The Greatest Obsession

Chapter Twenty-Four: Confessions of the Sinner

Although Margaret had a spare key to Elijah's room, unless told otherwise, she would not unlock his door. The young master had locked himself in and she respected his privacy.

When approached by a maid with breakfast, the young woman knocked politely on the door. "Good morning, sir. Would you like your breakfast?"

The maid received nothing in reply, just the silent presence and the feeling of being ignored. She smacked her lips, glancing up and down at the plain door--painted white on the outside, brown on the inside. "I'll leave it here," she called out with a wobble in her voice.

Without ever taking her eyes from the door, the young maid set the silver tray of food on the ground. She stepped back, smoothed out her skirt, and walked back to the stairs. Every few moments she would glance back, hoping the young master would at least slip his hand past the door and retrieve it.

Judging by the other maid who came back with the same tray two hours later, cold and untouched, he never did.

Around noontime, the same maid who delivered Elijah's breakfast carefully walked up the steps with more food. Small chicken sandwiches and a glass of brandy.

"It will last longer," Margaret had told the girl as they approached the door.

Margaret stood beside her, arms crossed and gray eyes nearly burning holes into the door with the heat of her gaze. She turned away for a moment to nod to her apprentice.

"Good afternoon, Master Marks, I have your--"

A harsh thud on the door sent the girl screaming and tripping over her own feet in fear. Margaret had visibly jumped and reached out for the lass, but for nothing. The sandwiches hardly made a mess but the glass of brandy had fallen against the poor girl's bosom and spilled its contents all over her dress. Thankfully, the glass did not break.

The twosome looked on in silence, waiting for another sound. All they heard was the slap of bare feet and a creaking bed. Elijah Marks wanted nothing, and he had made it quite clear.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ma'am. I'll clean this up as soon as I wash off."

"No, need, dear," Margaret said, wiping the stain with her apron. "I'll have Claire clean this. Come on, to the kitchen, we'll fix you up." She shot the eyes of a murderess onto Elijah's door, once again. "And someone needs to be reminded of his manners! How dare he scare a poor girl like that? When did that caring lad leave us and replace him with a bloody imbecile?"

The two were gone, and the blonde haired, blue eyed Claire scrubbed the mess quietly, her pretty eyes trained on the door. Apprehensive to be near the disturbed young man, she did her best not to make a sound.

****

Abraham had done a decent job trying to keep Irina from breaking down Elijah's door, especially after she'd heard what had happened that afternoon. Most of the time, since he couldn't usher the girl out of the house, the father and daughter spent some well overdue quality time in the garden.

It then led to the girl helping her father with letters and organizing his study on the first floor. It was very apparent Abraham was keeping Irina away from the second story, to keep her from walking past Elijah's room, from thinking about how he was secluding himself away.

Neither of them understood it. Despite efforts to distract her, they'd had conversation after conversation. Why was he acting this way? What could be done to lift his spirits? Was it the demon?

"He's obviously not bedridden," Abraham had said, standing by his window, a smoking pipe in his hand. "He scared poor Kathy this afternoon. Banged on the door. He actually left the bed to do it."