Page 25 of The Lost Heiress

Florence slowly drifted into consciousness. She could feel the sunlight, heavy and bright against her eyelids, and she blinked her eyes open.

There were two girls in the room with her, one kneeling next to her bed, though the girl wasn’t looking at her anymore. She was half turned toward the other girl, who was sitting on the bed across from them, absently swinging her legs.

Florence knew the girl kneeling next to her was Verity, even though she couldn’t see her face. She recognized the girl’s dark mop of hair from the pillowcase the night before. And the girl across the room from them, who was a couple of years older, was Astrid—the one with beautiful raven waves flowing down her shoulders, and violet eyes, and a perfectly symmetrical face. Florence had seen her in the Towers family portrait hanging above the fireplace in Doris’s parlor.

“Iknowthat,” Verity said. “I’m just saying. And she gets to stay here in my room with me. In your old bed.”

“Good,” Astrid said. “Maybe now that you don’t have to sleep alone again, you’ll stop wetting the bed every night.”

“Noteverynight,” Verity said sheepishly. “It was just the one time.”

“Twice, at least,” Astrid said.

“Well, it’s scary, being in here all alone at night,” Verity said. “I hear strange noises. The house is haunted—I told you that.”

“You’resucha baby,” Astrid said, rolling her eyes.

“Am not,” Verity said.

“Look,” Astrid said. “She’s awake.”

Verity’s face swung back toward Florence, her eyes alight with excitement. “Hello!” Verity sang. She gave a little wave. “I’m Verity. You’re Florence, I know. Mother told us all about you. I’m sorry that your mom is dead.”

“Verity!” Astrid reprimanded her. “You’re not supposed to talk about her mom, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Verity said. “Sorry. Would you like to see my toys?”

“You can show her your toys later,” Astrid said, sliding off the bed. “We’re supposed to meet Charles at the pool, remember? For Marco Polo?”

“Right,” Verity said. She looked back at Florence. “You should come too.”

Florence’s mind was still a little foggy from her sleep. She blinked, trying to clear it. She glanced back at the foot of her bed and saw the cloth sack that held all her belongings lying there on the floor.

“I don’t have a swimsuit,” Florence said.

“You can borrow one of mine,” Verity said, already heading across the room to her dresser. “We’re about the same size.” Verity dug through the top left drawer and tossed her a purple one-piece. “The bathroom is over there, if you want to change,” Verity said, giving a little nod of her head.

Florence clutched the purple bathing suit in her hands and looked over at Astrid, unsure, as if she were waiting for permission.

“Yeah, all right,” Astrid said, clearly irritated. “But hurry up. We’re already late.”

As Florence headed toward the bathroom, she overheard Verity whisper to her sister, “Astrid, you’re supposed to introduce yourself, remember?”

“She already knows who I am,” Astrid said, not even trying to keep her voice down.

“How?” Verity asked.

“Because,” Astrid said. “They all know who we are.”

“Who knows who we are?”

“The help,” Astrid said.

“That’s my room,” Astrid said a few minutes later as they passed a large bedroom painted pink with a big canopy bed in the middle. “You can’t go in unless I’m in there, and even then, I need to invite you first.”

Verity gave Florence a commiserating look. “She tells me the same thing,” Verity said.

Only a few moments later they were outside, crossing the terrace and then descending the steps to the tiled patio and the giant pool. Florence had seen the pool a million times from a distance, but it was something completely different to be standing this close to it now with the intention of actually going in. It felt ginormous—a wide, unsettling sea of blue.