by Vella, Wendy
“I’m glad you are happy, Daisy.”
“Harry has Daisy, Fleur, he cannot pick you up also,” Maddie said from beside him.
“I want to hold his hand then.”
Harry held out his hand to the little girl pressed to his thigh, and she wove her fingers into his.
Maddie was frowning when he looked at her.
“What?”
“’Tis nothing.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Clearly it’s something, as you just frowned.”
“I like to frown. It relaxes my facial muscles.”
Harry laughed.
“Oh, very well. It is petty of me, but sometimes I miss being the only one she turns to.” The words were a furious hiss. “And that sounded shallow. I’m sorry.”
“Not terrible at all and completely understandable. It will always be you she turns to when she’s sad, happy, or in need of something. We are only a temporary distraction.”
Her eyes met his, and suddenly they were alone, and everything and everyone else faded away. Her intriguing eyes were locked on his. Eyes that told him she felt whatever this was between them.
“Harry.”
She’d just said his name, nothing more, and he wanted her.
“I don’t know what to say to you,” she whispered.
“What do you want to say?”
“I don’t know.”
It wasn’t a conversation that made any sense, and yet he understood exactly what she was trying to say.
“You look lovely,” he whispered. “Beautiful, even,” he added, sounding like a fool. “Maddie, this—”
“I know.” She cut off his words.
“What do you know?”
“That France is your home, and your life is there, not here with us.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, because her words were the truth.
“You really do look lovely,” he said, because he had nothing else.
She looked down at her dress. “It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever owned, along with all the others that were ordered for me. I told Max it was too much, but he refuses to listen, as does Rory. They spoil me.”
She was nervous, her words spilling one on top of the other, and clearly uncomfortable with what they’d just discussed.
“I’m sure you deserve to be spoiled.”
“No more than anyone.”
“All right, now we will go inside, and remember my words,” Dev said.
“As if we could forget,” Somer muttered. “They are etched in my head.”
“I heard that!”
Harry nodded for Maddie to go ahead of him, pushing aside the conversation he’d just had with her. Strange how the prospect of returning to France did not please him like it normally did.
“Keep up, Harry.”
“No need to nudge me, Cam, I am moving.”
“Cam is silly,” Daisy whispered in his ear. “But I like him.”
“Me too, but don’t tell him I said that, all right?” She nodded.
“Oh, your Grace, Lord Sinclair… and all your families.” The man who greeted them as they reached the entrance looked a little pale to Harry’s eyes as he took in their large group. He had a faded black top hat with a gold band, and his jacket had small black patches sewn into the elbows.
“Mr. Rolland, how wonderful to see you still here,” James said.
“Thank you, your Grace. Is the entire family here?” His smile was forced.
“We are,” Somer said. “The younger members wish to partake of the delights we enjoyed, sir. I believe today there is to be a mermaid and a merman? It has been some time since we’ve seen them.”
Mr. Rolland muttered something that to Harry sounded like “God save us all,” then nodded, his eyes going to Beth, who was pulling Meredith’s hair.
“We have a donation for you.” Dev stepped forward and handed the man some notes. “It’s our hope that after today it is not to rebuild your circus.”
While their party laughed at the joke, Mr. Rolland appeared to choke on air.
“I—ah, I have the front row free, if you wish to take it, your Grace?”
“Indeed, we are grateful,” James said. “Behave,” he said to his son, Simon, who was poking his tongue out to someone.
Harry couldn’t help it; he laughed. He’d never been around families like these. It was also likely to be an experience he never had again, which left a heavy feeling inside his chest.
“Right, let’s take our places,” Wolf said.
Harry started explaining to Daisy what he was seeing. “There are large clouds above the circular stage we are standing on.” She listened; head tilted slightly.
Adults stood with a child or two before them. This, according to Cam, would ensure that when they felt the need to do something they shouldn’t, they could stop them.
“Good Lord, what on earth is Lord Raynor doing here?” Wolf said, looking at a man who was directly across from where they stood.
“I saw him outside,” Dev added. “He’s here because his wife wanted to come. The man dotes on her. Can you see her? She wasn’t with him when we talked.”
“I would like that.” Lilly sighed.
“To be doted on?”
She nodded at Dev.
“No, you wouldn’t, you’d be bored in days.”
“Perhaps we should just test that theory for two or three days a week to start with?”
“I haven’t seen him about much this season,” James said.
Harry ignored the conversation, as he had no knowledge of the peer they discussed and likely never would. He focused instead on the sweet woman standing at his side.
She was close enough to him now that their arms brushed. He was conflicted; there was no getting around that fact. She touched something that had never before been touched deep inside him.
But your life is in France.
Strange how that was the thought that stuck in his head. No longer did his father’s words, never trust a Sinclair, feature in his thinking.
Chapter 28
Maddie had never been anywhere like this before. She was surely too old to feel excitement, and yet it was there inside her. Moving a little closer to Harry, she tried to see around the edge of the stage before her.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just wanted to see better.”
