“No,” Mireille said. “I’d rather you didn’t tell her. She’s going to have enough to deal with, because I refuse to deal with my granddaughter anymore.”
“I should think not,” Dickce said.
“I’m so happy you’re here.” Mireille glanced at each of them in turn. “I don’t feel quite so alone now.”
An’gel’s eyes stung. She felt such pity for her cousin, to have this kind of stress in her life. She should be able to enjoy her last years in calm and quiet. An’gel would happily have taken Sondra over her knees right then and given her a sound spanking for causing her grandmother so much grief.
They were startled by a loud cry from outside the dining room.
“Sondra, no! What are you doing?” Jacqueline was yelling.
An’gel and Dickce rushed into the hall, and Mireille was a few steps behind them. An’gel stared in shock at Sondra, on the second-floor landing, as the girl threw scraps of white cloth over the rails to the first floor.
With a dull ache in her heart, An’gel realized that the source of the scraps was Mireille’s grandmother’s lovely wedding gown. Sondra had cut or ripped it to shreds.
She heard Mireille gasp and cry out “No!” As she turned, Mireille fainted and hit the floor.
CHAPTER 10
Jacqueline took one look at her mother on the floor near the stairs and started yelling for the housekeeper. “Estelle, hurry! Call 911! Maman has fainted.” She and Dickce knelt beside the stricken woman to render aid.
Estelle scurried in from the back of the house where the kitchen lay, cell phone in hand. She was talking to someone and urging speed.
An’gel, once she felt certain everything that could be done for her cousin at the moment was being done, charged up the stairs as quickly as she could to confront the source of Mireille’s great distress.
Huffing slightly as she reached the second-floor landing, An’gel paused a moment to catch her breath. A few feet away Sondra leant against the railing, staring down at the scene below. From what An’gel could see, there was not a sign of remorse or concern on the girl’s face. At that moment An’gel felt a rage come over her, and it was all she could do not to go and pick the girl up and throw her over the railing, just as Sondra had tossed the remnants of the antique bridal gown. An’gel mastered the impulse, however, and took several steps toward Sondra.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Sondra ignored her, and An’gel’s temper flared even higher. She grabbed the girl’s shoulder and shook her, hard.
“Don’t you dare ignore me, young woman. You look at me when I talk to you.”
Sondra stared at An’gel, sullen and hate-filled. An’gel didn’t flinch, however, and put all the loathing she felt for this sad excuse for a human being into her gaze and into her tone when she spoke.
“Your grandmother could be lying down there dying at this moment. Is that what you wanted?”
“It’s all her fault anyway.” Sondra spit the words out. Her tone grew shriller the longer she spoke. “Everybody’s always trying to make me do things I don’t want to do. She cares more about that awful woman than she ever cared about me. She even tried to make me wear that disgusting dress when I told her I didn’t want to. She doesn’t want me to get married at all. She made Uncle Rich try to talk me out of it; I know she did. Telling me I shouldn’t get married. I hate her; I hate every single one of them. None of them care about me or what I want.”
An’gel took a step back from the girl as she raved on, suddenly afraid and all too aware of the difference in their ages. Sondra was decades younger and far stronger than she, and the girl was in such a state there was no telling whom she might attack.
With great relief An’gel heard the sound of a siren rapidly approaching. If she could manage to keep Sondra at bay until the EMTs arrived, she would be fine. The girl still looked like she wanted to claw An’gel’s eyes out.
Sondra turned away and ran up the stairs to the third floor, where her bedroom lay. Seconds later An’gel heard a door open and then slam shut. She trembled and grasped the banister rail for support.
The front door burst open and the EMTs came in. They went to work on Mireille immediately while Jacqueline and Estelle both tried to explain what had happened. A tall, sun-bronzed young man dealt with them patiently as An’gel made her way slowly down the stairs. Dickce met her, and they moved well out of the way but within sight of all the activity.
“How is she?” An’gel asked.
Dickce shook her head. “Not good. I think she had a heart attack. I also think she hit her head pretty hard when she fell.”
An’gel closed her eyes and prayed for her cousin. She felt Dickce grasp her hand. When she finished her prayer, An’gel opened her eyes to find her sister regarding her with evident concern. “What about you? You’re pale and shaky,” Dickce said. “I wasn’t paying attention to what went on up there with Sondra, but I did hear her yelling at you.”
An’gel felt all at once that she had to sit down and told Dickce so. Dickce led her into the front parlor, where they both seated themselves on the sofa. Quickly An’gel told her sister the gist of her conversation with Sondra.
“The girl is a psychopath,” Dickce said. “Or is it sociopath? Either way, she’s dangerous.” She shuddered.
An’gel couldn’t disagree. The way that Sondra had behaved, the way she had looked at An’gel, didn’t seem human.
“Would you like me to get you some brandy?” Dickce asked. “I wouldn’t mind a little shot myself, to be honest.”
An’gel nodded. “Sounds good to me.”
Dickce got up and went over to the liquor supply, housed discreetly in an antique cabinet in the corner. She came back soon with two small shot glasses of brandy, and the sisters downed them quickly.
An’gel felt the familiar warmth begin to spread, and she thanked Dickce. A good “stiffener,” as one of their English friends called it, was exactly what she needed.
Jacqueline hurried into the room then, and An’gel noticed that she had been crying.
“How is your mother?” An’gel asked.
“They think she might have had a heart attack,” Jacqueline said, her face drawn and ashen. “They’re taking her to the hospital. I’m going right behind them. I was wondering if one of you would mind coming with me?”
Dickce rose from the sofa. “I’ll go with you, dear. An’gel should stay here, I think. She had a bit of a shock.”
“I’m sorry if Sondra upset you,” Jacqueline said. “She’s not in her right mind. I don’t know what possessed her to do such a thing.”
An’gel could have enlightened her goddaughter on the subject of Sondra but felt it would be kinder not to. There was something seriously wrong with the girl, but Jacqueline had enough on her plate at the moment.
“You go on to the hospital and don’t worry about anything here,” An’gel said. “I’m sure Estelle and I can take care of things.”
Jacqueline nodded. “I know you can.” She started to turn away. “Oh, dear, I forgot. Rich Thurston is due here any minute. He was planning to talk to Sondra, but now certainly isn’t a good time. Please explain to him and ask him not to talk to her just now.”
“All right,” An’gel said.
Jacqueline barely paused for the response. She hurried out, and Dickce followed her a little more slowly.
“Be careful,” she said. “Stay away from Sondra unless there’s someone else with you.” With that, she disappeared through the doorway.
Moments later An’gel heard the front door open and close, and then silence. The ambulance had already departed with Mireille, and the siren had faded away in the distance. An’gel sat there, allowing time to collect herself before she had to go in search of Estelle. She was surprised the housekeeper hadn’t insisted on going to the hospital with Jacqueline, but perhaps Jacqueline hadn’t given her a choice.