Ghosts from the Past (Wiggons' School for Elegant Young Ladies)

by Charles, Jane

  “I saw lights last night, but I thought it was my imagination.”

  Claudia sank down on the edge of the bed. “Why would anyone be over there?”

  “I don’t know. I was going to watch tonight to assure myself I was only seeing things, but I fell asleep.” She nodded toward the chair. “And I had the strangest dream.” She brought her fingers to her lips and glanced at the chair. “It was so real.”

  A slow smile spread on Claudia’s lips and her eyes twinkled with delight. “Were you being kissed?”

  Natalie dropped her hand, not finding the same enjoyment as her friend. “Yes, by Anton.”

  The humor left Claudia. She stood and walked to her friend. “You still miss him, don’t you?”

  “I thought I was doing well, moving on, but the ghost appears and now I start dreaming about my husband kissing me.”

  “It will fade in time, and I am sure the ghost will be out of the area soon, if he isn’t already gone.” Claudia gave Natalie a quick hug. “Get some rest. But I think dreaming about kisses isn’t half bad.” She smiled and left, closing the door behind her.

  Anton stopped short then darted into the alley between two shops. This was the first time he had ventured into town since he moved into Creighton Manor. He wanted to avoid being seen, but he was in need of supplies. The last person he expected to encounter in town was Natasha. That had to be her. Nobody else had hair the color of the sunrise – red and gold. If only she would turn around so he could be certain.

  “Miss Pritchard,” someone called to his right.

  A young girl walked in front of the alley and crossed the street. She was one of the girls he had seen with Natasha in the carriage and in the woods yesterday.

  “I am out of notices.”

  The woman turned and looked directly at him. Or, at the girl approaching. Why was she called Miss Pritchard?

  Two other girls joined her. He wished he could hear what they were saying. All he could do was watch. She handed something to the storekeeper who read it and grinned. The group moved on. Anton was torn between following them and finding out what was on the paper. Perhaps he could do both. Once they were a block away, he left the alley and crossed the street. The storekeeper had just put the notice in the window and Anton spared a glance at it. A smile pulled at his lips. He turned and followed his prey while plans formulated in his head.

  Why had she changed her name? Was it because she knew he had escaped and she was hiding? Had she feared that one day he would come seeking revenge and she took on a new identity? Had Dimitri changed his name as well? Was he even living in the area?

  Anton glanced around, looking at the faces of the men who were out. None of them resembled Dimitri, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t close by. Brother and sister would not live too far apart.

  Perhaps they both still worked for the English government and that was the reason Natasha was now called Miss Pritchard. But why in a girls’ school? He couldn’t image why a spy would need to infiltrate such a place. Young girls were hardly a danger. Yet, she had only been one and twenty when she betrayed him. Maybe she was at the school to train them in more nefarious subjects. Perhaps the Wiggons’ School for Elegant Young Ladies wasn’t what everyone believed it to be.

  To many, the thought would be ridiculous, but not to him. He would believe about anything anymore.

  Vanko crossed the street to walk alongside him. “That is her?”

  He nodded.

  “You aren’t taking her now?” the man asked with disbelief. “She has three girls with her. You will be discovered.”

  “I am not so foolish,” Anton ground out. “But I do know when and where I will.”

  Vanko looked at him, a question in his eyes.

  Anton stopped before another storefront and nodded to the announcement.

  “Several people will also be there,” Vanko warned.

  “I will bide my time and as soon as she is alone, I will take her.”

  Vanko hurried to catch up. “Think wisely, my friend, before you take such action.”

  He narrowed his eyes on Vanko. “You don’t have to remain.”

  “I will stay, even if to keep you from doing something foolish.” His friend stared at him, fists on his hips. “They do not know for certain what become of you. Yuri told you so. They left after trial.”

