Lady Julia Grey Bundle

by DEANNA RAYBOURN

  "What is this?" I asked when I recovered my breath.

  "A mixture of my own making. Brandy, and a few other special things."

  "Very tasty," I remarked, taking another sip, this one smaller and I took the time to roll it over my tongue, tasting honey and something more elusive.

  She drained her glass and poured another for each of us, then sat forward, resting her elbows on the gaily-printed tablecloth. "You've questions in your eyes. Ask them."

  "I hardly know where to begin."

  "At the beginning, child."

  I took another sip, feeling its warm Dutch courage suffusing my bones. "When Brisbane was poisoned, Minna came to fetch me and I thought of the different means by which he may have come to harm. I thought of the mushrooms of Lady Allenby and Godwin's arsenic for dipping the sheep. And I thought of your poppy-red syrup, and I had no way of knowing which of the three of you might have wanted him dead."

  "You took a chance," Rosalie said. "You are bold, Lady Julia."

  "I was not bold," I confessed. "I was terrified. I knew if I made the wrong choice, he would die. It was that simple. And I chose you, without even knowing why. Until later, when I had long hours full of dreamless sleep, and I woke knowing what I ought to have pieced together before."

  I paused and she looked at me expectantly, her mouth curved into a faint smile.

  "I chose you because I knew you would never harm your own kin. Brisbane is your nephew, isn't he?"

  The smile deepened. "He is. My poor little chavvo. Not quite a Gypsy, not quite a gorgio. When he was a child it made him very bitter. He used to say he would never fit into either man's world, neither the Gypsy's nor the gorgio's. And I always told him it was because neither of those worlds was big enough to hold him. I taught him that he carried what was best of both inside him, and to be proud of what he was. Or I tried," she finished with a sigh. "His mother, she was not so kind to him. I have never known another woman so beautiful as my sister. But neither was there a woman as cruel as Mariah Young. She was many years older than I was, the eldest of our mother's children, while I was the youngest. I was fifteen when he was born, and his mother wept and cursed him for being the son of a faithless man. Do you know about Black Jack Brisbane?"

  "Good Lord, he sounds like a pirate."

  "He was no better. He took what did not belong to him, usually women. They came willingly, make no mistake, for he was the handsomest man I have ever known. Quite a match in looks for Mariah, and in temper. They were a tempestuous couple. They never lived together for more than two months running. Always the fighting, the screaming, the throwing of dishes and breaking of chairs. Always Mariah ran away and Jack would bring her back. Her brothers and cousins learned not to interfere. My own husband, John-the-Baptist, still carries a scar upon his neck from coming between them."

  "Jack stabbed him?" I breathed.

  "Mariah," she corrected with a grim nod. "Jack had been choking her, and John-the-Baptist thought to impress me with his bravery. We were not married then, but he thought I was pretty," she recounted with a tiny smile. "He jumped into the fray and pulled Jack off of her. And quick as a cat, Mariah went for him, cutting him with the blade she carried in her skirt."

  She gave me a stern look. "Whatever gorgios say of us, you must believe that we are not all like that. We are a passionate people, but we do not like to fight. We are peaceful and loving, but Mariah was always the devil's child, and Jack was just the same. They were alike as brother and sister, the same faults, the same witch-black hair and the same peculiar way of looking right through a person. I always wondered if Black Jack's mother was quite a lady, or if perhaps she had had an indiscretion with a travelling tinker," Rosalie said with a meaningful lift of her eyebrows.

  "In any event, by the time Nicholas was ten, he had had enough. His father tired at last of Mariah's tricks and left them for good, and Nicholas had taken a lifetime of abuse from his mother. He did what any good Roma does when the welcome is a cold one. He packed his little bundle and he struck out on a new road and he did not look back. It was many years before I saw him again, years of loss and pain, for both of us."

