A Mysterious Season

by DEANNA RAYBOURN

  She burst into lusty sobs, and Aunt Hermia went forward to comfort her. “I am an honest girl, I am, my lady! You know I am. Here, I shall turn out my pockets so you will know I am no thief.”

  Aunt Hermia covered Mary’s hands with her own. “Do not distress yourself, child. We know your worth.”

  Father was staring at Mary as if he had never seen her before. Aquinas came forward, holding out the empty box. “It is just as the girl says, my lord. We entered the study together and the box was on the floor. There is no sign of the ring.”

  Father reached out his hand and took the empty box. He stared into it a long moment, then shook his head. “Calm yourself, Mary. You are mistaken. There was no ring in the box. It was empty all the while.”

  Mary lifted her head from Aunt Hermia’s shoulder. “My lord? But I saw it—”

  “You saw nothing. There was nothing to see. Perhaps you are overtired from the extra work. You ought to have the rest of the morning off.”

  Aunt Hermia’s face was white-lipped. “Do as his lordship says, child. Go and rest in your room. If you feel you can, you may resume your duties this afternoon. Do not give this another thought.”

  The confused girl dried her tears and bobbed a curtsey before fleeing the room. The rest of us exchanged glances but it was Brisbane who stepped forward. “My lord,” he began.

  But Father cut in swiftly, giving Brisbane a piercing look. “Remember.” His gaze swept over the rest of us. “The box was empty all the while,” he insisted. “This is but a tempest in a teapot. Get on with your breakfast. And keep down the noise. This isn’t a bloody circus,” he added, turning on his heel and stalking from the room. Brisbane put out his hand to Aquinas for the empty box and slipped it into his pocket with all the dexterity of a cutpurse. Aunt Hermia noticed nothing of the exchange. She was staring after Father, twisting her hands in her skirts.

  Just then Plum appeared and I related the events of the morning to him swiftly as Brisbane removed the dormouse from the sugar bowl, wiped it clean and dropped it into his breast pocket.

  “It seems my theory is correct,” I announced. “We have a jewel thief in the house. Brisbane and I shall investigate.”

  “Brisbane would like very much to finish his breakfast first,” my husband put in.

  “That will not be necessary.” Aunt Hermia’s voice was unaccountably sharp and two bright spots of colour bloomed hotly in her cheeks. “I am quite certain your father must be correct. Surely he would know if there were an emerald ring in his possession.”

  I stared at her. “Dearest, I grant you this is a pretty puzzle, but surely you must see there is something strange afoot, even for us.” I smiled to show her I meant no offence, but she rose, her breath coming quick and hard. The gentlemen got to their feet as well.

  “Leave it, Julia.”

  I persisted. “But what of your own ring? Surely you would like to know what has become of it?”

  Her hands tightened on the back of her chair, knuckles white. “I said let it be. We do not require any of your professional meddling.”

  She took her leave then, and my gaze followed her as Plum and Brisbane resumed their chairs.

  “What on earth has got at her?” I demanded.

  “Perhaps a little too much family togetherness at the holidays?” Brisbane hazarded. I threw a crust of toast at him which he caught neatly and popped into his pocket for the dormouse.

  “I know you do not believe there is a jewel thief,” I began, but Plum spoke up.

  “You heard Aunt Hermia. We should leave it.”

  “What of the ghost?” I demanded.

  “Never mind. I meant what I said last night. I want a quiet, peaceful family Christmas—just once. Whatever you two mean to get up to, do not tell me. I am taking a leave from the business until Twelfth Night is finished. I am going to read a book, I am going to paint, and I am going to get comprehensively drunk. I am on holiday.”

  With that he rose and strode from the room. I grinned at Brisbane, who favoured me with one of his enchanting slow smiles.

  “So, my dear, it seems you have set the cat amongst the pigeons.”

  “Me? I haven’t done anything,” I protested. “But now that we are partners once more—”

  He held up his hand. “Not this time.”

  I blinked at him. “I beg your pardon?”

  “I must recuse myself.”

  “Recuse yourself? I have never heard of anything so profoundly idiotic—” I broke off, comprehension dawning. “You know something.”

  He buttered another slice of toast, his expression bland. “Perhaps.”

  “Perhaps nothing! You know, now tell me,” I commanded.

  “I cannot.” He crunched down on the toast and I sighed. Brisbane in his present mood was as shiftable as the Rock of Gibraltar. I rose and went to his side of the table.

  He gave me another of those smiles, and I sat on his lap, looping my arms about his neck. “I shall guess and you will tell me if I am correct. Do those terms suit you?”

  “Everything about this present arrangement suits me,” he said, shifting me a little more closely in his lap. “Go on.”

  “You know something of Father’s current predicament.”

  “Correct.”

  “You further are incapable of speaking freely upon the subject.”

  “Correct.”

  “And Father was quite specifically speaking to you when he said, ‘Remember,’ doubtless reinforcing a promise extracted at some prior time. The obvious deduction being that you, as a gentleman, have given your word of honour to respect his confidence even as it touches me.”

