11. Chapter 9 #2
Though he told her not to worry, that made her worry.
Edgar was sensible. Occasionally he would share a stilted romantic verse with her, but he never spoke to her about his thoughts, let alone his dreams. Instead he would always tell her in nauseating detail what he was up to.
He never betrayed details about his clients, but he would discuss the tedious paperwork or reading until his eyes hurt.
She wondered if Edgar’s dreams about her were anything like her dreams about Valeria.
Caroline sat at her desk to craft a response. Part of her wanted to ask him what was wrong with him. Not only how he could have spent so long without writing to her, but why his letter was nonsensical. She wanted to know her sensible fiancé was all right.
Instead, her own sense prevailed where Edgar’s had failed. She asked him about his journey and how he was settling in. She told him how good it was that he had a client willing to take such good care of him. It was polite and succinct, but she did say that she eagerly awaited his return.
The one thing she didn’t mention was Valeria. He didn’t ask after her well-being, and she wasn’t going to bring it up. An update on her health would be appropriate, but she wasn’t sure if she could mention her in a way that didn’t betray her true feelings.
“Good morning, Miss.”
“Good morning, Lucy. How are you today?”
“Just fine, but Mrs. Thomas is in quite the state. She woke up to bloody footprints tracked all over the downstairs.”
“What?” Caroline whipped around in her chair to face her lady’s maid. “Where did the footsteps lead to?”
“That’s the strangest thing. The footsteps are in the ballroom and went around the conservatory, library, and kitchen, but don’t appear to go anywhere. It looked like they were in an unbroken loop.” Lucy shivered. “It’s entirely too terrifying, in my opinion.”
“It is rather frightening.” Caroline’s heart pounded, and she squeezed her fists in an attempt to control her breathing. “Are the footprints still there?”
“No, Mrs. Thomas cleaned them, but she huffed about it the entire time. She gave nearly everyone quite the tongue-lashing. I only escaped unscathed because I don’t have any duties downstairs.”
“I’m glad you were able to escape her ire at the very least,” Caroline said as she got up so Lucy could dress her for the day. “Did Mrs. Thomas find the culprit?”
“No, none of the night maids saw anything, and Mrs. Thomas didn’t find any incriminating evidence. Really, that woman is something else. Everyone else is too scared to enter those rooms, but she just grumbled about the mess. Nothing shakes that woman.”
Her stomach churned, and she thought she was going to be sick. There was no reason for any of the staff to play such a prank, not when they all feared Mrs. Thomas’ wrath.
Caroline was certain the footprints did come from someone in the house, Valeria. The only question was why she would do such a thing. Was it only to scare them? Or was this a cover for something more nefarious?
Lucy blathered on about minor gossip, and she did her best to smile and nod as she usually would. Caroline couldn’t let on that she knew who the likely culprit was. That she could put a stop to this madness at any time, but hadn’t.
Once Lucy left, she gave the woman a minute’s head start before she darted out and down the back stairs to the second level.
Lucy hadn’t mentioned seeing anything suspicious in Valeria’s room, but she had to see for herself.
Even though it would anger Valeria if she found out she had snuck into her room again, she was also relieved when she saw a lump on the bed.
It was eerie seeing Valeria so still. Her hair spilled on the feather pillow like ink.
Her radiant skin almost seemed to glow. Somehow she was even more beautiful than when she saw her the previous evening, and it gave her pause because there was something so strange about how her appearance changed from day-to-day.
Next to the bed on the rug were her slippers, neatly lined up so she could step right into them as she got out of bed. They were the only pair Caroline had seen, and her legs shook as she knelt to check them.
Picking up the slipper, she turned them in her hands to look for blood.
They were clean, but dry, so they hadn’t been recently washed.
Relief flooded her. Perhaps Valeria wasn’t the one who left the footprints after all.
It could have been a prank from one of the footmen or someone purposefully trying to anger Mrs. Thomas.
Looking up, the blanket by Valeria’s feet had been kicked aside.
Caroline frowned because it was so unlike the perfect calm way Valeria slept.
Holding her breath, her hand shook as she slowly lifted the blanket.
Valeria’s pale feet were clean with neat, clipped toenails.
However, the hem of her shift was filthy.
So dirty the sheets were caked in mud. She dropped the blanket.
Heart pounding, Caroline scrambled around the room, looking for more evidence.
Either to exonerate her or confirm her guilt.
In her dressing room, she found the white porcelain chamber pot tucked out of sight.
That wasn’t entirely unusual since they weren’t exactly pleasant, but usually if you wanted them emptied or cleaned, you wouldn’t hide it.
Looking back at Valeria, the woman hadn’t moved—which was expected—so Caroline reached out and lifted the lid, careful not to make any noise.
Thankfully, there wasn’t any waste in the chamber pot, but part of her almost wished there had been because what she found gave her no comfort.
Inside the porcelain pot were slippers so dirty she couldn’t tell what their original color was.
Hardened mud surrounded them, but the soles were soaked, rust-brown with what had to be dried blood.
She slammed the jar of the pot down so hard the clank of the porcelain echoed through the quiet room.
If Valeria was sleeping naturally, the loud sound surely would have woken her up, but she remained perfectly still on the bed.
Fear choked her as she stayed in place, holding the chamber pot.
Everything inside her told her to run, to put as much distance between her and Valeria as possible.
There was something wrong with her. The sun sickness, the way she disappeared so frequently, the way her appearance changed, and her unnatural sleep were all signs that there was something wrong with her, but Caroline hadn’t wanted to face it.
All because she had loved this girl long ago.
Finally, her legs got the message, and she moved.
The chamber pot was clumsily placed where she had found it, and she ran from the room, not caring that the door slammed behind her.
Though no matter how quickly she moved, she was keenly aware that no matter what happened, once the sun set, Valeria would awaken.