by Merry Farmer
He leaned in for another kiss, but she backed away from him, pressing a fingertip to his lips.
“Not now,” she said, glancing back to where his father was drawing a larger crowd as he spoke. “We need to sweep up this mess your father has created before we can untie our own knot.”
He let out a breath, his shoulders dropping, but didn’t let go of her. “You’re right,” he said. “I can’t help but feel as though I was the one who let this disaster happen. I need to fix it.”
“We’ll fix it together,” Natalia said. “And once everything is as it should be, we’ll heal ourselves.”
Chapter 19
“This is all well and good,” Fergus growled the next morning as Linus wheeled him down to the tent that had been set up for the initiation ceremony, “but what if your father pushes through with his scheme? What if he convinced Lady Darlington to commit to the whole mad endeavor after all?”
“I don’t know,” Linus sighed. He had tossed and turned all night long, wondering the same thing. There was a fair chance that the entire scheme was pure silliness and that his father would find a way to cheat them all in the end.
His father’s machinations weren’t the only reason he’d lay awake all night, though. Natalia had been restless as well, and it had been all he could do not to turn to her, draw her into his arms, and make love to her the way he’d wanted to from the start. While none of the problems and barriers that existed between them had been fully cleared away, after their conversation in Ballymena the day before, Linus had the stirring feeling that she was open to negotiation, open to loving him again.
He shook his head as he walked, setting aside those thoughts in favor of the task at hand. “Your sisters aren’t going to be drawn in, that’s for sure,” he said.
Fergus barked a laugh. “My sisters are as like as not to subscribe to your father’s mad plan and to join his community because it would be fun for them.” He paused, glancing over his shoulder at Linus. “Does your father know they’re my sisters?”
“I doubt it.” Linus frowned. “Your sisters are superb actresses.”
“My sisters are going to get themselves into more trouble than any of them know before their lives are all said and done,” Fergus said with a smirk. “Knowing them, they’ll probably consider it all a grand adventure.”
Linus chuckled along with him. Up ahead, the O’Shea sisters, Natalia, and Lady Phoebe were decorating the tent with garlands of greenery and flowers. The O’Shea sisters moved about with energy and excitement. So did Natalia, for that matter. She appeared to be relishing her act as much as the four red-heads. Lady Phoebe was the only one who looked as though she were decorating a funeral pyre. Which made sense, considering she had the most to lose of the bunch.
“Ah, my dear son.” Linus’s father stepped out of the tent as he and Fergus approached, all smiles. “It warms my heart to see you here.”
His father had dressed in the flowing, white robes that he’d always worn during official ceremonies in the early days of the community Linus had been raised in. The sight made the hair on the back of Linus’s neck stand up. Those robes represented trickery and debauchery to him. The sickening thought that his father planned more than a simple, public ceremony as initiation for his supposed new converts washed over him, particularly when his father cast a leering look in Lady Phoebe’s direction.
It took all Linus had to smile and pretend he was happy with everything. “You must be very proud of yourself,” he said, knowing that even that could raise his father’s suspicions.
But his father merely smiled as though he were in complete control of everything. “It is an auspicious day,” he said. “God’s will is to be done.” He glanced fleetingly to Fergus before going on to say, “And once the community is established and the worldly goods of its members gathered into one, communal pot, I would love your counsel and advice about where and how to invest.”
Linus raised one eyebrow. He just bet his father wanted advice about investments. “Perhaps you should ask Lady Darlington,” he said, remembering the entire point of their scheme was to keep Lady Darlington from throwing away the last money she had. “She would know far better than I where to invest money.” Or at least if she were asked, she would be more likely to see the true point of the community.
“Perhaps, perhaps,” his father said, his expression suddenly closed. He turned back to the tent. “Ladies, are we ready to begin?”
“Oh yes, Dr. Townsend,” Shannon said, rushing forward. True to the character she had set for herself, she wore another expensive, elaborate gown that was far better suited to a ball than a tent on a cliff overlooking the sea. “We are ready to answer God’s call.”
