Viktor
The idea had come to me earlier in the library. All through dinner, I pondered my outlandish idea further and had decided by the time pie and coffee were served that I would propose my solution to Cymbeline.
As we finished our dessert, Lord Barnes asked Cymbeline and his wife if they would follow him into his study. “We’ll only keep her for a moment,” Lord Barnes said to the rest of us. “You young people go and enjoy the firepit. We’ll send Cym out shortly.”
“Yes, Papa,” Fiona said.
Jasper entered the room with a note in his hand, which he gave to Theo. My brother read it quickly and then looked over at his wife. “No more play for us, my love. Mrs. Coughlin’s in labor.”
Louisa’s eyes lit up. “It’s about time. The poor woman’s at least two weeks late by my calculations.”
“Yes, please go,” Mrs. Barnes said. “We’ll pray for a healthy baby and mother.”
I was pleased when Cymbeline glanced my way and gave me a smile. “I’ll see you all later.”
Phillip helped his wife to her feet. “I apologize, but I need to look up something in the library but will join you shortly.”
“Of course, darling. Don’t be too long though,” Josephine said. “I don’t want to be out too late.”
“I won’t dally,” Phillip said.
A few minutes later, Fiona and Josephine led me down the hall and through the back porch to the stone firepit. We each took one of the wooden chairs. The flames were robust and warmed my cheeks.
“Thank you for this evening,” Josephine said to me. “Your support of our sister means a lot to us.”
“She will always have my undying affection,” I said. “Even if she doesn’t want it.”
“We shall see about that, won’t we?” Fiona said. “After your speech tonight, how could she resist you?”
“She’s done well thus far,” I said.
“Don’t give up on her yet,” Josephine said. “Sometimes people surprise us.”
Josephine hadn’t changed much over the years. She still wore her golden hair long and pinned at the back of her neck. The fabric of her gown was a soft pink, which complemented her fair skin.
Fiona, who wore a dark blue dress that matched her eyes and a sparkly band in her curly brown bob, had only recently turned eighteen. Regardless, she had a maturity and serenity beyond her years.
“It’s good to see you, Viktor,” Josephine said. “Since the babies came, it seems I never get out anymore. How are you?”
“I’m doing well and enjoying my new home.” I’d moved into a cottage not far from the Barnes property. The twins and my brother Isak and I had all agreed long ago to help one another build houses. Being the youngest of the four of us, my cottage had been last. Now I was in the process of furnishing the four modest rooms and making plans for a garden come spring. “I planted roses over the summer. My brother built some furniture for the lawn. I’m going to have a garden party next summer and invite the lot of us from school. I’m thinking of building a firepit in the back just like this one.” I blushed at the sound of my eager voice.
“That sounds lovely,” Fiona said. “I’ll play music for your party, if you’d like. Li and me, that is.”
“That would be a treat.” I shifted my feet closer to the fire. The night air was frigid but refreshing. “Fiona, what are your plans? Will you attend music school as Li did?”
“Oh, no. I like being home too much for that. Everything I need is right here.”
“My little sister’s quite busy,” Josephine said. “Playing at the nightclub, for example.”
“Josephine, if you’d ever gone there, you would see that it’s nothing terrible.” Fiona played with a long string of black beads that hung around her neck. “My sister doesn’t approve of me playing there. Or of the music.”
“You’re too young,” Josephine said. “Playing blues and jazz in a place with drunk men terrifies me.”
“If you ever came to hear me, you see that I’m perfectly fine,” Fiona said. “Papa and Mama don’t mind. You shouldn’t either.”
Josephine shook her head. “Despite my husband’s reassurance that it’s not different from one of our church dances, I have my doubts.”
“You’re right that there are some differences. There’s moonshine, as you said. The music’s a bit scandalous as well,” I said, teasing.
Fiona laughed. “Li and I enjoy ourselves very much. Playing all those saucy tunes.”
“Li and whoever from the old gang is there that night take good care of Fiona,” I said. “You shouldn’t worry.” I cleared my throat. “I have a thought—an idea about the competition.”
“Yes?” Josephine asked.
Both of the Barnes sisters gazed at me with their intelligent, discerning eyes.
“It’s important that Cym has her chance. We’re all in agreement with that, yes?” I asked.
“I have my music,” Fiona said. “Without it I might feel as she does.”
“I have the library and my family, of course.” Josephine looked over at me fondly. “If it weren’t for you, I might be resting in the family plot at the cemetery.”
Fiona visibly shivered. “I don’t like to think about that night or what would have happened if Viktor hadn’t saved you.”
At the memory, prickles of discomfort traveled up my spine and raised the hair on the back of my neck. The insanity and desperation in the man’s eyes before I took him out would be forever conjured in a split second. Like Fiona, I hated thinking about those terrifying moments. I’d transformed in seconds into a man capable of killing another. “Ladies, it was all a long time ago. Let us think of it no more.”
“Tell us, dear Viktor. What’s your idea?” Josephine asked.
“It’s a bit outlandish, but it might work.”
They both sat forward, watching me.
“I thought of it earlier in the library. Do you remember the plot to As You Like It?”
“I think so,” Fiona said. “Is that the one with the storm?”
“No, that’s The Tempest,” Josephine said. “He’s referencing the one where Rosalind pretends to be a boy.”
“Right, yes.” Fiona looked perplexed for a moment before comprehension swept her features. “Oh my. You think she should dress up as a boy.”
I nodded, watching them closely. Would they think me foolish?