Midnight Secrets

by Jennifer St Giles

  All was not well between Sean and his illegitimate brother.

  “Please excuse me.” I backed away. Turning on rubbery legs, I ran down the path, past the stables and garden maze, heading directly for the castle. I slid inside, closing the huge door behind me. Then I shut my eyes and tried to breathe. My sides hurt and most likely had bruises.

  “Where is your mob cap? Your hair is completely indecent. I’ll have a word with you immediately in my office.” Mrs. Frye clanged her teacup on the counter from where she stood next to Mrs. Murphy and left the room. Scones scented the air along with cinnamon.

  “Yes, ma’am.” I followed her back to her desk, which seemed even more buried beneath papers and bills.

  “I’ll not tolerate my staff being improper at any time!”

  Outrage and heat flooded me. “I wasn’t.”

  “Your unbound hair is telling enough. Tomorrow, there will be no meals and you will scrub every floor downstairs.”

  I cringed at the thought, but didn’t argue. “I am sincerely sorry, ma’am. I meant no harm.”

  She studied my face. “You are looking very pale. Are you having a bairn?”

  “What?” I cried out.

  “Are you pregnant? Has Seamus gotten hold of you, girl?” She shook her head. “No, you can’t be. You haven’t been here that long. So what is your ailment then?”

  “I think you work her too hard, Ma.” Stuart spoke from just behind me.

  Startled, I jerked to the side so I could see him.

  “You don’t need to be interfering into my affairs, Stuart Frye.”

  “Then don’t punish her for what God gave her. It would be no different than punishing Jamie for what God didn’t give him.”

  Mrs. Frye gasped and turned as white as her stark collar.

  Stuart ignored his mother’s reaction. “Cassie gets her meals and all of the maids will scrub the floors and have it done in an hour, rather than a day. That’s if they need scrubbing at all. And since her punishment is settled, I need to speak with Cassie about Jamie a moment.”

  Mrs. Frye glared at her son. “Stuart Frye, I’ll not have you turning into your fa—”

  “Don’t you dare say it.” He slapped the doorframe with the palm of his hand. “Cassie, would you mind waiting for me in the kitchen?”

  I glanced at Mrs. Frye and she gave me a tight-lipped nod. Stuart stepped aside and I hurried out, but I didn’t go all the way to the kitchens, I stopped in the corridor, just out of sight and pressed my back against the wall, hoping I could hear more.

  “It’s Mary again,” Stuart said.

  “What do you mean, again?” Mrs. Frye cried out. “She’s gone, and good riddance. She almost killed him.”

  I bit my lip and dug my nails into my palm. The anger and hate I heard in Mrs. Frye’s voice gave me a chill.

  Stuart sighed. “She tried to help him. Tried to teach him to read and write.”

  “No! What she did was made him think that he was normal. That he deserved more in life. She knew he loved her, and she made him believe that he could…he could…”

  “Be a man?” Stuart said harshly. “Unfortunately, Mother, he is one, and you’re going to have to stop hating us because of it. Jamie is confusing Cassie with Mary. He just dragged her from the beach to the Stone Virgins.”

  “Dear God. I’ll dismiss her! She’ll be gone in minutes.”

  “And is that what you’re going to do the next time, and the next? Keep sending women away rather than fix the problem? I think with Cassie’s help, we can get Jamie over this.”

  “What makes you think she’ll help us?”

  “Two reasons. After being attacked herself, she worried about Jamie being hurt. And she didn’t tell the Killdaren.”

  “What did ya say?”

  “You heard me. The Killdaren was up and out riding in broad daylight.”

  “But that’s impossible—”

  “Apparently not. I’ll have Cass—”

  I didn’t wait to hear anymore, but scurried quickly to the kitchens and had just planted my bottom in a chair by the fire when Stuart walked into the room. Mrs. Murphy raised her brows at me but didn’t say a word.

  Stuart came and stood by the fire. Feet spread apart as if manning the helm of a ship, he held his hands out, warming them. “Fire’s an interesting thing, don’t you think, Miss Cassie?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “One can’t help but watch it, to stare into its depths and wonder at its power. It fascinates us. We can’t live without it. And it will kill in a flash. Like water you might say. Come walk with me a moment, and I’ll have you back safely before the evening meal.”