  Anton frowned. Yuri Nevsky had been a footman in Anton’s household, as he had been for Anton’s father. He was closer to Yuri than the other servants, and it was Yuri who visited him in prison and reported on the investigation and subsequent trial. Anton had refused to believe what the guards were telling him – that Natasha and Dimitri had betrayed him. But when Yuri confirmed the brother and sister had both testified against him, Anton could no longer reject the truth. The guards had a reason to lie, even if was simply to punish him when his body could not stand another beating. Yuri had no reason not to tell him the truth. According to Yuri, once the trial concluded, the two boarded a ship for England. Anton never understood why they would go to a country they betrayed, but he had trouble making sense out of anything they had done.

  Had Natasha once visited him, perhaps he wouldn’t be seeking vengeance now and doubts would still linger. Apparently, she could be bothered.

  “You do not know they not keep track of what become of you.” Vanko insisted and pulled Anton into the next alley and away from those who were walking about town this afternoon. “If the position reversed, would you no longer concern yourself with man you betrayed? Would you not fear he get out one day and come after you?”

  Anton studied Vanko. In all this time, he had never considered the possibility. Was that why Natasha was hiding as a teacher at the school? Was that why Dimitri was not around? Had they gone different ways to make it harder to find either of them? Did she know he had escaped? Anton groaned. What if she ran again? It had taken him a bloody year to find her. He had stopped well over a hundred carriages in his search and didn’t want to begin anew. He would need to keep a close eye on her, just in case. Besides, if she did run, perhaps she would lead him to Dimitri.

  “I can tell by look on your face you did not consider possibility.” Vanko shook his head. “Stay away from Natasha until you are ready. I will not have your mistakes put me in prison. I have had enough hell for one lifetime.”

  “I must keep an eye on her,” Anton argued. “She will lead us to Dimitri.” Both had betrayed him and he would see that they both suffered.

  “Yet, you not decide what you do with them when you have them,” Vanko reminded him. “Do you lock them up, torture them as you were? Kill them? Keep them as houseguests?” He shook his finger at Anton. “If you not think through and have plan, it will fail.”

  Anton scrubbed a hand over his face. Vanko was right. All he had so far was a way to keep Natasha and her brother imprisoned here. Beyond that, he wasn’t certain. As much as he wished to make them suffer as he had, Anton knew he could never strike Natasha, despite what she had done. Dimitri was another matter entirely. He would happily beat his former friend to a bloody pulp.

  “Let’s get our horses.” Anton marched away before Vanko could say anything further. Their mounts were tied up away from the town, hidden in a copse of trees. Once they mounted their horses, the rode through the woods so as not to be seen.

  “Have you thought ask their side of story?” Vanko finally asked.

  Anton straightened. “So they can lie to me? Deny everything?”

  Vanko slowly turned. “You have only word of guards and officers it was Natasha and Dimitri. Yuri could be mistaken. Perhaps they were coerced? Forced to testify against you.” He shook a finger at Anton. “You should find out before you inflict damage that cannot be undone.”

  “If Natasha is so innocent, why didn’t she visit me in prison? Why didn’t she remain by my side?” Anton nudged his horse to go faster. “Besides, you are the one who suggested I plan my revenge.”

  Vanko slowed and Anton halted his horse and turned.

&
nbsp; “What else were we to do with our time?” Vanko stared at him for a moment, a grim smile on his lips. “Besides, without revenge in your blood, you would have died.” He rode past Anton.

  Anton simply stared after his friend, remembering the night when his desperation and longing for death turned to a hatred so deep he vowed he would never succumb to the torture but would have his retribution against his wife and her brother, if it was the last thing he ever did.

  Surely his friend didn’t now believe Natasha and Dimitri were innocent, did he? It was Vanko who insisted he no longer had a choice but to believe the guards after the visits from Yuri and the trial concluded. Was Vanko now having a change of heart? Did he not have the stomach for what was to come?

