Eve sank down onto the chair across from her again. “Can’t you try to see this from my point of view?”
“I’m finding it very hard to do that. And I could ask you the same thing, Eve. When you left Wellingford four years ago, you fell off the face of the earth. I had no idea what happened to you. I’ve been worried about you all this time, hoping you were all right, wishing you would call or write. I prayed for you every single day. I didn’t come here to ruin your life. When Father sold Wellingford Hall and I left for America, I had no idea I would find you here.”
“Would you have come if you’d known?”
“I have no other place to go! Don’t you understand that yet? I know you don’t want us here, but where else can we go? Tell me, please!”
Eve stood. “I’d better make a path so the doctor can get through the door.” Audrey watched as she hauled the trunks and suitcases from the tiny entryway into the bedrooms. She knew Eve well enough to know that she was doing it to defuse her anger. And to avoid answering her question. “Robbie and I had breakfast out at the farm,” she said when she finished, “but I’ll fix you something if you tell me what you’d like.”
“Why did you change his name to Robbie? You named him Harry, after your father. I remember that very clearly.” Eve simply stared at her as if the answer were obvious. She supposed it was. “I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand how you could do this, Eve. Or why you did it. From anyone’s point of view, your deception is monstrous. Don’t you feel at all guilty for lying to Robert’s parents, deceiving them into thinking Harry is their grandson? Taking their money, this house?”
“I never intended to stay! My plan was to use the tickets you threw away to come to America. Harry and I would have a new start. I was going to leave town once I found a job and figured out how to make it on our own. But coming here was like stepping into a snare. I was trapped. The Barretts were devastated by Robert’s death, as you can well imagine. They made me feel like I was doing a wonderful thing by staying here and giving them a family again. You have no idea how happy they were to welcome Harry and me into their lives. How fully they embraced us. You were far away and out of touch and, I assumed, getting on with your life. I knew how much you loved Wellingford Hall. I never imagined you would change your mind and decide to take back what you so callously threw away.”
“I was unable to make any rational decisions when I threw those papers away.”
“If anyone has done something monstrous, it’s you—refusing to even visit the Barretts or let their grandson be part of their life.”
“I was certain they blamed me for Robert’s death. I didn’t want to upset their lives.”
“You’re upsetting their lives all over again by showing up now!”
“That’s unfair, Eve. I had no idea you were here, impersonating me. I didn’t come here to hurt you or them. Can’t we find a solution to this mess?”
Eve huffed again. “I’m going to make tea. Do you want some?”
“No thank you. I think I’ll put Bobby to bed.”
Audrey sat on the edge of the bed, rocking him in her lap until the doctor came an hour later. His diagnosis was roseola. “The rash usually lasts three to five days,” the doctor said. “He should feel normal in about a week.” Eve had been standing in the doorway, but Audrey saw her turn and walk away at his words. They would be trapped here together for a week. “Keep him quiet and in bed,” the doctor continued. “He should rest and avoid activity. Have him drink plenty of fluids. Give him half of an aspirin tablet for his fever.”
Audrey sat by Bobby’s bedside after the doctor left, waiting until he fell asleep. She was returning to the kitchen for the promised cup of tea when she overheard Eve’s son say, “Can we go swim in Nana’s pool now? I’m hot!”
“Not today. We have company.”
“Well, when are they going away?”
“I don’t know . . . The little boy is sick and has to stay in bed.”
“That makes me mad!” The back door slammed. When Audrey ventured into the kitchen, Eve was sitting at the kitchen table with her head in her hands. She looked up.
“You have to understand, Audrey, that when I was Harry’s age, I had all of this.” She gestured to the kitchen, the back garden. “Not the Barretts’ wealth, certainly, but a cozy home and a mum and granny who loved me. I lived in a village where everyone looked out for each other, and I was free to play and explore . . . and to just be a child! I wanted those things for my son. Does that make me a monster?”