Read Online The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Anna Caltabiano
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like a Gibson Girl, as Miss Hatfield had described me? I wondered if she’d even recognize me.
As I rounded the curve of the staircase, I almost crashed head first into someone coming up.
‘Pardon me,’ I started to say as I was regaining my balance, but the words dried up in my mouth as soon as I saw who it was. Henley. Without so much as an apology or anything more polite than a low chuckle, he turned and left, continuing up the stairs.
I stood dumbfounded, trying to work out what had just occurred, before deciding to follow him. What was the matter with him, anyway? I hadn’t given him any reason to act as rudely to me as he just had, and as he had the night before.
I kept to the shadows in case he looked back and held up my skirts to make as little sound as possible. My footsteps were light summer rain compared to his, which echoed down the hallway. I had no idea what I was going to say when I confronted him, but I knew it was necessary.
I paused in the hallway as a door swung shut behind him. I heard his footsteps pacing the floor on the other side and swallowed a lump of fear as I wondered what he must be thinking about. Perhaps he suspected the truth – that I wasn’t Margaret but rather some impostor.
I cracked open the door without thinking about it any longer. I was worried I’d become petrified by my thoughts, and it was obvious to me that I had to confront him now. It was the right thing to do, and if I didn’t do it now, I wouldn’t be safe any longer.
I waited in the doorway until he noticed me. He stopped pacing and his body froze as if I’d cast a spell on him. ‘Shut the door behind you,’ he commanded, and I complied without thinking. He took a first step towards me, but appeared to think better of his plans and instead walked to a window at the far side of the room. I was standing in a bedroom with a large bed in the centre, as mine had. Its sheets and bedspread were pristine and immaculately made up. I immediately knew this room wasn’t his.
‘You knew I was coming?’ I asked him, when I realized he’d been waiting for me.
Henley remained mute, his back turned towards me. The morning light refracted through the window and bathed his figure in an unearthly glow. Early sunlight ran its fingers through his dark hair and made the distance between us miles and years, not just feet. I stood transfixed, staring at Henley. I wanted to reach out and touch him to make sure he was actually there. He was so still – inhumanly so. I was struck by a surge of emotions I didn’t understand.
I turned around to leave quietly. It had been a mistake to follow him. I had nothing to say to him. I couldn’t tell him the truth, so what difference did it make if I hid behind a lie? He didn’t know who I was. He would never know.
‘Wait,’ he said, catching me off guard. ‘Please.’ It was the hint of desperation in his voice that ultimately made me decide to stay. I could tell he was as confused and unsure as I was, despite his confident demeanour.
‘I have nothing to say to you,’ I found myself telling him.
‘You don’t have to say anything.’
His answer surprised me. I’d guessed he would question me until he found out what he was looking for, such as where I came from, why I was here, who I was.
‘But I have something to say to you.’
I was hesitant at first, but he gestured to an empty seat next to where he was standing at the window, and so I sat down.
‘I don’t know who you are,’ he began, ‘but I know you’re not Margaret. You’re not my cousin.’ I immediately opened my mouth to object, but I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to say. I had no proof that I was her, because we both knew I wasn’t.
‘A letter came in the post the day you arrived. It was from her, apologizing that she wouldn’t be able to spend the summer with us as she’d just fallen ill and was in bed with a fever. She wrote that she hopes to come later in the summer, but not until at
As I rounded the curve of the staircase, I almost crashed head first into someone coming up.
‘Pardon me,’ I started to say as I was regaining my balance, but the words dried up in my mouth as soon as I saw who it was. Henley. Without so much as an apology or anything more polite than a low chuckle, he turned and left, continuing up the stairs.
I stood dumbfounded, trying to work out what had just occurred, before deciding to follow him. What was the matter with him, anyway? I hadn’t given him any reason to act as rudely to me as he just had, and as he had the night before.
I kept to the shadows in case he looked back and held up my skirts to make as little sound as possible. My footsteps were light summer rain compared to his, which echoed down the hallway. I had no idea what I was going to say when I confronted him, but I knew it was necessary.
I paused in the hallway as a door swung shut behind him. I heard his footsteps pacing the floor on the other side and swallowed a lump of fear as I wondered what he must be thinking about. Perhaps he suspected the truth – that I wasn’t Margaret but rather some impostor.
I cracked open the door without thinking about it any longer. I was worried I’d become petrified by my thoughts, and it was obvious to me that I had to confront him now. It was the right thing to do, and if I didn’t do it now, I wouldn’t be safe any longer.
I waited in the doorway until he noticed me. He stopped pacing and his body froze as if I’d cast a spell on him. ‘Shut the door behind you,’ he commanded, and I complied without thinking. He took a first step towards me, but appeared to think better of his plans and instead walked to a window at the far side of the room. I was standing in a bedroom with a large bed in the centre, as mine had. Its sheets and bedspread were pristine and immaculately made up. I immediately knew this room wasn’t his.
‘You knew I was coming?’ I asked him, when I realized he’d been waiting for me.
Henley remained mute, his back turned towards me. The morning light refracted through the window and bathed his figure in an unearthly glow. Early sunlight ran its fingers through his dark hair and made the distance between us miles and years, not just feet. I stood transfixed, staring at Henley. I wanted to reach out and touch him to make sure he was actually there. He was so still – inhumanly so. I was struck by a surge of emotions I didn’t understand.
I turned around to leave quietly. It had been a mistake to follow him. I had nothing to say to him. I couldn’t tell him the truth, so what difference did it make if I hid behind a lie? He didn’t know who I was. He would never know.
‘Wait,’ he said, catching me off guard. ‘Please.’ It was the hint of desperation in his voice that ultimately made me decide to stay. I could tell he was as confused and unsure as I was, despite his confident demeanour.
‘I have nothing to say to you,’ I found myself telling him.
‘You don’t have to say anything.’
His answer surprised me. I’d guessed he would question me until he found out what he was looking for, such as where I came from, why I was here, who I was.
‘But I have something to say to you.’
I was hesitant at first, but he gestured to an empty seat next to where he was standing at the window, and so I sat down.
‘I don’t know who you are,’ he began, ‘but I know you’re not Margaret. You’re not my cousin.’ I immediately opened my mouth to object, but I couldn’t figure out what I was supposed to say. I had no proof that I was her, because we both knew I wasn’t.
‘A letter came in the post the day you arrived. It was from her, apologizing that she wouldn’t be able to spend the summer with us as she’d just fallen ill and was in bed with a fever. She wrote that she hopes to come later in the summer, but not until at
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