"It would make everything complete for me," Tess said. "After all, if it weren't for you, I never would have found my family again."
"And your memory?" Bert inquired with professional concern.
"A few snatches of things have come back, mostly about my parents. I can see their faces more clearly in my mind. But nothing really concrete yet."
"Well, now that you are back home to stay, I'm sure your memory will return soon."
"Speaking of which," Tess said and then turned to Luke. "Luke, would you mind if I had a minute alone with Max? Patient-client privilege? You understand."
If he could have glared at her, he would have, Tess knew. Instead, all Luke could do was smile, say "Of course," and leave the room.
The minute the door was closed, Bert burst out laughing. "Tess, baby, you were great! How the hell did you pull it off?"
"I told you patience was a virtue, Bert. The accumulation of evidence overwhelmed the old lady to the point that she was begging me to wear the Farleigh."
"I knew you were the one to pull this off. I knew it!"
"Ah now, Bert, don't make me blush. Look," Tess said, taking his arm and pulling him away from the window, her voice low, "I'm serious about you turning up tomorrow afternoon. These papers I'll be signing will bring me into beaucoup bucks right off the bat, with more to follow when the old lady finally kicks the bucket. I figure tomorrow afternoon you and I can go off by ourselves for a minute. I'll be wearing the necklace, we make the switch with the paste job, and you walk out into early retirement."
"Sounds good, babe. I need to make a few plans myself. I'll meet you here at two. Just one thing: this Mansfield goon seemed a bit tense. Is he going to mess things up?"
Tess laughed. "Bert, I've got that poor guy so tied up in knots, he doesn't know whether he's coming or going. He was tense because you interrupted us in the middle of a … private conversation.
Bert guffawed.
"The guy's neutralized, Bert. There's no need to worry."
"That's my girl, every angle covered." Bert walked to the door and then turned to beam at Tess once again. "You did good, babe. You came through like a pro."
"What can I say? You taught me well."
Bert laughed and walked from the parlor.
* * *
Jane, Luke, and Tess stood on the flagstone front steps of the Cushman mansion waving good-bye to the last of Jane's guests a little after five on Sunday afternoon.
"My, that was fun!" Jane said.
"You're not the one who smiled nonstop for seventy-two hours," Tess said with a groan. "My jaws will never be the same again."
Jane chuckled and put an arm around Tess's waist, leading her back into the house, Luke trailing behind. "You were marvelous, my dear. Everyone was billing and cooing over you. I was very proud."
"You know a good bunch of people, Jane," Tess said. "The weekend was no hardship … except for the incessant smiling."
Jane patted her hand. "Now that you are officially my granddaughter, I think it's time to let you in on a family secret. Come along, Tess, there's something in my bedroom you ought to see."
"Jane, are you sure this is the right time?" Luke said.
"It is time and past time," Jane retorted. "Come along."
"What's going on?" Tess asked as they walked upstairs.
"It is time you knew the truth about yourself, Elizabeth," Jane said.
Puzzled by a secret that had Luke looking worried, Tess entered Jane's inner sanctum. It was a large room with an Art Deco design. Books lined one wall, a pale green carpet covered the floor.
"Have you ever seen a picture of my great-grandmother?" Jane asked. "No? She was very beautiful, even in her seventies and eighties. The women in my family have always been long-lived, you know. I inherited her portrait from my mother and I have always treasured it. My great-grandmother, you see, had the drollest sense of humor, and she never coddled me as the rest of my family did. I always went into her company with a sense of relief and freedom. She was a priceless treasure. As are you, my dear. That's her portrait, over the bureau."
Wondering what in the world Jane was up to, Tess obligingly looked up at the portrait.
It was a picture of a woman in a sea-green antebellum ball gown, a woman who was Tess's twin.
She felt as if someone had just punched the air from her lungs.
"I don't understand," she managed to say.
"You see, Tess," Jane said gently, "while I have always suspected that your Dr. Weinstein was a fraud, I have known that you are Elizabeth from the moment you first entered this house."