“We are at your mercy,” Marie added in a low and sultry voice. She wore a bright red gown made from some soft material. A gown that was cut far too low over her chest and fit far too tightly around her hips.
“Good God, Marie, look at you,” Fergus muttered, shaking his head.
Marie widened her eyes at him and touched a finger to her lips as if telling him to be quiet.
Linus quickly checked to see whether his father had noted the interaction and whether he was at all suspicious, but he’d moved on into the tent, heading straight toward Natalia.
“We have everything set up just as you instructed,” Natalia said in an uncharacteristically gentle voice.
She wore a flowing, white dress and had woven a garland of flowers for her hair, which she wore down. Linus blinked as he got a good look at her. She had dressed while he was bathing and rushed out of the room, leaving the castle entirely, before he’d had a chance to see her. What he saw now stopped his heart in his chest. He’d always known Natalia was beautiful. He’d have to be blind not to notice. But that morning, she was radiant. She looked like a nymph out of some sort of legend.
No, she looked like a bride. His bride.
“The altar looks lovely,” his father commented, gesturing for the O’Shea sisters, Lady Darlington, and Lady Phoebe to gather around the table in the center of the tent. The table was draped with a white cloth and decorated with flowers, but stood mostly empty.
“You look lovely,” Linus whispered to Natalia as he let go of Fergus’s chair, letting the man fend for himself, and stepped to her side.
Natalia pulled her attention away from the preparations, glancing to him with a look of surprise. “Thank you,” she said, her cheeks going pink.
Her sudden, bashful smile sent his heart soaring and blood rushing straight to the most inconvenient places, considering the point of their mission. He couldn't help himself, though. In spite of everything, he adored Natalia. He always would.
“Ladies, if you could gather around,” his father called, cutting Linus’s amorous feelings short. He moved to stand behind the table. “It is time for us to begin.”
The O’Shea sisters rushed to circle the altar. Chloe wore an even more elaborate, medieval gown than the one she’d worn the day before. Colleen had brightened her faux mourning with scarlet ribbons. Lady Darlington eyed the sisters suspiciously, pushing her way to the center of the table and elbowing Shannon and Chloe aside. Lady Phoebe hung back, looking positively morose.
“Come forward, my dear, don’t be shy,” Linus’s father said, beckoning first to Lady Phoebe, then to Natalia.
“Where is Henrietta?” Natalia asked, leaning closer to Linus.
The scent of flowers and soap that wafted from her nearly distracted Linus away from his purpose. “She’s on her way,” he said. “She’s bringing someone who will put an end to things whether our plan succeeds or not.”
Natalia glanced up at him with glittering curiosity in her eyes, but she didn’t have time to ask him for more.
“Come along, Phoebe,” Lady Darlington snapped. “We haven’t got all day.”
Lady Phoebe continued to hang back. Natalia let out a breath and squared her shoulders before marching to her friend’s side. She leaned close to whisper something to Lady Phoebe that
Linus couldn’t hear before taking Lady Phoebe’s arm and escorting her up to the table.
“Perfect,” Linus’s father said with a satisfied smile. “Let us begin.”
The O’Shea sisters rustled with anticipation, each one smiling wider than the next. Chloe looked as though she would burst into laughter at any moment, which Linus worried would destroy the entire ruse. He sent a wary glance to Fergus. Fergus had slumped to one side in his chair, propping his elbow on the armrest and resting his chin in his hand as though embarrassed by his sisters’ antics.
“Oh loving, merciful Lord,” Linus’s father went on, extending his arms up to the canvas canopy above them. “Thank you for bringing us, your humble servants, together today. We give thanks and praise to you for the beauty of your creation, especially as it is made manifest in the lovely forms of these, your daughters.”
