by Merry Farmer
That wasn’t what Linus had implied at all, but if it helped their case, his father could believe whatever he wanted. All they had to do was string his father along long enough for the man to trip in his own trap.
Chapter 18
Natalia doubted the wisdom of involving the O’Shea sisters in the plan to undermine Linus’s father from the moment they arrived in the quaint village of Ballymena to implement their plan.
“Praise the Lord, you’re here!” Shannon shouted, jumping up from the table just outside of a small pub, where she sat with her sisters as if they had been waiting all morning.
Each of the O’Shea sisters was dressed as though they were a different character in a stage drama. Shannon had taken on a dignified role, donning a gown that was more suitable for a formal supper in London than an afternoon in an Irish village. Colleen had taken an entirely different approach, dressing all in black, complete with a mourning veil. Marie’s costume was saucier, as though she were a wealthy woman without a care for her reputation. Her bodice was far too low-cut for public consumption. But Chloe was the most obvious of all. She was dressed in faux-medieval garb, like the Pre-Raphaelites, and carried a bouquet of withered flowers. She reminded Natalia of her mother’s friend, Lady Elaine Waltham, a notorious eccentric.
The moment Linus’s father stepped down from the carriage—ending what had been a painful journey from Dunegard Castle, in which Natalia had her acting abilities put to the test as she pretended to be enthralled by the elder Dr. Townsend’s plans—the O’Shea sisters rushed to him.
“We’ve heard so much about you,” Marie said, her eyes bright as she swayed closer to him. “We’ve been told your powers of persuasion are brilliant.” She added a wink that brought Natalia up short and had her jaw dropping.
“Yes, my late husband spoke of your devotion often,” Colleen added with a dramatic sigh.
“Your husband had heard of my work?” Linus’s father asked. His expression seemed caught between a flattered smile and suspicious bewilderment.
“Your reputation precedes you,” Shannon answered with a smile.
“Yes, it does,” Chloe agreed, slipping to Linus’s father’s side and taking his arm. “Won’t you please come tell us all about your plans for this community we’ve heard you are proposing?”
“Certainly,” Linus’s father said, glancing at each of the O’Shea sisters with growing confidence. “It fills me with the Holy Spirit to know that God has provided me with a receptive audience.”
Shannon moved to take Linus’s father’s other arm as the group walked on to the small well that marked the center of the town. Lady Darlington had been alighting from the carriage as the O’Shea sisters moved in. She gaped after the group as though the sisters had stolen her beau.
“Wait for me,” she called, picking up her skirts and hurrying after them faster than Natalia had ever seen her move.
That left Natalia, Linus, and Phoebe with no choice but to scurry after them.
“I’m beginning to wonder whether this was the best idea,” Natalia said, her heart racing from more than just chasing the O’Shea sisters.
“Fergus should have made more of a point of it when he warned me that his sisters are…playful,” Linus agreed with a serious look.
“What will your father do if he realizes he’s been set up?” Phoebe asked.
“I’m not sure,” Linus said, then tilted his head to the side. “It might be enough to convince him to give up his plan, or it might cause him to pursue your mother with that much more determination.”
Natalia wasn’t enthusiastic about either possibility, but she had her own role to play. She plastered on a smile and a look of fascination as they reached the well. Linus’s father had climbed up on its old, stone side and now stood with his arms out, ready to address the crowd.
“Friends,” he said, speaking not only to the O’Shea sisters and Lady Darlington, but to a few curious passersby who stopped to see what the fuss was all about. “We live in dark and treacherous times. The scourges of greed and conflict have wreaked havoc on our societies and on the tender feelings of the most vulnerable people. But I am here today to tell you that there is another way.”
“And what is that way?” Marie interrupted him as he prepared to go on, glancing up at him with a look of adoration.
Linus’s father let out a stumbling breath, frowning in irritation at the interruption. “It is the way of community,” he went on. He squared his shoulders and put on a look of command once more. “It has always been God’s will that we live together in brotherhood and sisterhood with each other. Did he not command his disciples to take up their crosses and to follow him? Do the prophets not talk about how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together?”
“They absolutely do,” Colleen shouted, clasping her hands to her chest.
Natalia sent a wary look to Linus. Linus glanced back at her with just as much doubt. Natalia couldn’t shake the feeling that something embarrassing was about to happen, courtesy of the O’Shea sisters.
“I have, over the course of my life and my ministry, established thriving communities built on the foundation of God’s love,” Linus’s father went on. “Heaven has given me a mandate to create societies of sharing, of nurturing, and of people who love one another, body and soul.”
Phoebe made a frightened sigh as Linus’s father looked directly at her with a leering grin.
Linus cleared his throat, scowling. Natalia reached for his hand to steady him before she could think better of it. As soon as their fingers touched, an excited warmth began to fill her. Aside from a few accidental bumps during the carriage ride and the coerced kisses at the O’Shea sisters’ cottage, she hadn’t touched him since their wedding. Not really. Not even when they lay side by side in bed through three restless nights. It was a surprise to discover how much she missed his touch.
