Influences of Stars

Chapter 15

Attending Mr Yeardley's was the first time Tibby and Gideon had walked together alone. "Look!" she said once they reached the old tree, "The nests! Didn't I tell you it looked lovely?" She smiled widely at him as if she had proven an irrefutable point. She continued to do so until he had no choice but to smile back, amused by this display. With triumph, she nodded at him and walked on ahead and as he watched her, he became unsettled by a sudden warmth towards her.

Well, he had never disliked her, had he? Why shouldn't he take pleasure in her strangeness every now and then when there was no one else present? Of course, the amiability depended on their isolation. Lord, he hoped she saw the importance in being proper before Yeardley.

Before the door was opened, he looked over at her questioningly. She nodded at him, knowing that he asked whether she was ready to perform. And she was. She knew Yeardley. She could still feel the terror of being engaged to him in her chest. When she thought of what she might be if she were his wife, all she could see wad a nothingness as opposed to the grey blur she sometimes lived in now when she looked at Gideon.

Yeardley was oblivion.

Still, he welcomed them in warmly with every pretence of generosity though it did not reach his eyes. Gideon was kind and obliging in response and Tibby mimicked this. She pretended she didn't hear Agnes' weak murmurs of confession every time she looked at him.

Tibby quickly found that the easiest thing for her to do was to stay quiet. All she had to do was sit and eat; she smiled when she needed to and nodded in agreement if Gideon looked over at her, whereupon she could let her mind disappear to somewhere else. She pretended she was at a crowded table with much less food though far more noise. Opposite her was Theo, around as usual and being fussed over by her mam who thought nobody was kind enough to him.

When it felt too much and she thought she might burst, she decided to make one dare throughout the evening. Turning to Yeardley, she willed herself to look at him in the eyes and ask, "Alderman, would you object to me visiting Charis?"

"No, of course not," he said, "Doubtless our conversation is rather boring for you."

"Certainly not, sir, only I haven't seen her in so long," she said. She kept her voice low and undemanding.

"Indeed. Follow the corridor from the left door until the end; she shall be with the children."

How strange it felt seeing Charis in these circumstances! However, nothing had altered between them. That became clear as they stood in the corridor and gushed over one another, their words overlapping as they asked a thousand questions.

"I've missed you terribly! We all have," Tibby said. "Will Yeardley not let you see us anymore?"

"He'd prefer me to be in prayer," Charis admitted. She looked tired. "Does Mr Marlow let you see the others?" She sounded surprised.

"We're so separated. Neither of us notices what the other does," she said. "But how are you? Is Yeardley treating you better?"

"Tibby, I'm so frightened of him," she admitted. Fear clenched her stomach. However, she was free from him when she was with his children, locked away in a room he never entered. Not only that, Tibby was free from him. She was protected by a man who did not shut her away.

After being assured her friend was being treated well, Charis tugged a little at an escaping lock of her hair and smiled. "How is...Theo?" she asked. His name was the most beautiful thing she ever uttered.

"As he always has been," Tibby said. She looked at Charis knowingly. "He misses you dearly," she told her, and these words seemed to lighten her entire world.