Signs of Love and Deliverance

by Tracy Kay

  “Where do we start?”

  “By asking the Parkers some questions. Madeline went to their home to tell Joselyn they are to move in with us until this is over and to help them pack. They should still be there.”

  Nicholas rapped loudly on the carriage and yelled the new destination to the driver.

  Farrington leaned back in his chair and folded his fingers across his stomach and slowly tapped his thumbs together. “Hmm, Parker is dead and they think I did it. An interesting concept. I can do something with this. I can finally get that land I want and this time with little fuss. It won’t be difficult getting rid of the rest of the Parkers, and perhaps, I can eliminate Kenrik along with them.”

  Farrington sneered wickedly as the plan began to form. Kenrik had been a thorn in his side for several years, and it was time it was removed. He will rectify that disastrous attempt to getting the Parker’s land so many years ago. Thinking about it always made him furious. Those buffoons he hired made too many mistakes and he didn’t intend on there being any more. For this problem, however, he wouldn’t need to hire anyone. “Sellsby!” he shouted for his butler. “Sellsby!”

  A man in his mid-forties entered the room, slightly shaking. When his master yelled like that, it was always a good idea to be afraid. He would give anything to leave Farrington’s employ, but Farrington had threatened to harm his family if he left. When Sellsby hadn’t heeded the warning, Farrington showed him just how cruel he was by burning his house down while his family barely escaped with their lives. He would work for Farrington until he or Farrington died, as would all of his employees. Bowing stiffly, he muttered meekly, “Yes, my lord?”

  “Send round for my sons. I have a chore for them.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Sellsby quickly bowed and left to do the lord’s bidding.

  Joselyn was not amused. She covertly observed the other four people at the table having a light afternoon meal. Her brother, Jeremy, with unruly, dark brown hair and soft, brown eyes was wolfing down his food like it was his last meal. Henry Cummings was leaning back in his seat. He was Roger Cummings’ younger brother by one year and was a less handsome version of his brother with a weak chin, short, slight build, light brown hair and pale blue eyes that seemed almost colorless. Aunt Beatrice believed him to be a good catch. Zachary and Roger had been friends for years and they had always invited Henry to their outings. Why, she would never know. He was as dull as toast. Not only was he boring, but his family had less money and social standing than hers with rumors of scandal attached to them. She would never marry such a man.

  Aunt Beatrice had invited him today in hopes that their common bond of losing a brother would bring them together. Currently, Joselyn was forced to tolerate his presence at her table while he casually sipped his tea, adding a few words to the conversation now and again as if it were a regular occurrence for him to dine with a Cathcart. It was probably his first time at the same table with Madeline Cathcart, and there she was including him as if he were a close friend. Joselyn hated the way Madeline treated everyone as if they were her equal. There could be a street urchin sitting at her table and Madeline would treat him as if he were a prince.

  Beatrice was daintily picking at her food while listening intently to Madeline’s advice. Madeline hadn’t touched her food, as if it wasn’t good enough for her pampered taste buds. Madeline was insisting that they move in with them, the Cathcarts. Good god, how could she stand living with them indefinitely? She would have to be more careful about her activities and she would have to end her relationship with her current lover. She did not want to do that, but with Zachary’s death, the threats, and now the Cathcarts’ involvement, she didn’t have a choice but to call it off.

  Joselyn had been with Charles only a few times, barely starting the process. He was a fat merchant with a lot of money and desperate for a wife. He was easy to manipulate, and he was one of those men who liked the woman in control. She could have made enough money off this one to last her for a year, maybe longer.

  Joselyn had been using men for the past few years, and she enjoyed shattering their little lives. She had taken her first lover when she was sixteen. The gardener at their country estate had invited his cousin, Manuel Parez, to stay the summer and work as a stable hand. Joselyn had allowed Manuel to use her that summer and to teach her the arts of love. He was the only man she had ever allowed that kind of control over her, and control her, he did. When he had called, she had come running, knowing that if she hadn’t complied with his wishes, he would have punished her sexually and physically. At times, the bruises and welts from his discipline had been so painful, she had been barely able to move, but she had accepted his abuse and had permitted him to use her. She had hated every minute of it, but she had learned what she wanted to know: how to drive a man crazy with lust, how to beg, how not to give anything away, and how to use a man for her own purposes. Manuel had been an excellent teacher.

