Miss Price's Decision by Eliza Shearer

Author:Eliza Shearer [Shearer, Eliza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-17T04:00:00+00:00

On stepping into the entrance hall at the Camden Place house, with the neat parcel of fabric samples under my arm, I knew something was amiss. There were rushed steps from the servants above, and from the staircase came a howling that froze the blood in my veins. For a moment I was back in my parents’ dark Portsmouth house on the day Mary died, when I woke up to find my mother wailing and clutching my sister’s lifeless body. Breathless, I ran up the stairs and found Lady Bertram standing in the middle of her bedchamber, embracing the lifeless little body of her beloved pet dog.

“It is dead! My baby is dead!”

I put my arms around her shoulders and gently but firmly commanded her back to bed. Her wailing turned to sobbing. I took her hand and patted it.

“If it is of any consolation, dear Aunt, I am convinced that pug suffered little, and passed in the most perfect of circumstances: gently sleeping at your feet.”

“Your words are kind, Susan.”

“Pug had a lovely, long life by your side,” I said, and I meant it with my heart. Many would have envied the little dog’s existence, full of the finest morsels of chicken and ribbon-adorned baskets with soft silk cushions.

“I only wish I had kept a puppy from pug’s last litter, but I cannot imagine my baby could ever be fully replaced.”

“Shall I call Doctor Stuart?”

“Not him. I only need my medicine, or I think I shall die of a broken heart,” said Lady Bertram, pointing towards the small bottle of laudanum resting on her dressing table.

With some reluctance, I administered the tincture. When my uncle returned from lunch with an old friend, I explained to him what happened. His brow creased and he did not say anything, but I saw the disappointment in his eyes. I clutched my hands together. Once again, I had been away when my aunt needed me, and the gnawing feeling inside of me grew even more.

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