by C. J. Archer
I met Samuel and Bert in the corridor. They stood a little apart and hadn't been talking. Samuel gave me one of his half-smiles as I handed him back his jacket.
"It might not be a good idea to hit him," I said to Samuel as we headed to the staircase.
"I can't promise that I won't."
"Just try not to. We want answers."
"Will you mind very much if I hit him after we get answers?"
"Not at all."
"Bloodthirsty wench."
Behind us, Bert chuckled.
We found Malborough and Frakingham in the drawing room with Cara, Ebony and Mrs. Gladstone. I wondered how we could get Ebony out of the room to protect her from the inevitable paranormal discussion, but Samuel didn't seem to care if she found out about hypnosis. He strode up to Malborough, his limp nowhere in sight, and grabbed him by his shirtfront. The golden liquid in the glass Malborough held sloshed over his hand.
"Samuel!" Mrs. Gladstone cried. Ebony gasped.
Cara came to my side and slipped her arm through mine. "This looks interesting."
"Very," I whispered back.
"I say!" Malborough protested as he was pulled to his feet. "What's this?"
"We know you hypnotized Charity," Samuel said.
"Blast," Frakingham muttered into his tumbler before he drained the contents of the glass.
"Hypnotized?" Ebony looked from Malborough to Samuel to Mrs. Gladstone. "What madness is this?"
Nobody answered her.
Malborough looked past Samuel to Bert. "Weak," he sneered. "Pathetic."
"I told you not to do it," Bert protested. "I told you to leave her be."
Malborough shrugged. "You got cold feet. Most people do. Almost all of them change their mind then change it back again, or regret the missed opportunity. I assumed you would be one of them, so I simply went ahead as planned."
"You've done this before, for others?" Samuel asked, shaking him.
Malborough held up his hands, glass and all. "Of course." He frowned at me. "How did you break free, Charity? Or did the hypnosis simply run its course?"
"I pulled her out of it before it was too late," Samuel growled.
Both Malborough and Frakingham stared at him. "You?" Malborough murmured. "How?"
"I'm a hypnotist, like you."
Ebony's gasp filled the room. "Samuel? Explain yourself."
He didn't. He didn't even look at her, but kept his steely gaze on Malborough. Mrs. Gladstone laid a hand on Ebony's arm. "It would seem Lord Malborough here can hypnotize people and hypnotized Miss Charity."
"And Samuel?"
Mrs. Gladstone gave her a single nod. Ebony squeaked in disbelief, or perhaps horror. She covered her mouth and stared, unblinking, at Samuel, as if he were a creature she'd never seen before.
"What about Sylvia?" Samuel asked. "Did you hypnotize her, too?"
Mrs. Gladstone clasped the pearls at her throat. "Dear lord. This gets worse and worse. Well, Lord Malborough? Did you?"
"Of course not," Malborough snapped. "I'm in love with her and she's in love with me."
"She is not," I said. "She despises you. There is no way she would have gone to your room willingly, no matter how many glasses of wine she drank."
He merely shrugged again.
"Lord Frakingham?" I said, appealing to the more reasonable of the two. "Are you aware of what your son has been doing?"
Frakingham had been watching Samuel from beneath heavy lids since Samuel had announced that he could hypnotize too. Now he refilled his glass from the bottle and downed the contents in one gulp. "It's time to tell the truth, Douglas."
"I love her!" Malborough cried. "She came to me because she loves me, too."
Mrs. Gladstone shook her head. "In light of what's happened tonight, I cannot believe that."
"We are imminently suited to one another," he said, less vehemently. "Besides, you cannot unsee what has been seen, Mrs. Gladstone." Malborough bared his teeth and strained against Samuel, but could not pull free. "It's your duty to uphold the standards of society. She needs to wed me or be ruined. You must see that, Mrs. Gladstone!"
Mrs. Gladstone looked down at her lap and shook her head.
"Miss Carstairs?"
Ebony sighed. "I'm not even sure what is going on. I bow to Mrs. Gladstone's wisdom on this."
"But…but…she is ruined! You saw her! She must wed me. She must!"
