Page 96 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“Adie has a sweetheart!” crowed Phillip and Louis.
Adie glared at Elliott.
“Glare at them! Not me!”
“You put that idea in their heads!”
“No, Adie, the pheasant did.” He picked up the bird and grabbed its limp head. “Be mad at me, Miss Elsing, it’s my fault!”
Adeline picked up a nearby pillow and threw it at him, and the whole cottage erupted into laughter.
Adeline would be remiss to think the day passed painlessly or without incident. There were moments when it hurt, like when the clock struck two and she recalled hearing the exact same chime while holding Edie in her arms two years ago, utterly and completely alone. She could see things in Elliott’s eyes, too, moments of silence that went unnoticed by the others.
But the children laughed. They played with Dimitri’s toys and dined like little lords. They ran around the grass and played birthday games and sang around the piano.
She thought, at first, that her mother would have loved this, and then thought secondly of Dimitri, wondering how many parties he’d attended and if she should have brought him. She imagined him playing at the piano in Elliott’s stead. Would his voice have captivated everyone else like it did her?
Why am I thinking of his voice?
Somehow, they got through the day. The sky folded into darkness. Sunlight shimmered away. The youngest members of the household were put to bed, leaving the older ones to clear away evidence of the day’s celebrations.
“All in all,” said Elliott, sweeping up the remains of the birthday cake they’d obliterated, “not as horrific as it could have been.”
Adeline smiled at the hamper. “No, not horrific.”
Leonie sat in the corner of the room, reading her anatomy book with the doll nestled in the crook of her arm. Adeline suspected it would be years before Edie was permitted to play with it.
“Are you heading home now?” Leonie asked, not looking up.
Adeline frowned. “Iamhome.”
“I meant your other one.”
The Manor. Somehow, that place had become a home to her, a place she wanted to return to. And, as it always was with homes, it had little to do with the space, and far more to do with the people.
One person.
“I suppose so. I did say I’d be back tonight.”
“Best not keep him waiting.” Elliott grinned.
“Stop that.”
“I am doing nothing.”
She hugged them both, looked in on the sleeping children, and started back towards the Manor, trying not to glance up at Dimitri’s window as she passed it. It was still light in there.
But she had no reason to call on him. She wasn’t even distressed. Even though she wasn’t remotely tired, and couldn’t imagine sleep, and suddenly missed Edie, and her mother, and—
On their birthdays, their mother used to come and visit them at night, when the rest of the house was sleeping. Adeline asked her about it, once. Her mother smiled and kissed her nose.
“It’s nice to share birthdays, but really, this day belongs to the two of us. I don’t want to make it about me, but it’s important to me in a way it isn’t to your father. This is the day we became separate.”
Edie would never get that, but Adeline felt she owned a little of this day, too. It was the day Edie became hers.
She hadn’t told her. She checked in on her, but hadn’t said anything. Hadn’t spent that much time with her at all, actually, too busy trying to stay busy—
The bell rang just as she was undressing for bed.