“What are these communities you’ve created like?” Shannon asked, flashing a smile at Linus’s father.
He smiled right back at her. “They are cozy villages with houses whose doors are always open. There is no ownership or property. Everything is held in common. Meals are cooked and eaten together, prayers are said together, recreation is enjoyed together—”
“And what about beds?” Marie blurted, batting her eyelashes up at the man. “Are they shared as well?”
Natalia was on the verge of rolling her eyes and hiding her face in her hands in shame when she noticed the flush and the embarrassed look that came to Linus’s face. Her eyes went wide as the implication of his expression hit her.
“My dear,” his father told Marie with a smile. “That is entirely up to you.”
Natalia’s mouth dropped open. She leaned closer to Linus and whispered, “What kind of a community were you raised in anyhow?”
Linus didn’t have a chance to answer with more than a guilty look before his father went on with, “The beauty of a community built on God’s love is equal standing for all. We are all God’s children, and He wishes us to live as such. Women are never treated as inferior to men. The poor and unfortunate are given the same status as the rich and lofty.” He glanced directly at Lady Davenport as he spoke. “All resources are shared in common, so no one ever goes hungry or is forced into inferiority.”
“Sounds like bloody Marxism to me,” a man passing by the well muttered.
Natalia jumped at the sound of his voice and glanced quickly around. Dr. Townsend had gathered quite a crowd, but not many of them looked pleased with his message. In fact, she began to worry that they all might be chased out of town by an angry mob if they didn’t hurry along to the end of their plan.
“We have to speed things up,” she whispered to Linus. “We have to convince him that he’s won or get him to give up before the police arrive.”
“Agreed,” Linus said, squeezing her hand.
Natalia held her breath and stared down at their joined hands for a moment before glancing up and meeting his eyes. There was a war
mth there that she had missed, as if they’d been on opposite sides of an argument but were working together once again. The softness in his eyes—in spite of the situation they found themselves in—melted something inside of her, and she found herself smiling before she could question it.
“I want to join you,” she said, raising her voice and pulling her gaze away from Linus to face his father. “I want to be part of your community.”
Linus’s father had continued with his description of his vision, but he stopped in the middle of his sentence at Natalia’s interruption. “You do?” he asked, his brow shooting up in surprise.
“Yes.” Natalia broke away from Linus, stepping forward and joining the O’Shea sisters as they gazed adoringly up at Dr. Townsend. “You are my father-in-law, after all,” she went on. “Your community raised the man I love, and he is the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.” She glanced back over her shoulder, smiling as she met Linus’s eyes.
Linus looked back at her as though she were the only woman in the world. The way he smiled at her filled her with hope and confidence. They might have come from two separate worlds, they might still have had a wide gulf between them that needed to be bridged, but if they could just continue to work together instead of against each other, anything could happen.
“I can’t deny my wife what she wants,” Linus said, walking slowly forward to join her. “If this is the life she wishes to live, then I will do whatever it takes to make that a reality.” His gaze lingered on Natalia for a long time before he glanced up at his father. “If you need someone to assist you in bringing this vision to fruition, then I will help you.”
The sparkle that came to Linus’s father’s eyes chilled Natalia to her marrow, but she knew they were on the right path.
“Excellent,” his father said, rubbing his hands together. He glanced at the O’Shea sisters and Lady Darlington. “Ladies, it seems we have the foundations of our community already. Will you pledge yourselves? Will you leave worldly life behind to give your all to the cause of God’s love?”
“Oh, yes, we will,” Chloe said, practically draping herself over Dr. Townsend’s feet on the edge of the well.
“Most certainly,” Shannon agreed.
“With our whole hearts,” Marie added, sending a saucy look up at Linus’s father.
“Just so long as I am remembered as the first of those who pledged themselves to you,” Lady Darlington said, an uncertain crease in her brow.
Natalia pulled herself away from smiling at Linus long enough to peek at Lady Darlington. The woman chewed her lip anxiously, studying the O’Shea sisters as though they were rivals for a beau. Natalia caught her breath, peeking at Linus, then tilting her head slightly toward Lady Darlington so that Linus might see what she was seeing.
Linus nodded subtly, taking her hands and squeezing them. He then turned to his father and said, “I see no reason to prolong the process. We should hold an initiation ceremony tomorrow, just as you used to when I was a boy, to solidify the commitment these good souls wish to make to the community.”
“Yes,” his father agreed, rubbing his hands together as though they were talking about closing a business deal. “An initiation ceremony is just what we need.”
“What is involved in an initiation ceremony?” Chloe asked, looking more excited than ever. In fact, all of the O’Shea sisters looked as though their game had grown more fun and complex.
“Why, in the initiation ceremony, believers sign a pledge to combine all of their talents and worldly goods into the safekeeping of the community leader,” Linus’s father said. “From there, all we need is to find a suitable stretch of land on which to build our community.”
“I know just the spot,” Shannon said, raising her hand as though she were ready to lead a charge. “We can all live in the cottage at the tip of Dunegard, overlooking the sea.”
“What a charming idea,” Colleen agreed.