Samuel shoved him in the chest and Malborough tumbled into the chair. What remained of his drink spilled onto the floor. He set the glass down on a nearby table and shook out his hand, sending droplets onto the rug.
"Bloody hell," he muttered, fixing a fierce glare on Samuel. "You of all people should understand the lure of our power."
"Don't lump me in the same category as you," Samuel said. "I was never like you, even at my worst."
Malborough's response was a low, humorless chuckle. "Is that so?" Samuel looked away and Malborough grinned ruefully. "I thought so."
"He is not like you," Mrs. Gladstone said with an authority that dared anyone to defy her. "What I want to know is, how are you able to hypnotize?"
"I want to know that too," Samuel said.
"Ask him." Malborough tilted his chin at his father. "It's his fault. It's always his fault." He swiped the bottle from the table between himself and his father and refilled his glass. He swallowed the contents in one gulp, just as Frakingham had done.
We waited for Lord Frakingham to say something, but he stared into his glass as if he hadn't heard a single word of the conversation.
"Sir," Samuel said quietly, "am I related to your son in any way?"
"Samuel," his mother whispered, her bravado gone. "Not here. Please."
But Samuel didn't back away from the question. Nobody spoke; not even Ebony, who must have had a thousand burning questions to ask. We all waited for Frakingham's answer.
"There's no blood relation between you," he finally said without glancing up from his glass. "I don't know why you two are alike. Perhaps it's merely a coincidence."
Malborough snorted. "I don't believe in coincidence, especially since Myer can hypnotize too. Does he know about you, Gladstone?"
Samuel nodded, thoughtful. "What do we three have in common?"
"God knows. I'd never met either of you until this visit. Father?"
Lord Frakingham had gone very still. Only his eyes shifted, and they pinpointed Mrs. Gladstone. She met his gaze and her jaw went slack. I think I understood what they had both only now worked out.
"How old are you, Lord Malborough?" I asked.
"Twenty-two. Why?"
"The same age as Samuel. You're right in that you two haven't met, but your parents have, before you were born. Indeed, to be more specific, it's your mothers who link you. Both were with child at the time they last met here, on the day that daguerreotype was taken down by the ruins. Perhaps the hypnotism is a result of something that happened then."
"Bloody hell," Malborough muttered.
"That doesn't explain Myer," Samuel said. "He's in his forties and has been able to hypnotize his entire life."
I had no explanation for Myer's hypnosis, but I did suspect that I was right about the two younger hypnotists.
"What happened down at the abbey?" I asked Mrs. Gladstone and Lord Frakingham.
"Nothing," Mrs. Gladstone said.
Samuel shook his head. "I don't believe you."
"It was a traumatic time," Lord Frakingham added. "Those men disappeared and the police asked so many questions… I've blocked it from my mind, and I'm sure Mrs. Gladstone has, too."
"Something must have caused the hypnosis."
"It's probably the energy," his mother said, her hands clasped in her lap, the knuckles white. "That's all. Just the strange paranormal energy that Mr. Myer says is down there."
"I agree," Frakingham said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to retire. The evening has exhausted me. Good night."
I watched him go with disbelief. He had not
admonished his son for his crimes and he'd brushed off our concerns about the ruins. I liked the man overall, but I was beginning to agree with Malborough. His father was weak, cowardly. I no longer respected him.
"Mother?" Samuel asked.
"Don't," she choked out. "I cannot take it all in. For my silence on the matter of Sylvia's indiscretion—"
"It wasn't her indiscretion!"
Mrs. Gladstone's eyes fluttered closed as if his shout pained her. "For my silence on that matter, I ask that you don't speak about the ruins or the disappearance of those men anymore. Perhaps now you can truly believe that you are our son, a Gladstone, albeit with a…difference that marks you as special."
"Special," Samuel said flatly. "I suppose that's a step up from calling it a disorder." He strode to the window and didn't turn around as his mother rose and left.
"I think I'll retire too," Ebony said in a small voice. "I'm feeling quite overwhelmed."
Bert intercepted her at the door. "Can we have your word that you won't tell a soul about what you learned here tonight?"
