Rutland Place - Anne Perry [78]
Amaryllis swung round, opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Eloise was sitting perfectly motionless, her face blank, her hands lifeless in her lap.
“He will not,” she said without a shadow of expression, as if she had faced death itself and grown accustomed to it and accepted it without hope. “He will never stand again.”
“That’s not true!” Amaryllis’ voice rose almost to a shriek. “How dare you say anything so dreadful? That is a lie! A lie! He will stand, and in time he will walk. He will! I know it.” She stood up, went over to Eloise, and stopped in front of her, shaking with emotion, but Eloise neither looked up nor flinched.
“You are dreaming,” Eloise said very quietly. “One day you will know the truth. However long it takes, it is always there, and it will come to you.”
“You’re wrong! You’re wrong!” The color flamed up Amaryllis’ face. “I don’t know why you’re saying all this. You have your own reasons—God in heaven knows what they are!” There was accusation in her voice, shrill and ugly—frightened. “He will get better. I refuse to give in, to surrender!”
Eloise looked at her as if she were transparent or of no importance, as if she were unreal, as inconsequential as a magic-lantern slide.
“If that is what you wish to believe,” she said quietly, “then do so. It really makes no difference to anyone, except I would ask you not to keep repeating it, especially if the time should come when Tormod is well enough to receive you.”
Amaryllis’ body became rigid, her arms like wood, her bosom high.
“You want him to lie there!” she cried, almost gulping the words. “You evil woman! You want to keep him a prisoner here! Just you and he, all the rest of his life! You’re mad! You’re never going to let him go—you—”
Suddenly Charlotte woke into action. She jumped to her feet and slapped Amaryllis sharply across the face.
“Don’t be idiotic!” she said furiously. “And so utterly selfish! Who on earth do you imagine you are helping, standing there shrieking like a servant girl? Pull yourself together and remember that it is Eloise and not you who has to bear the hardship of this! It is she who has cared about him all her life! Can you possibly believe that poor Mr. Lagarde wishes to have his sister subjected to abuse on top of everything else? The doctor is the only one who can say whether he will recover or not, and false hope is more painful than learning to accept with patience the truth, whatever it may be, and await the outcome!”
Amaryllis stared at her. Quite possibly it was the first time in her life anyone had struck her, and she was too appalled to react. And the insult that she had behaved like a servant was a mortal one!
Emily stood up also and took Charlotte aside, then guided Amaryllis back to her seat. Eloise sat through it all as if she had neither seen nor heard them, absorbed in her own thoughts. They could have been shadows passing across the lawn for any mark they made upon her mind.
“It is natural you should be shocked,” Emily said to Amaryllis with a supreme effort at calmness. “But these dreadful things affect people in different ways. And you must remember that Eloise has spoken with the doctor and knows what he has said. It would be best if we were all to await his advice. I daresay Mr. Lagarde needs as little disturbance as can be.” She turned to Eloise. “Is that not so?”
Eloise was still looking at the floor.
“Yes.” She raised her eyebrows a little, almost with surprise. “Yes, we should not distress him with our feelings. Rest—that is what Dr. Mulgrew said. Time. Time will tell.”
“Is he to call again soon?” Caroline inquired. “Would you care to have someone with you when he does, my dear?”
For the first time Eloise smiled very faintly, as if at last she had heard not only the words, but their meaning.
“That is most kind of you. If it is not a trouble? I am expecting him momentarily.”
“Of course not. We shall be happy to stay,” Caroline assured her, her voice rising with pleasure that there was something they could do.
Amaryllis hesitated when they