by Jenni James
The dinner went perfectly, and now the ball commenced. She had danced with Lord Morgan twice and several other gentlemen, but craved a dance with Leo. As if he knew the nature of her thoughts, he turned, and his eyes met hers. Wordlessly, he left his companions and approached her.
“Miss Beauley, may I have the honor of this dance?”
“You may.” She smiled at him.
His hazel eyes seemed guarded. All of his emotions were expressed in his eyes. She slipped her hand into his, and he led her to the dance floor. They spoke little during the set. They had always had an unspoken communion, and tonight was no different.
And yet everything was different.
She had gentlemen paying her attention and had met so many people, her head swirled to attempt to remember all the names. She had more stimulating conversation and laughed more than she had in many a week, let alone in a solitary evening. She felt she was on the verge of something great and wonderful. She even had a suspicion of what it was. Before she was ready for that, she desired to view her family in the mirror. A reminder of where she came from and who she once was would not be amiss, and she needed to know all was well without her.
“Leo, I wondered if I might use the mirror,” she asked as the dance ended.
The question caught him off guard, and he tensed. “All that I have is yours.” He smiled, and Bella imagined she felt the faintest of pressure added to her hand.
“I wanted to see how my family was doing.” She gave a shy smile.
“Of course. It would ease your nerves.” She nodded, and he pulled the mirror from his pocket. “Do not tarry too long,” he said as he put it in her hand.
Quickly agreeing, Bella departed to another room for privacy.
“Mirror, show me my family.”
Bella watched in horror as she saw George ranting, drunk, at an assembled crowd. Next, she saw her home. Her father lay in bed, coughing. Soleil and Gwen talked in hushed tones, wondering about a doctor and how to pay for it.
Fear seized her heart. Her family needed her! How could she choose between her family and Leo and Rosie?
“Mirror, show me,” she commanded, and the image changed to Leo in his study with Lord Morgan.
“Where is Miss Beauley, Erroll?”
“She will be along momentarily.” Leo took a sip of port.
“I know I fought this at first, but I am quite enchanted. She will make a splendid duchess.”
Bella furrowed her brow. What did Morgan mean? He continued speaking. “You have selected a fine bride for me. Even Margaret adores her.”
Leo said nothing, but merely raised his glass in a mock toast.
Her hand flew to her mouth, and she thought she would be ill. Leo suggested that Lord Morgan marry her? More than that, it seemed to be an entirely arranged matter, as though she had no choice or opinion. How could she have been so stupid and blind?
“A monster,” she muttered as she fled the room, and tears streamed down her face. Leonard Sundridge, third duke of Erroll, was too arrogant, self-centered, and selfish. And if she stayed a moment longer, she might find herself betrothed to a man she knew little of but that she could never love him.
Tearing off her gown, she quietly changed into one of her old dresses and stuffed the remainder in a valise. Her elaborate hair, she could not change. She would be unable to say good-bye to Rosie. Using the mirror, she saw the child sleeping peacefully. At least she had been able to bring the angel some peace.
Creeping down the stairs, Bella returned to Leo’s study to leave the mirror. One last time, she watched him in the mirror.
Leo stood before the fire of the parlor. His eyes looked pained and haunted. “Bella,” he said.
The mirror fell from her hands, startling Bella. It felt as though his eyes had been piercing hers, as though he could see her. Forgetting about Leo’s note, she worried the ring with indecision. Should she keep it as a reminder of the happy times she had here? Deciding to leave it behind, Bella began to slip the ring off her finger when suddenly the world began to spin and bright lights assaulted her eyes. Covering them, she cowered until the movement was over. When she opened her eyes, she stood before her family home.
* * *
Leo looked around the ballroom and could not find Bella. Her crimson gown would stand out against the sea of white dresses. Her red tresses made her distinct amongst the brunettes and blondes assembled. More than that, his heart could recognize her without seeing her, and he knew without a doubt that she was not in the ballroom. Leo saw Morgan looking around for her as well. The time drew near when their betrothal was to be announced.
