by C. J. Chase
The orderly rolled her eyes but obligingly left to retrieve the requested items.
“Quickly! Men are on the floor above, the women here. But the matron has a fondness for laudanum to keep the patients compliant, so your sister may be unconscious.”
“I think I should prefer that to finding Caro constrained.” A shudder vibrated along his shoulders. “A pity the matron wouldn’t answer your question.”
“She probably believes she is protecting a wealthy family that wants to keep their shame a secret.” Leah tapped on the door across the hallway. “Lady Caroline?”
An unearthly keening responded, the eerie wail wafting from below the door.
Leah backed away and shifted to the next door while Chambelston did likewise to the rooms on his side of the building. She had reached the fourth chamber when a soft whimper answered her inquiry.
“Lady Caroline?” Leah repeated.
“M-Miss Vance?”
“I found her!” Leah motioned to Chambelston.
He joined her in a couple long quick strides, then knelt and whispered through the crack beneath the door. “Caro?”
“Jules!” The knob rattled as she tried to open the door. “I can’t...”
“We’ll get you out.”
The tap of Alice’s feet against the steps signaled the end of their parley. The orderly’s head rose over the top step, her arms encumbered by a tin basin. Her lips drooped into a frown as her gaze traveled from Phoebe’s room to the two people gathered in front of another door. “Miss Vance?”
“Come here, Alice.” Chambelston’s harsh tones echoed off the bare walls. “Open this door.”
“This one?” Alice’s eyes flickered toward the steps. “But Miss Vance’s sister is over there.”
“But my sister is here. Unlock the door.” He folded his arms over his chest.
Alice’s throat bobbed as her gaze focused on the stretch of fabric over his muscled arms.
“Y-yes, sir.” The orderly’s fingers trembled as she deposited the bowl on a table and fitted the key into the lock. “M-miss won’t like this.”
“I’ll take responsibility for her displeasure—once I have my sister freed from this prison.”
Alice pushed open the door, then Lady Caroline barreled over the threshold and into her brother’s chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his cheek against her limp hair while whispering soothing words of comfort in her ear.
The ice around Leah’s heart cracked and warmth—and realization—flooded in. She’d unfairly assigned another man’s faults to Chambelston and assumed he would scorn her because of Phoebe. And yet, he expressed no shame or resentment at being burdened with the likes of Lady Caroline. Only love.
And rage at finding his poor sister in such straits. He drew back a step, tension radiating from the tightly held anger and anguish that darkened his eyes to midnight. “Caro, how did you get here? Who brought you?”
“Lady with gold.”
“Lady? Alice, do you know this woman’s identity?”
Alice shook her head, causing the tarnished trim of her cap to flutter. “N-no, sir. Only that sh-she paid with a piece of gold jewelry. I saw her give it to the matron when she arrived.”
Chambelston met Leah’s glance over his sister’s head. “A woman who paid gold to keep Caro hidden away. A week ago I would have suspected Elizabeth.”
“Lady Sotherton seemed genuinely distressed by what happened. Lady Caroline,” Leah spoke as gently as possible. “Where was the lady’s gold?”
Caroline touched a hand to the bosom of her wrinkled gown. “Here.”
“A gold brooch. We need to see this bauble.” Chambelston guided his sister toward the stairs.
The four of them stomped down the steps, the sound of their heels echoing through the cold, empty space. A few plaster friezes yet adorned the ceilings, but the whitewashed walls had long since been scrubbed of any ornamentation.
“Miss Vance, returning so soon...” The matron’s voice trailed off as her gaze locked on Lady Caroline. She rounded on Alice. “What have you done?”
“My bidding.” Chambelston moved in front of his sister to shield her from the looming confrontation.
“I will not allow you to abduct a patient in my care!”
“I’m not abducting her—I’m taking her home. I am the Earl of Chambelston.”
* * *
Julian paused as realization sank in. For the first time since his father’s death, he had claimed the Chambelston title and not recoiled. “Let me explain. I am Lady Sotherton’s brother. And this is our youngest sister, Lady Caroline DeChambelle, who disappeared from Rowan Abbey two days ago.”
