Page 20 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
“I like your doll’s blue dress.Can I play with it?”Lily asked.“I don’t have any dolls.My father took them all away.”
“That’s mean.Why did he do that?”
Victoria’s mother was suddenly on her feet, standing near her.Her father had stopped shuffling papers at the desk to gape at her.
“Victoria, honey, who are you talking to?”her father asked, his tone gentle.
“Lily,” she replied.“She wants to play with my doll.”
Her mother emitted a strangled gasp.“Abner, do something.”
“Take her out of here,” her father said.
Victoria looked up at her mother, whose face was pinched with worry and a hint of fear.She reached a hand down to her.
“Come, Victoria, darling.”
“But—”
“Do as your mother says,” her father said, his voice sharp.
As Victoria reached for her mother’s hand, she looked back to where Lily was sitting.But the girl was gone.
Victoria’s foot caught on a wrinkle in the rug as she jerked back from the desk.Her pulse hammered in her ears.The chill on her skin wasn’t imagined.It spread across her arms like icy fingers, as if something followed her out of the long-buried memory.
She pressed a hand to her chest.No one else had seen Lily.And yet…she remembered the blue eyes, her ashen face.The way her mother’s voice shook and her father’s stern, worried expression.Could it have been real?Could it still be?
It must have been something because her parents insisted they leave the study at that moment.Her mother took her out, her father following.He closed the door with a snap.
It was hard to shake the feeling coating her skin, though.Did her parents leave Ravenfell because they thought it was…haunted?That seemed absurd.
A coldness seeped into her bones then as she peered around the shadowy room.Her breath plumed.She backed toward the door as her gaze scanned the furniture.She saw nothing and no one.But she had the distinct feeling she was being watched.
Finally, she turned and fled the study.
And ran right into Gabriel.She crashed into his tall form.He reached up, grasped her arms to steady her.His grip on her arms was firm but careful, his gaze scanning her face.A hint of worry was there but something else.Fear?Recognition?
“Miss Ravenwood, are you all right?”
Victoria lifted her gaze to his, her heart a rapid flutter.She put on a smile.“Yes.My apologies.I didn’t see you there.”
“I gathered.”He released her and stepped back.His gaze shifted to the open door behind her.“I was coming to retrieve the ledgers.”
“Good.We can review them in the parlor.”
“Now?I thought this afternoon with tea.Would you rather have luncheon first?”
“Oh.Yes, of course.”
Without another word, she hurried around him and headed to the dining room.But her heart had not stopped racing.When she arrived, her uncle was already there.
“Ah, there you are, my dear.Did you have a nice rest?”
Clasping her shaking hands, she sat in one of the chairs.“Yes.You?”
“Are you certain?You look pale,” he said.
She remained perfectly still, willing her heart to slow.“I’m fine.”She punctuated that with a weak smile.“I’m quite famished.”