  “Lucky me to have such a clever wife,” he said lightly. I moved against his thigh and he made a strangled sound low in his throat. “That was unkind.”

  “Think of it more as an invitation,” I suggested.

  He held up a warning finger. “You know better than that. Even you cannot get round me when I’ve given my word.”

  I nipped the fingertip lightly with my teeth. “I know. But it is rather pleasurable to torment you.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  O Flower, whose fragrance tender

  With sweetness fills the air…

  “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” Traditional English Carol

  After Brisbane and I had settled amicably upon terms—I would investigate with his discreet assistance but he would answer no direct questions—I announced loudly that I would be writing letters in my room while Brisbane claimed to have business from the morning post that required his attention. Luckily for us both, the rest of the family were equally occupied. Father had bolted the door of his study against visitors while Aunt Hermia had closeted herself with the cook, who was out of bed but still walking in a gingerly fashion. Portia took Jane the Younger to the Home Farm to show her off to our brother Benedick, and that left only Plum, who disappeared with his sketchbook.

  Together, Brisbane and I crept up to the attics, making directly for the lumber room where once before a spectral visitor had hidden the means of a ghostly disguise. I had just crossed the threshold when Brisbane gave an exclamation of disgust and held a robe of white gauze aloft.

  “The devil might have had the wit to attempt to hide it.” His expression was sour.

  “I should have thought you would be pleased to have uncovered the truth so quickly,” I soothed.

  He narrowed his witch-black eyes at me. “I have matched wits with some of the most cunning criminals in the world. I do think it’s a trifle wasteful of my time to unmask an unimaginative servant bent on thievery.”

  But he inspected the draperies with his usual thoroughness before tossing them to me.

  “The same costume as the last time,” I reflected. “Doubtless the story got round the village and so
meone decided if the ploy had worked once it would work again.” I fell silent, nibbling at my lip as I thought. Brisbane bent to examine the other bits of the costume. The original affair had included a pair of pattens, iron frames that had once been fashionable for lifting a lady out of the mud when she walked, thus sparing her skirts. Our previous ghost had been clever to use them, for they gave the impression of floating if the spectre were seen in fitful light.

  Brisbane held them up for my inspection. “Notice anything peculiar?”

  I poked at them, twining a long strand of sticky silk about my finger when I pulled away. “Cobweb. They haven’t been worn, not in a very long time. So we have a slightly more interesting puzzle. The pattens made a ghastly effect. It was down to them that anyone who saw the previous ghost believed it to be entirely supernatural. Why then did our present ghost discard the most effective part of the ensemble?”

  I strapped them on and began to move about the room as Brisbane watched. “They are dreadfully awkward. And quite heavy. It would take practise to walk in them gracefully and give the impression of floating. Therefore, I propose it must be a woman of small stature, unable to manoeuver in them easily and without sufficient time to learn.”

  “So, a female member of staff, new to the house, and small in stature. Do we know anyone who fits that description?”

  I sighed and thought of Aunt Hermia’s obvious agitation. “Unfortunately, we do.”

  * * *

  We found Rose in the stillroom, peering into the earthenware crock and turning the damp potpourri we had mixed.

  “It smells a treat, does it not, my lady?” she asked. Her cheeks were pink with exertion and, I suspected, pleasure. I glanced at Brisbane, feeling an utter worm.

  He took the lead, moving smoothly to the side of the worktable opposite the girl so as not to alarm her with his size.

  “Brisbane, this is Rose, the new stillroom maid. Rose, this is my husband, Mr. Brisbane.”

  She bobbed him a swift curtsey as he settled himself onto a stool, bringing his eyes level with hers.

  “Good morning, Rose. My wife tells me you hail from London.”

  “I do, sir. Cockney born and bred.”

  “You must have had a difficult time of it last year,” he said, his voice gentle.

  She shot him a sharp look then nodded. “You know what I was then.”

  “I do. My wife’s lady’s maid was also trained at Lady Hermia’s refuge.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I have met that Morag. Stuck-up, if you ask me, high and mighty now she’s maiding for a lady. And she’s a face like a sour apple.”

  Brisbane flicked me a glance. “She is not wrong,” I murmured. Morag had been known to flaunt her status from time to time, but I understood why. She had been on the receiving end of so much abuse for so much of her life, it was little surprise she sometimes found lording her position an irresistible temptation.

  “Were you ever questioned by the police in connection with the Ripper case?” Brisbane put the question to her casually; he did not even hold eye contact with her. Instead, his eyes rested on her hands as they worked.

  “I was not. I’ve no use for the police and they’ve no use for me. It is not so hard to lose yourself if you know how.”

  “I am sure of it.” He continued to watch as Rose left off stirring the potpourri and moved to a basket of oranges. She took down a jar of cloves and an awl, sticking it firmly into each plump fruit before poking a clove into the hole she had made. The air was thick with the scent of citrus and spice.

  Brisbane picked up one of the oranges and began to peel it with a studied air of nonchalance.

  “It sounds as if you had some experience of the police before that. I do hope they did not trouble you unduly? They can be overzealous in their efforts.”

