The North Sea House: a gothic romance

by Camille Oster

  The sun was waning slightly outside her window. Clearly she'd slept for a while and rose to dress. The house was utterly quiet as she walked out. The main hallway was empty too, but again, there was that noticeable lightness in the house after the destruction of Miss Trubright's portrait. Archie should thank her for getting rid of it.

  It was quiet in the salon, but she found Sophie, Mrs. Dartmoor and Mrs. Bollingworth sitting together, but not speaking. Sophie looked utterly bored, despising the company.

  "Oh, there you are? Was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep all day?"

  "Nice to see you recovered," Mrs. Dartmoor said.

  "And you found a body," Sophie added. "How extraordinary."

  "Yes, the remains of Jonathan Fitzgerald, we suspect."

  The white pallor on Mrs. Bollingworth's face didn't escape Vivienne as the woman flustered with her knitting. "That's terrible."

  "I think it was his ghost that led me to him," Vivienne said, partially to see how Mrs. Bollingworth would react.

  "What nonsense."

  "And I think it might have been through his guidance that his journal was uncovered and delivered to your room."

  "You went in my room?"

  "I suspect I did. I just can't understand why he would single you out to make his presence known to, but then you did say you saw a presence in the forest, did you not?"

  "His presence? It is you, set to terrify me. You probably pushed me down the stairs too, you wicked girl. Out in the forest spooking the horses."

  "No, she was very clearly in the dining room when you were pushed, and absolutely not skulking around forests at any point," Sophie said.

  "Then who pushed me?"

  "I'm not sure anyone did," Vivienne said. "I think you pretended you were. All the things I did was while I was asleep, but your incident happened while I was awake—as did Archie's poisoning."

  Mrs. Bollingworth rose sharply. "You're a wicked creature," she accused with a pointing finger. "How dare you accuse me of something when you've been running around trying to burn us all in our beds."

  Both Sophie and Mrs. Dartmoor were intently looking back and forth between them.

  "It's funny," Vivienne said. "When I dream of Miss Trubright, she was always in the dining room and at times, you were there."

  "I cannot account for your dreams," the woman spat.

  "Jonathan Fitzgerald accuses you," Mrs. Dartmoor said and Mrs. Bollingworth gasped. “You said yourself a specter appeared to you in the forest. He accused you then and he repeated it.”

  "I will not listen to such utter nonsense." With sharp strides, she marched to the door. In the doorway, she stopped and turned. "I never even met Jonathan Fitzgerald."

  "No, but I think you knew what happened to him."

  She stood in bitter silence for a moment. "And now you accuse Miss Trubright of horrible deeds. You truly are an evil girl."

  "Actually, I am accusing you of poisoning Archie," Vivienne said.

  Mrs. Bollingworth looked apoplectic. "On what evidence?"

  "Sadly, I have no direct evidence," Vivienne admitted.

  "I'm afraid your theories are nothing more than fantasy. I was upstairs resting with my husband all afternoon."

  "Yes, your husband was asleep."

  "Is he a light sleeper?" Sophie asked. "I think we should enquire."

  "And I think you knew of the hidden passages within the house. Miss Trubright told you about them, because she definitely knew."

  "Poppycock!" Mrs. Bollingworth said and left, refusing to defend herself further.

  "She would have used the passages to come down to the butler's cupboard and apply poison to the top plate," Mrs. Dartmoor said.

  "The master of the house is always served first," Sophie said.

  "But we have no proof," Vivienne added. "It's all speculation."

  "And if she had any wherewithal at all, she would have rid herself of the remainder of the poison in the sea," Sophie said. "Luckily, Archie was stronger than her poison."

  "Like Miss Trubright, she felt she was entitled to this house," Vivienne said.

  "It is possible she was influenced by Miss Trubright if you saw them together," Mrs. Dartmoor said.

  "It was a dream," Sophie said with exasperation, but Mrs. Dartmoor ignored her.

  "She might not be aware of the influence, but it might not have been a course of action she'd taken if she hadn't been in this house," Mrs. Dartmoor said.

  "I suppose that depends on if she brought the poison with her," Vivienne replied.

  "True. If so, it was very much planned," Mrs. Dartmoor added.

  "She did invite herself here," Sophie said, relinquishing to the conversation. "I bet she had intentions all along. Why else would she have come? She couldn't seriously have thought Archie would give any credence to her stupid claim. She intended to poison him all along. But you're right, we'll never be able to prove it."

  "No," Vivienne agreed, "but we should tell Archie to bar her from the house in the future."

  "I doubt she would dare come back," Sophie said.

  Sophie was right. Mrs. Bollingworth had packed and came downstairs to insist to her husband that they leave the moment the men returned from the slip. Even as it was growing dark, the woman didn't care, refusing to stay one more moment in the house. If nothing else, her refusal to face these accusations proved the woman's guilt, but there was nothing they could do about it. There was no proof.

  Good riddance, Vivienne thought as they were driven away in the farm cart, which was deemed the only vehicle that would make it across in the current state of the road. Another day and the slip would be cleared, but the Bollingworth's refused to wait.

  Chapter 36

  "YOU MUST BE EXHAUSTED," Vivienne said as Brynnell entered the salon after having dressed for dinner. After the night they'd had, to then spend the day clearing the slip, his strength was impressive.

  "I will recover," he said with a smile.

  It felt good to be together again after not seeing him for hours. It was going to be awful to be without him when they went home again, but there was nothing for it. Convention could not be circumvented.

  "The Bollingworth's left in an obscene hurry," he mentioned.

  "We had words in the parlor this afternoon," Vivienne said. "About Archie's poisoning, and after, she left at the earliest opportunity. Mrs. Dartmoor seems to think she was influenced by the spirit of Miss Trubright, but Sophie disagreed as she had so forcefully invited herself here."

