“Mother,” she said respectfully.
Her mother was seated before a table reading the paper. She had spectacles on—thick spectacles—and still she held the paper a mere twelve inches from her face, concentrating on it with utmost care. Some part of Violet’s brain realized what this must mean—how poor her mother’s vision had become—but she wasn’t going to get caught up in such details. She was here to deliver a message.
She sat at the table without waiting for an invitation.
Her mother sat reading, that paper masking her face. As if she already knew what Violet was going to say. After a few minutes, she slowly laid the pages down.
“Violet.” She spoke her daughter’s name as if she were tasting something unsavory. “What are you doing here? Why are you looking at me like that?”
No point lying now. No point obfuscating, as the rules demanded. “Because you are going to be most unhappy with me.”
White eyebrows rose. “I am, am I?” She made a great show of folding the paper. “Well. Don’t just sit there like a lump. Tell me what I’m supposed to be so upset about.”
“It’s…” Violet took a deep breath. “It’s about that thing we talked about earlier. That old scandal.”
“That little thing?” Her mother’s words sounded careless, but her hand twitched, fluttering the newspaper like a fan. “Good heavens, Violet. There’s no need to talk about that little thing. I thought we were in agreement on that score.”
“Unfortunately, Mama…” Violet trailed off. She couldn’t look her mother in the eye. She couldn’t. “Unfortunately, Mama, there is. You see, that scandal is about to become very public.”
“No, it isn’t.” Her mother’s voice sounded curiously flat. “It will not. Just tell me who will be bringing out this news, and I will quash him.” Her mother’s hands shook. “With all my considerable power.”
Violet’s throat was dry as chalk. She licked her lips but her tongue imparted no moisture. She’d always been the disappointing daughter. Lily had children. She had the lovely marriage. Lily was pretty and warm and open. Lily never had to pretend.
Now Violet was going to make herself even more hated.
“It’s me,” she finally managed to croak.
Her mother’s eyes grew wide. She let out a shaky breath. Her mouth slid open, her eyes wide and haunted. “You?” Her voice trembled, and suddenly, she sounded as old as she looked. “You’re going to tell everyone? But Violet…why?”
“Because I’m tired of living a lie.”
“That’s no reason,” her mother snapped. “Are you tired of living, too? Lily wouldn’t have understood, but I thought that you would.”
“Tired of living?” Violet shook her head. “I know that there have been threats associated with the whole business, but I don’t judge them to be serious. I will have to make some alterations to my life, and I don’t know if Lily will ever forgive me, but—”
“Oh, you’ll have to make some alterations to your life.” Her mother huffed. “And you’re worried about Lily of all people? I weep for your alterations. I weep for your sister. But you two are not the ones who would hang for murder.”
Violet froze. Her eyes widened, and she placed her hands flat on the table, her mind reeling. “Really, Mama,” she managed to get out. “Are you threatening to kill me because you think hyperbole is a useful tool at a time like this, or do you wish to flout the proprieties?”
Her mother didn’t explode in anger as Violet had expected. Instead, she frowned in contemplation. Her eyebrows drew down and she peered at Violet, as if seeing her for the first time. She sniffed the air, like a cat testing her reception, and tilted her head. After a very long time, she leaned in. “Violet,” she whispered, “do you mean to tell me that you are not talking about…ahem, you know. That thing. That thing we discussed earlier? You know, that particular event relating to you that took place in 1862?”
Violet nodded. “Of course. Although referring to it as an event… I suppose it might be confusing if you haven’t witnessed it from the start. It started in 1862, but it has been going on ever since.”
“Oh dear.” Her mother leaned back in her chair. She looked relieved, of all things. She let out a deep breath. “Then…never mind. What I just said? Forget it. I didn’t say a thing. Perhaps you need to tell me the other aspects of, ah, this thing that I haven’t witnessed from the start. Perhaps that will change my mind.”
Violet fixed her mother with her sternest gaze. “Mother.”
“Yes, dear?”
“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you? Do you mean to tell me that all along we’ve been talking about different scandals?”