The Enigmatic Lady in the Ivory Tower

by Hazel Linwood

  “A brave woman, but if the Dowager Marchioness has been accused of murder, then the story does not end there, I assume.”

  “Unfortunately for everyone involved it does not. The Marchioness, certain of her husband’s guilt, never allowed the maid’s presence or her name to be uttered within the walls of Westwallow Manor ever again. Sorrowfully for the Marquess and all those who loved her, Caroline died shortly after giving birth, from complications. No one knows for certain among the staff what happened to the baby, or even whether it was a boy or a girl, but the Marquess’ letters state that it was indeed a son.”

  “And why does Sarah believe that this son was murdered by the Marchioness?”

  “Her mother told her so.”

  “And why was Sarah’s mother so certain of it?”

  “She was Caroline’s midwife.”

  Gabriel stared up at Diana in surprise. “You are certain of this?”

  “I am certain that Sarah’s mother was indeed the midwife, and that the Marchioness did attempt to murder the boy, but as to whether he is now dead or alive, I am not certain. The letters seem to point to his having survived the Marchioness’ attempts on his life.”

  “Tell me more about the letters.”

  Diana told him about the painting that she had found in the late Marquess’ room with the nobleman holding his infant son. She told him about how she had found the papers concealed in the frame. “Among the papers were a small handful of letters and an official-looking document with the former Marquess’ own seal in a bright deep red wax.”

  “Do you have this document?”

  “I do.” Diana withdrew the document from her skirts and hand it to him.

  “It is unopened.”

  “It should be opened in front of the proper witnesses. I will not be responsible for creating more difficulties than already exist for the boy.”

  “You are wise beyond your years,” Gabriel smiled at her with pride and handed her back the document. “It is, indeed, the late Marquess’ seal.”

  Diana nodded, then continued her explanation. “The first letter was a love letter that confirmed that the late Marquess did indeed have an affair with a maid named Caroline and that the two of them had been very much in love with one another. The same letter also confirms that Caroline had fallen with child and that the late Marquess was truly the father of her baby.”

  “One cannot argue with the man’s own words. If he says it is so, then it must be so.”

  Diana knew that what she was revealing had to alter the memory of the man that he had held with such high regard and she was sorry for it but continued on. It was too far to turn back now. “The second letter was written as more of a tearful farewell. I assume that it was composed after the maid Caroline’s death as a way for the late Marquess to cope with his grief over losing his love. In this letter, the Marquess makes a promise to Caroline to do everything in his power to protect their newborn son.”

  “As he should,” Gabriel nodded.

  “He wrote that his wife had known about the affair with the maid and that the Marchioness had attempted to murder the babe in cold blood soon after its birth, but that he had managed to stop her from harming the little one just in time.”

  “I would not believe it were it not for the Marquess saying it,” Gabriel murmured, a pained expression in his eyes.

  “I know. I felt much the same.”

  “What did she do when her plans were thwarted?”

  “The Dowager Marchioness demanded that the babe be sent away from Westwallow and had even gone so far as to demand that the poor lad be sent out of England away to France.”

  “The Marquess would surely never agree to such a thing.”

  “No, he did not. The late Marquess was unable to do as his wife demanded as there would be no way to properly protect the lad once he was out of the Marquess’ care. He was equally unable to keep the babe at Westwallow Manor with the Dowager Marchioness bent on murder.”

  “I should say not.”

  “Instead, the Marquess left for the family’s country estate in Wales.”

  “He brought the babe here?”

  “He did,” Diana nodded. “The letter says that he took only a small number of trusted servants with him from Westwallow, who were already aware of the situation, to aid in caring for the child, leaving the Dowager Marchioness behind in England. It is unclear how long that he intended to stay, from this letter, but it is the third letter that I find the most intriguing and the perhaps even the most worrisome.”

  “How so?”

  “The third letter was written by the late Marquess as a farewell to his newborn son with instructions on a separate piece of paper that it was to be delivered only upon the event of the Marquess’ death.”

  “Which, clearly, it was not if you found it hidden in a framed portrait.”

  “Precisely.”

  “What all did this third letter say?”

  “I would much rather read it to you word for word if I can get enough light to do so. I fear that I will miss something important if I do not. Perhaps you will recognize the story and be able to shed further light on the matter.”

  “I can try,” Gabriel agreed. “Perhaps you will be able to read it over by the window if you open the shutters a bit more.”

  “I can certainly try, but I do not want anyone to hear what we are talking about.”

