Haunted Hearts

27

The following morning, Elphi awoke confused at finding herself in an unfamiliar bed. Upon remembering where she was, or more importantly, why they'd spent the night, she quickly rose and began dressing.

"Where are you going?" Rufus sleepily asked, his voice slipping into a yawn as he pushed himself onto his right elbow. "It's barely morning."

Elphi braided her hair and finished buttoning her shirtwaist, then leaned down and kissed his forehead. "To check on Rosalind. Go back to sleep, darling."

Rufus nodded and laid back down, his soft snores drifting on the air as Elphi left the room.

Gloomy sunlight spilled through the rain-splattered hall windows, echoing the somber mood of the house and its staff. Two maids were leaving Rosalind's bedchamber when Elphi approached, each bobbing a curtsy before heading in the opposite direction.

Unsure of what type of emotional scene she was about to confront, Elphi knocked on the door and ignored her hammering heart, then twisted the knob when Rosalind called for her to enter.

"Good morning," Elphi quietly said, closing the door behind her, surprised to find Rosalind in her nightgown and robe, standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling bay windows across from her four-poster bed. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"It's raining," she murmured, her hands gripping the sill. "I've always liked the rain."

"I do too."

"Will you come and watch it with me?"

Elphi joined her at the window, and they watched silently for several minutes as the storm steadily intensified, howling its displeasure against the windowpanes. Then, when the first crash of thunder rumbled through the sky, Rosalind flinched and swayed, and Elphi wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Shall I move those chairs closer so we can sit and watch a while?" Elphi whispered, keeping her gaze focused on the storm, sensing if she met Rosalind's gaze, her fragile composure would shatter.

Rosalind nodded, latching a shaky hand onto the window sill and leaning against the frame until Elphi scooted the first chair into position behind her.

A footstool for Rosalind and the second chair soon followed, angled so that they sat close together, able to take in the rainy view of town.

Shivering from the chill in the air, Elphi grabbed the green paisley shawl draped over the bench at the foot of the bed and laid it across Rosalind's lap before sitting in the chair beside her.

"Comfortable?"

Rosalind clenched her eyes shut and dipped her head in a shallow nod.

"Good."

They sat there, listening to the rain beat against the windowpanes and the ebbing crash of thunder for almost an hour before Rosalind turned to Elphi with familiar, haunted eyes.

"Do you think I lost the baby as punishment?"

"Of course not," Elphi said with an adamant shake of her head, gripping Rosalind's hand in hers. "What makes you think that?"

"Because I'm responsible," she quietly said, averting her gaze as she traced the paisley design with her right forefinger, "Reggie is dead because of me."

"You are not to blame for any of this."

A tear rolled down Rosalind's left cheek and splattered on her robe; another followed that she knuckled away before it reached her jaw. "I may not have killed him, but he might still be alive if I'd never married him."

"You don't know that."

"He wanted to stay home with me last night," she brokenly whispered, "he was worried about me, and do you know what I said?"