  Anton nudged his horse to follow. For months he denied the possibility of Natasha and Dimitri’s involvement in his arrest, even though Yuri reported differently. Much was a blur because he had been out of his mind with pain. In the darkness of their cell, he and Vanko often discussed who could have betrayed him, but Anton could never come up with an alternative.

  After eight months into his confinement and the most horrendous beating yet, he lay in a bed of dirty straw and ready to submit to death. Every inch of him had ached and he wasn’t sure how many more beatings he could have survived. At the darkest place he had ever been, he’d finally admitted out loud, “I can no longer deny they betrayed me.” There was no one else to blame and the truth had nearly torn his heart in two. After those words, Anton had slept for days, waking only to eat and relieve himself. He no longer cared about anything. He was never getting out of that hell. He was simply waiting to die.

  “You give up too easy,” Vanko had whispered one night. “She wins with your death.”

  Anton didn’t care. Natasha had won already.

  “Don’t you want her to pay?”

  The question churned in his brain. Of course he wanted Natasha and Dimitri to pay for what they had done to him, but how?

  The how was the beginning of his reason to live. Once Vanko planted the seed of revenge it blossomed. Three months later, they made their escape and traveled to England. He was not about to let Vanko replant the seeds of doubt. He had found Natasha and very soon she would pay for what she had done to him.

  Why was his friend now insisting Natasha be questioned? What had he been holding onto all of this time if not revenge? “I promise not to do anything foolish.”

  Vanko snorted. “I would believe you if cellar wasn’t prepared, or every window nailed shut.”

  “She will have better conditions than we did,” he grunted.

  “The question remains, does she deserve it?”

  “Stop!” Anton yelled. “Quit making arguments on their behalf.”

  Vanko threw back his head. “I’m not arguing on their behalf.” He blew out a breath. “I only wish you ask first before exacting revenge.”

  Anton glared at Vanko as he rode ahead. “The time for talking was long past.”

  6

  At irregular distances buildings were erected, hung with variegated lamps,

  disposed in the gayest and most fantastic forms. Collations were spread under the trees;

  and music, touched by unseen hands, breathed around….The scene

  appeared enchanting. Nothing met the eye but beauty and romantic splendor;

  the ear received no sounds but those of mirth and melody.

  A Sicilian Romance

  Ann Radcliffe

  “Make a wish before you jump,” Eliza called.

  Natalie looked back at her students and laughed. It was good to enjoy herself for a change. Tonight, she let all inhibitions go. She no longer worried about the Ghost or the past. Tonight she was going to let go and embrace the future, as one was supposed to. She turned toward the fire, hiked her skirts. I wish for love, if it is not too late. She ran forward and jumped over the flames. The girls cheered and clapped.

  “What did you wish for?” Claudia came to her side and pressed a glass of dandelion wine into her hand.

  “That the students will not get into any mischief for the next year.” She didn’t dare tell her friend the truth. Claudia had never expressed an interest in any gentleman and as far as Natalie knew, there was no one in her friend’s past either. As Claudia remained mum to the possibility, Natalie did not pry. Heaven knew, she’d shared very little of her past relationship with her or Tess. It was too personal and the pain had been too raw when she first returned to the school.

  She never thought she wanted to risk the pain of loving and losing again. But, after witnessing the looks between Atwood and Tess, and the gnawing ache of missing Anton, she realized how lonely she truly was. Did she really want to spend the rest of her life teaching young girls, who would leave the school, enter society, marry, and have children, while she wasted away in the country? No, she was determined to embrace life once again.

  Claudia chuckled. “Perhaps I should do the same.”

  Natalie jerked her head up in surprise at Claudia’s statement. Too soon she realized she had become lost in her own thoughts and Claudia was referring to the students. She drained her glass and tried to clear her mind of the past as she wandered off for another glass of dandelion wine. The revelry was intoxicating tonight. Or perhaps it was the wine. Either way, she didn’t care. She was free, or at least felt free, for the first time in years.

