When Swallows Fall

by Gloria Davidson Marlow

  Since my arrival at Almenara, however, the need to be more was becoming increasingly unbearable. I wanted this man to love me, to take me to the places our hearts had only hinted at all those years ago. It no longer mattered that my sister had been there before, that he had loved her, bedded her, and made her his wife. I would be content to be his second choice, to be the one who took her place.

  At least, that is what I told myself.

  “Drink it,” he said. I started to shake my head, but he put the spoon to my lips and murmured again, “Drink it.”

  Once I had, he pulled a chair up beside my bed and sat down. He was silent as he took my hand in his and began to trace the lines of it with one finger. By the time he spoke, my body had relaxed and my eyelids were beginning to droop.

  “Do you remember how it was with us, Fee?” His voice was soft and wistful.

  “Yes.” Of course I remembered how it was. No matter how I struggled to forget, I had always remembered. It had to be the drug that made me admit, “I remember it every day.”

  “I loved you from the moment I saw you,” he said, bringing my hand to his lips.

  I forced my eyes open, fighting the laudanum-induced haze that was quickly descending on me.

  “You quit the moment I was out of your sight.”

  He lifted dark, haunted eyes to mine. “I never quit, Fee. Not for a minute.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I greeted the next morning with a pounding headache and stiff limbs, but with a new sense of determination that refused to be deterred by the pain. If I was being haunted by Desdemona’s ghost, then there had to be a reason she would not move on to the next world. I reminded myself more than once that I didn’t believe in ghosts or other paranormal beings, and that it was most likely my unresolved relationship with my sister that was causing me to conjure up such unearthly happenings. Still, I was so certain the things I had seen and heard were real, it was impossible to convince myself they were the workings of my mind, no matter how disturbed my thoughts.

  I dressed for church in a solemn black dress and twisted my hair into its usual chignon. As an afterthought, I pinned a small dove-shaped brooch made of silver and gum-paste jewels to my bodice. It wasn’t suitable for mourning, but I didn’t care. It was a reminder of happier times when Desi and I had still lived as sisters under our father’s roof. The brooch had been a gift from my father on my sixteenth birthday. He had given Desi one in the shape of a swallow. Purchased from a merchant during one of his infrequent trips into the city, my father had claimed I was like the dove who found its nourishment close to the ground and Desi was like the swallow who took to the sky in search of sustenance. It was as poetic as I ever heard my father wax outside of his sermons, and I could almost hear his voice now as I studied my reflection in the mirror.

  I wondered idly if Desi had kept hers all these years and if she had ever worn it as a reminder of fond memories and familial ties.

  I was waiting downstairs when Cade came down dressed in a well-cut dark suit, his hair still damp from a morning bath. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him descend, his proclamation of the night before ringing in my head.

  Lorraine, Calvin, and Eleanor were directly behind him, their Sunday best reminding me that beside them in the family pew I would look like the poor country relation I was. Instead of making me feel self-conscious and unsure, however, the knowledge seemed to bolster me, reminding me of my place in the world and here at Almenara. No matter what else I was or would ever be, I was first and foremost a woman whom others trusted and looked to for comfort, aid, and advice. I had sat by my father’s side while he took his dying breath, and I would be at Cade’s side when he took his, if it all came to that. In the meantime, I would do whatever I could to help prove his innocence.

  When he saw me up and dressed, Cade glared at me for only a moment before offering me his arm and leading me to the waiting carriage.

  “I expect that you plan to rest once the services are over?” he inquired and ordered simultaneously, unable to keep his disapproval in check.

  “Of course,” I agreed, although I truthfully had little intention of lying about all day.

  “Are you sure you’re up to this, Ophelia?” Eleanor asked. “I’m certain the Lord would forgive your absence from church service while you’re recovering from your fall.”

  “I am certain He would, but I am looking forward to hearing Reverend Arnold preach. Aside from a little stiffness and an ache here and there, I appear to be fine.”

  “She will rest this afternoon and tomorrow,” Cade announced, and I shot him a look of annoyance at the heavy-handed edict.

  When we reached the church in the center of town, Calvin, Lorraine, and Eleanor exited the vehicle and made their way up the stone path, acknowledging the greetings of the villagers with nods and smiles. By the time Cade and I alighted, they were well ahead of us, and I wondered at their hurry. I didn’t wonder long as I looked around at the faces of the people who had just greeted them so kindly. To a man, they eyed Cade with thinly veiled distrust and suspicion.

  Wanting to offer him more in the way of encouragement than simply standing by his side, I slipped my hand into the crook of his arm. He placed his other hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze as we approached the door.

  “She was screaming like a banshee, I tell you. I heard her with my own ears. Desdemona raised from the grave and trying to warn the rest of us, I’d bet.” My eyes shot to the group of girls enraptured by young Kathleen’s rendition of the story I’d overheard in the kitchen after Susan’s body was found. I couldn’t help but notice that she now used Desdemona’s first name rather than calling her Mrs. Scott. I supposed it had a much more dramatic ring to it when told that way.

  Some of the girls caught me looking at them, and glanced away, ashamed to be caught gossiping, but the others simply leaned in closer as Kathleen continued.