“Lady Sotherton’s sister! She never said... That is, I didn’t know...” The resolve leached from the matron’s face—along with a great quantity of blood, leaving her mouth but a faded gray line against her ashen cheeks.
“I thought you might understand once I explained the mistake. I would be so grateful if you would identify the woman who confined my sister here.”
“She gave her name as Mrs. Keen.”
“Mrs. Keen?” Leah shook her head. “There is no one at Rowan Abbey with that name.”
“Undoubtedly our nemesis sought to disguise her identity.” Julian focused his stare on the matron again. “We understand this woman financed my sister’s interment with a gold brooch. We should like to see it.”
“Wait here.” The matron ground out the words without even moving her jaw. Her feet tapped a tattoo as she left, then returned seconds later with her fist clenched around a dangling gold chain and a swath of dark fabric draped over her arm. She shoved the jewelry into his hand. “Here.”
His stomach clenched as he gazed at a familiar gold locket nestled in his palm. Not a brooch but a necklace. “Miss Vance, do you recognize this?”
“Yes, that belongs to the dowager’s companion, Miss Godwin.”
Julian stared at the object in his hand as his mind tried to draw Miss Godwin’s features. Middle years, dark hair...her features once more retreated to the depths of his mind as the locket’s details sharpened under his focus. The locket.
“Julian?” Leah’s voice intruded on his recollections “If this is Miss Godwin’s locket, then—”
He stopped Leah’s comment with a squeeze to her wrist and glanced once more at the matron. “Thank you for all your assistance. Please fetch Lady Caroline’s cloak.”
“I have it here already, sir.” She passed him the length of dark wool.
“Excellent. Thank you.” He took the garment and wrapped it around Caro’s shoulders, his heart brimming with confusion. And...hope? Had Leah even noticed how her intimate use of his given name had slipped out again, seemingly unawares? He led both women to the waiting horses. “Miss Vance, let’s get you mounted first. Then you can hold the bay’s bridle while I get Caro situated.”
Once he had his sister on the horse, he swung up behind and wrapped his arms around her. Riding two abreast on a single saddle was going to be deucedly uncomfortable—and quickly at that. “There. Ready to go, Caro?”
“Scared.”
Of the horse, or of the past two days’ ordeal? He nudged the bay into a walk. “I’ve got you now. I won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll return to Elizabeth’s house for today, and then we will leave for Somerset.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Soon.” As soon as he could arrange his future...whatever that might be.
The gatekeeper met them with a key. “You found her, then.”
“It was a misunderstanding.” Julian guided the horse outside the stone fence. Still, he didn’t breathe easily until the gate locked behind him and they had steered their horses westward toward Rowan Abbey. “Miss Vance, I admire your fortitude in breaching these walls every week. To judge by the undisturbed nature of the snow, I gather not many call on the patients here.”
“No, few of them receive regular visitors, no matter how exalted their station or well-heeled their relatives.
” Only Leah had demonstrated such uncompromising loyalty.
“Are you certain the locket belongs to Miss Godwin?”
“Oh, yes. I’ve seen her wear it.”
“Can you remember the last time you saw it in her possession?”
“Miss Godwin and I never spent much time together, but I noticed her wearing it at that horrible dinner the night your sister demanded my presence.”
“Ah, the day Fleming and Killiane and their wordless friend arrived.” Before he had brought Caro to Rowan Abbey.
“You recognized the locket, too, didn’t you?”
“Not from dinner. The day of my return to Rowan Abbey with Caro, you had gone to visit your sister. While I conversed with Sotherton, Caro’s nurse carelessly let her slip away.”
“Ah, when she went to look for you.”
“Yes. When I at last found her, she had the locket.”
“Do you know how she obtained it?”
“She found it in Fleming’s bedchamber.”
