James came back to himself and noticed the retinue of servants standing nearby. “Yes,” he said.
He led them into the front parlor and then turned to Rose. “It might be best, if you waited upstairs.”
Rose looked to Elizabeth and then back to her husband. “No.”
James had fully expected her to acquiesce and was unprepared for her response. He spluttered for a moment before clearing his throat, but she didn't let him protest.
“I want to hear what they have to say.”
He looked ready to argue, but clamped his jaw shut and nodded. He gave one of the servants instructions for them not to be disturbed and closed the large double doors. He gestured for Rose to take a seat and then turned to face Simon. He paced across the room and put his hands on his hips. “I really don't see how any of this is your business, Cross.”
Simon turned the doll over in his hands and Elizabeth could see him rein in his emotions. He stared down at the doll for a long moment before lifting his eyes to James. She could feel the anger radiating off him. “The welfare of a child is everyone's business.”
James rolled his shoulders. “The girl is dead, what difference can it make now?”
“And the fact that she was murdered…?” Elizabeth asked.
James spun around. “You say that, but what proof have you? She was ill. She…she died of the ague.”
Rose stood and walked over to Simon. She took the doll from him. “This girl,” Rose said. “Mary Stewart. Who was she to you, James?”
Her husband shook his head. “It's not what you think.”
“How can I know what to think when you won't talk to me,” Rose said. “Please, James, I want to know the truth. I deserve at least that, don't I?”
James' jaw worked, but his eyes softened before he turned away. “Yes,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. He strode to the window and looked out for a moment. “I did it for you,” he said before turning around and facing Rose again. “You have to know that. All of it was for you.”
Rose held the doll in her hands and sat down. Her voice was deceptively calm. “All of what, James?”
He cleared his throat and paced to the far side of the room. He glared at Simon, weighing the possibility that he might be able to kick him out and have this conversation in private. Simon stood in the middle of the room; feet shoulder width apart, and folded his arms over his chest. He was immovable.
James seemed to realize this finally and turned his focus to Rose. His temporary discomfiture at Simon's presence was shed and he resumed his usual commanding air, although it was unnatural and forced. “I knew it would destroy you to lose another child. When Dr. Walker told me the chances of our baby dying, I had to do something. I couldn't go through that again. Let you go through that again.”
He waited for Rose to agree, and when she merely stared at him, struggling to maintain her own control, his façade faltered briefly before he found his mask again. “Your labor was…difficult. I thought I might lose you, too, that day.”
Rose held unnaturally still for a moment before she spoke. “What do you mean 'too'“? Her voice trembled with the horror of dawning realization.
“I was told our baby would die before the week was over. I tried to spare you that. To give you a healthy child to love,” James said. “To have a life with.”
“What are you saying, James?” Rose asked breathlessly, her face pale.
James shook his head, trying to find a foothold, but every bit of reason he tried to reach for crumbled beneath him.
“Mary was your child,” Elizabeth said softly. “Yours and Rose's.”
James blinked at her. It was as if he'd realized what he'd done for the first time. “We thought she would die.”
Rose gasped quietly and covered her mouth with her hands. Elizabeth wanted to comfort her, but what could she do?
“But she didn't,” Simon said. “She lived, lived as Mary Stewart.”
James nodded, his jaw slack, his breath coming faster as the harsh truth of what he'd done finally came to him. “When I found out she'd lived, I tried to look after her. I made sure she didn't want for anything,” he said, his composure crumbling. He looked pleadingly at his wife. “I swear.”
Rose's voice trembled as she looked at him with shock and horror. “You gave away our child.”
James tried to speak, tried to find some words, but there were none to be found. His eyes glistened with tears and darted around the room looking for something to keep him from falling apart.
“Is…Louisa Alice Stewart's child?” Simon asked.
James nodded and blinked back tears.
“Oh, my God,” Rose said and Elizabeth went to kneel at her side. “How could you do such a thing? Our baby.”
“You gave Alice money, gave them both a home on River Run?” Simon prompted him.
“Yes,” James said numbly.
Elizabeth nearly asked Simon to stop, but she knew the truth of it all had to come out.
“Until a month ago,” Simon said.
James nodded and wiped at his face. “I was there to check on Mary,” he said, as if hoping to please Rose. But his wife wouldn't even look at him now. “Alice wanted more money, threatened to tell everyone the truth. It would ruin us. It would be the end of everything we'd worked so hard for.” He shook his head as the memory of that night played in his head. “We argued.”
He looked at Simon, imploring him to understand. “It was an accident. I would never…She fell and hit her head.”
“Dear God,” Rose said as she stood. “That woman they found. You killed her?”
“It was an accident,” James said as he came to stand in front of her. He tried to take her hands in his but she pulled them away and looked at him with disgust. She walked across the room and kept her back to him.
“You panicked?” Simon said.
James stared at his wife's back and spoke emotionlessly now. “Dr. Walker helped me bury her and he took Mary to the orphanage.”
“Was Mary there that night?” Simon asked. “Could she have overheard your argument with Alice? What you said to the doctor afterward?” Simon asked.
James frowned and stood in a daze.
