Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
RUE
Ileft Theo to rummage around in my bedroom, feeling oddly violated by him seeing my most personal items of clothing, and my letters, though I guessed he probably wouldn’t look at them.
Angry with him though I was – or pretended to be, to cover my concern when he questioned my innocence – I knew him to be enough of a gentleman not to pore excessively over my things.
How was he going to react when he discovered I had been lying to him all along?
I didn’t like to think of him being disappointed in me.
That surprised me, but if I was honest with myself and admitted that the more time I spent with him, the more he got under my skin, I shouldn’t really be surprised at all.
I stopped walking, stunned by the revelation that I cared what Theo thought of me.
I wanted him to like me, to approve of me.
It was the strangest feeling and not one I could recall having had before.
My grandmother always insisted it wasn’t my business what people thought of me or my family.
She believed, too, that only fools made their minds up about people they knew little about.
I carried on walking downstairs, reflecting on how much of my youth had been spent at a distance from strangers.
I supposed people had been left to judge me by my mother’s past, so they couldn’t really be blamed for having fantastical notions about my family.
I now knew the reason: my aunt and grandmother had been shielding me.
Caring what someone beyond my family and close friends thought of me was a new sensation that only added to my confusion about Theo.
The realisation chilled me. Feeling this way made me vulnerable where he was concerned, and that wasn’t a good thing.
‘Psst.’
I turned to see my aunt waving for me to join her in the kitchen and hurried to her.
‘What is it?’ I looked for my grandmother and saw her standing by the fire stirring a pan. I hoped she was making a hot drink for us because I needed something to do with my hands. Holding a warm cup would be comforting.
‘What were you doing daydreaming on the stairs?’ Aunt Sorrel asked.
I was about to argue that I hadn’t been doing any such thing but stopped myself; that was exactly what I had been doing. Anyway, to admit as much meant Aunt Sorrel would only press me as to what had been so important at such a dangerous time.
‘I was listening in case I could hear them talking,’ I lied.
‘Clever girl,’ my grandmother said, and gave me an approving nod. She motioned for Tilly to take over the stirring before addressing me once more. ‘And did you hear anything?’
I wished I had some useful information to share.
I was about to ask what it was when we heard one of the militiamen bellow ‘Master Le Cerf!’ from the attic.
I heard Theo’s footsteps above our heads as he left my room and stood on the landing. ‘What is it?’
He sounded irritated and I liked to think he was angry that the man might have found something. My stomach tensed anxiously as I waited for an answer.
‘I’ve found a strange stone. A brown one. It’s shiny.’
I gasped and covered my mouth with both hands, glancing from my grandmother to my aunt, whose faces had suddenly turned pale.
‘What is it?’ Aunt Sorrel asked, coming over to me. ‘Do you know what they’re referring to?’
I sat heavily on a nearby chair, terrified about what would happen next.
‘Rue?’ my grandmother asked, hurrying over and sitting on the chair next to me. ‘What is he talking about?’
‘I think he’s talking about a crystal I found earlier. Someone must have dropped it when—’ I lowered my voice further. ‘When the women were here.’ I quickly explained about coming across the smoky quartz and hiding it where I hoped it wouldn’t be found.
‘Those swine are obviously searching more thoroughly than we expected.’
Grandmama was right.
‘What do you think will happen?’ I asked, sick with fright.
Aunt Sorrel rested a hand on my shoulder. ‘We have no way of knowing yet. What we must do is come up with a plausible answer about the crystal. Let’s think how we can explain its presence while we have the opportunity to do so.’
I bit my lower lip, desperate for something useful to offer, but was too panicked to think of anything useful. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
My aunt frowned. ‘Neither do I.’
We both stared at my grandmother expectantly, but she shook her head after a few seconds. ‘I can’t think with all this going on,’ she said, her voice quavering.
It seemed that none of us could. Then I had an idea. ‘We should deny all knowledge of it then.’
My aunt laughed in disbelief. ‘And you believe that will keep us out of the Witchfinder’s grasp, do you?’
I shrugged. ‘Probably not, but what else can we say?’
Grandmother raised a finger and we waited as she finished thinking. Then she said, ‘The best lies always contain a modicum of truth.’
‘They do?’
She nodded.
‘So, what should we say about this?’ I asked desperately.
‘I’ll ask where exactly they found it,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘Then say that those chairs have been up there for many years. How can anyone expect us to know how something that small slipped down the side of a chair?’
It wasn’t much but it was something, I supposed. ‘All right, that’s what we’ll do.’
I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and put a finger to my lips to shush the other women. Grandmama remained seated while my aunt ran over to the stove to stir the pan as if she had been there all along. She indicated that Tilly should wash the dishes.
Theo knocked lightly on the door frame even though the door was ajar. He was frowning and seemed embarrassed.
‘I’m sorry to intrude, but I need to ask you all about something we’ve found in the attic.’
‘Come in then,’ my grandmother said, looking intrigued. ‘It’s a long time since I’ve been up there, so I’m not sure how helpful I’m going to be.’
‘Me too,’ my aunt agreed. ‘What do you think you’ve found?’
He raised his right hand with the shining brown crystal held firmly between thumb and forefinger. ‘This stone, which I believe to be a crystal of some sort, was discovered hidden in a chair up in the attic.’
‘Really?’ my grandmother said, leaning forward slightly and peering at his offering. ‘I can’t say I recall ever seeing that before.’
I made a pretence of studying it. ‘In a chair, did you say?’
He nodded. ‘That’s right.’
I pursed my lips. ‘I hadn’t realised there were any chairs up there.’
He stared at me thoughtfully, then said, ‘The furniture was covered by a sheet.’ His voice was quiet and he was clearly disconcerted about having to question us.
Don’t think about it too deeply, I thought, willing him not to start suspecting me, but realising by the way he was staring at me that he was doing just that. I had had little practice in my life at lying and this was making me more uneasy than I would have wished.
‘Most things we’ve discarded over the years are up there, I seem to recall.’ I was doing my best to deflect his attention from the crystal but sensed I was failing.
His shoulders relaxed slightly and he seemed to believe our ignorance. I couldn’t help feeling guilty for lying to him so blatantly, but what choice did I have?
I watched him silently as he studied the crystal, turning it over in his fingers, and told myself that I would do whatever was necessary to shield us from his father’s wrath.
My family and the coven were more important to me than this man who had the power to destroy us, should he be lying and planning to deliver us to his cruel father.
Pierre walked in and stood by the door, probably waiting for my grandmother to give him instructions, or maybe just to show strength and remind Theo that we women weren’t alone.
Theo stared at him for a few seconds. I sensed something shift in him but couldn’t tell what. I gazed at the crystal. I had missed something, but what?
I looked from Theo’s hands to his face and caught him watching me, an unreadable look on his handsome face.
I hated lying to him, but these women needed me far more than he ever would.
I decided to hold on to that comforting thought to smooth the sharp edges of my guilt at deceiving a man who was doing his best to help us.