Leah started. Her grip jerked the mare’s reins, causing the horse to shy. She struggled to regain control of her mount. “Yes, I remember. You thought perhaps Fleming collected trinkets from his victims. Like my comb.”
“Caro found this locket with other items. I didn’t know who occupied the chamber until Fleming’s death two days later. During our searching of his belongings, I noticed someone had removed the necklace. I presumed for its monetary value. I had intended to pursue that line of inquiry—before we rushed headlong to London to save the Regent.”
“Such a trifling matter.”
“Not to the prince.”
The flash of dimple filled Julian with pleasure. Pain. Possibilities? “But it would seem the piece returned to its rightful owner shortly after Lady Caroline discovered it. Your mention of Fleming prompted another memory. I saw Miss Godwin wearing it in Fleming’s chamber, immediately after his death.”
“Are you certain?”
“It wasn’t a day I am likely to forget.” Darkness swallowed the green in her eyes, leaving only a shadowy brown that obscured his ability to read his future therein. “I noticed Miss Godwin fidgeting with the pendant when the dowager chastised her for suggesting they leave the room.”
They rode past the insular buildings that comprised the hamlet of Norford. Julian felt the suspicious stares that peeked at them from behind shuttered windows. “So Miss Godwin possessed the locket on the day Fleming arrived. The next time we can account for the piece was when Caro found it in Fleming’s room. And yet Miss Godwin had resumed wearing it by the time of Fleming’s death.”
“If Fleming had taken it from her during a...”
“Miss Godwin had a strong motive for wishing the man dead.”
“Along with half the women in the Sotherton household. Given my experiences with the magistrate after Fleming’s death, I would need more evidence than possible revenge for an attack that might have happened.”
Regret lodged in Julian’s throat for the part he had played in her distress by withholding the knowledge of her innocence. “But Miss Godwin’s involvement in Caro’s disappearance also points to criminal intent.”
“Speaking of your sister, how is she?”
Julian glanced at Caro’s limp head that rested against his arm. “Sleeping. Do you think she will long suffer from the repercussions of her ordeal?”
Leah twisted her head to study the woman slumbering in his arms. The variegated greens and browns of Leah’s eyes softened like the promise of spring. “I don’t doubt she will experience some ill effects. She’ll probably fear being spirited away again for some time. At least she doesn’t seem to have suffered any abuse at the asylum.”
For that Julian offered a silent prayer of gratitude.
They crested a knoll, and the fields of the Sotherton estate stretched before them, the Abbey sitting in their midst like a ruby pinned to a snowy cravat.
“Caro?” Julian nudged her awake. “We’re almost to Elizabeth’s house.”
“Hungry.”
“We’ll see you get a meal.”
“I like Molly.”
“Yes, Molly is very kind.” He’d have to ask the maid if she would consider employment in Somerset—especially since Leah wouldn’t be working for him.
“But not lady with gold.”
Julian fought to maintain nonchalance. “What did she do?”
“Take me away.”
“Do you know why?”
Caro said nothing, as she often did when she either tired of the conversation or no longer understood the questions.
“I suspect Lady Caroline saw Miss Godwin with the locket after the murder, just as I did.” The dark ribbon of Leah’s new bonnet fluttered in the breeze. “But the only time she’d seen it before was in Fleming’s chamber.”
“And Caro said something that indicated she had seen the necklace in the drawer, which made Miss Godwin fear her secret would be discovered.” Julian rested his cheek on the top of Caro’s head.
“Miss Godwin spends most of her time with the dowager, leaving her limited contact with Lady Caroline. She wouldn’t know her capabilities.”
“Thus, she decided she must remove Caro from Rowan Abbey before I returned.” Anger and disgust clawed at Julian’s gut. “I’ll contact the magistrate when we arrive and let him know we discovered Fleming’s—”
“My lord, I think it important to remember Miss Godwin didn’t harm Lady Caroline. Not physically.”
“Like Fleming, you mean.”