  “It is doubtful as long as you speak softly.”

  Diana arose and walked to the small window on the far side if the little room and opened it as wide as it would go, then she began to read the letter aloud.

  “To my dearest son,

  If you are reading this, then I am no longer among the living. By now, your elder brother Ernest, whom as my heir I am entrusting with this secret, will have told you about the circumstances surrounding your birth and your mother’s death. He will also have told you that due to your life being in danger, I took you away to Wales to keep you safe. It was never my intention to abandon you, but circumstances beyond my control have forced my hand and I must return to Westwallow Manor without you. I am leaving you in the capable hands of my most trusted servants who will raise you as one of their own until the day comes when you will be old enough to act upon the gift that I am leaving you with now.

  With this letter, you should be given a document with my official seal. Within this document lies the truth of who you are wherein I claim you as my rightful son. There will be many people, my legal wife included, who will shun you as illegitimate but know that in my heart you could never be such a thing. My body may have been wed to another, but my soul has always been wed to your mother. From the moment of your creation, I have claimed you as my own and this document will legally make it so entitling you to the noble title of lord and everything else that comes with your noble blood benefits and responsibilities alike.

  Though you are naught but a babe at the time of my writing this, I know that you will grow to be an honorable and strong man of worth. I can only hope that you will never need to read this letter and that I am there to see it come to pass so that I might tell you of all of these things myself. If I am not and you are indeed reading this, please know that I have loved you always and that everything I have done has been to protect you until the day would come that you would be old enough to protect yourself. May God bless you, my son, keeping you always in His benevolent care. Until we meet again at Heaven’s gates, my darling boy, please take care.

  In Eternal Love,

  Your Father

  Charles Augustus Jenson, Marquess of Westwallow”

  A silent hush fell across the room and Diana turned to find Gabriel’s eyes shining with tears, the words eternal love hanging between them as an unspoken promise.

  If only…

  Chapter 36

  Diana and Gabriel’s eyes met as she crossed back to his side.

  “The Dowager Marchioness did not kill the babe,” Gabriel answered with certainty in his eyes.

  “We d
o not know that for certain. The letters were clearly never delivered,” Diana pointed out, just as she had with Frances when she had come to the same conclusion. “It does not give the baby’s name so that we might verify the truth of the matter one way or another. The babe could be anyone among the servants, he could have long left the estate, or he could be dead. There is no way of knowing.”

  “It says that the current Marquess knows about his brother’s existence. Surely he would have done something about it by now.”

  “It does, but as I told Frances, he would have been quite a bit older than the babe, but he still would have been a child himself. It is doubtful that the late Marquess would have burdened a young child with such a secret and expected him to keep it. I think that it is more likely that he did not tell his elder son about it until closer to his death, that perhaps the letter was written with the intent of telling him at a later date. It is even possible that he died before he felt it was right to tell him.”

  “And yet, from your tone I sense doubt.”

  “It is just a feeling that I have. It is clear to me that Ernest is hiding something about this, but I am not certain what it is. It is also clear to me from the maid Sarah’s accusations of murder against the Dowager Marchioness that if the babe did survive to adulthood, that he was not informed of his birthright, otherwise it would be known to everyone, including yourself. Do you recall as you were growing up here on the Welsh estate seeing anyone among the male staff who resembled the late or current Marquess?”

  “No,” Gabriel shook his head. “I have not seen anyone that I can recall.”

  “Nor have I, nor has Frances,” Diana answered, not quite certain whether to tell him about Frances’ theory about David.

  “Do you think that the Dowager Marchioness discovered what the late Marquess was doing and had the babe killed in spite of his efforts to protect his son?”

  “We had the same question. It is quite possible. Such a secret would be a hard one to keep, but people would have noticed if a babe suddenly appeared among them, being lauded over by the Marquess. Frances argues that it is possible if there was a believable story attached to the baby’s appearance. Her own mother took in her sister’s children when she died, and Frances said that no one thought anything of it. She says that such things happen more frequently than one would think and that no one ever doubts the veracity of such tales.”

  “So, you began looking for someone who supposedly came to live among the servants from another family member?”

  Diana smiled at how well he already knew her and nodded.

  “We did, but it was not an easy thing to do without causing others to grow suspicious. I had Frances inquire discretely among the staff, but she came away with nothing.”

  “Have you attempted to speak with the Marquess about it? He is an honorable man.”

  Diana shrugged her shoulders.

