The Enigmatic Lady in the Ivory Tower

by Hazel Linwood

  “It may be the only way to know what the babe’s name is,” Frances pointed out.

  “If the late Marquess’ son survived to be cared for by the trusted servants mentioned in these letters, they would have no doubt changed his name to something unrecognizable to the Dowager Marchioness. They would have done everything they could to keep him safe.”

  “Including leaving the estate?”

  “No,” Diana shook her head. “From what these letters suggest, the Marquess had every intention of the babe being raised where he could see to his needs without anyone ever knowing the boy’s true identity. All of the clues lead to someone here on the Welsh estate. If he is alive at all, then he is here.”

  “I will see what I can discover,” Frances promised, rising to leave.

  The sound of approaching hoofbeats sounded on the drive outside. Diana arose to look out of the window to find that the Earl and his search party had returned.

  “And it appears that I am out of time.”

  “You cannot be forced to accept the Earl’s betrothal if you are asleep,” Frances answered, moving to get Diana’s nightclothes from the armoire. “Let us get you changed and into bed. I will make inquiries among the staff and hopefully have something to tell you come the morn. Until then, it would be best to hide the papers.”

  Diana nodded and allowed Frances to help ready her for bed. As she slipped beneath the covers, she hid the papers underneath the mattress. In spite of her cooperation with Frances’ plan, she knew that she was not going to be able to sleep. It took every last bit of her willpower not to tear open the wax-sealed document and read its contents, but she could not be responsible for undoing the late Marquess’ legacy. He had gone to great lengths to see that his son survived to one day be welcomed into the upper echelons of society and if she was able to keep that intact, she would do so.

  Chapter 33

  Frances left Lady Diana’s bedchamber and slipped down the backstairs to the kitchen. She thought that the best way to get the information that she needed was to offer her assistance in the kitchens with cleaning up the remains of the evening meal and make her inquisitions sound like casual conversation instead of an interrogation. The cook and kitchen maids, overworked, gratefully accepted her assistance.

  While they worked, Frances plied them with leading questions, sharing about her own family in order to get them to do the same about their own and the other people that they worked with. Frances felt guilty for using them thusly, but she would have done anything to protect Lady Diana. Frances personally liked the Earl and cared very little for the stable hand, Gabriel, but she was not going to stand by and allow a terrible woman such as the Dowager Marchioness to blackmail her into marriage.

  Frances told them about her mother taking in her sister’s children and how they had grown up together more as siblings than cousins. She hoped that it would cause the maids to think of other instances when such a thing had happened for them or others attached to the estate. Unfortunately, none of them mentioned a baby boy who had something similar happen.

  By the time that the evening meal was cleaned away and the kitchen set to rights for the night, Frances had learned many things about the families of the Welsh estate, but nothing that would be of help. According to the cook and the maids, there was no one fitting the late Marquess son’s description in as much as she was able to inquire without giving away her true reasoning or the story outlined in the letters.

  Diana will have no choice but to confront the Marquess now.

  Come morning, Diana awoke to find Frances asleep in the chair beside her bed. It had been a restless night and she was surprised to find that her friend had been able to enter the room without her knowing.

  She is such a quiet little thing and yet she possesses such strength and loyalty.

  Crawling out of bed, Diana laid a blanket over Frances’ sleeping form and went to stand in front of the window. She looked out over the expanse of the grounds below as the sun began to dapple its rays across the dew-strewn gardens.

  Such beauty among such treachery. It is a metaphor for the world at large, I suppose.

  Sighing, Diana turned away to ready herself for the day. It felt more like donning armor for battle than it did slipping on a light frock.

  “Why did you not wake me?” Frances murmured sleepily from behind her, sitting up in the chair as she brushed the hair back out of her face.

  “You were sleeping so soundly I did not have the heart to awaken you.”

  “That was thoughtful of you, My Lady, but surely you would not have left to face the Dowager Marchioness without discovering whether I learned anything last eve.”

  “No, I would have awakened you before going down. Did you, indeed, discover anything?”

  Frances shook her head.

  “No, unfortunately I did not. I spoke with the cook and all of the kitchen maids, but none of them knew of a boy being brought here from elsewhere.”

  “Then we have nothing but the letters to face the Marquess and Dowager Marchioness with.”

  “That and a sealed document that may or may not tell us all who the boy is or was.” Frances’ face showed the doubt that she felt about the plan.

  “If only there had been more information, another letter at the very least,” Diana sighed, pulling the papers out from beneath the mattress.

  “I think that you should send a letter to your parents.” Frances stood up from the chair to meet Diana’s eyes with earnestness.