  Actually, she had no choice but to use men. She needed their money if she was going to maintain her standard of living and associate herself with families like the Cathcarts, Malanys, and Collins. Joselyn used her friends, Madeline, Gretchen and Corinna for their social status; otherwise, she would be no one in society and she could never allow that. Her father had been only a minor baron and they were not wealthy. The wealth they did have was in land and one coal mine that did not produce enough to her satisfaction. She supposed some people would consider them prosperous, but she didn’t, which led her to using men for the wealth and for the power she coveted.

  Joselyn used men lower in social status than she because it was too dangerous using men from her own class. She was not going to be forced to marry some man she could make to look the fool. She was determined never to marry because that to her meant giving up control, and that, she would never do. Her lessons from Manuel gave her a fear of being punished and controlled by a man, and she would not get involved with one who was dominant of character or superior with power.

  She chose her prey very carefully. She manipulated men, allowing them to believe she loved them and she would marry them. She became their lover with promises of great wealth and social status of which she had neither. In turn, they lavished her with gifts and money. On the most part, she was able to avoid the act of intercourse, ending the relationship before it ever got that far. She was careful to never take a lover who was more experienced than she because she feared he would gain control. She did not enjoy the physical interactions of an affair, but sometimes it was unavoidable, and she considered it a necessary part of her plans. Once she had gained what she desired, money and control, she extricated herself from the affair, usually with the excuse that her brother wouldn’t allow her to marry a man beneath her social class, and if they ran away together, they would have nothing. If that excuse did not work, she found a way to blackmail him, and then she moved on to her next conquest.

  Joselyn’s affairs never lasted longer than the season, at which time she ended things and returned to her country home. She did not believe she was harming anyone; however, she kept her affairs secret and everyone close to her believed she was an innocent. Her family, friends, and acquaintances had no inkling that she was involved in such an unsavory business.

  “I have no intention of leaving my home, Lady Madeline.” The elderly lady was saying, drawing Joselyn’s attention. “I have lived here for thirty years and I intend on dying here.” Aunt Beatrice’s emphatic reply gave Joselyn an idea of a way to avoid living with the Cathcarts.

  Joselyn smiled persuasively. “Aunt Bea, it is too dangerous for you to be here alone. You must come with Jeremy and myself.” She knew that old woman wouldn’t agree. Once she made a decision, she would never change it. She was too stubborn and Joselyn couldn’t leave her poor, old aunt all alone, now could she.

  “No, Joselyn, dear. I have made up my mind,” Beatrice replied determinedly.

  “But Aunt Bea,” Joselyn began, “you will be safer with the Cathcarts. It is only for a sho
rt time until Farrington is caught.” Joselyn held her breath, waiting for her aunt’s answer.

  “It is my experience that when a body gets as old as I am, it does not survive long out of its element. Besides, what would Farrington want with an old crone like me. I do not have any money or property for him to kill me over. The only thing I have is this old house, and for everything else, I have always had to rely on the goodness of others such as your dear brothers and yourself. No, if I am to die, I will die here.”

  “I am sure you won’t die, Lady Beatrice,” Henry commented. “But if this Farrington fellow is as dangerous as you say he is, perhaps you should stay with the Cathcarts.”

  “I will be perfectly fine, my dear Lord Henry,” Beatrice pronounced, smiling at the young man. Beatrice had known the Cummings family for years. Henry’s grandmother had been like a sister to her. It seemed only natural to her that her friend’s grandsons were friends with her great nephew, Zachary. If she had still been alive, Beatrice was certain her friend would have approved of a match between Henry and Joselyn. Beatrice so hoped that Joselyn would accept his proposal.

