The House Between Tides by Sarah Maine

Author:Sarah Maine
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Atria Books

Chapter 24

1910, Beatrice

Two days later, Beatrice came downstairs for breakfast to hear a shout of laughter from Rupert in the dining room. “Straight over the side,” Kit was saying as she crossed the hall. “Head-first into six foot of icy black water. Shark bait.” She hated to think of them leaving, but in just two days they would be gone. “Then they half killed me getting me back on board. I’ll show you the bruises if you like.” The house would feel so empty, filled only by Theo’s silences, left prey to a creeping belief that something was fundamentally wrong.

“Utter madness,” Rupert was remarking as she entered the dining room, “and nothing to show for it.”

“Except pneumonia and chilblains.” Emily smiled as Beatrice pulled out a chair beside her. “Have you heard about this silly caper, Bea? Night fishing with Donald and Cameron.” Beatrice shook her head and half listened as Kit repeated his story. And prey now to another sort of danger; these past few nights she had slept badly.

“I’d have thought Cameron Forbes had more sense,” said Rupert, pushing the marmalade towards Beatrice.

“Cameron?” Kit scoffed. “Reckless to a fault.”

Was he? Beatrice had not seen him since the picnic. Theo had not recalled him to the study, so he had not come to the house, but she found she was looking out for him. Yet surely the danger he spoke of was just a frisson, a temptation to be resisted, spawned by a sunlit day, a fine wine, and a shimmering heat haze rising from the sand—and a look that had been held between them.

“Got to make the most of the last few days,” said Kit, attacking a pair of kippers with gusto. Various schemes were suggested until Emily proposed that they invite the whole Forbes family for a meal before their visit came to an end, and she shot off to put the plan to Theo before Beatrice could express her half-formed reservations. She returned triumphant.

“He said no at first but finally agreed as long as it was a midday meal. So I’ll fix it with Mrs. Henderson for Sunday, the day before we go? That’s alright, isn’t it, Bea?”

Despite Theo’s instructions that the meal be informal, Emily had taken matters into her own hands and insisted that the table be set as if for a party. “It’s hideous, I know, but we always used it,” she said, tweaking the yellow iris she had placed in an old-fashioned silver epergne. “Goodness only knows when we will all be together again, so the occasion must be marked.”

Beatrice wondered anxiously what Rupert had told Theo of the day on the seal island as she checked the table settings. Cameron had overstepped the mark with careless bravado, and if Theo learned even half of it— She paused and straightened a serviette, acknowledging that another boundary had been approached that day, approached but retreated from, not crossed.

Theo ushered the guests into the dining room, and Cameron greeted her quietly before turning to study the elaborate arrangements.

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