She glanced at Samuel's broad, stiff back. For a moment she seemed wistful, then her mouth pursed as if she'd tasted something sour. "There are many things I will be forgetting about this visit. I'm afraid I've wasted my time on a fruitless exercise."
She left, passing Tommy as he entered the drawing room. He looked at each of us in turn, finally settling a bloodcurdling glare on Malborough.
"Can I thrash him now?" he said darkly.
"I say!" Bert declared. "How dare you say such a thing to a peer?"
"Indeed," Marlborough said. He rose to his full height, which was considerably less than Tommy's, but I suspected he felt himself far superior. "You dare to speak to me, man?"
"I dare."
"Tommy," I chided. "Not here. Perhaps later, when everyone's gone to bed and there are no witnesses."
Tommy fisted his hands at his sides, but he made no move to thump anyone.
Malborough's lips peeled back from his teeth, but wisely, he said nothing. Perhaps because Samuel had turned around and kept a watchful gaze on him.
"I have a question," Cara said to Malborough in that lively way she had. "You went to so much trouble to compromise Sylvia in order to get this house back, when all you had to do was hypnotize Langley and convince him to change his will."
Malborough sat down and crossed one leg over the other. It was the pose of a man without a care in the world. I was amazed at his cockiness. "I thought about it, but I knew questions would be raised. With his disability hindering his movements, he cannot make the journey to his lawyers in secret, nor could they come here without everyone wondering why. I could have tried to hypnotize every resident and servant, since I didn't know Gladstone was immune, but there was the matter of Myer. I knew he was a hypnotist. If he suspected some manipulation, the plan would fail. He and Langley are friends, and I doubted he would let me get away with it."
"Friends?" Samuel hedged. "How do you know that?"
Malborough shrugged. "They seem to be on good terms. Myer was helping him with his experiment before the thing was destroyed, and he's been working at Langley's ruins too. Friends, colleagues, fellow madmen…some sort of acquaintance exists. Langley's niece seemed like a far easier option. Would have worked too, if you hadn't been a freak like me, Gladstone."
"He's no freak," I snapped.
Tommy grabbed Malborough's shirtfront as Samuel had done earlier. Once more, Malborough was dragged to his feet. But instead of merely shaking him, Tommy punched him in the gut. Malborough doubled over, clutching his middle, and groaned.
"Miss Langley is not an easier anything," Tommy said between clenched teeth. He let Malborough go and stormed out of the drawing room.
Nobody went to Malborough's aid as he dropped back into his chair with a wheeze.
"I think that's a signal for me to retire too," Cara said. "Good night, everyone. Sleep well."
I went with her, without a backward glance at Samuel. He'd done me a great service that night by rescuing me, but I worried that if I looked at him, I would smile or wink or do something to encourage him. It was safer to keep my distance.
By the time we reached the stairs, Cara and I were both giggling behind our hands. It was cathartic after the tense confrontation.
"He thoroughly deserved that," Cara said as she kissed me goodnight outside my bedroom door. "I cannot wait to tell Sylvia all about it in the morning."
"Me too." I was very much looking forward to seeing her face when we told her she was released from her obligation to marry Malborough.
I slipped inside the bedroom and shut the door. I was in the process of unlacing my stays when I heard a soft thud outside. I warred with myself for an entire minute before I finally gave in and opened the door enough to peek through.
Samuel sat on a chair on the other side of the corridor. He nodded a greeting. "Sorry," he said. "I wasn't as quiet as I'd hoped."
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Making sure Malborough doesn't do anything he shouldn't."
"You can't stay out there all night."
"Why not? The chair is comfortable."
"For one thing, you haven't recovered from your injuries. For another, it certainly is not comfortable. Your mother would have a fainting spell if she knew what you were up to."
"Then don't tell her."
I glared at him through the gap. "Samuel, go back to bed."
"Make me."
Exasperating man. I returned inside and found a footstool, blanket and cushion, and delivered them to him. He thanked me and accepted the items.
"What will the servants think when they see you here in the morning?" I whispered.
"I don't care. They already think me mad anyway."