  “The one opportunity that I had to speak with him about the portrait, he was not receptive to my inquiries. His reaction to my having found the painting led me to believe that he does, indeed, know more than he is willing to admit about all of this. It is clear to me that he is protecting someone, but it remains to be seen whether it is his mother or his brother that he is protecting. Until I know the answer to his intentions, I do not feel that I can trust him with what lies within these letters.”

  “Surely he knows what is in them already if he hid the portrait under the bed as you say.”

  Diana nodded. “It is possible, but it did not look like the letters had been accessed in a very long time.”

  “What are you going to do with them now?”

  “The Dowager Marchioness is a formidable foe to be forced to reckon with. Nothing short of proof of her wrongdoing would stop her from blackmailing me into marriage by holding the lives of you and your family hostage. These letters are a form of proof and from them we know that this document,” she raised up the red-wax-sealed document that she had found with the letters, “is the legal acceptance of the child as his son, but if we break the seal without the proper witnesses we could cause even more problems. So, I have sent for my parents and upon their arrival I will reveal all.”

  “If the late Marquess’ son survived to be cared for by the trusted servants mentioned in these letters, which honestly could have been anyone, they would have no doubt changed his name to something unrecognizable to the Dowager Marchioness. They would have done everything they could to keep him safe, including leaving the estate and never returning. How can you be certain the that document will hold the answers that you seek?”

  “I cannot be certain, but from what these letters suggest, the Marquess had every intention of the babe being raised where he could see to his needs without anyone ever knowing the boy’s true identity. All of the clues lead to someone here on the Welsh estate. If he is alive at all, then he is here. Frances even believes that she has found the babe grown into a man.”

  “Truly? Whom does she believe it be?”

  “David.”

  “The groom?”

  “The very same,” Diana nodded.

  “What makes her believe such a thing? I have known David nearly my entire life and I have never once noticed anything that would lead me to believe such a tale.”

  “It was partly you that led her to such a conclusion.”

  “Me?” He looked up at her in confusion.

  “You told her of David’s coming to Wales from Westwallow when he was but a boy, and David told her that his known mother was not his true mother. She was the midwife at his birth when his true mother died. She was unwed, a widow, and did not feel that she could properly care for a lad, so she sent him here to Wales to be trained by his uncle.”

  Gabriel nodded. “He was the former stablemaster here before he died. A good man and a dear friend to my own father.” He sat in silence for a time contemplating everything that she had told him. “You cannot let the Dowager Marchioness know that you are aware of any of this before your parents arrive. I will do all in my power to be strong enough to be present for the confrontation, but until then you will need to protect yourself by feigning ignorance.”

  “I know.”

  “And you cannot be caught here with me or your hand could be forced.”

  “I know that, too, but I loathe the idea of leaving you here this way.”

  “I will be well. It is you my heart aches for.”

  Diana leaned down and brushed her lips against his in a bittersweet kiss.

  “I love you,” she whispered against his skin.

  “As I love you,” he whispered back, deepening the kiss.

  When Diana finally pulled away, she arose to go.

  “I will send Frances to look in on you every day, but it will not be the same as coming myself.”

  “I will not be responsible for placing you in a difficult position. My heart has already done enough of that.”

  “Once I have seen this through, then I have a plan of how we can be together.”

  “Diana, you know that such a thing is impossible.”

  “Not if we run away together.”

  “You would do that to your family?”

  “For you, I would.”

  “Diana,” Gabriel shook his head. “You know how much I wish I could marry you and make a life with you, but it is impossible without bringing you to absolute ruin and I will not be responsible for your misery.”

  “You said yourself that you and your family could find other work elsewhere. If that is true and I would not be the ruin of your family, then…”

  Gabriel did not let her finish the sentence. “Then you would still bring ruin to yours. Diana, we cannot do it and you know that better than I for it is your world, your people, who have made it so.”

  “Then let your people be my people.” Diana’s heart felt as if it were shattering beyond any hope of repair at his refusal of her offer. She had not made it lightly, but with the realization that life was brief and true happiness was rare.

/>   “I will not be a noblewoman such as the Dowager Marchioness, who married for her family and not her own heart. Look where it led her.”

  “You could never be as she is. Such a thing is an impossibility.”

  “I am certain that she believed the same thing of herself at one point in her life before a loveless marriage robbed her of all hope.”

  “She was never you, my love. She could never have been you and done the things that she has done.” Diana turned her face into the palm of his hand at his words, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You will heal in time, my darling, and find someone far better suited than I, but you will live in my heart forever.”