  "I see," Brynnell said with a deep frown. "Is Archie aware of this conversation?"

  "I believe Sophie will inform him of the gist of it."

  "Archie has committed to recovering Jonathan Fitzgerald's body and giving him a proper family burial. It will be difficult and may take some time, but I dare say he's not going anywhere."

  If Brynnell fully believed her about Jonathan's spirit guiding her, she didn't know. While she hadn't understood his influence before, she now felt its absence. The cloud over this house had lifted and the past exorcised. In her heart, she believed that Jonathan Fitzgerald had wanted to confront Mrs. Bollingworth on her silence, and maybe even the intentions she'd entered this house with. Vivienne expected the woman would avoid both this house and Archie from now on.

  "So, the happy couple," Sophie said, approaching them, wearing a red, silk gown. It was beautiful and so was she. "Congratulations are in order." The words were kind, but there was a tension in her voice. Sophie wasn't quite as pleased as her words suggested, but Vivienne didn't care. In her heart, she knew this was the right decision for both of them. They would be happy together.

  "Thank you," Brynnell said.

  "A bit of peril does make one see the world differently, they say," Sophie said.

  "It does show character, perhaps," Brynnell suggested. "I think I shall beseech Horace for a portion of his tobacco. I have exhausted my own." With a nod, Brynnell left them to go smoke by the fire.

  "Some say you are
brave to align your future with someone who is so inconstant," Sophie said, but her prickles didn't hit their mark with Vivienne. John was happy with the development and Vivienne trusted her own instinct and John's approval more than she did Sophie's barbs. Losing at anything had never been Sophie's strength, and she couldn't help but try to stir discord.

  "I do hope you will find someone who makes you happy," Vivienne said in reply, recalling a distant notion in her mind that she'd walked past Sophie's room last night with her noisily decrying Lewis' name. If their bickering had taken a new turn, or if this was something that had been ongoing, she didn't know. Lewis was simply too poor for Sophie to consider marrying, even if he would make her happy—but who was she to have an opinion on their business.

  Clearly, Mrs. Dartmoor was failing in her position as chaperone, and had already declared that she would not stay in Sophie's employment once they left here.

  "Supper is ready to be served," Mr. Jenkins said as he appeared in the doorway.

  "Excellent. I am famished. I understand new provisions have made it across. We are not to starve," Sophie said and they made their way to the dining room.

  "I'll just be a moment," Vivienne said and walked into the parlor which wasn't as well lit. The fire was roaring in the grate, but Vivienne made her way to the portrait hidden in the far corner. Jonathan Fitzgerald stared over her head, the young man with not a care in the world. It was unconscionable that his life was cut short—out of greed too. It was hard to fathom.

  "Are you alright?" Brynnell asked behind her and she turned to smile at him.

  "Just saying goodbye, I guess," she said. "Just thinking it was such a shame his life was cut short."

  "We would not be here if it hadn't been. He probably would have had his own sons, and this house would never have gone to Archie," Brynnell said. "Things twist and turn because of one person's actions."

  Vivienne considered the words. She couldn't blame Jonathan Fitzgerald for wanting to be found even as it could have potentially killed both her and Brynnell. Instead, they had found each other. Maybe Sophie was right and they wouldn't have quite reached that understanding if not for the events here, but she couldn't truly believe that. Those kisses they had shared proved there was something between them before getting caught out in the circumstances.

  In her heart, she believed they would have found each other irrespective. Some things just didn't change.

  "The road will be clear tomorrow," he continued. "I need to get back."

  "Yes," she said. "But it will be a very long month."

  "Then we shall have to steal a kiss now before they miss us," he said and smiled. She loved it when he smiled. It softened him and she adored seeing him that way.

  Leaning down, his lips claimed hers and she was utterly lost. Her eyes swam shut and the taste of him suffused every part of her. She wanted more, but had to restrain herself. The others were waiting for them in the dining room, giving them a moment of privacy, while guessing exactly what they were doing, hidden in a dark corner as they were.

  Perhaps they would similarly overlook if there was one last unfortunate case of sleepwalking that night. Vivienne smiled at the thought as she walked back to the dining room with her intended, as happy as she had ever been. The fact that they would have to part in the morning for a whole month made this evening particularly bittersweet.

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  Other books by Camille Oster

  The Cursed Bride - Arriving at her marital home in the depths of the Black Forest, Aldine settles into life with her new husband and his family. But the peaceful facade of the Graven family mansion hides secrets. Primary is that she is not the first new bride her husband has brought home.

  The Governess - Traveling beyond England hadn’t come into Estelle Winstone’s mind when she received a response to her advertisement for a position as governess. That she would have to travel all the way to Hungary sent nerves twisting inside her gut, as would meeting the mysterious count who would now be her employer. Unable to speak the language or with much to guide her, she found her new home nestled in remote mountains where hungry wolves prowled outside a dark and drafty castle scared by a long history and recent tragedies.

  The Discarded Wife - Victorian London is a cruel place for a divorcee, but with the death of Sophie Duthie’s beloved second husband, she is now a widow, and independent for the first time in her life. She might not have much in terms of means, but with the help of her music shop, she can support herself and her son, Alfie. Even though her second marriage was happy, Sophie is done with husbands. Her first marriage taught her well that fairy tales are nothing more than illusions.

  To Lord Aberley, his former wife is nothing but a scheming pariah, and unfortunately, his subsequent engagement wasn’t successful—not that he’s ever had much delusions about marriage. It is something he now wishes to avoid at all costs, but he needs an heir. It is the one duty he cannot overlook, so learning that his former wife’s son is six years old, creates serious doubt about his true parentage. Seeing the child only confirms it. Alfie Duthie is his child.