“But that’s it. We don’t know she killed Fleming. Her dealings with Lady Caroline indicate planning—distracting the maid, obtaining a cart, transporting her to the asylum—but not hostility. Perhaps she slipped into Fleming’s chamber undetected to reclaim the locket, just as Caro did.”
“Or perhaps her murder of Fleming was more opportunity than premeditation. Either way, she needs to be held to account for Caro’s abduction.”
As they reached the house, Wetherel himself came to greet them. “My lord, we didn’t— You found her!”
“The credit belongs to Miss Vance.” Julian slipped off the horse, feeling every bit of the discomfort of sharing the saddle with Caro. He reached up to assist her while Wetherel held the bridle. “Has everyone else returned?”
“Indeed.”
“Good. Send a couple grooms to fetch Mr. Mason. And pass along my gratitude to those who participated in the search.” He’d send a more tangible expression of his thanks later.
“Immediately, sir.” Wetherel led the horses away while Julian helped Caro to the house.
“Lady Caroline!” Hawkesworth’s face lost its requisite severity in a rare smile. “We were so worried. We’re glad to have you home.”
Julian helped Caro slip the cloak off her shoulders. “Hawkesworth, please see Miss Godwin is confined to her room, with a footman posted at the door. And notify me when Mr. Mason arrives.”
“I shall see to it, my lord.”
“I’ll be with Lady Caroline in—”
“Caro!” Teresa sprinted into the entrance hall and wrapped her arms around her aunt.
Teresa’s mother approached more slowly, hesitantly, warily—a woman of uncertain welcome in her own home. Her hands fluttered as if expressing an unconscious desire to join the embrace, and yet fear and ignorance restrained her. “G-good afternoon, Caro. I’m relieved you are well—and home. Are you hungry? Cook prepared a meal for Julian’s return. Perhaps you would like to join the family in the dining room.”
Caro tilted her quizzical expression toward Julian. “Hungry.”
Emotion clogged his throat at this, Elizabeth’s first attempt to include her youngest sister in her family. Julian squeezed her hand like he used to do all those years ago when he was a boy and Elizabeth a doting older sister. “I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but after her ordeal, I think Caro will feel more comfortable in the schoolroom this afternoon. It is familiar to her. Would you please see her lunch is sent there? And then perhaps
you and Teresa would care to join her...”
“I—I should like that. I shall have the entire meal transported to the room. That is, if you think it...”
“It is very appropriate.” He snagged Leah’s sleeve while Elizabeth and Teresa conveyed Caro to the schoolroom with promises of the delightful treats to come. “I’ll stay with Caro for a few minutes, but I have to confer with the magistrate as soon as he arrives. Would you remain with her this afternoon? She needs the comfort of familiar faces, and no doubt I’ll be occupied for some time.”
“But won’t you want my testimony about the times I saw Miss Godwin wearing the locket?”
Perhaps not if the woman confessed. “I’ll send for you if we have need of you.”
* * *
“Mr. Mason. How good of you to come again so precipitously.” Julian shook the magistrate’s hand, then gestured to Elizabeth. “I thought that in the absence of Lord Sotherton, my sister should attend this discussion about Lady Caroline’s disappearance since it concerns a member of her staff.”
“My lady, I trust you are well now that your sister is returned to you.” The magistrate offered Elizabeth a bow before he lowered his bulk onto a delicate chair. “You have identified Lady Caroline’s abductor, my lord?”
“And possibly Fleming’s murderer. Hawkesworth has gone to fetch her.”
“Her? Another woman, then.”
And not so different in circumstances from the last one—a reminder to use caution in their accusations.
“My lord?” Miss Godwin entered, flanked on either side by a footman-turned-sentry. Resignation dimmed her eyes like the faded beauty that languished on her face. “You wished to see me?”
“You’ll be happy to know I recovered an article belonging to you this morning.” Julian withdrew the locket from his pocket and waited. The gold chain twinkled in the midday sunlight that streamed through the drawing room’s tall windows. “I believe this is yours.”
“Yes, it is mine.” She offered no excuses or lies, but stood calmly before him.