“Shall we change places then?”
“No, this is fine, thank you.”
“Have you ever seen anything like this before, Maddie?”
“No. This is my first time.”
“For me also.”
“But surely you’ve been to the theater and plays?” she asked.
“Yes, but this is something entirely different. Would you like to go to the theatre?”
“Rory and Max have promised to take me when I am ready.”
“Why are you not ready?”
Maddie wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“Embrace the new experiences, Maddie. I promise you will not regret it.”
It was all very well for him; he’d likely had this life for some time now. He owned the ship she’d come across the channel in, and as such he was likely a very wealthy man. With wealth came the privilege of doing as you wished. Living in a nice home with lots of food, and yes, going to the theatre.
“I am unused to this life. My brothers understand that.”
“The only way to get used to it is by participating in it,” he said in a reasonable voice that for some reason irritated her. Outside, they’d shared a moment. It had been raw and real. The look they’d shared had told her he felt something, just as she did. But when she’d said his life was in France, he had not disagreed. But then, what had she expected?
“I am participating in it. I have new clothes and go to places with my family. I live with servants and have a full belly—”
“I’m sorry you did not have a full belly before, Maddie.”
“That is not the point.”
“What is the poi
nt then?”
“I will do these things in my own time,” she snapped.
“Excellent. And your clothes are lovely, as are you, but my point is that you won’t adjust to these new things until you embrace them.”
Maddie clamped her lips shut.
“Oh, come now, is debating a subject something you are also unused to? Did your late husband not argue with you?”
“We were not like that.”
“That being?”
“Stop asking me questions, Harry, when I’m sure you have no wish to answer any that I would pose to you.”
That shut him up.
He held Daisy as if she was made of the finest glass. The little girl had her arms around his neck and was listening to the noise and voices around them.
In the three days she’d been with them, Maddie had come to love Daisy, as had Fleur and the others of their families. They had discussed what was best for her, and a kernel of an idea had taken root inside Maddie’s head that she needed to think more about before she gave voice to it.
She’d also told Max she was ready to move into her new home. As such, they had been getting it furnished and ready for their occupation. Maddie felt ridiculously excited about the prospect of having a home again.
Mr. Rolland appeared suddenly above them on a raised platform. Arms raised, he began to tell them in a loud booming voice what they were about to see.
“Please brace yourselves, as the platform you are currently standing upon is about to start moving!”
“’Tis starting, Mama!”
“How exciting,” she said to Fleur as beneath them the floor shuddered.
“Prepare to be dazzled by Mr. Rolland’s performers!”
Slowly the lights went out around them and then a man and woman rose up through swirling mists.
“Behold the mermaid and merman from the far reaches of Atlantis!”
“I’m not sure mermaids or mermen come from Atlantis,” Isabella said.
“Because they were half god, half man, do you mean?” Cam asked.
“Perhaps their society had grown to include mermaids and mermen,” Hannah said.
“They could have swum from the Greek Islands, which is where Atlantis is,” Mathew added.
“I think it more likely these two are from somewhere closer, like Clapham,” Harry whispered.
Maddie giggled.
“That’s a nice sound.” He sent her a smile.
“What I don’t understand,” Hannah said, “is how they use the chamber pot?”
“Thank you, daughter, that will do. Just watch the show,” Dev said. Around them, the adults muffled their laughter.
“Have you seen mermaids, Harry?” Isabella asked him.
“Of course. Seamen often see them. We just have to be careful, as their beauty can lure us down into the water. Many men have vanished, never to be seen again.”
Round-eyed, the children looked back at the mermaid splashing about in water.
“Can Daisy come down here? I will tell her what is happening,” Luke said.
Maddie watched as Harry spoke to the girl and then lowered her to her feet. She was soon surrounded by children. Fleur held her hand while Luke started talking to her.
“How has she been?” Harry whispered the words in Maddie’s ear.
“She is doing so well. Bran is helping. He is constantly by her side and leads her everywhere.”
“There is a school for blind children, Maddie. I will make enquiries for Daisy.”
“I’m not sure that is best for her.”
“I want her somewhere that she will be looked after but also taught to cope. This school has an excellent reputation, and she will be protected against those that would prey on her vulnerabilities.”
“I understand that, Harry, and want that too.”
“If only you could see what I see.” He leaned closer, the words brushing her check.
“What do you see?”
“I have no wish to spoil your fun.” He looked at her, and Maddie wondered if this feeling was far more than liking someone. She’d never felt as if her stomach was actually turning in circles before, and her heart about to leap from her chest.
“Ah, Maddie, what am I to do with you.” Harry touched her hand, his fingers encasing hers.
“What do you want to do?”
“I wish I knew.” He kissed her softly. “But we will never know, as nothing can come of this.”