"We know you came here to work a con, Tess," Luke said quietly. "We know all about that monster you call Bert. We know about the threats he made against our lives. We know he wants the Farleigh."
The world was crashing around Tess, lacerating her heart with jagged chunks of glass. Nothing lasts forever.
"How … do you know?" she said raggedly.
"Baldwin Security has been taping his every move," Luke replied. "Bert got careless on Wednesday. We got your entire meeting on video."
Tess swayed with sudden vertigo. So Luke knew she had betrayed him and he'd been using her ever since to get a little of his own back. She was Margo Holloway all over again.
Every moment in his arms had been a lie and she hadn't known!
"So that's why you avoided me Thursday and Friday," she said, feeling dead inside.
"Avoided you?" Luke said with a frown. "I was working, Tess. I wasn't avoiding you. I thought about you every minute of those two days. I've been so distracted by you that my work went to hell and my staff broke out in open rebellion. I had to work so I could have this weekend free. So I could be with you."
"Very pretty. But if you knew about the con," Tess said in a low voice, trying not to let them see the trembling that threatened to overwhelm her, "why did you let me make a fool of myself this weekend? Why didn't you throw me out or call the cops? Why did you… Last night… I don't understand."
"The con never mattered to either of us, Tess," Luke said gently. "You stole our hearts the moment you first entered this house. We love you. That is all that matters."
"You are my granddaughter," Jane said firmly, "whatever your purpose in coming to me. That is all I care about."
For one brief moment the world spun wildly around her, and then Tess got a firm grip on herself. Despite the harsh pounding of her heart, she shook her head again.
"No. If you know about Bert, then the jig is up. Take the wish out of your hearts and accept that I am a fraud. Bert probably knew about this portrait and that's why he chose me—because of the physical resemblance. I've told you and told you and told you: I'm not Elizabeth. I'm not!"
"It isn't only the physical resemblance to my great-grandmother, Tess," Jane said. "You have the appendix scar from an acute appendicitis attack that Dr. Weston tells me probably occurred when you were four. That is when Elizabeth had her appendix removed. You have the scar behind your right knee that not even your Bert could have known about. You were two and you accidentally dropped a glass of juice in the kitchen. It shattered, you slipped and fell, and a shard of glass punctured the skin behind your knee."
The dizziness returned. For one horrific moment, Tess felt glass cutting into her leg. Pain stabbed into her knee and thrust up into her head like a sword. Slowly she rubbed her temples.
"Stop it," she said. "I don't want to be cruel, but you're deluding yourself, Jane. I know every inch of this house because I memorized the blueprints Bert copped. Everything I said about Elizabeth was lines Bert fed me."
"Yes, of course," Jane said soothingly. "But there are times when you are reading a book or eating a meal, when you look exactly like John. You even have Eugenie's mannerisms."
"And you have Elizabeth's laugh," Luke said.
"No!" Tess said. It was harder for her lungs to pull in oxygen.
"Tess, Bert probably knew that you are Elizabeth," Luke said, his hands on her shoulders. But
she couldn't feel them. The heat of his skin didn't penetrate the arctic chill that was suffocating her. "That's why he used you. He was probably a partner of Hal Marsh's, or maybe he had something on Marsh, who knows? But it gave him a line on you and—"
"Hal Marsh?" Tess whispered. She couldn't feel her lips. Her breath came in gasps.
"Barbara Carswell told me that she bought you from someone named Hal Marsh," Luke said. "I've got Leroy Baldwin trying to track him down now. Once we get a line on him—"
"The Carswells bought me from Hal Marsh?" Tess said. She couldn't see Luke. She was in a black vortex sucking the air from her lungs.
Dimly, she was aware that Luke's grip on her shoulders had tightened. "Tess, what is it? What's wrong?"
"I … I can't breathe! I can't—"
The vortex pulled her under and she plunged into darkness.
* * *
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
« ^ »
Luke stood in a corner of Elizabeth's shadowed bedroom, the faint light of a bedside table lamp illuminating Jane's pale skin as she sat on the bed beside
Tess, who was still unconscious. Dr. Weston had left two hours ago, telling them that Tess was merely suffering from shock and to keep her warm and let her rest. Luke had stood in this corner since then, and Jane had sat at Tess's side holding her hand or brushing a wisp of hair from her forehead.
