Effie had planned to have a pleasant evening. That she would have to spend it without Ruby was a shame, but at the same time, almost a relief. Ruby was her closest friend and a dear girl, but at the same time, she had been so odd lately. It was worrying, and Effie couldn’t be worried all the time.

Tonight, she was determined not to think of Ruby any more than she would have to. At some point, she would have to, but by then she would already be in bed. Her fears for her friend’s health and sanity could surely be confined to their bedroom. Outside, she wanted to sit with her other friends, the ones who didn’t give her any reason to lie awake at night, fretting.

But there was only one reason Mlle. Bellerose would now be hurrying toward her at such a pace. Effie’s heart sank.

The girls around her all began chattering at Mlle. Bellerose, who gave them each a smile and a friendly nod, but her face was somber once more when she turned to Effie. “Miss Sanders, I hope you’ll come with me.”

Effie didn’t dare ask why. She already knew, and the last thing she wanted was for Mlle. Bellerose to announce it in front of everyone. She only got to her feet, said her good nights, and hurried after the French teacher.

Only when they were well down the hall did she dare speak, and then only in a whisper. “What’s happened?”

“It’s R -- Miss Cambridge.”

Effie didn’t miss that near slip, nor did she intend to forget it. Back when she had been gone on one of her teachers, Ruby had been kind enough to tell her every time that teacher had seemed to be so much as thinking of her. She’d outgrown that affection, and even though Ruby no doubt ought to have outgrown hers as well, Effie wouldn’t shame her for it. If anyone needed the sort of strength a flame could give, it was Ruby. It would cheer her tremendously to know Mlle. Bellerose thought of her by her given name.

“Is she all right?”

Mlle. Bellerose’s silence was answer enough. Effie broke into a run.

When they reached the bedroom, Effie was certain Ruby had died. She lay so still on the bed that there could have been no other answer. She froze in the doorway, paralyzed with fear and the seeds of guilt. What if she had been here instead of with her friends? Could there have been anything for her to do?

Mlle. Bellerose had no such fears, or if she did, she didn’t let them stop her. She brushed past Effie at a run, skirts up above her ankles in her haste. Her eyes were wide and fearful, but her mouth was a tight line as she knelt beside Ruby on the bed, shaking her shoulder.

“Miss Cambridge,” she called. “Miss Cambridge, are you well? Miss Cambridge!”

Still nothing. Effie thought she might faint. Her friend was dead, and surely there had been something she could have done to save her. What it might be was a mystery, but she had no doubt she could come up with it in time. Even just being here might have made a difference. Though she couldn’t think how, the dreadful thought struck her that Ruby might have taken her own life. Effie wouldn’t have thought her capable of it -- she could hardly imagine anyone capable of it -- but hadn’t there been a suicide somewhere in the Cambridge family? If there was one, there could easily be another.

Mlle. Bellerose pushed herself up, turning to Effie. “Have someone send for a doctor!”

“A doctor?” she echoed. It was impossible. There was no way a doctor could reach Ruby in time. The nearest was in town, about an hour away, and that was in daylight. In the dark, it could easily take him three hours to come back, and by then --

By then it wouldn’t matter. Ruby was already dead. A doctor would do her no good now. What could Mlle. Bellerose be thinking?

“Yes,” Mlle. Bellerose said, “a doctor. If you care about your friend at all, you’ll go now.”

That tone would brook no argument. Effie raced off down the hall.

The servants hadn’t yet gone to sleep, and wouldn’t until the girls were all abed, so it was easy for Effie to catch hold of one of the maids. It was less easy to explain why she had caught hold of her, and she spent several seconds merely gasping for breath and trying not to cry. The maid must have thought she was having some sort of fit, for she stood frozen in panic for several seconds before Effie was able to speak.

Her words didn’t supply much in the way of comfort.

“A doctor,” she gasped. “I need a doctor.”

The maid nodded, eyes wide. “I’ll send for one, miss. Is it… are you… what’s the matter?”

Effie shook her head. “It isn’t me. It’s Ruby. Ruby Cambridge. She’s…” Dying. “She’s taken ill. Mlle. Bellerose she needs a doctor right away.”

The maid bit her lip. “It will take time to reach him, miss.”

“Then don’t waste any,” Effie pleaded.

The maid hurried away, but whether she was truly off to find a doctor or was simply off to tell someone that Miss Sanders was going mad was beyond Effie’s ability to tell. She went back to Ruby’s room, one hand pressed to the stitch in her side, trying to keep from crying.

When she arrived, she found Ruby sitting up, her head pressed against Mlle. Bellerose’s neck, eyes tightly closed. Tears were just barely visible on her cheeks, and Effie thought she saw some in Mlle. Bellerose’s eyes as well as she rocked back and forth, murmuring something in Ruby’s ear. It was such a soft, tender scene that Effie found herself quite frozen again, not wanting to step in and intrude on their intimacy. Her face burned with the embarrassment of her fear now that she saw Ruby was alive and well, and she had to fight back her impulse to turn and slink away.

But Ruby truly had looked dead, and surely she would have been just as frightened for Effie if she had seen her in such a state. It was only what a friend would do.

Effie wiped at her own eyes, and her hand came away wet. “Ruby?” she whispered.

Ruby looked up, opening her eyes, and her mouth twisted into something that was almost a smile. It faded away quickly, and she buried her face even closer against Mlle. Bellerose.

As though moving through a dream, Effie made her way to the bed and sat on Ruby’s other side. She could see her friend’s back moving with her breath and with suppressed sobs, and when she set a hand between her shoulder blades, she felt heat and a heartbeat beneath her palm. She felt fragile, but she also felt alive, and that was all Effie knew how to ask for anymore.

Everything after that seemed to happen all at once. With a cry, she flung her arms around Ruby, not caring that her hands bumped against Mlle. Bellerose. All she wanted was the constant reassurance that her friend was all right, or if not all right at least alive. Maybe Ruby would never be truly all right again, but Effie tried to tell herself that didn’t matter. All that did matter was knowing she hadn’t died.

“Ruby,” she mumbled, her voice muffled against her friend’s back. “Ruby, oh, Rue --”

Ruby tensed. “Don’t,” she said, her voice cracking slightly on the word. “Don’t say it. Not that, not again.”

Effie lifted her head, confused, but when she looked up at Mlle. Bellerose, she only shook her head and mouthed something that looked like “later”.

As long as there would be a later to ask about. As long as it didn’t all fall to pieces here and now. Effie could live with waiting.