A Lady of Secret Devotion

by Tracie Peterson

  She narrowed her eyes. “It wasn’t an accident, was it?”

  He laughed heartily and released her with a shove. Cassie fell back against the chair, but immediately righted herself. She needed him to confess. She had to get him to admit what he had done.

  “Why did you set fire to our home?” Cassie demanded to know.

  “Well, I suppose the answer is quite simple. I needed my mother here where I could better control the situation.”

  “But you could have killed us all. My mother and sister,” Cassie began. “They have never done anything to you, yet you would have seen them burned alive.”

  “Or dead,” he said snidely. “I really didn’t care and cannot pretend that I did. That would simply be cruel.”

  “Everything you do is cruel,” Cassie countered. She started to get up from her chair, but he pushed her back.

  “Stay where you are. Until my mother signs these papers, neither of you is going anywhere.”

  “I will not sign,” his mother said softly. She looked at him with such an expression of disappointment that Cassie felt overwhelming sorrow for the woman. He was her only remaining child, and he had so completely rejected her love that he now stood ready to end her life.

  “Do you honestly think to defy me? You could not bear to refuse me when I was a child—what foolishness causes you to think you could do so now?”

  “When you were a child . . . oh, I had such hopes.” Mrs.

  Jameston closed her eyes. “I loved you so dearly. Your father did as well. We delighted in you—in your brilliance and loving nature.” She opened her eyes and looked to Cassie. “He wasn’t always like this. You must understand.”

  “I do,” Cassie whispered. She was unable to imagine Sebastian Jameston in the same way that his mother remembered him, but she wanted to encourage the older woman.

  “Reminiscing isn’t going to help you.” Sebastian took up the papers and thrust them into his mother’s hands. “Read this and sign it. Better yet, just sign it.”

  Mrs. Jameston glanced at the papers in her hands before looking back up at her son. “No. You may kill me as you have planned all along, but I will not aid your cause by yielding this to you.”

  Without warning, Jameston grabbed Cassie by the hair once again. This time he pulled her to her feet. “Sign it or you both die. Cassie will go first, however, and you will have to watch her suffer.” He pulled a gun from his pocket. “It’s horrible to watch someone die a little bit at a time.”

  “No!” Mrs. Jameston cried. “Let her go.”

  Cassie clutched at her skirt to keep from fighting Sebastian in her own strength. She prayed the men might storm the room and take him captive, but supposed they delayed for fear of the risk to her life. She tried to think of what she should do—what she could do to benefit herself. She forced herself to remain calm.

  He still hasn’t confessed to killing Mark’s friend, she thought rather irrationally. He’s mentioned Mark’s interference, but nothing more. I have to get him to confess. As if such a thing mattered at this moment. She very nearly laughed out loud at her own foolish thinking. Here Sebastian was about to kill them both, and she was worried about justice for Mark.

  “If the money is all that you want, I will go to the bank with you at this moment and get it for you,” his mother said in a pleading tone. “You needn’t involve or blame Cassie for what I’ve done. She is quite innocent.”

  “She’s hardly that, Mother.” He pressed his lips to her cheek. “She doesn’t even smell innocent. She smells like fear.” His eyes widened in excitement as he pulled away just enough for Cassie to see his face. “I like having you afraid. I like it very much.”

  His comment angered Cassie in a way she couldn’t begin to explain. She fought against him, but he only pulled her closer and tightened his grip.

  “Besides, Cassie and I need to have another talk—one that doesn’t involve you, Mother. Cassie needs to explain to me about her Mr. Langford. Apparently, he has been investigating my business affairs.”

  “Let her go, Sebastian, and I will accompany you to the bank. I will turn everything over to you.” Mrs. Jameston fixed a stern gaze on her son. “You have caused enough harm—enough death and destruction. Let us resolve this in a manner that doesn’t require bloodshed.”