"I should never have told her in that manner," Jane said for the tenth time that hour.
"I think Tess would have had the same reaction no matter how you told her," Luke said gently. "Her mind was used to hiding the truth, not facing it. Don't punish yourself."
Tess began to stir, her head restless on the pillow, a frown tightening her face.
"What is it? What's wrong with her?" Jane said.
Luke walked to the bed and knelt beside her. "Tess told me she has nightmares. She'll be all right."
"Nightmares," Jane said dully, staring down at Tess. "Her life has been a nightmare and there was nothing I could do to protect her."
"But she inherited your strength, Jane, and that helped her to survive. She's here now and she cares for you very much. Hold on to that and not the pain."
Tess suddenly screamed. Terror and despair poured into the room before Jane enfolded her in her arms, slowly rocking her.
"It's all right, my dear," she crooned. "Grandmother is here. You're not alone. I won't leave you, I promise."
With a sigh as if a great weight had been lifted from her, Tess slumped in her arms and Jane laid her gently back on the bed. A moment later, Tess was deeply asleep as Jane continued to hold her hand, staring down at her, motionless.
Luke, however, couldn't stand still a moment longer. He stalked to the window overlooking the back gardens.
"Luke?"
"Yes, Jane?"
"I am not a violent woman. But if I ever find the men who did this to my granddaughter, I will kill them."
"I'll help you."
"Poor child," Jane murmured, turning back to Tess. "So many terrible things to remember."
Luke turned to Jane, compassion in his eyes. Poor Jane, she had had to live through so many terrible things of her own. But she had been right all along. Elizabeth had survived the kidnapping and now Jane had her granddaughter back. That was all that mattered. He smiled as he remembered how easily she had reeled him in on Wednesday after they had watched the Baldwin Security tape. A devious woman was Jane Cushman.
"And what will become of Tess?" she had asked on Wednesday.
"I think that I had better steer her into a less murky future."
"Good boy. I do trust that your intentions toward my granddaughter are honorable?"
"Strictly honorable," Luke assured her with a grin … which evaporated. "Granddaughter?"
"Yes, of course."
Feeling grim, Luke rose from his chair and did his best to loom over Jane. "I've danced to your tune long enough, Mrs. Cushman. Just what is going on? What do you know that I don't?"
Jane, far from being intimidated, smiled and patted his arm as if he were five. "I'll tell you in a moment, dear. But first, tell me something. What made you trust Tess in the face of that horrible video?"
Luke had searched his heart and answered slowly. "I love her. With all of the reasons not to staring me in the face, I love her. I trust myself. I trust my instincts. I wouldn't have fallen in love with another Margo. I've got too many defenses in place. I know Tess's heart. However good a con she is, she can't be the Jekyll and Hyde that miserable tape made her. It's not in her to be that unfeeling and cold. That's the only thing anyone needs to know about Tess."
Jane poured brandy into two glasses and handed him one. "I think a short engagement would be best."
Luke saluted her with his glass. "Very short. And now, Mrs. Cushman, will you please tell me why, in spite of all that you have seen and heard, you still believe Tess to be Elizabeth?"
Jane took her time, sipping her brandy, pale blue eyes twinkling at him, fully aware of his impatience. "First, there are a few small things, subtle things that no one but I would notice. There have been times when Tess thought herself alone and unobserved and she held her head in such a way or stood in such another way, and I was looking at Eugenie or John. She has their mannerisms, Luke. Certainly, Tess could have learned about the playhouse and Fred and the swing, but she could not have known how to tilt her head the way John used to do when he was lost in thought."
Jane's words were like a prizefighter's blow to Luke's midsection. "My God," he said, "you're right! When we've argued, something would nag at me and I didn't realize what it was until just now. When Tess gets angry, she looks like Eugenie, she sounds like Eugenie! The resemblance is uncanny."
"Yes, it is, isn't it?" Jane said with a smile.
