“Lawrence Bain Winslow, of Winslow hall, was not an over proud person. He didn’t give a fig about position, title, or status. He fell madly in love with Katherine and brought her here to Winslow Hall. He married her and made her mistress of the Hall, and since he was a much respected person in society, no one questioned the choice he had made for a wife. After all, even though she was poor, the Langdon name still had some significance in social circles.
“Alex married also, and both couples were always close friends. Right after Katherine became...in a mothering way... with her first little girl, tragedy fell. Lawrence was killed in a hunting accident and Katherine almost lost little Kathy over the shock. She was bed ridden until the child was born.
“It was about this same time that Alex also lost his wife. She died giving birth to Lorna, her second child. She had a son she called Alden, who of course, you have already met. The doctor told her she was too weak a person to have another, but Lady Emerson was determined to have more children. She said she didn’t believe the doctor, and felt perfectly fit to have a second child. Well, she had that second child and a lot of good it did her! She died from the complications it caused, and now I hear, Lorna ran off with some sailor, and the shock of it killed her father, or so they tell me. There is only Alden left now.” Maggie’s eyes looked off for a moment. “Alex dotted on that girl! She looked just like her mother, you know,” she informed Katie. Then she cleared her throat.
“Now where was I?” she continued, “Oh yes, Alex lost his wife, and the two tragedies, being so close together, brought Alex and Katherine even closer as they tried to console each other. Everyone was sure then that Alex and Katherine would wed eventually, when they got over their loss. Alex began to help Katherine run Winslow Hall, and they had their children betrothed to one another so the two Manors would merge and be run as one, when they grew old and their children became married. Perhaps Katherine and Alex would have married then, but Charles Yarnell returned.
“Charles had been traveling abroad, and when he returned, he discovered that Katherine was now the owner of Winslow Hall and all the assets of the estate. So, he began to court her again. I sometimes wonder if Katherine had ever gotten over Charles Yarnell because it wasn’t long after he returned that the two decided to marry. I don’t think she realized that the reason he never married her in the first place was because of her lack of an inheritance, so it never occurred to her that since she now had that inheritance it may have been the only reason he wanted her as his wife. Then things began to change around here!
“There had been a broach made for little Kathy, when she was born. It was the replica of the Winslow crest. Since she was to be the only heir to Winslow Hall, Katherine thought it only fitting that her daughter had something to show her important position. So, she had a broach made for the child, and it was quite a thing to behold, mind you! Diamonds, and rubies and such, were used to cover the piece. Of course, little Kathy only wore it once, when a family portrait was painted. The broach was to be put away until Kathy came of age.
“Alain was Katherine’s second child, but she was not a Winslow. She was a Yarnell. By the time Alain was born, Katherine began to realize that Charles had only married her for her money. He was never home. Instead, he was always out hunting, gambling, or drinking. He became jealous of little Kathy, and insisted that the estate be split between the two girls. No doubt, so it would be easier for him to get his hands on Alain’s portion! The problem was that Alain was not a Winslow, and Winslow Hall was to stay in the family, it had been left to little Kathy by her father. It was made clear in the marriage agreement between Katherine and Charles, that Winslow blood inherited Winslow Hall and all its assets. Katherine’s new husband would merely receive an allowance from the estate after marrying the widow. You see, because there was already an heir, when Charles married Katherine, he could make no claim on the Winslow’s wealth. Charles was not counting on that, I can wager! Although Charles had a large enough allowance from the estate, to support his drinking and gambling, and expensive tastes, which should have satisfied him enough, it didn’t.
“Katherine told Charles that any fortune he made or inherited from the Yarnells, would go to Alain. Little Katherine was to have everything that belonged to her father, and his ancestors before him.
“Oh yes, I heard them argue often. He squandered his own allowance and then tried to force her into giving him more money, and finally she put Alex in charge of her finances so Charles couldn’t get his hands on anything without going to Alex first. Well, Charles became furious, as you might well imagine because Alex never really liked Charles very much, and he was tight fisted with Katherine’s bank account. Charles swore and said he was not going to let her get away with treating him so shabbily.
“Then odd accidents began happening to little Kathy. Accidents, humph! It seems to me that those many accidents couldn’t happen to a six-year-old child. Each time, little Kathy just barely escaped with her life. It was then that little Kathy disappeared, and it was thought that a last and tragic accident had occurred that no one knew about.”
“But how did you know that she was to return? Why were you so certain of it?” Katie interposed.
“Because I was there that night!” Maggie’s voice lowered, and she leaned closer to Katie. “I heard them!” she injected as if that explained everything.
“What do you mean Maggie?” Katie probed.
“I mean that I heard them, and I saw what happened. I was the only one who saw! Only they say Lady Winslow fell. That it was an accident! It was no more of an accident than poor little Kathy’s accidents. I saw it all though, and I know the truth.”
Katie still felt confused as to what Maggie was trying to tell her. “Lady Winslow fell? I don’t understand; what did you see?”
Maggie was staring into the fire as if she were seeing it all again. Katie watched as the pain filled her eyes, and the memories resurfaced. The flames leapt and fell casting shadows about the room and Katie, though anxious to hear the rest of the story, sensed it was not going to be pleasant.