Maddie turned away and for the remainder of the show focused on the antics of the performers. She’d wanted to ask him why nothing could come of this but had held her tongue.
The problem was that with this slow blossoming of happiness inside her, she was beginning to believe she could now have more. She wanted what her family had, love and children, and one day perhaps that would be—just not with the man at her side, even if Sinclairs married Ravens.
She felt his eyes on her face, but Maddie never looked his way as the show continued. The children laughed and gasped, and she let thoughts come and go, but perhaps the one that really took hold inside her head was that maybe she really was worthy of being loved.
When you lived your life with so much anger and hate, you tended not to see the light, and yet now she was starting to. She would never just settle for friendship from any man again.
Her family had taught her that. Taught her that she was more than she’d ever thought herself to be. Not worthless, but worthy.
When the show finished and the mermaid and merman were once again gone, the children clapped loudly.
“Right, children, take the hand of an adult, and no pushing. We will leave in an orderly manner, and perhaps there will be somewhere we can stop for a treat on the way home.” James’s voice carried to all of them.
“He wears authority well, like Dev,” Harry said.
“It’s still hard to believe I have a duke for a brother.”
“And you are worthy of him; never forget that.” He turned away before she could say anything, but his words left a warmth inside her chest.
I am worthy.
They formed a chain. Harry had Daisy’s hand, as did Fleur, and Maddie held her daughter’s other hand.
“My doll, Mama! I dropped it.”
“I told you not to bring it, Fleur. Where did you have it?”
“Up my dress, Mama. But it fell out.”
“I will retrieve it. Go with the others, and I’ll follow,” she said, leaving with Harry’s laughter following her.
Her daughter took Miss Pretty Face, as Fleur had called her new doll, everywhere, and it was constantly being misplaced.
Retrieving the doll took a matter of seconds, and soon she was heading back the way she’d just come. The hand that grabbed her came from behind, and then suddenly she was being lifted and carried. Her screams were muffled by another hand as whoever carried her dragged her behind a curtain.
Maddie fought, kicking and trying to escape, but the man who held her was bigger and so much stronger. Her back was pinned to his chest with one arm. She tried to sink her teeth into the soft flesh of his palm, but he pulled away, and then something was forced into her mouth. Her hands were wrenched behind her back and bound.
“This time you won’t escape. Your family will not help you now.”
She knew that voice. Dear Lord, she had not killed him. Shock gripped Maddie. She’d been so sure he was dead when she left her house. Suddenly she was back there in her small room in France with the feel of his body pressing hers down into the mattress. Fear gave her strength. She had fought him once; she would do so again. Lifting a leg she struck out at him, and connected with his shin. The grunt of pain was satisfying.
“Bitch!”
She fought as he lifted her, throwing her over his shoulder, and then he was running. His feet thudded on the hard wooden floor.
“Through there. Where’s my money?”
Maddie heard the clink of coins, and then there was darkness. Not like the inside of the theater, where she could sti
ll see. Something had been thrown over her.
She heard a door close, and then they were climbing into something. The roll of wheels told her it was a carriage.
Desperate now, Maddie kicked and fought, but it was no good; he held her down, tying a blindfold over her eyes.
Fight this panic, Maddie.
“There is no escaping now, my sweet Madeline. Now you will be mine, and we have a great deal of fun ahead of us. I have quite a bit of retribution to extract from you for the lump you gave me from that stone, my dear. I shall enjoy the experience hugely.”
She lay on the floor with his feet on top of her. Fear and rage battled for supremacy inside Maddie. The latter won. She would not let this man take what she had only just found. Happiness was now her right, so she would fight with everything she had, and when the right moment presented itself, she would find her way back to her family, no matter what it took.
Chapter 29
Harry watched the door they’d just exited for Maddie to appear. He was tense and had no idea why. The children were chattering, and adults trying to herd them to the carriages. He continued to wait for her. Something wasn’t right.
“I’ll go and see what’s delaying Maddie.”
“It’s only been a few minutes,” Cam said.
“Something feels off.”
“It’s likely your belly from all the sweets you consumed.”
“Hardly. You ate far more than I.” Harry checked on Daisy, who was seated with Luke, Fleur, and Rory and looked happy, then headed back inside Mr. Rolland’s place of business.
“I’ll be back soon.”
It was empty save for the staff milling about cleaning and tidying away things.
“I am looking for a lady.” Harry gave a brief description of Maddie. “Have you seen her?” He approached a young boy.
“Sorry, everyone has left, sir.”
“I was watching the door she should have walked through, and she didn’t, so clearly she is still in here somewhere.” Harry’s tension was climbing. “Where is the other exit?”
The boy pointed to his right. Harry hurried that way. Switching his vision, he searched for Maddie. She was not in the building.
“Something has happened to Maddie!” he yelled, knowing it was likely Eden or Warwick would hear. Harry walked into the rooms at the rear of the building and found the mermaid, merman, and one other man.