"But there's more," Luke said suspiciously. "There has to be more. You were certain Tess was Elizabeth before she ever moved into this house. Come on, Jane Cushman, give!"
Jane had smiled a sphinxlike smile. "I'll show you tonight when we get home, dear."
* * *
Now the secrets were out and Luke stood watching over the woman he loved with Jane. Tess was white and still. She looked so fragile.
Kill the men who had done this to Tess? Who had stolen safety and love and happiness from her? Oh no. Slow torture wouldn't even be satisfying enough. Sitting in this child's room, he thought of the strong-willed happy child he had known, and the strong-willed haunted woman he loved, and he felt a ravening need to do something, anything. And all he could do now was wait.
The hours slowly passed. Neither he nor Jane felt like making conversation. Neither of them felt like eating. Finally, as the clock on the mantel began to chime three o'clock, Luke rose and walked over to Jane.
"You should go to bed," he said. "I'll watch over her."
"I told her I would stay."
Luke gripped her shoulder and made her look at him. "Jane, you're exhausted. Tess will sleep for hours yet. It's in the morning that she'll need all your strength and love. She still has a lot to get through. As you said, she has too many terrible things to remember. Go to bed, Jane. Take care of yourself so you can take care of her."
Jane sighed and rose stiffly to her feet. "Very well," she said. "But if Tess so much as stirs one toe, I want you to wake me."
"You have my word," Luke said, kissing her forehead.
Jane walked to the door and then turned back for a moment. "Luke?"
"Yes?"
"I'm very glad that you love her."
Luke smiled. "So am I, Jane. So am I."
For the next three hours, Tess did not stir and Luke's eyes never left her face. She looked so young, so helpless, like the child she had never had the chance to fully be. How he wished he had a magic wand that could give her back all that had been taken from her, but he could not. All that he could do was love her now and forever, giving her the life that she deserved and needed.
The clock on the mantel softly chimed six o'clock and suddenly Tess's
eyes flew open. "Time to get up," she announced in a child's voice.
Luke was so startled that he laughed. "Is it?"
Tess frowned and slowly the cloud cleared from her blue eyes. She turned her head on the pillow. "Luke?" It was her own voice.
"Yes, my love?"
"I feel … so odd. Where am I?"
"In bed."
"I don't remember…"
"It's all right," Luke said, his long fingers smoothing the frown from her brow. "Don't try to force anything."
"I feel like I swallowed a bottle of barbiturates." Tess stopped and looked up at him. "Did I?"
"No."
"Then why does my body feel so drugged?"
"You're still feeling the aftereffects of shock. Just relax and it will pass off soon enough."
"Shock?" Tess closed her eyes for a moment, her face tight with concentration. Then her eyes flew back open. "Luke! I—I—I'm Elizabeth!"
"Yes, my love, I know."
Tess jerked up into a sitting position and stared straight ahead. "I'm Elizabeth," she whispered. She began to shake so violently that her teeth chattered.
Luke sat on the narrow bed beside her and pulled her into his arms, frightened by how cold she felt, his stomach knotting as she continued to shake in his arms.
"Easy, my love, easy," he murmured.
"Oh God, Luke," Tess gasped, "the nightmare was real!" She uttered a sob that sounded as if it had been ripped from her. It was followed by another, and then another, until she was weeping uncontrollably in his arms.
He held her tight and crooned to her and rocked her and still the weeping continued. He knew that it had to be this way. He knew that twenty years of pain and terror were finally being released. She had to go through this if she was ever going to reach the other side of the violence acted upon her so long ago. And he hated it. And he was grateful that he could hold her when she needed that so much.
She wept for over an hour, as if drawing from a twenty-year-old well of tears. Then slowly the crying calmed, her body lost some of its tension, her breathing became easier. Luke reached over and pulled several tissues from the box on the bedside table. He gently dried her tearstained face and told her to blow her nose. Then he held her close once again and continued to rock her, crooning words of love until Tess's heavy eyelids closed. Without a word, she fell into an exhausted sleep.
STOLEN HEARTS Page 20