For his own sake, Leo desired to get it over with. Earlier, Morgan drew him aside to thank him, and Leo had the distinct desire to punch him in the face. However, that would only serve himself. Bella needed a husband, and Leo would never dare the presumption that she could love him. The things he could offer—a title, wealth, luxuries—meant nothing to her.
Leaving the ballroom, Leo looked in a nearby parlor. He paused at the fireplace and leaned his arm on the mantle as though to draw strength from the mighty flames. He rested his head against his arm and stared at the fire as it danced. It reminded him of dancing with Bella and how gracefully she moved. At least he would not have to live long without her. Anguish ripped through him at the thought. “Bella,” he rasped out.
Taking a deep breath, he continued his search. After several minutes, he found the mirror, discarded on the floor and the glass cracked. But there was no trace of Bella. An unholy terror surged in his breast. Had Celia somehow harmed her? Had she been taken?
Leo raced to the south drawing room Bella had made into a prison for Celia. “Show yourself!” he demanded as he walked to the center of the room, tiptoeing around the debris of his dead wife’s tantrum the week before. He had told the servants to leave the mess be.
He heard Celia’s unearthly laugh before she appeared. “I win,” she said as she circled around him.
“What have you done with her?”
“I have done nothing. It was all you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You showed her the selfish beast you really are. I suppose she did not like Lord Morgan.”
“Celia…” Leo said in an angry tone, although there was nothing he could do. Any threats he made would be empty, and she knew it.
“You and your silly mirror. Child’s play! You had a magical tool, but no idea how to work it! I heard her explain to Rosie how you thought it worked.”
“Did you possess it? You showed her something that made her leave?” Although Leo had been reluctant to explore the magical texts, he did use them to understand more about the items he had retrieved from Celia’s room. He had discovered that the ring was enchanted and that the mirror could be used for goodness or darkness—just as Bella had hypothesized.
“I showed her the truth! Her family lies in tatters because of you. You were going to treat her no differently than a piece of horse flesh—given to any bidder.”
“That’s not true,” Leo growled and suddenly heard murmurs behind him.
“What’s the problem here?” Morgan asked as he pushed through the crowd and into the room.
“Bella,” Leo said helplessly. The pain he now felt was worse than when the fiery beam that killed Celia fell on him. It was worse than the pain of neither parent loving him.
“What’s wrong with Miss Beauley?” Mrs. Hammond asked.
“She’s left,” Leo said as he turned and saw a group of curious onlookers and realized he stood in the middle of a room full of rubble, holding a broken mirror in one hand and had been shouting at no one.
“Erroll,” Morgan said in a warning tone.
“Lady Fitzwalter, might I show you the library next?” Mrs. Hammond directed the group onward.
“Such a pity,” one person muttered.
“A shame. From such good stock,” said another.
“Killed his wife, I always said,” was the harsh whisper of yet anot
her person.
“Unseemly. You simply can’t find good help these days. The way she acted mistress of the house and everything else . . .” an accusatory voice said in nothing like a whisper at all.
“Now, see here!” Leo said and strode after the offender, but Morgan pulled on his arm.
“Let it be. Idle gossip.” Morgan shook his head. “She really ran off?” Leo’s stony silence was confirmation enough. “Any idea where she would go?”
“To her home, I would guess.”
“Where?”
“Near Dumfries. Mrs. Potter has the name. You will go to her?”
“It is the honorable thing to do.”
Leo scrutinized Morgan’s face. “Do you love her?”
“Do you?” Morgan asked in a half-warning, half-accusatory tone.
Leo made no answer and stalked off. He was done with the ball and heirs. As he left, he heard Celia’s mocking laugh echo down the hall. She had won in one way, but not another. They were still imprisoned together, and the curse was never further from being broken than now, but Rosie did not need to suffer for it.
