A Perilous Secret
Jane Wetherby
Copyright © 2020 by Jane Wetherby
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
1
The chill of winter had begun to subside. The rainy days and the heavy skies had slowly begun to abate, and glimpses of bluest sky were seen far above the densely laden clouds, giving hope to all those who saw it. The grass was lush and dark green with the faintest hint of blue, awaiting its chance to be bathed in the light of the spring sunlight.
The weather made everyone much more cheerful as well, especially on the first morning when sunshine shone through the windows of my family’s small cabin. It was a day in early March, and it had been three days since the last icy storm. Green bulbs were pushing up through the soil in my mother’s flower beds that my youngest sister had taken to caring for, and the trees were showing the very first signs of their leaves popping.
“Amelia! A letter!”
I glanced up from my needlework; I was fixing the hem of Susannah’s favorite blue dress, the one she had worn to Mr. Thorne’s ball during the winter.
Isabella, the second youngest sister, hurried into the room, a small letter wrapped with red string clutched in her hand. Her face was flushed as she pressed it into my lap, and her blue eyes, the same shade as my own, were wide and expectant. “Read it,” she said. “I believe it is from Juliana!”
I gave her a questioning look before setting down Susannah’s dress and picking up the letter.
After unfolding it, I recognized the handwriting at once. “It is from Juliana,” I said.
“Then we must read it to father and Susannah,” Isabella said, grabbing my wrist and pulling me from my chair.
We made our way to the kitchen where Susannah was preparing breakfast and Father was sipping his tea.
“Father, Juliana has sent us a letter,” Isabella said excitedly, taking the chair beside his.
“Has she, now?” he asked, shifting his gaze toward me. “Well, now, why don’t you read to us, dear Amelia? If you would like to, that is.”
“Of course,” I said, taking a seat across from him and Isabella.
Susannah, who was standing over a bubbling pot on the hearth, glanced over her shoulder, stirring something that smelled sweet like porridge with preserves.
I unfolded the letter once more and began to read.
“Dear Father, Amelia, Isabella, and Susannah: I hope this letter finds you all in high spirits, what with the dreary winter on its way out. Things here in Brighton are wonderful, and the sea has been far more invigorating than I ever thought it could be. Mr. Thorne has been very excited to greet his aunt and uncle here, and we have spent a great deal of time strolling along the seaside. You should not believe it; I have enjoyed fish I have never heard of before. The fishermen here are all so hearty and knowledgeable. I have learned a great deal from them, and Mr. Thorne seems to rather like the idea of summering here with Elizabeth. The water is bitterly cold for now, but as the weather improves, there shall be vendors here to sell all sorts of sweets. Elizabeth, of course, likes this idea, and has expressed interest in remaining on more than one occasion in the last few days.”
“My heavens, is it just me, or does it seem as if she is too excited to keep focused on one subject for long?” Father asked with a chuckle.
“I cannot remember ever hearing her so unintelligible,” Isabella said.
“Nor have I,” I said. I glanced back down at the letter and picked up where I left off. “If anyone would have told me that married life could be so agreeable, certainly I would have sought it sooner. Mr. Thorne tells me that my enthusiasm has been a breath of fresh air, and that he is certain more and more every day that he asked me to marry him.”
“Well, that’s quite a relief,” Susannah said from the hearth. “How dreadful would it be just a few weeks after their wedding that he was already tired of her company?”
“I believe she will keep him on his toes,” Isabella said, folding her arms. “He is the sort of man that appreciates an intelligent woman over looks.”
“Though he seemed to think her quite pretty as well,” I said, still scanning through the letter. “She goes on to discuss a ball they had attended a few nights prior and how delighted he was to introduce her to anyone he could. She found it all rather tiring, saying that she much preferred her life before attending balls and parties.” I smiled. “Of course, she only jests. I am certain she is meeting plenty of interesting people.”
“To be sure,” Father said.
I set the letter down on the table. “It has been rather strange with her absent, hasn’t it?” I asked.
“Indeed,” Father said, pulling the teapot toward himself and splashing some steaming tea into his cup. “But it certainly does my heart well to see my daughters succeeding so well in life.” He looked around the table at each of us in turn. “I imagine that it will be your turn next, Amelia. I wonder what sort of adventures your life will bring?”
I laughed. “Father, you’re rather optimistic, aren’t you?” I said, getting to my feet and wandering over to the hearth where Susannah was just pulling the pot from the fire.
“You cannot tell me that you wouldn’t want a wedding as lovely as Juliana’s, can you?” Father asked.
“In order to have a wedding, Father, I first must have met a man,” I said, picking up what was left of the loaf of bread from the night before and carrying it to the table. “And aside from the ball at Northington Park that we attended, I have yet to meet any.”
“Did any catch your eye?” Father asked.