Fergus cleared his throat and grumbled something that Linus couldn’t quite make out. Linus writhed in his spot, knowing how awkward the whole thing was and how cringe-worthy it could easily become.
“Bless us as we come together in one, loving family in your name,” his father went on. “Let us provide each other with mutual support and encouragement as we worship you with our lives, with our possessions, and with our bodies.”
“Yes!” Marie shouted, throwing herself forward onto the altar. “I long to worship you with my body. Please.” She draped herself dramatically over the altar in a way that made Linus hot with embarrassment. Even Linus’s father looked taken aback by her eagerness.
“Oh, God.” Fergus buried his face in his hands, shaking his head.
“Your, um, enthusiasm is, er, commendable,” Linus’s father stuttered. Linus wasn’t certain he’d ever seen the man look quite as thrown as he did in that moment.
“Is this not what you meant by coming together as a community?” Marie asked, holding her arms out to him. “Come to me, my love.”
Colleen burst into giggles, then tried to hide her mirth behind a hand. That only brought the other sisters near to bursting with laughter as well. Lady Darlington frowned in stark disapproval, but Lady Phoebe merely looked confused.
Natalia sent Linus a desperate look, as though Marie’s antics were about to ruin the whole thing. But Linus wasn’t certain what he could do.
“Yes, um, well,” his father went on. “We haven’t reached that part of the ceremony yet.”
“I’m sorry.” Marie wriggled off the table, standing clumsily and smoothing her hands along her dress. “I was simply overcome by the holy spirit.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
“There are, er, other things to pledge first,” Linus’s father went on.
“Of course,” Lady Darlington said. “Do continue.” She shot Marie a withering look.
Linus’s father cleared his throat and straightened his robes. “Yes, as I was saying, the community we pledge to form today is one in which we will all strive to make God’s vision of brethren dwelling together a reality. And so, we commit to Him all of our time, our talents, and our treasure.”
“Will you be requiring this treasure in cash?” Shannon asked, taking what looked like a small notebook out of a pocket in her gown. “Or will bankers’ notes do? I could have my solicitor draw up a contract, but perhaps it would be easier if I liquidated my estate and contributed the resulting funds to a communal pot in that way. Do you have a man of business my man should consult? Perhaps we should set up an account in all of our names for the use of the community. I could have the proper papers prepared right away.” She began ticking off items in her notebook with a tiny pencil.
Again, Linus wanted to cringe. Shannon’s eyes glowed with mirth, but her joke was clearly about to backfire. His father’s expression changed from energized to startled to downright suspicious as she rattled through her speech. As she finished, he scowled at her.
“Do you think this is some sort of jest?” he growled.
Linus quickly glanced to Natalia, his heart hammering in his chest. She looked back at him, the same thought in her eyes. Their game was up. His father knew what they were doing.
“Do you think that I brought you here today so that I could be made fun of?” his father raged on. “God’s work is serious business.”
“Yes, it is.” Lady Darlington took his side, whipping from side to side to chastise the O’Shea sisters with a fierce look. “Dr. Townsend is a visionary and a prophet.”
“Oh, he is, he is,” Marie agreed, slinking her way around the table until she was close enough to slide her hand up his arm.
Rather than give in to the tempting gesture—which Linus was certain his father would have done under any other circumstance—he flinched away. “Unhand me, madam,” he growled. “Who are you anyhow? Who are the lot of you?” He glanced around at the O’Shea sisters.
“We are exactly the sort of ladies you are looking for,” Shannon said, pretending innocence. “We only wish to live together in a community of like-minded believers.”
Linus’s father narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He stared at each of the O’Shea sisters before turning to Linus. “Did you have something to do with this?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Linus said, knowing his face was red.
“Do you think this is some sort of a joke as well?” he demanded, stepping around the table and approaching Linus. “You know what this community means to me.”
Linus pulled himself up to his full height, refusing to be intimidated by his father’s ire. Quite the opposite, he had his father exactly where he wanted him. “What does this mean to you?” he asked, feigning as much innocence as he could.