"That doesn't mean you should confirm their suspicions."
He placed the pillow behind his head and gingerly stretched out his long legs on the footstool. "Besides, it gives them something to gossip about." He crossed his arms over his chest and thrust his chin at me. "You might want to return to your room. Your stays are undone."
I looked down at myself and gasped. Good lord, so much for propriety. I quickly slipped back inside, but not before I saw Samuel's grin.
CHAPTER 12
"So I don't have to marry him?" Sylvia asked cautiously after I relayed the events of the evening before. We were both still in bed, me lying and her sitting.
I propped myself up on my elbow. "Mrs. Gladstone and Ebony have agreed to forget the incident in light of Malborough's coercion."
A smile teased her mouth, but did not break free. It was as if she were too afraid to celebrate, lest it all turn out to be a dream.
"You don't have to marry him," I said again. "Your reputation is safe."
She threw both arms around me with such force I tumbled back under her weight. "Oh, thank you, Charity. Thank you. I'm sorry you had to go through an awful time to discredit him, but it's done now." She pulled me to a sitting position. "Tell me everything he said. Was he defiant or sheepish?"
"A little of both. We must be very alert until he and his father leave. I don't trust him." I wondered if Samuel was still guarding our bedroom door. I'd thought about him ever since waking, but had not checked, despite wanting to very much.
"Does Uncle know?" she asked.
"He might. It's possible Tommy has informed him."
The color rose to her cheeks. "Tommy knows?"
"He was there. He heard everything. He punched Malborough."
"Did he?" That uncertain, hopeful smile returned again and her color deepened. "That's very noble of him."
Far more noble, in fact, than the nobleman himself.
"Come on," I said, scooting out of bed. "Let's go down to breakfast. If Malborough dares show his face, we'll prove to him that we're unaffected by his scheming."
Half an hour later, we opened the bedroom door to see Samuel still sitting in the chair. He looked like he hadn't slept a wink. Dark shadows smudg
ed his eyes, stubble roughed his jaw, and his hair fell across his forehead in unruly wisps. He got to his feet upon seeing us, but I couldn't help noticing the wince and the way he favored his injured side. My heart did a little flip at the sight. He had stayed there all night in considerable discomfort to protect us.
Sylvia gently kissed his cheek. "Thank you," she murmured. "You're as dear to me as a brother. As dear to me as Jack."
Samuel responded by kissing her forehead. "Be careful. Both of you." He glanced at me over the top of her head. "He's still in the house."
"Does Langley know?" I asked.
He nodded. "Tommy came by a few moments ago and said he'd been informed. Langley wants to speak with Frakingham after breakfast, and has ordered Malborough be confined to his room until they leave. Tommy has refused to serve him, so his own valet will have to take him his breakfast."
"Good," I said. "That's more than he deserves."
"It certainly is," Sylvia agreed. "Come on, let's eat. I'm starved."
I let her walk off, but hung back to speak to Samuel. "Are you all right? You look a little pale."
"Perfectly all right." He nudged my arm. "Go on, get some breakfast. I'll be down soon."
Sylvia was long gone before I even reached the stairs. I paused at the sound of whispering voices coming from a sitting room off the landing. The door was open and I recognized the speakers as Mrs. Gladstone and Ebony. I was about to walk swiftly past when something Mrs. Gladstone said rooted me to the floor.
"You cannot leave yet, Miss Carstairs." Mrs. Gladstone's words were more plea than statement. "Don't let yesterday's events put you off."
"It's not the events, it's what I learned from them," Ebony said. "I cannot possibly stay now."
Mrs. Gladstone didn't respond for several beats. "I thought you didn't believe in the supernatural."
"Ghosts and the like, no. But hypnosis is real enough. I think." Ebony huffed out a breath. "Besides, I'm not talking about Samuel being a hypnotist. I could, perhaps, live with that. What I've learned is far more damning."
"What do you mean?"
"He's in love with that woman." She said "that woman" as if she could hardly bear to even speak it, let alone acknowledge his feelings for me. She had no idea that her words sent my heart soaring. She would probably be horrified if she knew.