  Rose snorted. “You can say that again and twice on Sundays! Took me up for thievery they did, and no more cause than the fact that I was in the same street. Lucky I was that the actual thief was caught red-handed with a packet of French lace. Otherwise I would have been sent to gaol for naught.”

  Just as she turned to her work again, William IV appeared. In contrast to his previous demeanour, this time he approached formally, bearing a covered plate. “Begging your pardon, my lady, Mr. Brisbane. Rose, I have brought the suet Lady Hermia requested from the kitchen.”

  He put it down upon the worktable and gave a short bow from the neck before departing.

  “She must mean to put some out for the birds,” I began, pulling back the corner of the oiled cloth. Instantly Rose reared back at the mound of fat. She made the stone sink just in time, heaving quietly.

  I took a cloth and wetted it, holding it against her brow after she was finished.

  “Oh, my lady, I do apologise. The sight of that suet put me right off.”

  Brisbane brought a stool and she perched on it, still clutching the compress.

  “I do hope you are not falling ill, Rose. Lady Hermia has come to rely upon you.”

  She bent her head to her work again, but I saw a tiny smile tug at her lips. “You are quite a nice lady,” she said, so softly as to be almost inaudible.

  “Not always,” I said, feeling a quick stab of guilt. I dared not look at Brisbane. “Rose, if you are unhappy here, I am certain Mr. Brisbane and I can find a place for you at our house in London.”

  Her head shot up as she looked from one of us to the other. “Would I have to work with that Morag?”

  “Yes,” Brisbane put in. “But her bark is infinitely worse than her bite.”

  She grinned. “I will have a think on it, sir. And thank you, my lady.” She handed me the spiced orange she had just finished, bobbing a curtsey as she gave it over. I sniffed deeply as Brisbane and I left her.

  We paused outside the door and he lifted a black brow at me. “Your Aunt Hermia will not thank you for attempting to poach her maid. Do not look to me for protection,” he advised. “I have my hands quite full with one March lady. I could not rise to the challenge of taking on another.”

  * * *

  Aquinas served us our luncheon in the small sitting room adjoining our bedchamber.

  “Upon Lady Hermia’s instructions,” he offered by way of apology.

  “Where is everyone else?” I asked, peering into the chafing dish he held out for me. “Oh, woodcock!”

  Aquinas informed me that Aunt Hermia had decided not to eat luncheon, Plum was still out sketching, and Portia was being fed at the Home Farm. “And his lordship is still at work in his study.”

  “Sulking, you mean.” I said it, but I could tell from the small smile playing about Brisbane’s mouth that he thought it.

  “It is not for me to say, my lady,” Aquinas said, but his lips twitched as well.

  I sighed. “It does not even seem like Christmas. Everyone is in such a mood and the house is practically empty. It hasn’t even been decorated yet!”

  I thought of the dozens of family holidays I had spent at the Abbey. I had missed only one—the year I had honeymooned with Brisbane. We had shared our first married Christmas together abroad, and even in the brilliant glow of newly-wedded bliss, I had suffered a pang at missing the traditional celebration with my family.

  “Julia?” Brisbane’s voice was softly questioning and Aquinas withdrew on discreet feet.

  “I know I am being childish about the whole thing, but you do not know what it is like to be here on Christmas. There has been snow every year upon Christmas Eve and do you know why? Because this is a holy place. There is a well in the village where a winter miracle happened so long ago no one even remembers what it was. But they remembered this was a sacred place and a village grew up around it and that is why it is called Blessingstoke—the blessed hamlet.” Brisbane said nothing. His silences could be weighty things, but they were often gift
s as well. I went on. “And Christmas was always so special with everyone gathered round, even the relations I never much liked.” He lifted a brow and I responded with a repressive look of my own. “Do not judge me. You have met the Ghoul.” At the mention of my grisly, funeral-mad great-aunt, Brisbane gave a slight shudder. “Snow every year—even the warmest ones when the sun was bright on the solstice. By Christmas Eve it always came, blanketing the whole village in a shimmering cloud of white. And inside everyone would drink the wassail and get shockingly tipsy and sing songs while Lysander played the piano and Portia led the chorus. Benedick always found the fattest piglet to roast for dinner and the whole place smelled of cinnamon and clove and boxwood and ivy. And for just a little while all was right with the world. And now it isn’t.”

  I could scarcely expect him to understand. The stunning conclusion of our previous investigation at the Abbey had called Brisbane away before Christmas. He had merely glimpsed the magic of the place. His own holidays had been meagre affairs, spent either with his Gypsy kin or living rough on the streets of London as a runaway boy. But perhaps it was that lack that helped him to grasp the keenness of my regrets.

  He opened his arms and I went to sit on his knee. He embraced me, one hand stroking my hair.

  “I feel quite stupid, you know. I oughtn’t to mind.”

  He said nothing for a long moment and I relaxed into the warmth of him, feeling that large heart beating a solid, steady rhythm beneath my hand.

  “Julia, we are all children at Christmastime.”

  “You are not,” I pointed out.

  He gave me a shadowy smile. “I think you told me once I was born old.”