“I think I’ve heard of that cottage,” Marie said, tapping a finger on her chin.
Natalia exchanged another look with Linus. The sisters were most certainly enjoying their ruse a little too much. “Perhaps we should hold the initiation ceremony at Dunegard Castle, just to be safe,” she suggested.
Linus raised one eyebrow, seeming to understand that the plan to expose his father and save Lady Darlington and Phoebe from ruin really would work best if the whole thing could be accomplished on private property with as few witnesses as possible.
“Dunegard Castle sounds like the perfect place for such a ceremony,” Lady Darlington agreed, eyeing the O’Shea sisters warily. “Dunegard Castle is neutral territory, after all.”
More like the castle was closer to being Lady Darlington’s territory than that of the O’Shea sisters. Or so Lady Darlington thought. The O’Shea sisters had yet to be revealed as Fergus’s family, and while Natalia was fairly certain the roles the women were playing meant they wouldn’t reveal their secret, anything could happen.
“We should return to the castle as soon as possible to let Lord and Lady O’Shea know what we have planned for tomorrow,” Natalia told Linus with a sharp look.
“Agreed,” he answered. Natalia was confident his thoughts were aligned with hers.
“We’ll stay here and listen to Dr. Townsend preach,” Shannon said with a mischievous look. “I simply don’t think I could let him out of my sight, now that I know our destinies are so entwined.”
“Agreed,” Colleen said, inching so close to Dr. Townsend that Natalia thought she might hug his knees. “I want to hear more.”
“If they’re staying, then I’m staying,” Lady Darlington snapped, narrowing her eyes at Shannon. “And you will stay with me, Phoebe,” she added as Phoebe attempted to slip away with Natalia and Linus.
Phoebe let out a disappointed breath, her shoulders sagging. “I suppose I must stay here,” she said.
Natalia hated to leave her, but if they truly were going to warn Fergus and Henrietta of what was coming and figure out how to bring the twisted plot to the conclusion they needed, they needed time to plan.
“Until later, my dear son,” Linus’s father called to him from the well, waving as Linus and Natalia headed back to where the carriage was parked. “I cannot tell you how much joy it gives me to know that you are by my side again.”
“Likewise, Father,” Linus called back to him.
The moment his father continued on with his preaching, Linus’s tight smile dropped into a wary look. He took Natalia’s hand as they strode quickly back to the carriage.
“I’m still not certain this will work,” he said in a low voice.
“Something is bound to come of it all,” Natalia reassured him. “The O’Shea sisters might be enjoying themselves now, but I can’t imagine they would actually go through with joining any sort of religious community.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Linus said with a wary look. “They seem like a wily lot.”
Natalia laughed in agreement. “I think I would rather like to be friends with them, if we find ourselves spending significant time in Ireland.”
They reached the carriage, but instead of climbing straight in, Linus stopped just beside the door, studying Natalia with a fond look. “You wouldn’t mind spending time in Ireland, if Fergus and Henrietta choose to spend time here, that is.”
“You are still Lord O’Shea’s personal physician,” Natalia pointed out by way of an answer. “It is your duty to go where he needs you to go.”
Linus’s expression clouded slightly. “If that isn’t the life you want, we could search for something else. I could set up a private practice somewhere, join the staff of a hospital in London. There are any number of ways our life together could unfold.”
Natalia smiled at the statement, crossing her arms. “I thought you were determined to turn me into a middle-class doctor’s wife.
Linus let out a breath and rubbed a hand over his beard. “All my life, ever since I was a boy growing up in my father’s so-called community
of love, all I’ve ever wanted was to lead a normal life, the sort of life other people lead.”
“And you don’t think that is possible now?” Natalia asked, sensing where his thoughts were going.
He shrugged. “I don’t know if it is possible for me to be normal,” he admitted. “Not after the past I have lived.”
Natalia tilted her head to the side, her heart brimming with compassion for him. “Was it all so very bad?”
“Not all of it,” he admitted, though there was some reluctance in his expression. “I had freedom. Too much freedom.” His expression filled with guilt. “You heard what my father implied back there, about sharing everything within the community, including beds.”
Natalia’s mouth twitched into a grin and she fought to resist the urge to laugh. “Dr. Townsend, are you telling me that you misspent your youth in a community that practiced free love?”
His cheeks flared bright red. “More or less.”
Her grin widened. “Well that explains everything,” she said, flickering one eyebrow.
He matched her grin, but went a step farther. His arms were around her in an instant. He slanted his mouth over hers, kissing her with all the passion that had been missing between the two of them for the last few days. She hummed in satisfaction as he stroked his tongue against hers, filling her body with excitement and anticipation. He was everything she remembered him to be in that moment, everything she had been missing, thanks to her own stubbornness.
“There are so many things to be said between the two of us,” he said in a hoarse voice, stealing a few more, lighter kisses from her lips. “We’ve let so many things come between us and left too many things that need to be said unspoken.”
“We have,” she agreed, lifting to the tips of her toes and resting her forehead against his. “We have been too passionate and not sensible enough.”
“But we can change that,” he said. “We can change everything, starting now.”