“No, Father,” I said. “I danced with you for one dance, Isabella for another, and some older gentleman who must have been twice your size.” I laughed. “That ball was all for Juliana, I was quite aware.”
“Perhaps Juliana will meet some young men for us,” Susannah said, taking her seat at the table. “Who knows? In her next letter, she might have found husbands for us all.”
“Juliana would never believe any sort of young man to be suitable for us,” Isabella said, spooning some of the porridge Susannah had set down into some bowls. “She would think them all daft or shallow.”
“Still, it is rather astounding that at five and twenty, she was able to meet a man,” Susannah said. “I know that is not a terribly old age, but when most young ladies attending dinner parties and socializing out in society are quite a few years younger than she…”
“She found herself in a desirable situation and was not even aware of it from the beginning,” I said. “Though I shall not rule out Aunt Patience and her influence in that whole situation.”
“Indeed,” Father said with a smirk. “Though I must admit, I am rather surprised that she was able to find such a connection as Mr. Thorne.”
“She is not above using her husband’s station to her advantage,” Isabella said. “She has made that perfectly clear on more than one occasion.”
“Tis true,” I said as I took the bowl Isabella proffered to me. “I imagine half the people in our quiet little town would not be familiar with one another if it
were not for her and her meddling.”
We settled into breakfast, reviewing more of the letter that Juliana had sent. We all were quite pleased that she seemed as happy as she was. Susannah spoke of the wedding on more than one occasion. In truth, none of us thought that we would ever see a marriage in our household. It wasn’t a somber thought, especially not after losing our mother last year, as we had other things to preoccupy our thoughts. Perhaps Susannah was more concerned about it than we were, but I was not ignorant to my family’s position in society.
We all respected our father’s call as a minister. He was a wonderful figure in our community. There were many days that passed that we did not see him as he went to visit the poor and the sick. He would read to them and pray with them for encouragement. As we grew older, we helped our mother with more duties around the house, as his income was not able to hire any servants. As a result, we knew a great deal more about how to keep a house than most young ladies our age. At the same time, however, our lack of time to learn more languages and the finer points of etiquette left us behind other eligible ladies.
Our Aunt Patience, though, married to a baronet, took it upon herself to train us up when we were younger. She was my mother’s sister and had taken a liking to us. Especially me. She always told me how pretty I was, and I would just smile at her.
“You know, I do believe that it is high time that I do my part to find a match for the rest of my daughters,” Father said, rising from the table. “After your Aunt Patience was so gracious to me and introduced me to all of those men of influence at Mr. Thorne’s ball. I have received letters from more than one, and I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to seek after information of their families and if they have any sons that are yet unmarried.”
“Father, you must not overstep your bounds,” I said.
“You need not worry, dear daughter,” Father said, walking toward the door to his study. “I shall practice my wording, and if you feel so inclined, I shall allow you to read what I have decided upon. Is that quite all right?”
“Yes,” I said, smiling at him. “You will do just fine, Father. Thank you for caring so much about us.”
He smiled and retired to his study, humming as he went.
Susannah smiled from the table. “He is quite cheerful as of late, isn’t he?”
“It does my heart good to see him like this,” I said. “I was beginning to worry that he would be downtrodden for all time after mother passed away.”
“As did I,” Isabella said. “He certainly seems a great deal more ambitious.”
The house was a great deal lighter than it had been, and for that, we were grateful.
“Shall we write a letter back to Juliana?” Susannah asked. “Did she say where they were headed next?”
“I believe…” I said, pulling the letter back toward me. “She said they were headed toward Southampton next. Visiting some other distant relative who wishes to dote on the new couple.”
“Then we shall send the letter ahead of them,” Isabella said from where she stood at the window. “We shall tell her all about the exciting housework we have done and about the fantastic pie that Susannah made for us last night.”
Susannah gave Isabella a rather scathing look.
Isabella grinned. “I jest, sister, surely you knew that. Juliana’s life is a great deal more exciting than ours is now, and while I am certain she will be pleased to hear we are in good health and able mind, she is far more interested in her new husband and enjoying her new life with him.”
“Oh, if only we, too, could marry for love,” Susannah said, laying her delicate chin on her hand, fluttering her eyelashes.
“Is that all you can think of these days?” I asked her, giving her a skeptical look.
“Perhaps she isn’t the only one,” Isabella said.
I glanced over at her and saw her peering out the window to the front garden.
“A carriage has just arrived,” she said. “And I believe I know to whom it belongs.”
2
“Your Ladyship,” I said with a curtsy as the woman stepped through our front door.
She was adorned with silks and ribbons, her hat was elegant and of the latest fashions from London, and her dress was a deep, rich green, like the pines in the middle of winter. Her expression was warm, though, and was very familiar to each of us.
“My darlings,” said Lady Hayward, our aunt, laying a hand on the side of my cheek. Her gloves were made of the softest silk. I had never had the pleasure of owning anything quite like that in my life.