  He seemed to consider her suggestion for a moment. Cassie could see that for just a minute, the idea held merit for him. Then just as quickly the moment passed. “I happen to like bloodshed. Sign the papers, and I will have what I want anyway. You cannot win, Mother. I have bested you, as I always have.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Mark moved in the direction of the door, but Westmore-land reached out to stop him. He pulled Mark back across the room, then whispered against his ear, “He hasn’t yet confessed to killing your friend.”

  At that moment, Mark didn’t care. He could now see how his selfish desire to exact revenge on Richard’s behalf had only served to endanger Cassie.

  “He’ll kill her.”

  “I know it looks grim, but if you charge into the room, he’ll kill her for certain.”

  Mark put his hands to his head and rubbed his temples. “Maybe we can distract him. Have someone go to the hallway entrance and knock. Maybe that will cause him to rethink the situation and give us a little time. It doesn’t matter anymore if he confesses to Richard’s death—not if it means losing Cassie.”

  One of the officers near the adjoining door motioned the men to return. Mark pushed past Westmoreland and went as quietly as he could to where the man crouched down beside the barely open portal. The man touched his ear, then pointed to Mrs. Jameston’s room. Mark strained to hear. Cassie was speaking. She sounded frightened but resolved.

  “Bullying women around is hardly a difficult task. Especially with a gun.” Her words took on a sarcastic tone. “I suppose you need a weapon to make yourself feel more like a man.”

  “Miss Stover, you seem not to care a great deal for your life.”

  “And why should I? God has my life in His hands.”

  “Hardly. I would say God is absent at the moment. I’m the one with the gun,” Sebastian replied with cold indifference.

  “Now do as I say, Mother, and sign the papers. I want to end this now. Cassie and I still have much to discuss.”

  “I have nothing to say to you,” she countered.

  “You will. I intend to hear what plots and plans your Mr.

  Langford has in mind for me. Apparently, you two have been playing quite a game at my expense.”

  “Hardly. I came here to care for your mother. You weren’t even in residence when I arrived. You showed up with that silly story about getting shot by accident, when we all knew you were wounded on purpose. You’re the one truly playing games.”

  “Why, you . . .”

  Mark heard Cassie give a yelp of pain but couldn’t see what was going on. He reached for the door handle, but the man beside him interceded.

  “Tell me what you know,” Sebastian demanded. His voice raised in volume. “Tell me now.”

  “Why don’t you tell me?” Cassie suggested. “You seem so confident that I have some intimate knowledge of your actions.”

  “Could it really be that you don’t know?” Jameston questioned in disbelief. Mark desperately wished he could see into the room to know exactly what was happening. “Your Mr. Langford is not all that he appears to be. He is here on purposes other than panting after your skirts.”

  Cassie laughed, and it completely took Mark off guard. What was she doing? Didn’t she realize how easily provoked Jameston could be? He would be far less rational if she pushed him too far.

  “I would venture to say that, with the exception of your mother, none of us here is exactly what we appear to be. Especially you.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean?”

  “I think you’ve played everyone here false. I don’t believe you are an investor or a businessman. I believe,” Cassie said boldly, “that you are nothin
g more than a common gambler. You lost your money in a bet—probably got yourself shot the same way.”

  “The man who shot me lies dead now. Perhaps you would care to join him? I used this very gun. It would be rather ironic, don’t you think, for two of Mr. Langford’s friends to die in the same manner, by the same hand?”

  “You killed one of Mark’s friends?” Cassie asked, sounding shocked. “I don’t believe you.”

  For a long moment, there was only silence. Mark straightened and glanced at Westmoreland, who was whispering to one of the police officers. They were up to something, but Mark was hesitant to leave his post. This was the quickest means to Cassie, and if need be, he would sacrifice himself for her. He would draw Jameston’s attention away from Cassie and do whatever was necessary to save her.

  Cassie looked hard at Sebastian. He seemed to be wrestling with his thoughts, almost as if her comment caused him some kind of dilemma.