  “And what should I say to them that they would believe?”

  “Tell them that you are going to accept the Earl’s proposal and that you would like for them to be present when you do. It would also allow you an acceptable excuse to delay the Dowager Marchioness if she believes that you are sincere. When your parents arrive, show them what you have found and tell them about everything that has happened and that you have learned. The Dowager Marchioness will not be able to hide what she has done when placed under the scrutiny of your parents.”

  Diana’s eyes widened in surprise at Frances’ cunning.

  “At the very least, the fact that the Dowager Marchioness attempted to blackmail me into doing her bidding should give them cause enough to doubt her credibility.”

  “Indeed,” Frances nodded, the smallest light of hope entering her eyes for the first time since they had arrived in Wales.

  “I will write the letter if you will see to having it delivered.”

  “The groom, David, should be able to deliver it if he is not riding out with the Earl in search of the brigands who shot Gabriel.”

  The thought of Gabriel made Diana’s heart patter strangely in her chest. She had been forbidden to see him by the Dowager Marchioness and there was nothing that she could do about it. She prayed that he was healing and had not taken a turn for the worse. She knew that the Marquess would have had a maid to care for him, but that did not keep her from worrying about him. She did not even know whether he was still in the library or if he had been removed to the stables.

  “Do you have any word of Gabriel?” she asked Frances hopefully.

  “The Marquess had him removed from the library, but I do not know where he was moved. I can only assume the stables or one of the male servants’ rooms.”

  “Can you discover his whereabouts for me?”

  “I can try, but you are forbidden to see him. Is it wise to anger the Dowager Marchioness further before your parents arrive?”

  “Perhaps not, but I need to at least know that he is alive and well.”

  “I will see what I can discover after I deliver your letter, for David to take to your parents.”

  “Thank you, Frances.”

  “I will always do my duty by you, My Lady, even when I disagree with you.”

  “I know that you do not approve of Gabriel, but I love him. I may not ever be able to be with him, but if I can do this one last thing to protect him and his family from being dismissed and sent out into the world with nothing, then I can
leave here knowing that I did my very best for him.” A single tear slipped down Diana’s cheek.

  “Have faith, My Lady, that one day you will find a more appropriate love, a love that you choose.”

  Diana shook her head. “I may not have chosen to love Gabriel, but it is all the more sincere for its accidental nature. Contrary to what we are taught, Frances, love cannot be planned.”

  “Perhaps not, My Lady, but it does not change the way that things are.”

  Diana swiped another tear from her cheek and sat down at the little desk by the window to write a missive to her parents. “And perhaps the way things are, is wrong.”

  Gabriel lay incapacitated in the bed in David the groom’s room above the stables. The groom had temporarily moved to sleep in the hay loft so that Gabriel could be as comfortable as was possible, given his change in surroundings. The Dowager Marchioness had appeared in the manor house library as if out of nowhere and had begun shrieking at him to get out of her house.

  He knew that the Dowager Marchioness was not happy when her servants received special treatment of any kind. She believed that the classes should remain completely separate and he had seen her angry at many of them over the years, but he had felt her reaction to be extreme, even for her. It had been humiliating to be helpless to arise and leave the house of his own accord. He had been forced to lie there through the entire ordeal until the butler had arranged for the footmen to carry him out.

  As he lay there staring at the ceiling, he heard footsteps climbing the stairs. The footsteps were light, not the heavy boot falls of a groom. A glimmer of hope that it might be Lady Diana sparked in his heart. He had not seen her even once since being moved. A knock sounded at the door and Gabriel called out for whomever it was to enter. To his surprise, it was the diminutive maid Frances, instead of her mistress.

  “Frances?” he greeted her, more as a question than an actual welcome. He knew that she did not like him in the slightest for what she perceived to be a compromising of her mistress’ reputation and future prospects.

  “Gabriel,” Frances stopped in surprise. “I was looking for David.”

  “Oh?”

  “My mistress needs him to deliver a missive to Lord and Lady Kilgrave.” Something flashed in Frances’ eyes as if she were contemplating whether to say more.

  What he saw in her eyes made his heart leap with concern.

  “Is she well? Has something happened?”

  Frances squared her shoulders and lifted her chin in a gesture of defiant strength. “She is well.”

  “Why do I have my doubts as to the truthfulness of your words?”

  “I cannot control what you think, Gabriel Rowan, but I will not stand here and allow you to question my honor by suggesting that I would lie. For your information, the missive is to announce the impending engagement of my mistress and the Earl of Appley. Lady Diana wishes for her parents to be here for the happy occasion.”

