Chapter 17 #2
“Well, she has you there,” Violet said, and Tilly did not like the look in Ambrose’s eyes one bit.
His glare should have felled her where she stood. However, she was made of hardier stuff and glared right back.
“Tilly, I really need to speak to Ruby, and I believe the sooner the better,” Alex said.
“You two go, and we shall continue to look around,” Leo said.
She led Alex back along the narrow space until she reached the door. She stepped through and walked with him on her heels to the kitchens and up the stairs.
“Tilly, I’m quite sure there is a woman coming through for you,” Alex said as they climbed. “The one I spoke with you about before. Is there somewhere we can go to talk?”
Heart sinking, she nodded and led the way to a small parlor. Once they were inside, Alex closed the door. Tilly didn’t sit, just stood, hands clasped, watching him.
“Her death was violent. I feel as if I am being choked,” he said calmly, eyes on her. “But I feel she had a lot of love for you.”
“H-how do you know it is me she is coming through for?”
He smiled again. “She is showing me an iris.”
“I see,” she whispered when she did not see at all.
“Her name is something with the initials A and J I believe, and she is showing me kitchens, which tells me she likely worked in one.”
Tilly nodded. Her chest felt so tight, it hurt now, and every muscle in her body was clenched tight.
“Did anyone who has passed that you were close to love the scent of lavender, Tilly?”
“Lavender is such a fresh clean scent, Tilly. If I could afford it, we’d have soap with that scent.”
She nodded again at the memory of someone speaking those words to her.
“Jo…” Alex fell silent as he briefly closed his eyes, and then they opened, and she knew what would come out of his mouth next. “She has maternal feelings for you, Tilly.”
She suddenly felt exposed. “I-I can’t explain,” she whispered. “There is much you do not know about me—no one knows about me.”
Alex moved forward and took her hands in both of his.
“My family has suffered scandals and been tossed out of society. We’ve been ridiculed and humiliated.
There is not much you could tell me that would shock me, Tilly.
But I will not push. When you are ready, you will talk to someone.
But I will say that she is happy, this woman, that you are happy.
I am also feeling a lot of love from her for your parents. ”
She tried to swallow down her tears, but a few escaped and slipped over her lashes. When the door behind her opened, she sniffed loudly.
“What is going on?” a deep voice demanded.
“That is entirely private, Ambrose, and if Tilly wishes you to know, I’m sure she will tell you in time. Now come, we must visit Ruby.”
She walked by Ambrose, who wrapped his fingers around her wrist as she passed.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded and pulled free, then left the room to follow Alex. Ruby was awake when they arrived in the small room Margaret had placed her in. On the floor beside her slumbered Barnaby, now with a full tummy.
“Miss Wilson!” Ruby was struggling to rise, clearly not happy to be receiving them in bed while wearing night clothes.
“Please, do not move. We just wanted to talk to you, Ruby. This is Mr. Alexander Nightingale, and he wishes to discuss something with you,” Tilly said, rushing to the bed.
“Ruby—I hope you don’t mind me calling you that?”
She lay there pale and still, with the covers now up to her chin, looking terrified. Trust wasn’t something that came easily to this woman, and who could blame her, considering the life she’d lived.
Alex pulled the narrow-backed chair closer to the bed. Tilly knew he’d be gentle, as was his way, but she also knew that it would be hard for Ruby to believe what he was about to tell her.
“Do you know much about clairvoyants, Ruby?”
She shook her head.
Alex then went on to tell her what he and his family could do and then explained that he believed her sister had passed.
He held her hand as she wept, surprisingly believing him, and yet, as her sister had been gone for two years, Tilly thought Ruby had likely already come to that conclusion even as she did not want to acknowledge it.
“F-Fern is talking to you?” Ruby whispered.
Tilly listened and watched over the next twenty minutes as Alex talked to Ruby, telling her what he knew. He then questioned her on anything she could remember that Fern may have told her while working in the gentleman’s lodging house before it became The Iris Club.
“And now we will leave you to sleep,” Tilly said when he was finished, because Ruby was exhausted, but in a small way, she seemed relieved. Almost like knowing the truth had set her free.
“Poor girl,” Alex said. “What I have is both a blessing and curse.”
“It is wonderful for those who need closure, Alex. Never doubt that, but I also know it can not be easy for you.”
“We are leaving, Alex, before any of The Iris Club’s members see us,” Leo said when they reached the front entrance.
“We are to all gather again at Crabbett Close four days from now to discuss the matter further. In the meantime, we will all subtly investigate and see what we can find out about what went on below.”
Tilly had so many more questions for Alex but did not ask them. Her past was best left there, and she knew he would not talk about what they had with anyone.
But that night, for the first time after many years, when Tilly’s head rested on her pillow, she thought back to the day when her life had changed and cried.