Madeline Usher's Tale

Chapter Five

Henry visibly flushed. I couldn’t tell if he was angered or surprised by my outburst. “Madeline, I’ve not seen you since you were eight years old. You’ve grown up in the image of your mother.”

“Do not seek to flatter me, Uncle,” I snapped. “Usher Manor now belongs to Roderick.” I turned my focus on my silent brother. “Tell him!”

It was Roderick’s turn to look at me in shock with my display of emotion. I had the urge to slap him across the face. I wanted him to stand up to our uncle and hold firm on what was his. “Madeline, you shouldn’t be in here.”

“This is my house too, Roderick, and if Uncle Henry professes to steal it from us, he has a fight on his hands.”

“I have come to take what is rightfully mine,” Henry said.

“Usher Manor falls to me,” Roderick said forcefully. “Not you. Don’t think you can barge into my household and demand I hand over the deeds to this house to you. And I have prepared for something like this to happen.” From inside his jacket, Roderick produced a piece of thick paper. “My father’s final will and testament.” He handed the paper to our uncle. “Signed in his hand.”

Henry peered closely at the paper, as if looking for a tell-tale sign that the signature was a fake.

“Does that satisfy your need for proof?” Roderick asked in a mocking tone.

Henry looked up at both of us, loathing etched into his features. “You two have no idea the secrets this house holds, do you?”

I swallowed. The family curse instantly struck my mind. Roderick made a sudden move, as if to strike our uncle. I quickly hit the palm of my hand against his chest. “Stop.” I said, keeping my eyes on Henry. “What secrets?” I ventured to ask.

Henry curled his lips. “You two can’t even begin to imagine what this family has done to itself over the years. I can hazard a guess as to how your mother and my brother died.”

Roderick tried to move again, but I kept my hand firmly across his chest. “Stop speaking in riddles, Uncle. What are you suggesting?”

He laughed. “I’m sure you’ll find out in time.” He looked around the parlor. “In the meantime, enjoy this house while you have it. If you had given it to me, I would have demolished it instantly. Sooner or later, you’ll be begging I take it from you.”

“Get out of my house,” Roderick said through gritted teeth.

Henry sneered. “Gladly.” He departed from the parlor with an almost over dramatic flip of his coat.

But I was not finished with him. I gathered the courage to chase after him a few seconds after he left.

Henry was at the front entrance, taking his hat haughtily from Richard.

“Uncle,” I called out. “Leave us,” I say next to Richard who goes obediently without a word.

“What do you want, Madeline?”

“I am sorry to have yelled at you in such a manner,” I said.

“I don’t want your apologies.”

I gritted my teeth, trying to control myself from making a demeaning remark. What I had come to say to him had nothing to do with Usher Manor. “May I show you something?”

Henry furrowed his eyebrows. “If you must.”

From a pocket from my dress I produced a few of the letters my mother had kept in her jewelry box. My questions were answered before I had even asked a single question. But I asked anyway, “Do you recognize these letters?” I swallowed. “They belonged to my mother.”