Storm and Silence (Storm and Silence #1) - Robert Thier Page 0,56

family home. I mean, my dear little sister, how would it be possible for anyone to discover you there, or listen in on you?

Poor Ella. She would have a few nasty surprises coming for her in the real world.

I lay on my back, continuing to listen to their conversation. Some part of me was expecting Edmund to make dark and demanding overtures to my sister. I mean, he was a man, after all. But there were only flowery professions of love on both sides.

A lot of them.

A really great lot of them.

Maybe Edmund was actually a nice fellow. I had certainly thought so before this evening - before I had discovered he had his eye on my little sister. Maybe I should not immediately start to think of him as a ruthless rake. From what I could hear, he seemed decent enough, if a little soppy. Maybe I wouldn’t hit him with my parasol just yet.

‘But tell me, my dearest Ella…’ he began, frowning slightly. I raised my head. This didn’t sound like another one of those silly love-confessions. ‘Might we not confide in one person at least? Your elder sister, Lilly I think her name is, of whom you have spoken so fondly?’

‘Oh Edmund! How I would love to do that, to pour out my heart to my dearest sister!’

‘Which one was she, by the way? I have never yet had the pleasure of being introduced to any of your family, I just saw them the other day on the street.’

Ella smiled. ‘She was the one who returned your greeting. The only one. Oh, if only I could tell her how much joy she gave me in that moment! How I would love to disclose my love to her, to share with her my happiness!’

‘Then why not do it? She might be sympathetic to our plight.’

I chewed my bottom lip thoughtfully. Hmm. Maybe, fellow. If you behave.

‘She might also be a valuable ally, my dearest. The word of so good a lady as you described is sure to have weight with your aunt.’

Oops. Not so much luck there, I’m afraid.

I looked at Ella through a gap in the bushes. She looked slightly apprehensive. ‘Err… I don't know whether telling her about us would be the best idea. Lilly is a wonderful person, only… sometimes I think she is a tiny bit prejudiced against men.’

What? Me, prejudiced? Me?

‘Prejudiced against men, my love?’ Edmund frowned. ‘I don't quite understand. Has a man wronged her in the past?’

‘Not as such. I think it’s rather that she thinks all men wrong her just by breathing.’

Edmund looked even more puzzled by this.

‘Why?’

Ella leaned closer to the fence. Looking quickly around her as if she were going to say something very naughty, she whispered in a voice so low I had to strain my ears to catch the words: ‘You know, I think she secretly wants to be one. A man, I mean.’

My mouth dropped open. Of all the ridiculous…

I was seriously considering marching over there and giving my little sister a piece of my mind! ‘Wants to be one’ indeed!

‘How very strange,’ Edmund commented, still puzzled. I glowered at him from behind the bushes. What did he know? He was allowed to vote and to work for a living, and he didn’t have to conceal the fact.

‘That’s what I thought,’ Ella said, nodding eagerly. ‘However, I may be mistaken. And I really shouldn’t be saying such things. It is not very kind of me, after all, to insinuate that my own sister is stark raving mad. Really, deep down, she is a very gentle soul.’

Really? I certainly didn’t feel very gentle at the moment!

‘Then why not reveal the truth to her? She might take some time to get used to the idea, but once she got to know me that would surely change.’

Don’t be so sure.

‘Maybe, but… her reservations regarding men are not the only reason for keeping my silence,’ Ella confessed. Looking around, she continued in hushed whispers: ‘I have a feeling that if I reveal this dark secret to another soul, somehow it will be revealed to all the world. Sometimes I feel as though there is a sinister figure in the shadows, watching us and listening to every secret word we say.’

Well, well. My little sister was more intuitive than I would have believed. I had to admit I rather liked being called a sinister figure. It had an interesting ring to it.

So what are you going to do now, sinister