  “Perhaps you are as innocent as you seem,” Sebastian began finally. “It really doesn’t matter. But your Mr. Langford isn’t without guilt. Perhaps he’s been using you to get to me, but it isn’t important at this point. I’ll deal with him in time—just as I dealt with his friend.”

  “What do you mean?” Cassie asked, allowing fear to edge her words.

  “I mean that I’ll kill him when the opportunity presents itself.”

  “Just as you killed his friend?” Cassie asked.

  Sebastian laughed. “Exactly. And just as I plan to eliminate you . . . unless, of course, you change your mind about cooperating with me.”

  “But why kill him? Mark has done nothing to you.” Cassie hoped that the confession he had already given was enough.

  Sebastian hadn’t provided any names, however. “And who is this friend you speak of? Mark is from Boston—he had no friends here in Philadelphia.”

  “Your Mr. Langford and his friend Mr. Adkins both worked for an insurance company that meant to see me destroyed. I’ve dealt with Mr. Adkins by putting a bullet in his heart. And after I finish here, I will deal with Mr. Langford.” Sebastian turned away from Cassie. “Mother, sign the papers. Sign them now.”

  Cassie could see the resignation on Mrs. Jameston’s face. The older woman got to her feet. “I will sign them, but first you will hear me out, because what I have to say is very important.”

  Jameston shrugged. “Say what you will, but be quick about it. I’ve wasted enough time on explanations.”

  Cassie knew that so long as Sebastian had a gun trained on her, Mark and the others would be hesitant to come into the room. She had to do something. She glanced down, noting the table. The hot pot of tea sat there—the handle very nearly close enough to touch.

  “I am sorry,” Mrs. Jameston began, “that you felt my love for you was somewhat conditional. I suppose it is hard for a child to understand a parent’s sorrow in losing their offspring. When Plymouth drowned, it brought back all the pain of losing Bristol as well. It was a dark period in my life, and you were so very young.”

  “I was old enough,” Sebastian replied. “Old enough to know that I didn’t matter as much to you as they did. I was packed off so you could console yourself. I was given to the care of Silas and his wife, while you and Father shared your grief. Even as the years went by and you included me more—it was a relationship always based on sorrow.”

  His mother looked at him oddly. “I suppose it was. I suppose it was yet another thing I did wrong by you and cannot take back. As you grew older, I always knew there was a great deal of anger and hostility in your heart, but I never fully understood until now. I tried to spoil you and pamper you—give you everything possible—but it was never enough.”

  Sebastian laughed harshly. “You still fail to understand. Just sign the papers and let’s put an end to this.”

  Cassie knew the time had come to act. She reached her hand slowly around the handle of the teapot and grasped it tightly.

  The pot was still hot and would serve her purpose quite nicely.

  When Sebastian shifted the gun from one hand to another, she drew a deep breath and brought the china up, smashing it hard against the man’s face. Hot tea splashed out on her hand, burning her skin, but Cassie didn’t care. She felt the pot shatter into pieces even as Sebastian screamed in pain.

  Behind her, she heard the door burst open, but she couldn’t turn away from Jameston’s contorted face. She had caused his pain, and it mattered little that he would have caused her that much and more had he the opportunity. He would have killed her, there was no doubting that. Still, it didn’t console her.

  Cassie went to Mrs. Jameston as Mark and Westmoreland aided the two police officers in restraining Sebastian. Tears coursed down the weathered old face as she watched her son.

  Putting her arm around the older woman, Cassie tried to offer what comfort she could. “I’m so very sorry. Why don’t you sit over here and rest?”

  Mrs. Jameston allowed Cassie to lead her to the bed. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, the woman watched as the officers dragged her son into the hall.

  “You’ll all pay for this,” Sebastian cried out. “I have friends, and they’ll see you pay.”

  Cassie shook her head and sat down beside Mrs. Jameston. “Don’t listen to him. He cannot hurt you anymore.”

  The older woman met Cassie’s gaze. “He will always hurt me, so long as he allows evil to rule over him. I cannot stop caring about him. I cannot stop loving him, and because of that I will never stop hurting for him—with him.”

