The House of Beardsley

Chapter Fourteen

Even after returning to our bedroom the meeting was all I could think about.

I could still recall the scene as clear as day: Silas leaning in close to Eugene, tilting his face down so his lips reached his ears, and then whispering those dreadful words.

Had no one else heard it?

The girls obviously did not—they were too concentrated on Eugene as well as the state of his legs.

"A weak body? More like injury." Clo said as she removed her apron. "Why would they lie about that?"

"So they never told anyone master Eugene was crippled?" Beth wondered, already in nothing but her negligee. She got undressed fast, but she was also messy: her clothes were unfolded and in a heap on her bed.

"I suppose not, it's kind of taboo." Even Rhiannon had joined in the conversation. I wondered if she heard what Silas said, but her actions and words didn't reveal anything. Nothing revealed anything about her. She was always wearing her mask, and it never slipped.

"Taboo? Why?" Beth asked.

"Because he wouldn't be seen as capable of being an heir." Rhiannon picked up her hairbrush and sat at the vanity we shared before continuing. "Because he can't produce an heir."

"What?"

We all turned to look at Beth. She stared back at us with her big, innocent eyes.

"Why wouldn't he be able to?"

Was she really that innocent, though?

"Don't tell me, you don't know how babies are made?" Clo asked.

Beth slinked away, looking uncomfortable. "I mean, I know a woman and a man do something, well, shameful—" her voice faded away.

"That's not the point. Either way, a handicapped heir is no heir at all. He's probably not a candidate."

"Don't say that!"

The girls turned to me when I said that. I refrained from meeting their eyes, looking at the toes of my boots.

"Being an heir means much more than having children: it's means being kind and much more. Adam Beardsley only had three blood heirs, but he adopted so many other children."

I looked up to see their bewildered faces. Rhiannon raised an eyebrow as she spoke.

"I'm just stating that's the way these houses do it. It's not my opinion. Truth to be told, I don't care who becomes the next heir."

Was that really true?

"Well, I won't lie, but it seems like Silas is most likely to become the next heir," Clo said.

"What?"  I asked, my voice an octave higher than I wanted it. I tried to stay calm. "Who told you that?"

"No one told me," Clo gave me a look I couldn't quite name. "Are you fine, Shuyan? You've been acting strange since what happened."

"Does it bother you that Eugene's crippled?" Beth asked.

"No, it's not that—" I shrugged, not finishing my sentence, before turning back to Clo. "Why do you think Silas will become the next heir?"

"It's his birthright. And I said this before, but he just gives me a bad feeling."

The ominous feeling in me grew.

Was it true? That there was something about Silas that only I didn't see?

***