Later, in the safety of my room, I asked Mark to summon Nicholas. Yet, just as he arrived, Veronica arrived too. I wasn’t unhappy to see her, exactly, but there were things I had hoped to speak with Nicholas about that I hadn’t wanted others to overhear.
When I heard Veronica’s reasons for visiting however, I quickly decided that what I wanted to talk to Nicholas about could wait.
“I want to check on Elva,” Veronica said.
“She’s playing,” I said, and motioned where Elva played dolls with Charlotte and the nanny.
“I don’t need to interfere. I can observe from a distance.”
I waved her forward, and she moved closer to Elva and the rest. Nicholas stepped into the room behind her.
“You alright?” he asked. He must have seen how shaken up I was. I’d been rattled since those flyers dropped o