  “Her sister’s seen it, too. No one’s said so, of course, but I saw it on her face last night. She screamed out Desdemona’s name, and we all came running. When we got to her, she was pale as a ghost herself and standing out on the roof of Almenara.”

  “That’s enough, Kathleen!” an older woman said, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her away. She had the same dark hair and eyes as the storyteller, and I guessed it was Kathleen’s mother even before the woman spoke to us. “Pardon my girl, Mr. Scott, miss, we’ve not yet been able to beat the imagination out of her.”

  I opened my mouth to protest such harsh punishment for girlish talk, but Cade tightened his grip on my hand and, after a nod to Kathleen’s mother, led me inside the church. We slipped into the pew beside Dennis Ames and in front of the rest of the Scott family just as the pianist began to play.

  Dennis leaned toward me and spoke in a rather loud whisper. “I’m surprised to see you here, Fee. I thought the doctor would have ordered you to rest.”

  I was spared answering by Richard himself, who slid into the pew on the other side of Dennis. “That’s exactly what the doctor ordered. Yet here she is. At least she’s not likely to get in trouble inside the church.”

  “She will rest when we return home,” Cade said from my other side, without even looking our way, and I rolled my eyes in what I’m sure was a very unladylike expression.

  ****

  Reverend Arnold proved to be just as mild-mannered a preacher as he was a man, and I had to fight to keep my mind engaged in his sermon. The high point of the service was a benediction sung by Nellie Arnold in a high, lilting soprano that would make an angel proud.

  Afterward, we had barely made it through the front door of Almenara before Cade was ordering me to my room to rest, promising he’d have a lunch tray sent up momentarily. Although I disliked his assumption that I would blindly obey his commands, I offered only superficial protests. The truth was I wanted to be alone without his watchful eyes while I thought about what my next move should be. My mind had worked feverishly throughout the church service, and I had
a fairly clear idea of where I needed to go next. I just needed directions on how to get there.

  A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts, and Dory came through the door carrying a tray. Cade was just behind her, a tray in his hand, as well. My surprise and disappointment must have shown on my face, for he gave me a somewhat uncertain smile as Dory left the room.

  “I hope you won’t mind my company,” he said as he removed items from the tray and set them on the table. “For some reason, I find myself dreading a formal family meal today.”

  I watched him closely as he readied the meal, and we settled in front of the window. For the first time, I noticed the worry that furrowed his brow, the deep lines that bracketed his mouth, and the sad weariness in his eyes. Tears of sympathy sprang to my eyes, and I dashed them away with my fingers.

  He began to eat, giving no indication that he had noticed my perusal or tears, and I followed suit as he began to talk.

  “I’ve had the guardianship paperwork drawn up, and it should be delivered before the end of the week. Despite what I told Lorraine and Calvin, I have never had any intention of leaving Tabitha in their care. Although I don’t fear for her safety with them, I do fear that she would be deprived of the love and care she deserves.”

  “Why do they want her so badly? Is there something they stand to gain?” I felt uncharitable even asking such a question, but both Mrs. Hartley’s and Lorraine’s words came back to me, and I wondered if Cade was being naive to think she wasn’t in danger from his family.

  “No, there is nothing for them to gain. At one time, there may have been motive for them to harm her, if they were those kinds of people, which I don’t believe them to be. But the condition of my release prior to the trial was that I signed papers surrendering Almenara and everything it entails to Calvin, effective immediately, should I be found guilty of murder.”

  I gasped and sat back in my seat.

  “Cade, how could you do such a thing?”

  “I wanted to be home, Fee. I didn’t want to spend the last weeks of my life alone, locked up in a jail cell. I wanted to spend them here with Tabby, and God help me, Fee, with you.”

  His voice cracked and he buried his face in his hands.

  I knelt on the floor beside his chair, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pulling him against me, holding him as sadness and fear rolled over us in great waves.

  Of its own accord our embrace became something else and he lifted love-starved lips to my own. It wasn’t until our kisses deepened to a need we could not satisfy without ramifications that we broke apart.

  “Why did you marry her, Cade?” I whispered breathlessly. I had waited for him to come for me. I could still remember the days turning to weeks, the weeks to months, until finally I received the telegram telling me he and Desi had married. I could see the refusal on his face, but I needed to have an answer. “I deserve an answer, Cade. You betrayed me, you broke my heart, and you brought my sister here to die. I want to know why.”

  “You know exactly why, Ophelia.” His eyes were ice-cold onyx, devoid of the passion that lit them moments before. “I did exactly what you expected. Fell into the trap the two of you laid.”

  “What?” Had he lost his mind?

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.” He grabbed me by the arms and growled, “I was doomed the moment she stepped foot off that boat.”

  “Cade, I—”

  “I can still hear you begging me to look after her, to be her friend. I still feel your sobs the night before you left, and taste your lips when we kissed that last time. Even these years later, I had hoped it was unintentional, that you somehow didn’t know she was pregnant. That it wasn’t all an elaborate scheme to make me think I was the father of her child.” His voice shook with fury and pain. “But now I know. You chose to leave.”