Creeping into the nursery, he pulled a chair next to her bed as she slept. “I’m sorry I wasn’t the father you needed, Rosie. I’m sorry I wasn’t the man she needed.”
He fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, holding the mirror in his hand.
“Papa.” Rosie’s quiet voice awoke him.
“Yes, poppet?” Leo asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
“Why are you here?”
“I . . . I needed to tell you something.” He got up and stretched. Sleeping in a chair was definitely one of the worse ideas he ever had. “Miss Beauley left last night to visit her family. They needed her more than we do.”
Immediately, Rosie’s face fell. Her lower lip trembled, and tears streaked her cheeks. “But she will come back to visit?”
“Maybe,” he said noncomittingly.
“Can we see her in the mirror?” Hope filled Rosie’s eyes.
Leo held it up. “It broke, but I will see if I can mend it. In the meantime, let us have a bit of fun today.”
Rosie gave him a slight smile. He was uncertain what constituted as fun for a five-year-old, having no memories of enjoying childhood himself, but when one’s governess quit without replacement, surely a day in pursuit of recreation was called for.
There was now one month until Rosie’s birthday, and Leo hoped they could spend the time in peace and the mutual missing of Arabella Beauley from their lives. Besides time spent with Rosie, fixing the mirror would be his chief concern. He needed to see Bella one last time.
Chapter Nine
Bella sagged into her bed at the end of a long day. She had been home for a week and was immediately cast into her old position of servant and housekeeper for her family. Her sisters barely seemed shocked that she arrived without notice, or without them writing to her, and instead seemed annoyed at her being away at all. That she came with no gifts for them, they found equally insulting.
Her father did not seem as ill in truth as she had seen in the mirror. Or perhaps she was merely finished with treating him as an infant for every minor ailment. Yesterday, he admitted that she had been requested as governess because he had tried to take Rosie from the house.
Bella could understand how it must have seemed to her father, but she could not excuse his deceit in leading her to believe the arrangement was because of George’s debt. When she defended Leo and his relationship with Rosie, her father insisted she was wrong and sent her to the kitchen. As far as Bella could tell, the only person who seemed to appreciate her presence was Cook.
She rubbed her aching feet and then stretched her back. The truth was, she had eagerly launched herself into Leo’s troubles. It seemed she felt some innate need to rescue people. The difference was that she felt appreciated at the castle, and Leo never took her assistance for granted.
“Enough about him. You knew him only a few days, and in the end …” Bella trailed off. For, in the end, he proved exactly what she had seen in the beginning. Perhaps not exactly, but neither was he what she had believed him to be.
“George was right,” she mumbled before she fell asleep. She needed to find some way to live life on her terms.
The next morning, Bella awoke at her usual time and immediately began her chores. By mid-morning, she had accomplished most of her intended tasks. The difference between planning a fine meal and ball for a duke and scrubbing in her father’s house was stark, however. Unexpectedly, she heard a vaguely familiar male voice calling out in the hall.
“I will see to it,” Bella told Cook.
Arriving upstairs, she stopped in her tracks. “Lord Morgan?” She could not keep the disbelief from her voice.
“Miss Beauley.” He executed a perfect bow, even as his eyes scanned her stained apron. “Forgive me. No one answered my knock.”
Bella hastily wiped her hands on the offending garment and then attempted to untie it. “Allow me,” he said and came behind her to undo the string. His presence unnerved, but did not thrill her. Freed from the apron, she invited him to the drawing room.
“This is a fine home,” Morgan said, and Bella felt the weight of ridiculous small talk.
“May I ask why you are here, Lord Morgan?”
“You suddenly vanished, Miss Beauley. One minute, we were enjoying each other’s company at Erroll’s ball, and the next, you left without a word.”
Bella blushed, but raised her chin. “I would not say it was so sudden as that. I had previously left your side.”