“This is my livelihood,” his father growled. “How else do you expect me to put a roof over my head or to enjoy the comforts of life?”
A surge of victory pulsed through Linus. He glanced past his father to see the others watching. Natalia wore a look of triumph that matched Linus’s feelings. The O’Shea sisters looked incredibly pleased with themselves. Lady Phoebe seemed hopeful for a change. Only Lady Darlington appeared lost and upset.
She stepped forward. “Your father is a good and noble man,” she insisted. “He is a visionary.”
“He should have put his training as a doctor to use healing the sick instead of taking advantage of weakened minds,” Linus said, meeting his father’s gaze with strength.
“I am healing the sick,” his father insisted. “I’m giving them a purpose, something to live for.”
“And lining your own pockets as you do?” Linus suggested. “That isn’t what medicine is for.”
“There is no profit in your kind of medicine,” his father spat. “None at all. And why shouldn’t I let the vain and frivolous provide for me as long as I’m giving them what they want in return?” He threw his arm out toward Lady Darlington as he spoke.
A strange sense of peace filled Linus in spite of the fury of his father’s words. It’d worked. They’d provided the rope and his father had just hanged himself.
“Vain and frivolous?” Lady Darlington squeaked.
Linus’s father’s face lost all of its color. He twisted so quickly to face Lady Darlington that he nearly stumbled. “That is to say, my lady, that it is my mission to provide a safe and comfortable place for souls in need.”
“That’s not what you said.” Lady Phoebe stepped forward, holding her head high for the first time that Linus had ever seen. “Didn’t I tell you that he was only after what little money we have, Mama?”
“Tell me it isn’t so.” Lady Darlington took a wobbling step toward Linus’s father.
“Of course, it isn’t true, my dear.” His father met her, taking her hands. “We are building God’s loving kingdom here on earth.”
Linus grimaced at the tenacity with which his father clung to his charade. He was desperate to find something to say that would end the situation once and for all, but before he could think of anything, Henrietta rushed into the tent leading Lady Coyle with her.
“Are we too lat
e?” she asked, out of breath.
“Too late for what?” Linus’s father snapped. His color had returned, but it was splotchy. His eyes darted toward the open tent flap as though he were about to dash out and make a run for it.
“Maude,” Lady Coyle began in a booming voice. “I warned you that I would not put up with your shenanigans where this man is concerned.” She sent a sour look to Linus’s father.
“Lady Coyle.” Linus’s father fidgeted with his robe as he stepped away from Lady Darlington to approach what he must have seen as a much bigger prize. “Have you come to join our society?”
“I have not,” Lady Coyle cut him off before he could go any further. She turned to glare at Lady Darlington. “I have come to tell my cousin that my solicitor has confirmed that she does not have any right or claim to the money left by our great-uncle.”
Lady Darlington snapped her mouth shut. Both she and Lady Phoebe turned pale.
“Furthermore, I have come to tell her that, after this ridiculous display of foolishness, I have decided not to provide her with a stipend from my own fortune. I warned you, Maude, and you did not listen. I will not have my warnings taken lightly, and I will not condone outrageous behavior such as this.”
“But I have nothing else,” Lady Darlington said in a tremulous voice. “I have no other money and no hope of an income of any sort.”
“You should have thought of that before throwing your lot in with the likes of him.” Lady Coyle nodded sharply to Linus’s father.
“You have no money at all?” Linus’s father said, his voice hoarse.
Lady Darlington gulped. “None.”
Linus’s father clenched his jaw and his fists. In fact, he appeared to suddenly clench everything. “Then what was the point of this entire venture,” he shouted suddenly.
“To establish a loving community in Christ?” Natalia suggested, though with a fair amount of sauciness.
Linus’s father ignored her, rounding on Lady Darlington instead. “You have wasted my time, madam,” he shouted. “I would have been much better served staying in London to recruit converts.”