“It was a stormy night,” Maggie’s voice took on an eerie quality, her eyes growing dark, “like last night, and Charles had been drinking, as usual. He came up to the house in a fitful rage and demanded to see his wife. She had locked the door to their adjoining rooms long before Kathy had disappeared, and they had hardly spoken two words to one another, until that night. He was a big man and he forced his way into her room. I was in the hall and saw it all.
“Charles demanded to know where little Kathy was. He said he knew his wife had hidden her away someplace. Katherine shrieked back at him, Of course, I hid her! Do you think I would allow you to do away with her in your greed?
“Charles was furious! You think she is safe, don’t you? he yelled back. Then he informed her that her brother James had told him everything. He shook his fist and vowed he would find the child and be done with her for good! You understand, it was not a crime to sell or just do away with unwanted children. Even now if you are discreet, there are ways of riding yourself of bothersome children!
“He insisted that James would tell him where she had hidden the girl. He started to leave, but Katherine tried to stop him. He flung her aside and she fell down the stairs, and broke her neck. Charles didn’t even stop to see how badly she was hurt. He was probably too drunk to even notice! Poor lovely Katherine was limp and dead on the stairs, and he just stepped over her, as though she was a pile of garbage in his way, and raged out of the house. He mounted his horse and rode away.
“Well, Charles got his own payment that night. His horse threw him, when he rode off to find James, and he hit his head and died the same night he killed his wife.
“I tried to tell the inspector what had happened, but I was so upset, I didn’t make much sense, I guess. Anyway, they wouldn’t listen. James had disappeared and there was no one else who knew what had transpired that night. Since Charles was dead himself, there was not much to be done about
it anyway.
“Charles Yarnell’s brother, Justin, became Alain’s guardian, but Alex still ran the Estate for Alain, as Lady Winslow stated he should in her will.
“She willed almost everything to her first daughter, all except for the summer house and a fair sized trust fund for Alain, when she became twenty-one. She stipulated in her will though, that if something happened that Katherine Gail did not claim her inheritance before Alain’s twenty-first birthday, it would be forfeited to Alain. So, that proves that Katherine had hidden her daughter away, if she expected her to return and claim her inheritance.
“However, only James knew where she was. James was always a greedy person, and therefore, I am quite certain he will see that his niece claims her spoils, and I fear he will probably make a point of sharing it with her.”
“Then the note Lady Alain received really must be from Katherine,” Katie exclaimed.
“Oh yes, you can be sure of it! She’ll come back. I’ll wager you anything that her scoundrel uncle, will be with her as well.”
Katie mulled over what she had just heard, and as she did so, it occurred to her that if Maggie knew so much about the two families, perhaps she also knew her mother, Nancy Dow.
“Maggie,” she tried to keep her voice calm. “Did you know a Nancy Dow, who worked at Emerson Manor?”
“Oh, why yes! She was an upstairs maid at Emerson Manor. She used to dress Katherine's hair and act as her personal maid and companion. They were both raised at Emerson Manor together, you know.
“Yes, if I remember right, Nancy came to the Manor as a young girl with her mother, Nellie. Katherine was very fond of Nancy. She even tried to get Nancy to come to Winslow Hall as her personal maid, but Nancy was sweet on some young man at the Manor, and didn’t want to leave Emerson Manor. She could have gotten in trouble if anyone knew she was seeing a man, so it just made it easier to stay close to where the person of her interests resided.
“Rumor had it that it was Katherine's own brother James, Nancy was sweet on. He would be one to take advantage of a situation like that. Nancy told Katherine that she was planning to marry the man. I suppose she would believe anything that ne’er-do-well, James, promised!
“Nancy suddenly left, long before James vanished, so perhaps it wasn’t James she was in love with, after all. She must have run off with some other lover, because I believe James married someone else. Some society girl, I heard, but he must not have spent much time with his wife, seeing as how he ended up coming back and staying at Emerson Manor for a short time, not long before Nancy ran off. Then he mysteriously disappeared the night Katherine was killed.”
Katie’s mouth fell open. The pieces were all starting to fit together even tighter. She took the locket from her neck and opened it. “Is this James?” Her hands shook, as she held the opened locket out for Maggie to view.
“Why, where did you get that?” Maggie held the locket close to her watery blue eyes for a closer look. “That is James!”
“This was Nancy Dow’s locket. She was my mother. She told me it was a portrait of my uncle, but now I have reason to believe he was actually my father. She must have discovered she was with child and left the Manor in shame when James wouldn’t marry her. But he did come to see her...” Katie cringed painfully, recalling how her mother had begged James to stay yet he had refused.
He had refused to give Nancy his name even though he had given her a child to support. Katie thought how her mother must have stayed nearby in Windy Gates, probably hoping he would come to her. He must have just been curious to see his daughter because, after all, he had not stayed.
Was this man, whom she had supposed to be her uncle all this time, in truth, her father? Had he refused to marry her mother when he discovered she was to bare his child? Yet, he had married another. She wondered if he had been married before or after Nancy had discovered she was carrying Katie. The questions kept mounting in Katie’s head.