  I waited, and she went on, speaking more to herself than to me. "They say the Roma came from Egypt, and that is why they are called Gypsies, that we came dancing out of the pharaoh's lands, summoning our luck with magic spells and telling fortunes in teacups. That is a faery story for children. Even we do not know where we come from, but the Sight is a true gift, one that has been handed down for centuries, and for as long as the women of the Young family have travelled this isle, there have been those of the blood who knew things before they came to pass. Mariah was one of those. I was never blessed with the gift, but Mariah was exceptional. She could tell a woman was quick with child before she had even missed her courses. She could watch the way the moonlight fell on a man's face and know he would die within a fortnight, and she passed her gift to Nicholas, the first male of our line ever to have the Sight."

  "He fights it," I told her. "I have watched him struggle against it. He thinks—I don't know—that it is superstition or something out of a story to frighten children with. He does not see it for the gift it is."

  "Many do not," Rosalie pointed out. "Can you imagine what it must be, to know things before they happen, and yet so often be powerless to stop them?"

  "He is not powerless," I argued. "He could do a great deal of good if he only accepted the visions and acted upon them. Instead he fights them with all of his might, ending up with migraines so ferocious he doses himself with all sorts of monstrous things. I have seen him take absinthe and hashish, and God knows what else, all because he will not admit what he really is."

  "And what is he?" Rosalie prodded gently.

  "The most extraordinary, maddening man I have ever known," I said, feeling exhilarated and a little deflated at the same time.

  "And you believe that just because you are willing to accept him for what he is, that others will be as broad-minded?"

  I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut. "Of course not. You are quite right. They would clap him in an asylum the first time he tried to tell anyone what he saw. I am a fool."

  She shook her head, the golden coins at her ears glinting in the light. "Not a fool. A woman in love, and that is a very near thing."

  "Am I so very obvious?"

  She was kind enough not to laugh.

  "Thank you for not answering," I said with a touch of asperity.

  We fell silent a moment and I was struck by how companionable it was. We were from very different worlds, Rosalie Smith and I, but we were kindred spirits.

  "How did you know I was his aunt?" she asked finally.

  I shrugged. "The initials on your knife. RY. I thought it stood for Yolande or some other second name, but then I realised it might well be your maiden name, Young. And then Godwin actually referred to you as Rosalie Young. I did not pay it mind at the time, but I thought of it later."

  She nodded. "I have known him since boyhood. He used to bring his pets to me to nurse them back to health."

  I shook my head. "I still cannot imagine that you have lived here so long."

  "Ever since Mariah died," she said softly. "John-the-Baptist married me even though he knew I would never travel with him, not so long as Mariah's boy was out there, lost in the world, with none of his kin to know him."

  I stared at her, scarcely comprehending what she had just said. "You have been here since Brisbane ran away? He ran away from here?"

  "We were camped out on this very moor, just below Thorn Crag. Sir Alfred hated the Gypsies on his land, but he liked to keep us where he could watch what we did. He thought we would behave better under his thumb," she told me, her eyes slanting maliciously. "We made more trouble here than any other two places combined. But Nicholas was not happy. He left here, running away, and Mariah went out of her head. There were legal troubles and she died of a broken heart. There was no one left to wait for him. The chemist had died and this cot
tage was vacant. Sir Alfred agreed to rent it to John-the-Baptist and me, provided we marry in the church. We did, and I told John-the-Baptist to go on. I knew he could never leave the road, and I could not leave this place, not so long as there was a chance that Nicholas would come back and need to find his people."

  I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. It was perhaps the most extraordinary tale of sacrifice I had ever heard. I only wondered if Brisbane appreciated it.

  "Did you never see him then? Not until he came to Grimsgrave in January?"

  "Bless you, of course I did. He has come before, a dozen times since he was grown. He found me when he was barely twenty, and he insisted upon paying for the rent on this cottage himself, although if you ask him, he will deny it. He has been good to me."

  "But if he found you, why didn't you join John-the-Baptist and the rest of your family on the road? Why do you still live here, in such isolation?"

  Her gaze slanted again, this time with all the Byzantine mystery of her people. "Because my destiny is not yet done here, lady. I am called to stay until the earth itself moves and gives up her dead. That was the last prophecy Mariah ever uttered, and I will remain until it is done."