  With both his mother and Mrs. Murphy aware that I was with him, I didn’t fear for my life. And I was more than curious about what Stuart had to say about Mary.

  I knew my cousin well; there wasn’t a malicious grain of sand between her toes. So how could she have done anything to garner so much hatred from a rational person?

  I stood. “The evening meal will start shortly.” I suddenly realized I hadn’t seen Bridget in a long time. My stomach knotted as I remembered Jamie following us from the village last time. “Mrs. Murphy, has Bridget returned from the village yet?”

  She frowned. “No, lass. I haven’t seen her. She’s late.”

  Stuart sighed, as if too burdened to carry another potato in his sack. “I’m sure she’s fine. I’ll check with my mother about Bridget’s expected return while you make sure she isn’t in your room. Meet me in the garden as soon as you are done.”

  Swallowing the sudden lump in my throat, I nodded and hurried up to the room I shared with Bridget. Everything was as we had left it that morning. After splashing water on my face and gathering another mob cap, I found Stuart waiting outside the kitchens, just before the entrance to the formal gardens.

  “My mother expected Bridget back an hour ago. I don’t think there is any cause for worry, but we’ll walk toward the village as we talk.”

  “Why did Jamie drag me to the woods?”

  Stuart didn’t answer immediately. He seemed to be thinking of what to say so I scanned the area, searching thoroughly as we passed the stables, even though it was unlikely Bridget was there. It wasn’t until I didn’t see Sean astride his horse that I realized I’d been looking for him. My anticipation irritated me, and I thought of Stuart’s assessment of fire and water. Sean was the same for me.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard about Mary,” Stuart finally said.

  I drew a deep breath. “Yes. She was a teacher here.”

  “Teacher, mentor, rebel. Mary came and wanted to change everyone’s lives. For a time I think we believed she could, and that makes her senseless death even more painful.”

  “You were involved with her, then?” My hand fisted as I waited for his answer.

  He searched my face intently. “We weren’t lovers. So you can disregard anything Bridget has told you otherwise. Mary was a friend to all, and she brought…hope. Mary was hope, especially to my brother Jamie. As you heard my mother say when you eavesdropped on our conversation, Jamie loved Mary in the way a mortal man might love an untouchable angel.”

  “I didn’t—”

  He lifted a questioning brow. His dark eyes held a challenge to tell the truth as well as a hint of humor. “I would have in your position. And I would think it insulting if I didn’t credit you with as much intelligence as God gave me.”

  “Very well.” That was as much of a confession as I was willing to make. I found myself liking him, despite my desire not to. “You said Mary’s death was senseless. What happened to her?”

  He caught my elbow, bringing us to a halt. Looking me dead in the eye, he spoke very succinctly. “I know nothing more than what you have already heard, I’m sure. Gossip runs more rampant amongst the servants in a household than sewers run in London. Mary went on a picnic with Rebecca. Rebecca returned without Mary and I found their picnic basket, blanket and Mary’s boots on the beach. She drown
ed.”

  I blinked then searched the area ahead for Bridget, giving myself the needed moment to rein back my automatic denial. As much as I didn’t want to accept the fact that Mary was lost forever to us, I prayed that it was as simple as Stuart said. “Given those facts, that would be a logical assumption. So what does all of this have to do with Jamie and me?”

  “He can’t accept that Mary is dead. It may be that in his heart he wants you to be Mary, and it upsets him that his mind tells him you’re not. He most likely saw you on the dunes this afternoon and had an overwhelming desperation to save Mary from harm.”

  “Then why drag me into the woods and not to the castle?”

  “For some reason Jamie feels safe in the Circle of the Stone Virgins.”

  For a long moment I wondered why. The place felt far from safe to me, almost eerily evil. “Where did the stones come from?”

  “It’s been here for centuries. Most likely it’s an ancient worship site for the Druids, or even a pagan temple for warring Romans when they conquered the Celts.”