  “Then I will stay here with you,” Joselyn stated determinedly.

  “You will not,” Beatrice said indignantly. “You and your brother are the ones Farrington is after, and I will not have you two children locked up with an old woman. You go to the Cathcarts. They are good, reliable people.”

  “Aunt Bea, I am a bit uncomfortable around Lord Kenrik. No offense, Maddy, but he really does frighten me.” Joselyn didn’t want to be anywhere near Brandon, let alone live in the same house. He was too perceptive and he seemed to know what she was thinking and feeling. He scared the wits out of her. She had to convince her aunt that she should stay here with her. “Now that I think about it, I don’t know if this is such a good idea. Perhaps I will send Jeremy there, but I will stay with you, Aunt Bea.”

  “Kenrik is only a man like the rest of us, Joselyn,” Henry retorted. “And it seems to me that you should be more frightened of this Farrington fellow. If he is the one who killed Roger and Zachary and he was after me, I would seek out anyone who could help me. You are welcome to stay at my estate with Mother and I if that would make you feel more comfortable,” Henry offered hopefully, but knowing that Beatrice would object.

  “Thank you for the offer, Lord Henry dear, but that would be improper for my niece. Your mother is not well enough to act as a proper chaperone.” Beatrice kindly refused his offer much to Joselyn’s relief. Joselyn would not have enjoyed staying at the Cummings estate and having to suffer Henry’s constant attention.

  “I understand perfectly,” Henry replied, hiding his disappointment.

  Filling in the awkward silence, Madeline questioned, “You believe your brother was killed, Lord Henry?” She thought everyone but Joselyn believed Lord Roger had died of heart failure.

  “I do not believe my brother had a weak heart any more than I believe Zachary’s rifle exploded, Lady Madeline. My brother was young and fit, and I believe he was murdered. How and why, I do not know. I can only speculate that it had something to do with Zachary’s death, that my brother knew something, or was involved in some way.” Henry stopped and took a deep breath, trying to control the intense emotions he felt over the loss of his brother.

  Madeline regarded him sadly. “I am so sorry, Lord Henry. I wish there was something I could do.”

  Henry reached across the table and patted her hand in appreciation. “You are, Lady Madeline, by taking in the Parkers. I feel better knowing they will be safe under your brothers’ protection.”

  Madeline gave him a weak smile and slid her hand out from under his. She picked up her teacup and brought it to her lips to cover her grimace of distaste.

  “Perhaps you will feel better, Lord Henry, but I will not.” Joselyn was infuriated. He was ruining everything, the meddling man. “I don’t wish to be in a house with Lord Kenrik.”

  “Child, I don’t understand this hostility towards Lord Kenrik. Perhaps he is an unusual man, but he is also a kind man despite the difficult life he has led. He is also a very appealing man and knows how to . . . to attract a woman. He can be quite unsettling, that rascal, even for an old lady such as myself. Did you know he is my physician?” Beatrice said, trying to explain to her niece that Lord Kenrik was a good man and she had nothing to fear.

  Startled and disbelieving that such a man healed people, Joselyn responded, “No, I did not. I thought he dabbled in the shipping business and played the merchant.”

  “Oh yes, Brandon is a very good physician, but there is nothing playful about Brandon and his businesses, Joselyn,” Madeline replied, knowing him better than most. “He may captain his ship now and again, but he is a partner in a very large shipping business, which by the way is run by women.”

  “Quite unorthodox,” Beatrice chimed in. “But I do applaud the women, and the men who allow them to run it. All the male partners are silent, I hear, and perfectly content to let the ladies run it. And it is run by one particular lady with a formidable will, the Countess of Ravenleigh. She is a very wealthy lady and has become more so with the shipping business, I hear.

  “She is the primary investor and they have tripled their investments,” Madeline added. “Brandon may seem nonchalant about his family and his businesses, but he takes it all very seriously.”

  “Not to mention he is the best physician I have ever had,” Beatrice commented. “He knows when I am exaggerating an illness so I can get a day of rest, and you know what he always tells me?”