  “We are going to take the girls back now,” Claudia called.

  She startled and turned to find Claudia and Mrs. Wiggons coming up on her with the three troublemakers.

  “It is so early,” Eliza whined.

  “It is close to midnight and if you want to be up before dawn, you need to retire now,” Mrs. Wiggons insisted. Shoulders slumped, Eliza, Sophia and Rosemary turned and trudged down the road toward the school.

  Anton stayed within the woods and watched. This was a side of Natasha he had never seen. Then again, she had hidden much from him. However, the woman who danced with abandon, her hair flying free, was a woman he would not mind knowing better. It was a shame she couldn’t be trusted.

  Vanko had taken a room at the inn yesterday so that he could be in town, if necessary, to listen and gather information. They hadn’t seen Dimitri at the celebration, but that didn’t mean the man wasn’t here somewhere. Vanko being in town also kept him from coming under suspicion, especially when everyone began to search for Natasha. His friend would remain at the festivities throughout the night and return the next morning properly horrified at her disappearance. He was to be Anton’s ears and report back or send warning if necessary.

  Disappointment stabbed at Anton when the teachers escorted a group of younger girls from the celebration. He had waited for the moment when Natasha might be alone but it had never come. Now she was with an entire group. He fisted his hands and gritted his teeth. She had been so close, but still out of reach.

  Vanko stepped into the woods and stopped at his side. They melded further into the shadows.

  “I am going to follow her. You stay here and remain with others so they never suspect you. Make sure you are seen when you return to town and to your room.”

  Vanko nodded. “I am well aware of what I am supposed to do.”

  Anton stepped away and Vanko grabbed his arm.

  “Be careful, my friend.”

  He stared at him. “I will.”

  Vanko let his hand drop. “Question her.”

  “I will do what I believe is necessary,” he bit out and turned on his heel to follow the teachers and students. Vanko would not let the matter drop when, for over a year he had encouraged Anton to take his revenge. Now he still insists they should talk. His friend may need to go if he lost his nerve to do what was necessary.

  Anton slipped through the darkness and followed Natasha from a distance until he was forced to halt at the edge of the woods. The group walked into a clearing and toward a large home that housed the school. One by one they entered the structure. Soon, lamplight illuminated the windows on the seco
nd and third floor.

  The night was over for them and any chance for him to take Natasha as well. Though he should return to the manor and try again tomorrow, Anton could not bring himself to leave. Perhaps he should just enter after they were all asleep and take her.

  Nyet. He would only do that as a last resort. Sooner or later she would be alone.

  One by one the lights were extinguished. He needed to find his bed as well. Anton turned from the house and took two steps. Feminine laughter stopped him and he turned back toward the voices.

  “Who do you think will catch them, you or I?” Natasha laughed.

  The other woman shrugged. “It is bound to be one of us.”

  “What if they don’t go back to the celebration? What if they decide to wander the woods collecting greenery?”

  “Even if they go straight to the forest, they will be together. None of them will wish to be wandering alone in the dark. At least we can be grateful for that,” the woman assured Natasha. “But, I will remain close to the house and try and catch them before they get far. You wait by the bonfire in the event they elude me.”

  Natasha glanced nervously back at the woods.

  “I can return and you can stay here,” the other woman suggested.

  Natasha shook her head. “No. I will go.” She took a step toward the path.

  Anton grinned into the darkness. At last. Soon she would be his.

  7

  These circumstances, though equally inexplicable, united to confirm a fear of treachery

  and surrender.

  A Sicilian Romance

  Ann Radcliffe

  Natalie pulled away from Claudia and began to walk back to the bonfire. She could have stayed on the road, but it would have taken twice as long. The minute she stepped into the darkness of the woods a chill ran down her spine and she clutched her cloak close to her body. She was being foolish. Nobody was following her. The Ghost had moved on and she had nothing to fear. She kept repeating these words, shook the anxiety from her mind and strode down the path.