  I pushed the stones aside to think about later and focused on Jamie. Could his actions be explained so simply? Was he trying to protect me in some odd way? I could easily understand Jamie’s feelings, if that were truly the case. After each of my dreams, I’d felt the panic, the desperation to do anything to keep a loved one from harm.

  Drawing another breath, I slipped my elbow from Stuart’s grasp, realizing once again that I’d completely forgotten that he’d touched me. His touch held none of the fire that Sean’s did. I started walking again. “So, how can I help Jamie?”

  “That would be the dilemma. Should you show him kindness and spend time with him like Mary did, or do I ask you to show him no kindness, so that he knows without a doubt you are not Mary?”

  “I would think only kindness can heal.”

  “And that makes you like Mary. I have to confess there has been a moment or two when the sun hits the shine of your hair that I almost think you are Mary. It might help if you bound your hair tightly back and covered it completely with your mob cap.”

  “What was Mary teaching him?”

  “The alphabet. How to write, and hopefully how to read.”

  “I’ve already been working with Bridget.” A wild idea hit me, one I wasn’t sure would be very welcome in some schools of thought. But after seeing the unchanging horizon of the servants’ lives, I knew I now firmly believed in educating the masses. Everyone deserved the gift of reading and writing. It would be one step that would give them more of a choice in the future. “I suggest we have a class for all of the servants who want to learn after the evening meal one night a week. That way, everyone can benefit, and Jamie will see that while it seems I am similar to this Mary, I am different.”

  A gust of wind whipped a strand of hair across my face. Before I could brush it back, Stuart did. My breath caught at the sudden action and its familiarity, but my heart didn’t pound. “You didn’t happen to be suddenly born in May of this year?” he asked.

  “What?” I shook my head, thinking I’d heard wrong.

  “You are so like Mary that reincarnation would explain a lot. Unfortunately, I think there’s a more logical explanation. Since I know Mary didn’t have any sisters, you must be one of her cousins of which she was so fond. If you’re here to find answers other than the ones given, you’re wasting your time.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I promptly tripped because my knees were rubbery. I would have fallen had he not caught my elbow. I’m not sure what else I would have said to convince him because the harsh sound of a woman weeping cut into my shock. Stuart heard, too, and turned from me.

  “Wait here,” he said tersely then ran ahead to the bend in the path.

  I decided that I’d much rather have Stuart’s dubious character in sight rather than stand alone with the dark of the forest at my back. I hurried after him, even though he didn’t follow the path but turned toward the sand dunes, increasing his pace.

  Following close at his heels, I felt my insides hurdle over a cliff when I saw Bridget on the ground, head bent as she huddled protectively against the rise of the dune and the whipping wind. She had the blue shawl I’d given her clutched tightly about her, as if seeking comfort.

  Chapter Nine

  “Bridget! Good Lord! What happened? Who hurt you?” I asked, running to her.

  Stuart gave me a sharp look, but I ignored it as I fell to my knees in the warm sand. I didn’t care if I was jumping to conclusions. Jamie’s supposedly protective attack on my person weighed heavily on my mind, and I had yet to decide his intent. If Jamie were trying to protect me, then why did Stuart lie to Sean? Why not just tell the Killdaren the truth? But I didn’t dare ask more questions so soon. If Stuart had a suspicion of who I was and why I’d come, how long before someone else made the connection?

  Bridget, teary-eyed and pale, looked up from where she’d been crying into her mob cap. She saw me and cried harder. “Oh, Cassie, what am I ta do?”

  I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “While I’m thanking God you’re alive, can you tell me what has happened to you?”

  “Not me,” Bridget said. “It’s me mum. She has the consumption. Won’t live another year, they’re sayin’, and she’ll need tending to before too long. Me brother Tim’s just six, and I’ve not gotten a note from Flora yet, either. I can’t even tell her about our mum.”

  Part of me sighed with relief that nothing untoward had happened to Bridget. Since coming to Killdaren’s Castle, my imagination had grown almost to the point of the ridiculous, but then, there’d been enough incidents to provide ample fuel for my imaginings.