  The words chilled me, and although we moved on to speak of other things, pleasant, harmless things, my blood did not warm again until I left her.

  THE TWENTY-FIRST CHAPTER

  When a world of men Could not prevail with all their oratory, Yet hath a woman's kindness overruled.

  —William Shakespeare

  Henry VI, Part 1

  When I had taken the turning at the crossroads toward Grimsgrave Hall, I paused to look back across the moor, and just then caught the faint toll of the Grimswater bell.

  Without thinking, I set off across the moor toward the black lake, heedless of the prickly furze and heather, striding over the spongy ground.

  "Julia!" Behind me I heard Brisbane's voice, carried on the wind. He was only a dozen paces behind me, and before I could reply he was upon me. I waved him to silence, but it was too late. The bell had quieted.

  "Bother!" I muttered, puffing out a sigh of frustration. I turned to Brisbane. "Did you hear it?"

  "Did I hear what?" he asked, his gaze sweeping the empty horizon.

  "The bell," I told him, my voice edged with impatience. "The one that lies beneath the waves of Grimswater. You must have heard it."

  Brisbane shrugged. "What bell? Julia, you must have heard the moor wind. It can play tricks upon the ears."

  "There is a village buried under Grimswater," I told him. "There is a bell there that tolls when an Allenby is to die. Surely you've heard of it," I finished.

  I turned to set off again toward Grimswater, but Brisbane took my arm and spun me round.

  "I am not interested in local superstition, and I did not trouble myself to walk all this way to chase after imaginary bells," he said sharply. He paused for breath, and I realised the long walk had tired him. He was still recovering from the poisoning, and I ought to have had a care for his health, I chided myself. I was even generous enough to overlook his pointed reference to "imaginary" bells.

  "Of course. Shall we walk back together? We could take it quite slowly, in stages, if you like?" I offered.

  He shot me a nasty look. "Oh, and then will you tuck me up in bed and feed me rice pudding? I am not an invalid, Julia. I am perfectly fine, only a bit fatigued."

  I bit off the sharp reply that rose to my lips. I had seen him suffer the effects of ill health often enough to know that he bore infirmity with even less grace than most men.

  "Then let us by all means stand out here on a freezing cold moor and discuss world events," I said sweetly.

  He glowered a little, but came straight to the point. "I want you to continue to work in the study. You have the catalogue, but it must still be compared to the present collection to see if any pieces are missing. I will require a proper catalogue when I go to sell it."

  "I do not think I want to help you." I raised my chin a little, making a point of looking over his shoulder at nothing in particular.

  "Don't be stubborn. You look quite mulish and that is never an attractive trait in a woman."

  I resisted the urge to put out my tongue at him, and sighed instead. "Brisbane, why must we always quarrel like children? You are the most impossibly arrogant man I have ever known."

  He looked genuinely surprised at my remark. "I would not seem arrogant if you occasionally did as you were told," he said mildly, stroking the dark shadow of a beard at his chin. He had been clean-shaven when he had groomed himself to meet Sister Bridget. I supposed he needed to shave twice a day if he meant to be really tidy.

  "Have I ever given you reason to believe I was the sort of woman who would do as she was told?"

  "You did once," he told me, his impenetrable black gaze fixed on my face. "When I first met you, you were a quivering little mouse. You did precisely as you were instructed, and I thought you were the dullest woman I had ever met."

  I laughed and he nodded. "You have changed. Once upon a time you would have flown at me for making that observation."

  "I am older now," I said.

  His expression was thoughtful. "No, it isn't just that. Do you remember when you wanted to embark upon that first investigation and I warned you it would change you forever? You have seen death now and evil, and the ways it can twist a soul into something unrecognisable. There was something childlike about you when our paths first crossed. I feel as though I murdered that girl with my bare hands," he said finally, a faint edge of bitterness cutting through his words.

  I put a hand to his sleeve. "I did not want to be that girl any longer. I was sleepwalking through my own life, didn't you know that? I wasn't happy. I wasn't unhappy. I scarcely even existed. I did not really care about anything, least of all myself. Now I feel alive every moment. I care for everything, and right now," I said, warming to my theme, "I care for Ailith and Hilda Allenby."

