Chapter 3 - The Woman in the Photograph
Adrian returned shortly after midnight.
Isabella was waiting in the library with the photograph on the table.
He entered quietly, exhaustion visible beneath his eyes.
When he saw her expression, he stopped.
“What happened?”
She pushed the photograph toward him.
“Who is she?”
Adrian removed his jacket before looking down.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
“Where did you get this?”
“It was left in our bedroom after someone searched it.”
His eyes sharpened.
“Was anything taken?”
“A bottle containing the drink your mother makes me take.”
“Isabella, my mother does not prepare your medication.”
“She controls the doctor who prepares it.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“Who is the woman?”
Adrian picked up the photograph.
“She was my aunt.”
“What was her name?”
“Catherine.”
“She looks like me.”
“Yes.”
The answer came too quickly.
Isabella studied him.
“You knew.”
“I noticed a resemblance when we first met.”
“And you never mentioned it?”
“I did not think it mattered.”
“She is holding your shoulder as though she knows you.”
“She was part of the family.”
“What happened to her?”
Adrian turned the photograph over, as if hoping for another message.
“She died.”
“How?”
“I was very young.”
“How?”
He placed the photograph back on the table.
“There was an accident.”
“What kind of accident?”
“Isabella.”
“What kind?”
Adrian walked toward the window.
“A fall.”
The word entered the room like a blade.
“From where?”
“The upper balcony.”
Isabella’s skin went cold.
“The balcony in this house?”
“Yes.”
“Did she fall?”
Adrian did not answer.
“Or was she pushed?”
He turned.
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because someone wrote that the first child was a mistake.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“Your mother knows.”
“My mother has spent her entire life protecting this family.”
“From whom?”
“From people who want what we have.”
“Does that include me?”
Adrian crossed the room and knelt in front of her chair.
“No.”
“Then believe me.”
“I do.”
“No, you believe I am frightened. That is not the same as believing there is a reason.”
His jaw tightened.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Let me choose my own doctor.”
“All right.”
“Remove your mother’s control over the guards.”
“All right.”
“Open the east wing.”
Adrian’s eyes changed.
It was subtle, but she saw it.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because there is nothing there that concerns you.”
“I heard a child.”
“You heard something you interpreted as a child.”
“And the photograph?”
“Catherine’s rooms were in the east wing.”
“Then it concerns me.”
Adrian stood.
“This conversation is finished.”
Isabella stared at him.
He had never spoken to her that way.
Adrian seemed to realize it immediately.
He closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“I’m sorry.”
“You are afraid of that wing.”
“I am tired.”
“You are afraid of what I will find.”
He picked up his jacket.
“I will arrange another doctor tomorrow.”
“Adrian.”
He stopped at the door.
“If Catherine died from that balcony, why did your family keep living here?”
His back remained toward her.
“Because my mother said leaving would make us look guilty.”
The door closed behind him.
Isabella remained alone in the library.
A moment later, she heard a soft knock.
Elena entered.
The maid glanced over her shoulder before speaking.
“I know who left the photograph.”
“Who?”
Elena stepped closer.
“Catherine did.”
Isabella stared at her.
“You just said she was dead.”
“She is.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
Elena lowered her voice.
“Someone has been entering her locked rooms.”
A floorboard creaked in the corridor.
Elena immediately moved away.
Margaret appeared in the doorway.
She looked from Elena to Isabella.
“Is there a problem?”
Elena bowed her head.
“No, madam.”
Margaret’s gaze settled on the photograph.
May you like
Then she smiled.
“You should be careful with old memories,” she said. “Some of them remember you too.”
