Hunting for Silence (Storm and Silence 5)

Oh well, it wasn’t really any of my business. Besides, I had more important things to care about. Turning away, I went back into Ella’s room.

‘How did things go?’ Ella croaked.

I looked at her, long and hard.

‘A lot better than I think they’re going to go from here on out.’

Over the day, Ella’s condition rapidly deteriorated. The doctor was called back, and when he left the room this time, there was no mistaking the grim expression on his face.

‘I’m afraid there’s no doubt this time,’ he said. ‘It’s cholera.’

I clawed at my dress to keep my hands from shaking. ‘What can we do?’

‘Not much, I’m afraid. Make sure to give her plenty of water. If you don’t, she’ll dry up and die as if she is stranded in the middle of a desert.’

‘What else?’ I took a step forward. ‘Please, doctor, there must be more I can do!’

‘Well…’ He hesitated. ‘My colleague, Dr Lindstrom, has had not inconsiderable success with adding sugar and salt to water in equal quantities. According to him, it does not cure the sickness, but it does lessen the likeliness of death. The hypothesis hasn’t yet been subjected to clinical trial, though.’

‘Can it hurt?’

‘No.’

‘Then I’ll do it. What else?’

Sadly, he shook his head. ‘There is nothing else, Miss Linton. As yet, the origins of cholera are a mystery to modern science. As long as we don’t know what causes it, we have no way of combatting the disease.’

In the back of my mind, I wondered what Mr Ambrose would say to making a sizable donation to medical research. Maybe I had better wait with that suggestion till after the wedding.

‘And what,’ I asked, my mouth going dry, ‘about the risk of infection?’

The doctor glanced down at the gloves he was wearing.

‘Well, Miss Linton…are you the one who has been taking care of your sister?’

‘I am.’

‘Then maybe you should not get close to anybody over the next few days. Just to be sure.’

Translation: he didn’t have a clue how the sickness spread. Inside my chest, a cold vice clamped tight around my heart. I hadn’t thought I would feel afraid. Not when it was my sister’s life at stake. In the past, I wouldn’t have hesitated an instant to put my life on the line for Ella.

A picture of Mr Ambrose’s hard face appeared in front of my inner eye.

In the past, you didn’t have nearly as much to lose.

Edmund mostly refused to budge from Ella’s do

or. He didn’t say a word about going in, didn’t once try to disturb her, but he sat out there like a house-trained little dragon in front of the entrance to his personal horde. Every so often I’d catch him throw longing glances at the door. It was almost enough to make me want to let him inside—except I couldn’t. I had promised Ella I wouldn’t. And besides, if what the doctor had hinted about the risk of infection was true, it was best for him to stay far, far away from Ella, or her heart might be just as broken has her body soon.

The same goes for you, Lilly. You should be nowhere near her.

The voice of reason in my head was loud and clear. It sounded very much like Ella. She took every opportunity to tell me to go and leave her to suffer in misery.

‘You’re still healthy,’ she croaked, convulsing as a tremor shook her body. ‘Th-there is no reason for you to fall sick, too. Go! It’s only reasonable.’

‘Is that so?’ I enquired, dipping a cloth in cold water and wiping her forehead. ‘Well, then I guess it’s fortunate that I’ve never been very reasonable.’

‘Lilly! I’m serious.’