*
Eve stared at Richard's empty bed, it was obvious that it had not been slept in, the question was why? And for how long? She had no doubt in her mind that he had escaped and that the twins must know that he had gone. Had they helped him? She felt betrayed, and then she began to get angry. A white rage overwhelmed her, she flailed out of the little room in a whirlwind of bad temper, sploshed herself down the stairs like the boiling spew from a volcano.
Franco saw her as she steamed past the library heading for the kitchen, he could tell that something was going to happen and followed discreetly,
Eve boiled into the kitchen grabbing the little Irish cook by the shoulders,
“Where are they?!...” She was rolling out dough and dropped the rolling pin, “...Where are the stupid little bitches hiding?!” The little cook, although frightened, could be quite feisty when angered, she shook herself free and shouted back at Eve,
“Well how th’ divil should I know?…” She glared up at her, “…when all I do all day, to no t'anks from anyone, is slave is this blasted old kitchen! They could be half way up the road to Killarney for all I know! Or care!”
Eve picked up the rolling pin and contemplated bludgeoning her with it, she resisted the temptation, slammed it down, and marched out of the kitchen calling their names,
“Margaret! Philippa! Show yourselves! Before I lose my temper!” She found them in the entrance hall, they stood side by side in front of the door, they had their coats on and each held a large suitcase, their cheeks were tear-stained and they were clearly terrified. Emm spoke up first,
“We're ready to go-”
“-To the Asylum.” Pip finished in a thin wail, they moved slightly closer together and held hands. Without breaking stride Eve marched up to them and placed a hand on each of their heads then knocked them together, hard. The girls squealed and both fell to the floor clutching at their heads.
“How long has he been gone?” Eve demanded. The girls tried to reach for each other, too afraid to reply,
“Answer me, damn you!” They were sobbing and clutching each other, Eve pulled back her foot and kicked Emm hard in the face, knocking her backwards, her face quickly awash with blood.
The emotion emanating from the two girls was sending Eve into a frenzy, she was finding it almost impossible to hold herself back,
“You're not going to the Asylum! That place is too good for you! I'm sending for Sir Clive…” She kicked Pip in the ribs, “… You can join him in the cellar! Help him with his experiments...” She stamped hard on Emm's head, “...And then we can feed what's left of your stupid worthless bodies to the pigs!”
The girls were howling with terror, the entire household lived in fear of Sir Clive, fear of what he did to those young women he took down to the cellar. Eve had Emm's arm twisted behind her back almost to the point of dislocation, she had succumbed to the frenzy.
Franco's powerful voice broke through,
“Mistress!” he was probably the only living person who could bring Eve back, she let go of Emm's arm stood up and glared at him,
“They have betrayed us! And they will suffer for it!” She yanked Emm’s bloody face up by her hair and started to push a finger into her eye, Franco interrupted her again,
“What have they done?” His voice was mellow as he tried to calm her.
“They’ve let him go!” She jabbed a finger into Emm's eye causing her to scream and thrash about.
“We didn't! We didn't! He just vanished!” Pip wailed as she tried to pull Eve’s hand from Emm's face.
Franco thought quickly, he was pretty sure it would be a bad idea to kill the twins,
“Perhaps they should die, after we have questioned them?” He gently placed his hand on Eve's shoulder making her turn to face him. She paused for breath, seeing the sense in what Franco had said,
“Very well, bring them to the library!” He had bought them some time, some time for Eve to come to her senses he hoped. She marched ahead, catching a glimpse of a sheepish Kelvin Bright before he ducked back out of sight,
“I'll be seeing to you one day soon as well! Cocky little shit...” She said to herself, promising something uniquely painful for his ultimate demise, “...Where did I leave the thumbscrews?”