  I could barely breathe as I stared at him, stunned by his accusations and revelation. Desi had been pregnant? And she had used Cade to cover it up? How could I not have known? Why hadn’t she told me? Because she knew I would never agree to such a hoax. If I hadn’t left her with Cade, she would have found another man to dupe. But Cade had been handy, and obviously it hadn’t been very difficult for her to sway him into bedding her.

  “She had been carrying on with a married man,” I choked out. “A preacher, no less, and my father was devastated when he learned of their affair. He threw her out of the house and told her not to return. She was so ill on the trip to New Orleans, so weak and sick when she arrived, that I wasn’t sure she could withstand the return journey.”

  My voice broke, but I continued, desperate to make him believe me.

  “I had no idea she was pregnant, Cade. You have to believe that. I thought it was only nerves and worry that made her so ill. I hoped that by the time Father recovered, he would be ready to forgive her and let her come home. It never occurred to me that she would take my place in your affections.”

  “Damn it, Ophelia, she never took your place.”

  “You married her, Cade, not me. You believed her child was yours.”

  He ran an agitated hand through his hair.

  “You begged me to look after her, Fee, to be a friend to her, and that’s what I did. She was so like you, at first, so sweet and caring. Your sister had acting abilities that rivaled Lorraine’s, I’m sure. Those first few weeks after you were gone, she was so like you it was as if I had a living, breathing portrait of you at my side. Her smile, her laugh, even her demeanor was the same. Quite truthfully, I did become nearly as enamored with her as I was with you.” He darted a glance out the window. “There were differences in you, of course. As time passed, she became more and more brazen in her desire for physical intimacy. I suppose she knew time was running out for her to claim her child was mine. By the time we crossed that line, she must have already been several months along.”

  “So you believed she was pregnant with your child when you married her?”

  He nodded. “Tabby was such a frail little thing when she was born, it was easy to tell myself she was weeks early. I loved her from the moment I laid eyes on her. No child could have been more precious to me.”

  His voice was thick with emotion, and my eyes welled with tears. There was no doubt in my mind that he loved Tabby like his own.

  “I wasn’t prepared for the protectiveness and love I felt for her when they placed her in my arms. I knew right away that something wasn’t right with her, that she was different from other babies, but it didn’t matter. It only made the feelings stronger.”

  “How did you learn she wasn’t really your child?”

  “Maybe I always knew. In the back of my mind, I had my doubts, but I forced myself to keep them there. I knew I wasn’t the first for Desdemona, and, in retrospect, I knew that Tabitha’s birth was too early for her to have survived, had she been mine. But none of that mattered to me. I wanted to believe she was my daughter. We could have gone on like that forever, but Desdemona kept taking her up to the top of that damn lighthouse. Richard kept warning her it was dangerous, but she refused to listen. Finally, he came to me with his concerns.”

  “He told me how dangerous it was for her to be there,” I said, and Cade shot me a look of dark disapproval.

  “Desdemona and I fought about it. She was furious and spat out that Tabby wasn’t mine and I had no right to tell her what she could do with her. She threatened to divorce me and take Tabitha away. I denied her a divorce, and she vowed to leave anyway. I was so angry that I threatened to kill her if she ever tried to take Tabby with her. And everyone heard me say it.” He clasped my hand, his face shadowed with regret. “I meant it when I said it, Fee. It’s important that you know that.”

  “Cade, you were angry, and frightened by her threats to take the child you love. That isn’t proof you killed her.”

  “It’s proof enough, apparently.”

  “Do you think she would really have left?”

  “Yes, I think she had every intention of le
aving. I’m not sure she would have taken Tabby, but she and Devlin had every intention of leaving the country. He’d already booked passage on a ship to England.”

  “She really loved him that much?”

  “With Devlin, she was different than I had ever seen her. I suspected she had taken a lover here and there during our marriage, but she was always discreet. She and I had ceased having a real marital relationship long ago, but I suppose some affection for her still remained within me, because I was almost glad to see her happy once more. Devlin was more than an affair. I believe Devlin was the one man your sister ever truly loved.”

  “Did he return her love?” Everything I had learned since coming to Almenara painted such a bleak picture of Desi’s life here, it seemed imperative that I know if she had found any sort of happiness in the end.

  He nodded. “Even without his dramatic tendencies, what you saw at her funeral was real. Devlin loved her.”

  “But you can’t say for sure he didn’t kill her?”

  “No.”

  I knew I needed to ask him about Amelia while he was so willing to talk. Although I couldn’t really believe he’d had anything to do with her death, I had to know what had transpired between them the day she died, and what part her death played in his arrest for Desi’s murder.

  I took a deep breath. “Tell me about Amelia.”

  He paled, swallowed hard, and with what appeared to be supreme effort, spoke in a voice I barely recognized.

  “Amelia and Calvin married the year he graduated. Calvin and I had spent holidays with Devlin at their parents’ home, and they seemed to care for us. But when Calvin proposed, they became vocal in their disapproval of the match. They wanted more for her, wanted her to marry someone who would be able to care for her, who could make her the mistress of her own home. It seems they had decided she would be mistress of Almenara or she would not live here at all.”