“Please, come in, ma’am,” Isabella said, gesturing toward our small sitting room at the back of the house.
“What is all the commotion out here?” Father asked, stepping from his office. His eyes widened when they saw Aunt Patience standing at the front door. “Oh, my Lady, good morning to you.” He dipped into a bow.
“Oh, come now, Mr. Honeyfield. You need not be so formal with me. We are family, after all,” she said.
“May I offer you some tea, ma’am?” he asked, looking up at her. “Or perhaps something to eat?”
“Tea would be fine, certainly,” she said.
We walked with her into the sitting room. I knew that Father would be somewhat embarrassed, as we had not cleaned the room for guests, not having expected any. Isabella and I quickly laid a fresh tablecloth across the small, round table, and Susannah collected some of the hemming we had been doing that morning and hurried it into the study.
She took a seat in Father’s chair beside the fire, which we had lit early on before dawn. Father laid a fresh log on top of it, and the fire lapped up against the wood, crackling and filling the room with its comforting, warm scent.
“There now,” I said, setting down a tray on the table with some biscuits Susannah had made the day before. “Something to tide you over while the tea kettle warms up.”
“You are too kind, dear,” Aunt Patience said.
She looked quite out of place in our small room with her elaborate clothing and her untarnished hems. Yet, this was certainly not the first time she had come to call upon us. As my mother’s sister, she had taken a personal interest in us, especially since my mother’s passing.
“How are my favorite nieces doing?” Aunt Patience asked, pulling her silk gloves from her fingers. “Everyone seems to be in fine health.”
“Indeed, ma’am,” Isabella said.
“I expect everyone is still bright and cheerful from your eldest sister’s wedding?” Aunt Patience said.
“Oh, yes, certainly,” Susannah said. “We were just this morning discussing it. She sent us a letter, you know. Telling us about their trip.”
“Did she now?” Aunt Patience asked. “Where is my darling niece and her new husband?”
“Brighton,” I said. “She is quite fond of the weather, it seems.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Aunt Patience said. She smiled around at us all, taking Isabella’s hand in her own as she stood beside her. “My dears, you must be so relieved, knowing that if she can be married, then the rest of you surely will as well.”
Susannah beamed. “Yes, ma’am. It is certainly what we are hoping for ourselves.”
“And of course, I am so ever grateful to Mr. Thorne for taking my suggestion in the first place,” Aunt Patience said, with an amused glint in her eyes.
Isabella’s eyes widened. “Did you know this is how things might end up?”
“Well, I knew that Mr. Thorne had lost his wife too young and that dear Juliana was in need of a husband. When I heard he wanted to find someone who could help teach his daughter how to play piano, she seemed to be the perfect fit for the job. It was pure coincidence that she was amiable, as was he.”
“Aunt Patience,” Susannah said, her mouth hanging open. “How clever you are, knowing people’s hearts in such a way.”
“My dear, all I want is for my dear, sweet nieces to find their own happiness,” Aunt Patience said.
“Here we are,
” Father said, coming into the room, the teapot in his hands steaming from the spout. He set it down on the tray I had brought out with me. “My Lady, should you like cream? Or sugar?”
“Just a bit of each, please,” she said. “And thank you, dear Mr. Honeyfield. You are very kind to attend to me in such a way.”
“It is the least I can do,” he said, mixing the small spoon around the inside of the cup a few times before carrying it over to her.
She took it with a nod of her head. “Thank you,” she said.
He bowed as he stepped away.
Aunt Patience then smiled up at me and patted the chair across from her. “Dear Amelia, why don’t you sit down here with me?”
“Of course, ma’am,” I said, obliging her by taking the seat across from her, though wondering why she was singling me out suddenly.
Aunt Patience sipped her tea, glancing at me over the rim of her cup.
I shifted in my chair, feeling the gaze of my other two sisters and my father on me, all of us wondering the same thing.
“Well, my dear, I have come with a proposition,” Aunt Patience said.
“For me?” I asked.
“Yes, for you,” she said. She sat back in her chair, setting her teacup on her lap. “I came here today to ask you to accompany me and Sir Hayward as we travel to Bath for a holiday.”
I felt my heart skip in my chest. “Me?” I asked. “Why would you want me to come along?”
“Well, my dear, I thought perhaps you would enjoy a change of scenery,” Aunt Patience said, smiling. “And of course, it would further give your poor father some peace of mind.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Father, who was pouring tea for my sisters. He seemed as surprised by Aunt Patience’s offer as I was, however.
“And, my dear Isabella and Susannah, you know that if it were in my power, I would surely choose to bring you both along with us, as well. However, as we are staying with some dear friends, Sir Hayward and I do not wish to impose on them a great deal,” Aunt Patience said with an apologetic expression.
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