It was during the evenfall, at the dining to be precise, when Cooper, with his head, bowed and lines penetrating in his skin paused. We all had to pause just the moment for the master. The master.
Moore was the first to speak, ‘Do you need something-’
‘I need answers.’
There was a pause. From the corner of my eye, I could see Mrs Linton, the housekeeper, trembling at the door. She stood there for a second,
‘Lord…’
‘What is it?’ Priscilla asked with her voice raised by this incoherent interruption.
‘Your Ladyship, Miss Bailey, they left a… note, under their duvet. The maid has reported just know.’
Snow gusted at the window.
Tomorrow was Bailey’s funeral.
Priscilla glared at me; understanding her signal, I took the note from her hands streaming fake tears,
This seems too bizarre as I understand it, though I could understand it might be the truth. Yes, it is true, I have known it too well, I have betrayed them. I mustn’t have had. And the time has come for my Sins to incarcerate me. I must be punished, though I only wish I could be forgiven. I have known it all too well. They have seen the burning passion I carry for him. But you couldn’t blame him. You mustn’t blame him. He is -
Moore snatches the note out of my hands,
‘Oh, quite your bruteness Moore! I was just reading my beloved sister’s,’ I realize it just the moment he wasn’t paying any attention to me. He was reading the letter whole-heartedly.
This silence overwhelms me.
‘What has she said?’ Priscilla asks after a moment.
‘She is just so… sad, Oh Bailey,’ I could see his hands trembling, though what for?
Is he scared?
‘Pass the note to me,’ Cooper asks, menacing.
Moore looks at the note, then looks at him. He trembled while passing it after all.
Cooper reads the last few lines, crumbles the note, and puts it in his pocket.
‘Mrs Linton, you have not brought a note to me. You have not known of any evidence. Ascendancy has not read any death notes. Priscilla does not know of its existent.’
It was his command, something we have to follow, or we will fall.
Maybe it was time to fall.
If only I had the courage to fall.
After the dinner, Priscilla met me on the balcony,
‘Tell me, have you seen to Candice yet?’
‘Yes… Yes, I have.’
‘What does she say?’
‘She said nothing, mother.’
‘Did you not ask her?’
‘I did, mother.’
‘Do not call me your mother, tell me how did she respond, what did she answer, say a thing! Will you?’
‘Yes, mother.’
‘Oh, this boy! Just tell me.’
‘Candice was thrown in the asylum yesterday.’
‘What?!’
The asylum is an infamous haven for the mentally ill.
‘Does that mean...?’
‘No.’
‘Then why was she thrown in the haven?’
‘To have her mouth shut. Cooper is investigating the staff, us, and his yardbirds. If Candice has done this willfully, we would not want her mouth open.’
‘But how did you do this?’
‘An apprentice.’