  He raised a brow, but I hurried on before he could speak. "I know Hilda has been rude and Ailith is rather vague, and I know your dislike of the Allenbys runs deep, but I am asking you, please, give the collection back to them. They have nothing, they are nothing. Their own mother was taken today for attempting an unspeakable crime, and they will never see her again."

  I stepped closer still, my hand tightening on his arm. "You showed compassion to Lady Allenby in letting her retire to a convent. I am only asking the same for her daughters."

  A tiny smile played over his lips as he glanced down at my hand. "Do you mean to win me over with feminine wiles? I must admit it is a more diverting notion than your usual method of screaming at me like a fishwife."

  I did not rise to the bait. I simply looked at him. "Please."

  He caught his breath, a slow smile warming his features. "My God, you are trying to seduce me."

  "I am not," I said primly. "I am merely trying to get your attention."

  He bent swiftly and kissed me hard, pulling back so suddenly I nearly toppled over. "I believe I have already made it quite clear that you have my attention."

  He strode past me then down the path toward Rosalie's cottage. I was still gaping after him when he turned back, his hands thrust in his pockets like a schoolboy.

  "Oh, and the reason I came to find you was to ask you to finish cataloguing the collection for Ailith and Hilda. They will want the sale completed as quickly as possible. They will need money to furnish the Bear's Hut."

  I could not speak. I simply stared, openmouthed as he gave me a wink and went on his way, whistling a bit of Paganini as he went.

  * * *

  When I returned to Grimsgrave, I hung my cloak upon the peg and went in search of my sister. I found her in the maids' room, crouched over a panting Florence, very much in Godwin's way as he crooned to the little dog. They had arranged her in a snug box with a nice warm blanket and placed her near the fire. On the bed, Mr. Pugglesworth was lying on Morag's pillow, snoring wetly.

 
I motioned to Portia to join me in the bedroom, gesturing for her to close the connecting door.

  "Anytime now, Godwin says," she told me. "We shall be aunties. Or I suppose you will be a grandmother," she amended, regarding me curiously.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. "So would you," I told her tartly.

  "Oh, I hadn't thought of that! I suppose I ought to buy them presents then. Perhaps little collars?" She looked more cheerful than I had seen her since her return, and it occurred to me that it might be a very good notion to keep her too busy to dwell on Jane's departure.

  "That would be lovely, I am sure. But what is Godwin doing here? It is wildly inappropriate, you know."

  She rolled her eyes at me. "Honestly, Julia. Have you no sense of occasion? I do not know the first thing about whelping pups, do you?"

  "No," I admitted. "But all of our dogs pupped in the stables. I imagine the grooms took care of matters."

  "And so Godwin will for us," she promised. "He is extremely knowledgeable about animals, you know. He is a trifle worried that Florence might be too small to deliver them safely. Puggy is rather plump."

  I was astonished. It was the first critical word I had ever heard out of Portia regarding Mr. Pugglesworth.

  I heard a little yip then and I cringed. "I cannot look. Go and help him if he needs anything. And, Portia," I called after her, "tell him to do what he can for her. I have grown rather fond of the little horror."

  She nodded, her expression serious as she slipped into the adjoining room. There were various scufflings and moist noises and in the end I could not bear the suspense. I fled the room, determined to be useful elsewhere.

  I had no desire to see Morag—I dreaded telling her about her pillow to begin with—so I went to the study instead. I thumbed through the official catalogue, the one Brisbane had kept hidden beneath his bed. It was a comprehensive document. It described each of Redwall's purchases, the entries inscribed in his own hand in excruciating detail. Everything was there, date of purchase, dealer's name, the date and condition of arrival. It made for surprisingly fascinating reading. I recognised many of the entries straight off, greeting them as old friends. There was a statue of Thoth, the ibis-headed god and judge of the dead. Then a pair of vases, alabaster and gracefully curved as a maiden's hip.