging door that had to have been the kitchen. There were indeed other people in the house, though it didn’t sound like a full staff. Rather, it sounded like a single person doing the washing up.
“We want you to make yourself at home and stay as long as you like,” Charles said. He sounded more cheerful than he had outside, and when I looked up, he had a polite smile stretched across his face. I could see that it was false right away, but it was obvious he was trying.
I followed his lead and smiled in return. “Thank you. Is my room to be upstairs?”
“Yes, the maid readied your room this morning, so I will take your bags upstairs and allow you to get settled.”
He must have seen my frown and understood its reason. “Our staff here is small, but they are all efficient and loyal. Anything you require will be found and provided within reason.”
“Oh, what a shame. I planned to be entirely unreasonable.”
Charles looked over his shoulder at me and blinked for a second before he smiled. Clearly, he hadn’t been in a joking mood for a very long time. Then, he carried my luggage upstairs and bid me follow him. We were halfway up the stairs when I heard the humming.
The sound was faint, but the melody dipped low and held, singing mournful, slow notes. The song settled in my chest like a stone, threatening to drag me down. Suddenly, I didn’t want to go upstairs at all.
If Catherine was humming that kind of song, I didn’t want to go any further.
“My sister,” Charles