  “Of course not” came a male voice.

  Cassie looked up to find Mark standing only a few feet away. He had heard Mrs. Jameston’s confession and now looked at the woman with great compassion.

  “Are you both all right?”

  “As well as we can be,” Cassie replied. “We are uninjured.”

  Ada appeared just then. “Oh, Mrs. Jameston, I was so worried.”

  “I believe I would like to lie down for a time,” the older woman told her.

  “I’ll see to it,” Ada told Cassie. “You go ahead.” She nodded toward Mark.

  Cassie got to her feet. “I won’t be far if you need me.”

  “You deserve to rest as well, my dear,” Mrs. Jameston said. “You saved my life—probably more than once. I am in your debt.”

  Cassie touched the woman’s cheek. “No. You are in my heart, just as I know I am in yours. We have become family.”

  Mark gently touched Cassie’s arm as she turned. The love he held for her was evident in his expression, but it seemed mingled with something else. Oddly enough, it seemed like regret.

  He led her downstairs, and without asking, Cassie knew he was taking her to the garden. They walked to the privacy of the settee and chairs, neither one speaking a word. She liked the feel of his hand on the small of her back as Mark directed her to sit. Reaching up, she took hold of his hand and smiled.

  “Sit here with me.” She waited until he sat beside her on the settee before releasing him. “Tell me what is troubling you.”

  Mark looked at her rather puzzled. “I’m surprised you can even ask such a thing—after all that’s just happened.”

  “But it’s over with now. Sebastian confessed to your friend’s killing, as well as to trying to poison his mother and burning down my home. He will no doubt be sufficiently punished.”

  “You could have been killed. I was so foolish to ever suggest this game,” Mark said, shaking his head. “I was blinded by my desires for revenge and justice. I knew there were dangers, but I didn’t account for Jameston’s irrational behavior. I expected him, for some reason, to conduct himself in a civil manner. It was foolish, I know. After all, the man had tried to poison his mother. He’d shot my friend. Why would he not threaten to kill you as well?”

  Cassie patted his arm. “It’s over now.”

  “But so much could have gone wrong.” He looked at her with tears in his eyes. “You could have died right in front of me, and all because you were t
rying to help me.”

  She smiled. “But I didn’t die. Mark, you must account for the good as well as the bad. We are safe. Mrs. Jameston is resting upstairs, and Sebastian has been taken away where he can do no further harm. The game is over, and we have won the hand.”

  Mark nodded and pulled her into his arms. “And we will never play again.”

  She shook her head. “No. No more games for us.”

  Chapter 29

  The cooling temperatures of late September put everyone in a better spirit. Mrs. Jameston’s full health had returned, although she told Cassie her age caused her to tire more easily. Cassie couldn’t help but think it had much to do with all that the older woman had been through as well. Sebastian now awaited trial, and from the sounds of it, things did not look to bode well for him in any aspect.

  Due to the work Mark and Mr. Westmoreland had accomplished, most of Sebastian’s men, including Robbie, had also been taken into custody and now faced their own comeuppance.

  “I suppose I shall never fully understand what causes a person to go bad,” Mrs. Jameston said, gazing out across the garden. “Even knowing how angry he was at me, I cannot hope to know what makes a man take the life of another.”

  “Greed seems to be at the root of this plot,” Cassie said, hoping she’d not spoken out of line.

  “All of this might have been his one day,” Mrs. Jameston said, “but apparently, even that was not enough. Then when I saw what he’d become—when I heard the hatred in his voice— well, it was more than I could bear. All I ever wanted for him was a good life and to know God’s plan. Despite my efforts, I believe Sebastian hates God more than he hates me.”

  “You cannot force a person to love God.”

  Mrs. Jameston considered this for a moment. “You are right about that. My Worther and I raised Sebastian to fear the Lord, but apparently he decided this was unimportant. I wish I could go back in time and do things differently.”