  Another part of me empathized with Bridget’s pain. Here she’d been given plenty of warning of a loved one’s death, and yet was as powerless as I had been to stop Mary’s or my grandparents’ deaths. “We’ll sort this out.” I squeezed her shoulder. “You’ll see, there is an answer. We just have to find it.”

  Bridget nodded her head, trying to stifle her sobs.

  “Which doctor did she see?” Stuart asked.

  Bridget’s eyes widened. “Couldn’t afford ta ’ave a doctor come. Old Mrs. Compton does most the doctorin’ for village folks like us.”

  “I understand,” Stuart said. “But you should have—”

  “Should’ve what? How can you understand anything?” Bridget shouted, sounding almost bitter. “You pretend to know our troubles Stuart Frye, but you can’t. You don’t know what it’s like ta see your mum and your brother a hurting, and you can’t do anything else but go and scrub fancy floors that never get used just to barely keep your family from starving.”

  “I do know.” Stuart straightened, coldly stepping back from Bridget, his jaw taut, his eyes bleak. “I know what it’s like to have someone’s life in my hands, and I know what it’s like to make bitter choices. If you can walk, I suggest we get back to the castle. I’ve already pushed my mother as far as I can for the day.” He held out his hand to Bridget, but she ignored his offer of help, and struggled to her feet alone.

  “Don’t need ya to talk to your mum on my account neither.” Bridget started marching down the path, her anger at Stuart apparently bolstering her as she pulled the blue shawl tighter around her.

  From the clenched set of Stuart’s jaw as he stared at Bridget’s back, I determined now would not be a good time to ferret out more information. Given all of the factors of my situation at Killdaren’s Castle, there never seemed to be a good time for asking questions.

  Stuart turned to me when we neared the stables. The storm raging in his dark eyes made me shiver, and told me a lot more lay hidden inside him than what I’d seen. “Whatever your reasons for being here, I’ll keep silent for now,” he said. “Don’t make me regret it.”

  He stalked off then, leaving me feel as if he’d raised an axe and I had best tread carefully or he’d let it fall.

  Bridget and I spent most of the evening after dinner talking about he
r family. Though less teary-eyed, she had no hope that her mother would live through another Cornish winter, and she despaired about what she could do. I tried to reassure her and thought I could do a number of things to help her, even bring her and her family back to Oxford with me when I left Killdaren’s Castle, though I doubted an Oxford winter would be any milder. But I couldn’t tell Bridget any of that yet.

  Exhausted, Bridget fell asleep early, deciding to delay reading the next story in the vampire book—a decision I was thankful for. The title of the next story, “Forbidden Fruit,” didn’t sound as if it was anything I needed to delve into. Not if I wanted to have any peace of mind whatsoever. The forbidden fruit of my attraction to Sean and the heated memory of his kiss didn’t need anything more to fuel them.

  I took out my journal and added today’s events, then reread the entries, frustrated with how slowly the secrets at Killdaren’s Castle were unraveling. I wanted to grasp the end of that yarn and jerk hard, even if it sent the ball spinning out of control.

  One thing I could do was research the history and legend behind the Circle of the Stone Virgins. Stuart had said that the stones might have had their origins in Druid lore, and I recalled that the library downstairs had several books on the subject.

  Lighting a candle, I stole downstairs, listening very carefully for any whisper of sound as I went directly to the library. I slipped inside, taking care to be very quiet. Knowing Sean’s picture hung in the shadows made me feel as if I’d entered his bedchamber. I tiptoed across the thick rug, smelling the lemon and beeswax scent lingering from the cleaning Bridget and I had given the room earlier. I also detected a hint of something else, and sniffed the air as I pulled from the shelf several of the Druid books that were mixed in with the vampire books. Mastery of Druid Magic. The Sacred and Profane Rites and Rituals of the Druids and their Children. The Druids’ Thirst for Humans.

  “You surprise me. I thought it would take longer for you to meet me.”

  “Oh!” I jumped in fright, sending the books flying as I juggled the candle. “Meet you?” Turning fast, I found myself face to face with Sean, or face to chest to be more accurate. This time the casual cotton of a white shirt lay soft and inviting across his broad shoulders and supple flesh. Warmth and mystery emanated from him, and I clenched my fist to keep from reaching out to touch him.