Simon grabbed his arms. “Could she have heard you that night?”
The sudden movement pulled James from his haze and he thought about what Simon asked. Finally, he nodded. “Yes, but…”
Simon looked to Elizabeth and they shared their grief and anger in that moment. They both knew what had happened.
“Mary told the other children that her father lived in a big house,” Elizabeth said.
“The doctor must have found out that she'd heard everything,” Simon said. “He had to keep her from revealing the truth or the house of cards you two built would fall apart.”
James shook his head, trying to deny everything. “No, he wouldn't.”
“He poisoned her,” Simon said, taking a step toward James. “He made it look like malaria, but he poisoned that child to keep her quiet.”
Rose gasped and covered her mouth with both her hands. “Oh, dear God.”
“No,” James said again.
Simon took another step. Elizabeth saw his hands tighten into fists. “To protect you and your lies.”
“Simon—”
“Stop,” Rose said. Simon turned to her; they all turned to her. Tears shone in her eyes. Her shock had given way to something much more powerful, fury.
“That child,” she said, “was my daughter.” She took a step toward James and then stopped. She lifted a hand, it trembled in what Elizabeth knew was both pain and rage. She pointed an accusing finger at James. “And you stole her from me.”
“Rose?” James said, pleading.
“I thought you'd had an affair,” Rose said, “I wish you had. I could forgive that in time. But this…”
“Please?”
Rose shook her head and walked to the door. She put her hand on the handle and kept her back to them all. “I am going upst
airs to see my daughter. When I come back down, I want you out of this house. Do you understand?”
“Rose, please.”
She ignored his pleas and pulled open the doors. She called for a servant. “Mr. Elijah should be home soon. When he comes in, tell him to come to me upstairs.”
The girl nodded.
“And do not, under any circumstances,” Rose continued, “Let Dr. Walker in this house.”
“But, ma'am, Dr. Walker already here.”
“What?” James said as he came to the door.
The girl looked up the stairs. “He with Miss Louisa when you come in. I tried to tell you—”
James pushed past the girl and took the stairs two at a time. Simon ran after him, Rose and Elizabeth not far behind.
Louisa's door at the end of the landing was already open and James and Simon burst into the room.
“What's this?” Dr. Walker said as he stood calmly on the far side of the room, one hand resting on Louisa's shoulder, the other behind her. Elizabeth's heart raced in her chest.
Rose moved into the room and reached out for her daughter. “Come here, darling.”
Simon must have pulled his gun out of his pocket as they'd run up the stairs. He pointed it at the doctor and pulled back the hammer. “Let the girl go.”
Louisa started to move, but Dr. Walker tightened his grip and kept her in place. The doctor eyed him and the others warily. “I don't think I will.” He showed his other hand now and pointed the gun it held at the girl's side. “Drop your gun,” he told Simon.
“Momma,” Louisa said, trembling.
“It's all right honey,” Rose said, forcing a tremulous smile and trying to keep her voice calm. “It'll be all right.”
Simon eased the hammer forward, uncocking the gun and lowered his arm. He tossed it to the floor between them.
“Please, doctor,” Rose said, but the man shook his head.
“I had hoped it would not come to this,” he said and then looked at Simon and Elizabeth with cold fury. “But my hand has been forced, it seems.”
“Let her go,” James said.
“And you'll let me go, is that it?” the doctor said with a smirk.
“Yes,” James said. He waved his hand toward the doorway where Simon stood blocking his path. “They can't prove anything. I… I won't say anything. Just let my girl go.”
The doctor waved the gun toward the doorway. “Get back,” he said. “All of you.”
They had little choice but to do as he said and backed into the hallway.
The doctor kept Louisa close, his gun ready to fire. The girl whimpered and tears came. Rose's voice broke as she assured her over and over that it would be all right. Elizabeth reached for Simon's hand as the doctor forced them to walk down to the far end of the landing near the room where Simon and Elizabeth had stayed.
He stood at the top of the landing and glanced down the grand stairs where servants had started to gather. “Get outta here!” he yelled at them.
A few scattered, and the others looked to Rose or James for guidance. “Go,” James said, his eyes wild. “Now!”
Finally, the downstairs was cleared and the doctor stood at the top of the stairs, Louisa clutched tightly in front of him. “If you follow us, I will kill her.”
Elizabeth had been poised to follow him, but she knew he would do as he threatened. What was one more dead body to him now?
Slowly, he started down the stairs, keeping the girl close, too close for anyone to do anything without risking her life.
“Please,” Rose said again. “Don't take her.” She stepped forward, compelled by a mother's love to save her child.
James grabbed her arm, trying to hold her back, but she struggled against him.
The doctor glared at her and then looked at James with disdain. “I always knew you could not control your wife.” He raised his gun and leveled it at Rose for a brief second before shifting it to the side and firing.
In a bright flash, the oil lamp on the wall exploded. Shards of glass flew toward them and fiery oil splashed in all directions. Someone screamed.
Simon spun around and shielded Elizabeth with his body.
“Rose!”
