another wing of the huge building. Elinor was having a hard time keeping up with her, but kept on. At that point she would have walked over coals to see her sister. In fact, it probably would have been less painful.
This wing of the house was older, smaller, the ceilings lower. The maid stopped in front of a door and knocked, then pushed it open, and Elinor quickly took stock of her surroundings.
It was a small salon off an even smaller bedroom. Pretty and comfortable, it was a far cry from the opulence of her own bedroom, which at this point seemed half a mile away. Why in the world had he separated them? And why the disparity in their rooms?
Lydia was sitting by a window, dressed in dove-gray, and she turned at the sound of the door.
“Oh, Elinor,” she cried, and rushed to her, flinging her arms around her and bursting into tears. Elinor rocked back for a moment from the strength of her, and then hugged her tightly, murmuring soft, comforting words.
After a moment she nudged her toward the sofa, afraid her feet wouldn’t hold her anymore, sinking down on it with gratitude. She glanced back at Jeanne-Louise, but she’d closed the door behind her. So much for finding her way back, though in truth, there was no reason for her to return to the gilded green room she’d woken up in. She’d left nothing behind.
It was a long time before Lydia’s tears shuddered to a halt. Elinor had already discovered a fine lawn handkerchief in the pocket of her dressing gown, and she gently dabbed at Lydia’s face. “You know, dearest, you’re the only person I know who can cry for an hour and still look absolutely radiant,” she said fondly.
“Oh, blast that,” Lydia said forcibly, and Elinor managed her own weak chuckle. “What are we going to do, Nell?”
For a moment Elinor closed her eyes as the enormity of their situation washed over her. And then she pulled herself together. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll see to everything. I have a plan.”
“You do?” Lydia said hopefully.
“I do,” she said, hoping to God that Lydia wasn’t going to ask for details. She’d come up with something soon enough, even though right now her mind was a total blank. “Have you seen the doctor today?”
“Etienne keeps asking for me,” she said, and there was no missing the reluctance in her voice. “I’ve pretended to be asleep.”
The panic she’d squashed down began to rumble in the pit of her stomach. She’d forgotten Lydia’s look of dislike. “You did?” she said carefully. “I thought you liked Etienne.”
Lydia managed a weak smile. “Oh, I do. I like him very much. But I know what he wants, and I cannot give him the answer he’s looking for. Not yet.”
“What does he want, sweetheart?” she asked gently, trying to keep the despair from her voice. If Lydia hated the thought of Etienne then that was the end of it.
“To marry me,” Lydia said, making it sound like a death sentence.
All the language of the stable came roaring back to Elinor’s head, but she kept her face passive. “You don’t wish to marry Etienne? I thought it would be a good match. He’s handsome, dependable, he adores you.”
“Yes, he’s all those things,” she said sadly. “The problem is, I’m not in love with him.”
“Love is…” Elinor trailed off, words failing her. She swallowed, then continued. “Love is highly over-rated, my sweet.”
Lydia turned to look at her, her eyes still swimming with tears. “Do you want me to marry him, Nell? Because I will, of course, if you think it’s the best thing to do. I know I’ve been selfish, daydreaming. If you want me to marry him then I certainly will. You’re right, he’s all that’s kind and proper, and I should make a very good doctor’s wife.” She even managed a sunny smile, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
For a moment Elinor didn’t move. It was the wise thing to do. Hadn’t she learned in the last, increasingly hideous few years that you had to take the lifeline when offered? Here was safety dangling in front of them. She had little doubt Etienne would welcome her into their household as well, simply because she could be useful. They would never have to worry about where the next meal came from, which creditors to duck, whether they’d freeze to death in the night.
She looked down into dear Lydia’s face, at the determinedly cheerful expression.