Morgan nodded his head. “Yes, to dance with Erroll, but you did not return to the ballroom. I was worried.”
His tone sounded almost hurt and deeply concerned. “I apologize,” Bella said before recalling his plans with Leo. She would not be made to feel the villain here. “However, I believe you spoke with His Grace and did not seem concerned about my whereabouts then.”
Morgan’s eyebrows raised high. “You heard my conversation with Erroll?” Bella nodded, but would not explain how. “And that offended you in some way?”
His incredulity was obvious to her. “That you both should consider I would marry a man I had just met, with knowing very little of his character or temper. That I would marry him without so much as being asked. I suppose you believed I would marry you based on your rank and wealth alone. To me, that is the highest insult.”
Bella had stood and begun pacing during her speech. “To think that Mrs. Hammond’s friendship was nothing but an insincere ploy!”
Lord Morgan shot out of his chair at that charge and stood before her, ceasing her movement. “Margaret’s friendship was genuine. Do not lay such a charge at her feet. Will you listen to me?” He reached for her hand.
Bella pulled her hand away and turned her head. What could he say?
“It was Erroll’s idea!” he said angrily.
“I heard!” Heat rushed into Bella’s cheeks.
“So you know that he loves you? He may be ugly, but why not go back to him?”
“What?” Bella’s eyes snapped to his. She could not breathe as she waited for him to repeat the words.
“Erroll asked that I marry you in exchange for half his income. I thought then that you were his mistress.”
“No!” Bella cried in disgust and began to storm off.
“Wait! I apologize!” he called after her.
Bella whirled around, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. “If he loved me, why would he wish I marry you?”
Morgan shrugged. “He said he was dying. I assume he wished to protect you. He asked me to become Lady Rosalyn’s guardian as well and to allow neither of you to enter the castle again. If you want to know more, you would have to ask him.”
The world tilted, and Bella stumbled to a chair. She worked hard for breath—it felt as though someone stood on her chest. “Breathe, lass,” Morgan said as he thrust a glass of wine into her hand.
Leo loved her. He didn’t wan
t to tell her because of the curse. Couldn’t he see that even if their time together was short, she would rather spend it with him? He loved her enough to give her up. That was more than anyone had loved her before.
“How is he?” Bella asked when her mind began to calm. Morgan would not meet her eyes and remained silent. “Tell me!”
“We found him after you left. He had destroyed the south drawing room and was shouting incomprehensibly. He was holding this.” Morgan held up the mirror.
Bella paled at Morgan’s words. The south drawing room was where Celia was imprisoned. Did she hurt him? Drive him mad? Had he sought her out for some reason? “Where did you get that?” Leo would never willingly part with it. Fears of the worse began to take hold as Morgan did not immediately reply. She wanted to shout at him.
“He has spent all day with Lady Rosalyn since you left. Every night, he hides in his study with books and the mirror—but it was broken. Four nights ago, I found him staring at this—whole, with no cracks. He chanted your name over and over again.”
Tears rushed down Bella’s cheeks. Leo must have consulted the magical books to find some way of fixing the mirror. And then his first desire was to see her?
“After he finally fell asleep, I took the mirror, determined to find you. I needed to understand what happened.”
“You can never understand,” Bella said and shook her head.
“Try to explain,” Morgan pushed.
Bella took in a deep breath and began to tell all she had experienced in the days since arriving at Leo’s castle. Not caring if Morgan believed her tale, she needed to know how Leo and Rosie were. “Did anything unusual happen after Leo left the room? Was Lady Rosalyn safe?”
“If you mean to ask if this ghost of the duchess returned to haunting the castle, I would say it did not appear so.”
“What use is that?” Bella cried and then recalled the mirror. “Let me see the mirror!”
Morgan handed it over. Bella watched as the mirror showed her George with a sword and breathing hard. “No, I do not worry about George now. Show me Leo! Show me the duke of Erroll!”
