Chapter 6 - The Unspoken Cruelty
Two days later, Beatrice was arranging fresh towels in the guest bath when Victoria appeared behind her in the mirror.
“Your name is Bernice, isn’t it?”
“Beatrice, ma’am.”
Victoria tilted her head. “Of course. Beatrice. How unfortunate.”
Beatrice lowered her gaze. “Can I get you anything?”
“Yes. You can stop breathing so loudly when you walk past my room.” Victoria’s smile remained delicate. “Some of us are trying to think.”
Heat climbed Beatrice’s neck. “I’m sorry.”
“I imagine you say that often.”
Victoria left, her heels clicking against the floor like a clock counting down.
The cruelty toward Beatrice was easy enough to survive. She had survived worse. But the cruelty toward Lily began as something almost invisible.
A hand tightening too hard on the child’s shoulder when Leo looked away.
A sharp whisper when Lily dropped a crayon.
A cold smile when Lily reached for her father and Victoria stepped between them.
“Lily needs discipline,” Victoria told Leo at dinner one night, while the child sat silent with her eyes on her plate. “She’s too clingy. It isn’t healthy for a girl her age.”
Leo looked tired. There were shadows beneath his eyes, and a healing cut across his knuckles.
“She has been through enough,” he said.
“And you have spoiled her because of it.” Victoria laid her hand over his. “I’m only trying to help. She needs a woman in her life who won’t encourage weakness.”
Across the dining room, Beatrice tightened her grip on the water pitcher.
May you like
Lily looked up at her. Beatrice forced a small smile.
It was the only comfort she could safely give.