Elizabeth felt Simon release her and she turned with him toward Rose. It took a moment for what she saw to register. James, his sleeve alight with flame, tore off his coat and tried to beat down the flames that licked up Rose's skirts. The horror of it froze Elizabeth in place for a split-second. Simon ripped off his own coat and they tried to smother the quickly growing flames. Rose cried out and covered her face.
Elizabeth ran into the bedroom and found a pitcher. She ran back out onto the landing and the scene was out of a horror film. The oil had spilled down the wall and across the floor. Flames had already spread across the landing to the stairs and were licking up the walls and curtains, and curling toward the ceiling.
Simon and James had managed to keep the fire on Rose's dress from growing. Elizabeth threw the pitcher of water on her and they were able to tamp out the remaining flames.
“Are you hurt?” James asked.
Rose shook her head. She turned to look at the stairs where the doctor had made his escape, but they were unreachable. A set of curtains caught fire then and went up in flames with an audible whomp. The hallway was quickly engulfed in fire and smoke.
“In here,” Simon said, gesturing to the doorway to what had been their bedroom.
The four of them hurried inside the bedroom and Simon closed the door behind them.
“The gallery,” James said as he ran to the large French doors that let to the upstairs balcony. “We can reach the back stairs through the other guest room.”
He pulled the doors open and they ran out onto the upper gallery.
“What's happened?” Eli called from below as he jumped off his horse.
“Fire! Get help!” James cried as he ran down the long gallery.
“Rose!” Eli called.
The rest of them ran the length of the gallery, Eli mirroring them on the ground.
Behind him, slaves had already started a bucket brigade that stretched around the house.
At the end of the gallery, Rose leaned over the landing and called down to Eli. “Hurry, Eli!”
James threw open the doors to the guest bedroom and they rushed inside. He reached for the bedroom door, but Simon grabbed his arm and stopped him.
“What are you doing?” James demanded.
Simon shoved him aside and put his hand on the door and immediately pulled it back and shook it. “The fire is on the other side of this door. You open it and we're all dead.”
“Is there another way out?” Elizabeth asked Rose.
“No.”
Simon looked around the room and then strode to the bed. He yanked off the quilt and pulled at it, testing its strength. “We have to jump.”
Elizabeth ran back out onto the gallery. It had to be over 15 feet to the ground. “Eli, get six strong men. Now!”
He looked at her in confusion for a moment before nodding and rushing over to one of the slaves who nodded and ran off.
Simon came out of the room, followed by Rose and James. He threw the quilt down to the men gathering below. “Keep it as taut as you can.”
Rose's eyes were wild with worry, but not in fear for herself. Elizabeth knew all she could think of was Louisa.
“Rose, you go first,” Elizabeth said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to the railing.
Rose looked at her in confusion and then down at the men who'd stretched the quilt into a makeshift net. She shook her head.
The wooden door to the guest room cracked loudly behind them.
“You can do it,” Elizabeth said as she knelt down and helped gather Rose's skirts, what was left of them, as Simon took her other arm.
“Hurry!” James said, his voice on the verge of panic.
Flames were already crawling across the guest room floor.
“It'll be all right,” Eli called up, as he g
ripped his end of the quilt even more tightly.
Rose nodded, and Simon and Elizabeth helped her over the railing. She held onto the edge and slowly turned to face the outside.
“Come on!” Eli urged her.
Rose closed her eyes and jumped. She flew through the air, her skirts billowing out as she fell. The men shifted a little to adjust, but they caught her. They lowered one edge of the quilt and she crawled off. When she was clear, the men then pulled the quilt taut again and looked up, ready for the next person.
“Elizabeth,” Simon said and he picked her up and held her until she got her footing on the small outside ledge. Elizabeth glanced anxiously down. It looked a lot farther than fifteen feet from the other side of the railing. She didn't have time to panic though and stepped forward, turning onto her back as she fell. The landing wasn't exactly pillow soft, but she was unhurt and scrambled out of the way.
James was next and then Simon. Once they were all down, Eli grabbed Rose by the arms. “Are you hurt?”
Rose shook her head and tugged at his sleeves. “He's got Louisa!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Simon helped Rose quickly fill Elijah in on what had happened. Rose was, understandably, near hysteria and James not much better. He stared up at River Run, struck numb by what he saw. Flames rolled out of two of the upstairs windows like angry red fingers clawing their way onto the roof.
Eli called for his horse. The slave who'd taken the reins for him tried to bring the horse closer, but the fire made it rear and pull away. It was all the man could do to keep hold of it.
“Where did he go?” Eli said.
Rose just shook her head and Eli took her into his arms.
Eli grabbed a man by his shirtsleeve as he ran to help fight the fire. “Samuel! Go to the Millers' and get help. Send others to the Parks' and the Browns'. Get the Millers' hounds out. We need to find Miss Louisa. You understand?” Samuel nodded and Eli shoved the man away. “Go on! Hurry!”
Simon looked around at the growing chaos. The doctor might be mad, but he was no fool, he'd find the fastest method of escape.
“The stables,” Simon said, as he took hold of Elizabeth's hand and started toward the outbuildings. “He must have had a carriage.”
Thursday's Child (Out of Time #5) Page 23