Katie had to laugh bitterly at herself when she thought of her plans to try and find the very man who would be the last person ever wanting anything to do with her!
“She...she told me my father was dead. She told me...” No, he couldn’t have been a fine, loving man! How could her mother have loved such a man? Then her mother’s voice came back to her.
“I have not been honest with you Katie. The clues are all around you!” Yes, the clues had always been there, hanging around her neck, for one, and she had thought her mother was talking about the ridiculous secret box game! Could it be that her mother secretly hoped that James would someday accept his illegitimate child, and that was the door that Nancy had spoken about in the strange game, that was supposed to hold some unknown wonderful prospects for her?
“Why of course!” Maggie exclaimed, interrupting Katie’s troubled thoughts. She leaned closer to Katie and studied her features again. “You do have the look of a Langdon. That must be why I thought you were Katherine!”
The hatred for this man who had been her father...this man who had left them so heartlessly and married another... this man whom she had thought of as her uncle for so long, and yet she had never known, welled up inside of her. Maggie had been right to call him a scoundrel. She hoped with all her heart that he didn’t return with his niece. In her anger, she threw the locket into the corner of the room.
Maggie looked a little distressed at Katie’s action. “You’ll be wanting that locket,” she said kindly. “After all, it did belong to your mother didn’t it?”
Katie nodded numbly.
“Well then," Maggie got up and shuffled over to the corner, where Katie had flung the piece of jewelry. She picked it up and placed it into Katie’s hand, closing her thin frail fingers over it. “You keep it, child, if not for the picture, at least for the locket, and the memory of your mother.”
“You’re right,” she swallowed hard to fight back the ache in her throat. “Perhaps I was a little hasty.”
Katie stared down at the locket in her hand. Uncle James was actually her father, which meant that Katherine Gail Winslow was in truth her cousin, and Alain also, she was Katie’s cousin as well. Katie was becoming surrounded by family, and hadn’t even known it!
Solemnly Katie vowed to herself that she would reveal this to no one. What good would it do? It was not necessary to let either of her cousins, or even Lord Emerson discover the truth of her true relationship to the family. Thinking of Alain and Lord Emerson, she suddenly jumped to her feet.
“Oh dear, I’ve been here so long! They will be wondering where I am. Maggie, could you tell me how to get back to the main part of the house?”
“Oh? Do you have to leave so soon? We were having such a nice chat. Nancy Dow’s daughter! Well, imagine that! And Katherine's cousin! My, what a day this has been!”
“Maggie, don’t tell anyone James was my father. You see I only have these clues to go by. One thing I do know, he never married my mother because my last name is Dow, not Langdon. So I’d rather no one knew about it.”
“Then he was every bit as sly as I thought he was!” Maggie grumbled. “It’s no wonder his wife apparently didn’t want him around! I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one who sent him packing back to Emerson Manor, and that was the reason he was there when little Kathy disappeared. Don’t worry dear, no one ever listens to anything Old Maggie says anyway. Your secret is safe with me.” She then placed her aged, yet comforting arms around Katie once again and gave Katie a friendly squeeze.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Katie listened closely to the instructions Maggie gave her, as to which hall to turn down and what door to go through. After descending the stairs, she started on her way back to the main hall, her mind still reeling with all the information that had been thrown into her lap, which changed her whole existence. As Katie came to the painting of Katherine and her daughters, she approached the work of art with a new exciting attitude.
It was a bittersweet victory in finding her true beginnings, for there was nothing she could do wi
th her newfound information. She looked soberly into the painted eyes of those individuals who were actually her family, but as far removed from her as they had always been. Her own eyes questioned those in the painting before her.
“Katie!” The sound of her name being called jolted her spinning brain out of its dizzy realization that she had uncovered the truth of her ancestry.
Katie spun around to be greeted by the masculine figure of Lord Emerson hurrying toward her. His brows were drawn in that oh so familiar look of disapproval, which Katie was beginning to get used to.
“Katie! Where have you been? We have been searching for you this past hour! I thought for sure you had decided to go on back to Windy Gates after all, only my driver claims no one left the estate,” he practically barked at her.
“I’m sorry, Lord Emerson.” She decided that being demure was her best response, to calm his concern. “I got lost and just now found my way back.” She felt perhaps, it was better if she didn’t mention meeting Maggie.
“Why in heaven’s name were you wandering around in the first place?” His demanding voice made her hackles rise, as he eyed her with those piercing blue eyes of his.
“What was I supposed to do?” Her piqued mood caused by him ignoring her so rudely in the first place, returned in full force, and she could not contain the demure attitude she had planned on using. “You and Lady Yarnell walked off and left me without any instructions. I followed you as far as the library, and felt utterly stupid standing outside the door looking like an eavesdropper. I began looking at the portraits on the wall and got a little carried away, I’m afraid.”
What was it about this man that brought out her most belligerent side? She somehow constantly felt compelled to stand up to him, but in spite of her rising anger, she smiled sweetly up at him.
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