Aunt Hortense hurried to Rhea and knelt beside her, lowering her head to Rhea’s face.“She’s still breathing, thank God. Here, don’t just stand there, girls, help me get her into her bed.”Her words jolted the maids from their trance, and they scurried to help Hortense lift Rhea and put her in the bed. She went to Nancy next and bent over her. It wasn’t hard to see that she had been knocked unconscious. A bruise was already forming on the side of her face. She, too, was breathing, her pulse steady, and the three women carried her to the cot.Aunt Hortense wet a cloth in the washbasin and went to Rhea, bidding the maids to take care of Nancy. She washed Rhea’s face, hoping to revive her, but Rhea did not waken. If it had not been for the faint rise and fall of her chest, Aunt Hortense would have said she was dead.“That brute must have choked her!” she exclaimed, leaning over to examine the red marks ringing her sister-in-law’s throat. “This is a mad country! I’ve never seen the likes of it.”And what could have happened to Alexandra?The footman entered the room on the run, followed by the rest of the servants.