  Gabriel’s muscles stiffened in hurt surprise. Logically, he knew that surprise was unwarranted as Diana had been destined to wed the Earl of Appley from the beginning, but his heart spat on logic. “Engagement?”

  “Indeed,” Frances confirmed, nodding her head in a sharp defiant jerk. “Now, I must find David. Do you happen to know where he is?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “I cannot be certain, but he has been sleeping in the loft so that I might recover here in peace.”

  “A most generous thing for him to do.”

  “He is a good man.”

  Frances turned to go, then paused. She turned back around and studied his face for a moment as if debating whether to say something or not.

  “How old is David?”

  “I am not certain, but he is close in age to myself. He was not born here but was sent here from Westwallow when he was quite young. I was too young when he came here to know exactly when. Why do you ask? Have you grown tired of Stephen and seek another suitor?”

  Frances frowned at him in displeasure. “I have no need of another suitor.”

  “Then why the interest?”

  “That is none of your concern.” Frances turned and left the room in a huff.

  In spite of himself, Gabriel chuckled. He knew that there was nothing that he could do to change Frances’ mind about him, but honestly, it was of little consequence. It pleased him to see that Diana had someone so loyal and protective seeing to her needs. If anything, he envied Frances’ daily interactions with her.

  I wonder what her sudden interest in David is…

  Chapter 34

  Frances climbed up into the loft in search of David. Her thoughts were churning rapidly about what she had learned from Gabriel. It was the closest that she had come to discovering anything close to what was described in the letters that Lady Diana had found in the mysterious portrait. Reaching the top rung of the ladder, Frances found the young man in question throwing hay down to the horses below.

  Frances stood studying him in silence for a moment. He was tall like the Marquess, broad shouldered, and handsome. She studied the planes of his face to see if she saw anything of the man’s paternity there but could not be certain in the dim light. Stepping forward, she called out his name. “David?”

  The groom looked up in surprise and smiled.

  “Miss Frances, how may I be of service?”

  “My Lady has asked that you deliver this letter to her parents at Kilgrave Manor.”

  “Yes, of course. I will leave immediately.”

  “Thank you, David.” Frances turned to go but paused. “You were born in England, were you not?”

  “I was,” he nodded, smiling. “I was born near Westwallow.”

  “How long has it been since you have been home?”

  “Not since I was a lad.”

  “Do you miss it?”

  David shook his head. “I was too young to remember anything about it. My mother sent me here to train with my uncle when I was barely weaned. My sister Sarah lived in England much longer than I and came to join me here when our mother died.”

  “Is it usual in your family to be sent away so young?”

  “No,” he shook his head, “but Mother was not my true mother. She was the midwife at my birth when my true mother died. She was unwed, a widow, and did not feel that she could properly care for a lad, but she came to visit me often with my sister when the Marquess and Marchioness came to stay. It was a good life and she did the best that she could by me.”

  Frances’ heart leapt up into her throat at this and she had to physically stop herself from curtsying, she was so convinced by his story that he was the noble babe that they sought. Turning away to hide her facial expression, Frances bid him a safe and speedy journey, then hurried down the ladder. She raced to the manor house in time to hear the Dowager Marchioness congratulate Lady Diana for finally seeing reason.

  “I will allow you to await a response from your parents, but not a moment more. You will accept the Earl of Appley’s betrothal, or I will follow through with my threats.”

  “Why do you dislike Gabriel so? What has he done to deserve your ire?”

  “Do you honestly believe that I do not know about your affection for the stable hand? Do you think that I do not know about the compromising situation that you have put yourself in by riding about with him unchaperoned? Did you think that I would not discover your midnight trysts in the stables? In this matter, you have no one else but yourself to blame.”

  Frances froze in the hallway. If the Dowager Marchioness knew about all of those things that Diana had only told to her, then that meant that the Dowager had been having Diana watched, which also meant that it was possible that she already knew about their discovery of the papers. Terrified that their proof of the noblewoman’s wrongdoing might have already been taken, Frances raced up the stairs to Lady Diana’s bedchamber and looked under the mattress. The papers were gone.

  “No!”

  Diana stood, teeth clenched, hands fisted in her skirts. She could not deny
the Dowager Marchioness’ accusations because she had done all of those things, but not in the way that the Dowager was insinuating. The way that the Dowager was speaking, it was as if Diana’s honor was already lost and that the forced marriage to the Earl was the gesture of a savior instead of a blackmailer. Diana might have fallen for it were it not for the papers pressed against her skin beneath the fabric of her gown stating exactly what the Dowager was capable of.