In the weeks after Gavin’s family bade them farewell, Robbie dug into her trove of partially written stories, reading through them, trying to decide how to continue. Then, one day as she watched Lady attempting to make friends with one of the stable cats, a thought came to her. And she began to write. The story was about a Corgi named Oscar and a regal, yet scruffy looking cat named Madeline, both of whom could speak to Oscar’s owner, but no one else.
She couldn’t write fast enough. Things popped into her head so quickly, she had trouble getting them down on paper, afraid she would forget. Even a time or two at night, she awakened with a wonderful thought, lit the lamp, and scribbled on a paper she kept by the nightstand.
She was so busy and engrossed in her work, she hadn’t even realized she had missed her menses two months in a row.
And that’s when her new perfect life began to fall apart.
She and Gavin were in the breakfast room when Mrs. Murray hurried in with a note. “Come by messenger, it did,” she explained.
Gavin opened it, read it, and looked across the table at Robbie. “We’re about to have a visitor.” He handed her the note.
Robbie looked at the words and realized that until this moment, her life had been too good to be true. Birdie, true to form, was interrupting Robbie’s idyllic existence.
“It doesn’t say why she’s coming, or if she’s coming alone,” Gavin said.
Robbie’s only hope was that Joe accompanied her. Otherwise, why would she come to see Robbie?
She and Gavin had been getting along so well. He was kind and attentive, and they had a wonderful life together, even though Robbie knew he still didn’t love her.
She touched her abdomen. And now, sensing she was pregnant, she wondered how that would change things. Although Gavin visited her room frequently, he never stayed the night. Now, with Birdie’s arrival, would he visit her bed at all?
“So we’re to expect her, or them, tomorrow before tea. We’d best get one of the small apartments ready,” Robbie said, gritting her teeth. As much as the thought of her sister’s appearance irked her, she was not one bit surprised.
• • •
Birdie’s arrival was led with as much fanfare as Robbie expected. She came with a companion who looked after her needs—for the time being. Birdie was blind. And Robbie was stunned.
“Oh, it was terrible, just terrible,” Birdie lamented. “The carriage hit a large rut in the road and it tipped over and killed my poor Joey. And this,” she said, pointing to her face, “is what it left me. Without sight.”
Robbie placed a hand on her sister’s shoulder, her own heart thrumming against her ribs. “Joe is dead?”
“Isn’t that what I just said? Aye, now I’m not only a widow but I’m blind as a bat.” She pulled a delicate handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed her nose.
Poor Joe, Robbie thought. Along with her own shock, Robbie was sympathetic. “What do the doctors say?”
Birdie gave her a little pout. “They told me there was nothing wrong with me. They called it ‘hysterical’ blindness.” She huffed. “Apparently they feel that the trauma of the accident and losing my poor Joey has rendered me temporarily blind.”
“But that’s good news, isn’t it?” Gavin placed his hand over hers, and Birdie squeezed it and smiled.
“Oh, optimistic Gavin; always looking on the bright side.” Suddenly, though, she frowned. “I was truly surprised to learn that you and Robbie got married,” she said, her expression concerned. “I don’t remember you even talking to her all those years ago.”
Gavin cleared his throat, and everyone was uncomfortable. “Things have a habit of changing, don’t you think?”
She sighed. “I suppose, but…well…” She sighed again.
Robbie watched the exchange and bit the insides of her cheeks. As had become a ritual for her, she rubbed her hand over her stomach.
“The problem is that my companion must leave in the morning, and I’ll have no one to care for me,” Birdie bewailed, dabbing at her dry eyes with a handkerchief.
“Nonsense,” Gavin said. “You can stay here with us, isn’t that right, Robbie?”
Robbie nearly lost her lunch. In truth, she was still nauseous from the morning. “Why, yes of course. Where else in the world would she go?” She hoped she kept the sarcasm from her voice, but she wasn’t sure she succeeded, nor did she care.
“Well,” Birdie began, “it is bad news. Joey’s family got a solicitor and took all of his holdings, leaving me with nothing.” Tears, perhaps crocodile, perhaps not, rolled down her cheeks.
At least she hadn’t ended up a rich widow after stealing her beau, Robbie thought. That would have been the perfect ending, though, wouldn’t it? The fact that she’s no longer able to make people scrape and bow is probably the worst thing that had ever happened to Birdie.
But Robbie did have an idea. Thoughts of Lydia and Karl had not been far from her mind. She would bring it up to Gavin once they were alone—if, in fact, they were ever alone again.
• • •
That night after her companion had helped Birdie get ready for bed, and when Robbie was sure her sister was asleep, she met Gavin in the library.
He lifted his gaze from the map he was studying as she entered. “Well, who would have thought of this turn of events?”
She tried to smile. “Who, indeed?” She sat in a wing chair across from him. “I have an idea.”
He looked up, giving her his full attention.
“There is a woman, a nurse and midwife, I worked with at a small clinic in Edinburgh. She has a teenaged son with an affliction, a palsy, that affects his speech and movements, but his mind is sharper than most his age.” She paused, waiting to see if Gavin had a question.
“If you would agree, and, I suppose we’d have to check with Birdie as well, I’d like to write and offer her a position as Birdie’s companion. The woman is patient as a saint, and I believe that’s what Birdie is going to need, to be honest.”
Gavin leaned against the back of his chair. “I guess I hadn’t thought of her future care; she would be easy enough to appease, though.”
Robbie almost blurted, “‘easy to appease’?” but held her tongue.
“Contact this woman. If she’s been working in the slums of Edinburgh, she might jump at the chance for a change. As for the boy, the country is a good place for him. I do understand bullying, Robbie. Believe it or not, I was bullied in school.”
She could see him, retreating into his books and maps after being teased. Perhaps that was what had made him such a recluse. “Thank you, Gavin. I’ve thought of her situation so often since I’ve been here; she deserves more than she had when I left her.” And even Birdie wouldn’t complain if there was yet another person to cater to her.