  “What is that, Aunt Bea?” Joselyn asked, smiling patiently and hiding her irritation that she hadn’t known Madeline’s brother was her aunt’s doctor. It was bad enough that he played the merchant and captain of a ship, but it was positively preposterous and unseemly for a Lord of the Realm to be a physician. It simply wasn’t done.

  “Yes, please, do tell.” Henry leaned back in his chair quite bored with the conversation. He didn’t care to hear about Lord Kenrik’s glowing attributes. After all, he was a man like any other.

  Beatrice went on, doing her best to imitate Brandon. “He says ‘Beatrice, you don’t need my permission to stay in bed. If you want to pretend you are sick, you go right ahead, but don’t complain to me when your back aches and you can’t get out of bed. The more you stay in bed, the more your back will ache, and the harder it will be to get out of bed.”

  Madeline laughed. “That sounds like Brandon.”

  “It is because of his sound advice I get out of bed every morning whether I want to or not. I don’t complain about my pains unless I can’t take it anymore, and then and only then, will he give me something. That man knows me better than anyone, even myself.

  “It sounds like you care about him, Aunt Bea, but I . . .” Joselyn began, once more trying to avoid what seemed now inevitable.

  “Lord Kenrik may frighten you, my dear, but he doesn’t mean to. You can trust him and he will do his best to protect you. Isn’t that right, Madeline?” Beatrice questioned, needing confirmation.

  “That is right, Lady Beatrice. Brandon will do everything he can and so will Nicholas,” Madeline reassured Joselyn, not understanding her reluctance.

  “Ah, yes, Nicholas that scamp,” Beatrice giggled girlishly with a twinkle in her eye. “He is a handsome one and the ladies are quite taken with him. I imagine you can trust him too, if he is anything like his brother, which I am sure he is.” Beatrice sat up straight in her chair and in a no-nonsense tone said, “No more excuses. You are going to the Cathcarts’ where you will be safe. Besides, with me here, it might confuse old Farrington.” Beatrice pointed a long, bony finger at Joselyn. “I want you to obey those boys. They know best on how to keep you safe.”

  “And we will do everything we can to ensure that you and your family are safe, Lady Joselyn,” Brandon stated as he and Nicholas entered the dining room.

  “I am sure you will,” Joselyn said, trying one last time. “But I will not leave my aunt here alone.” />
  “Don’t be silly child. I will be fine.” Beatrice waved her niece’s excuse away.

  “You are not staying here alone, Lady Beatrice,” Brandon commanded.

  “I won’t be alone, my dear,” Beatrice argued. “I have my servants and Pookey to keep me company.”

  Brandon was amused by the image of little Pookey, a white toy poodle, fending off Farrington. “Your poodle is no protection, Lady Beatrice.”

  “But I won’t be alone,” she said stubbornly.

  “The dog can’t bark, Aunt Bea,” Jeremy mumbled, pausing from his feast now that he had something to say.

  “Why can’t the dog bark?” Henry inquired curiously.

  “He was barking at and harassing the neighbor’s cat, Toodles, and she bit Pookey’s throat and damaged the vocal cords. Toodles lost her ear for the effort,” Jeremy explained casually and went back to eating his food.

  Nicholas shook his head at the boy and directed his attention to Beatrice, “You can’t stay here alone, Lady Beatrice.”

  “I will not leave my home!” Beatrice slapped her hand down on the table, emphasizing that her decision was final.

  Brandon chuckled at her antics and agreed to let her stay against his better judgment. “All right Lady Beatrice, you can stay, but if I think it becomes too dangerous, you will move to our estate.” Although he was allowing her to stay, he had a feeling he was going to regret it.

  “Aunt Beatrice, are you sure you don’t mind staying here alone? I can stay with you.” Joselyn had little hope that the old woman would agree to let her stay now. Why did Brandon have to show up? With a little more effort, Joselyn could have convinced her aunt that she should stay here with her.

  “You are going, my dear, and that is final!” Beatrice slapped her hand on the table again.