by Jerri Hines
“It was my decision upon your return. There was no call for your inheritance to become unfrozen, for I took care of all your needs. You can become angry with me, but I thought it best you believed the case was still in question so that we could get to the truth once and for all. I didn’t want to take a chance on you betraying our intentions.”
“Then is it over? Lord Blankenship was connected to my father’s…”
“No, it’s not, Cathryn. Certain witnesses we are still trying to find and tie up loose ends. It is our hope that it will be soon.”
“Then why are you telling me now? What has happened?”
“Because you don’t need another worry upon you at this time.”
He came forward and took her hands in his. Fear gripped her. She had never seen him unable to speak. Somewhat at a loss, she met his eyes. She read them before he uttered the words. He handed her a letter.
“I’m sorry, Cathryn. Truly I am.”
She looked down. Her eyes blurred; her hands trembled. Trepidation filled her, reading words that would destroy her world…her dreams. Through her tears she read what she dreaded.
Regret to inform you, Lady Pennington, Major Jake Pennington is missing in action. He hasn’t returned from his mission at his appointed time. Intelligence suggested that he may have sustained injury behind enemy lines. His information was sent by an alternative means which further suggests that he was unable to do so himself. He will be listed Missing—believed killed. Will keep you informed.
She sat in stunned silence. The paper fell from her hand onto the floor. Vaguely, words filtered through that the duke was talking, expressing his sympathy, but nothing she could comprehend.
Hot tears burned her cheeks. Her only thought—No, not her Jake, please God, no! Take my money, but not Jake. He couldn’t be dead. She would know; her heart would feel such!
The door opened and Martha entered, her face drained of all color. “Cathryn,” she cried. “Oh, Cathryn!”
In seconds, Cathryn was within the woman’s arms; they held each other close and wept. For the loss was shared. But the hurt within Cathryn dug deep in her heart, a sharp unrelenting pain. There would be no comfort. Releasing her mother-in-law, she crumbled to the floor in sobs.
Jake is dead. My love is dead because of me.
Chapter Twenty-Three
After much debate, Cathryn arrived at Mount Gevlyn with both her mother-in-laws and children. It had been the first huge fight between Cathryn and the duke, but she was determined to go to Jake’s home. She had a great need for her children and refused to let go of them.
“You need time to grieve, Cathryn. Leave the children with the duchess and after your confinement, send for them. We’ll do everything to make you more comfortable,” Eversleigh offered. “You don’t need to worry with the twins. They are a handful at this age. And you have been sick again.”
“Your Grace, I have been given two nannies. I believe between Mother Pennington, Bonnie, and Fanny we can well care for the little ones. Besides, I have Tacy also and Jake’s sister,” Cathryn countered. “I won’t leave without them. It has been settled. I would have a greater worry if they weren’t with me.”
“Maybe, Charles,” the duchess said, presenting a different view. “Cathryn would allow me to journey with her. I don’t want to impose, but truly, Cathryn, I do look upon you as a daughter.”
Cathryn held back her tears, for she was touched by the offer. “I would like that very much.”
His Grace grumbled loudly, but in the end, relented.
Cathryn waited only until the next ship arrived from the South before she departed, hoping against all hope that good news would arrive. There had been no change in Jake’s status.
Her first glimpse of the moorlands came within the morning light. The road wove along the coast line, giving way to a view of the soaring cliffs. She was struck by the rich color of the land; green countryside with wild flowers in abundance. Fuchsias, poppies, and bluebells littered the scene before her.
Rounding the bend of the cliff road, she gasped at the grand and noble castellated manor. Mount Gevlyn reigned over the breathtaking beauty surrounding it. The granite mansion was built much like a castle with its turrets and battlements. A long stone wall served as a barrier between the garden and the steep cliffs below. The weathered stonework had stood for two hundred years.
A sea breeze caught her when she stepped out of the carriage. She could feel Jake here and it calmed her. She had found her home.
* * * *
Cathryn had been introduced to the staff upon her arrival and had been given a tour of the grounds. The courtyard was situated with a bay front where the green lawn sloped to the sea. The garden itself had seemed to have fallen into neglect. The back wall was blanketed with climbing ivy while huge rhododendrons had overtaken the shrubs. Only the roses had been pruned and flourished.
“We have been making improvements the last few years,” Peter Nicholson, the estate manager, explained.
“But it takes time.”
She understood and remembered that Philip had set Mr. Nicholson up at Mount Gevlyn. Jake had not been around for years.
The curtains blew softly in the open windows when Cathryn entered into the drawing room. The murmur of the sea came up from the shore below. She walked over to the window. From her view, a house sat down the hillside, a lovely white thatched cottage.
“Who lives there?”
“I do at the present, my lady. It is the guest house,” Mr. Nicholson said.
“But of course.”
Cathryn studied the man for a moment. An older gentleman, he wore his work clothes to welcome her with a cap pulled down over his grizzled hair. His face had the leathery, weather-beaten look of one who spent his time outdoors. A man who worked hard but, Cathryn imagined, liked his privacy.
“Come, Cathryn,” Mrs. Pennington called. “Let me show you to your room. You will have time aplenty to see the remainder of the house. The duchess is seeing the children to the nursery with Julia. I will send tea up to you while you rest.”
Mother Pennington placed Cathryn in Jake’s room. It was rather large with ancient tapestries in shades of red and gray hung on the walls. A deep gray carpet covered the floor; the windows boasted curtains of red velvet trimmed with gold fringe. The four-poster bed had matching velvet curtains about it. The windowed alcove had a magnificent view of the cliffs.
Mrs. Pennington left her with her thoughts. Tacy would be in soon, Cathryn was certain. She opened up the window and inhaled the ocean air. She had not realized how tired she was, but content.
The move did her heart good. Here she felt Jake’s presence and she needed that so desperately. She refused to contemplate that she would never see her husband again. No, she would feel it if he was no longer in this world.
A sudden breeze sent a chill through Cathryn. She glanced over her shoulder at a secretary in the corner of the room. Sumner. Sumner would discover what happened to Jake, for she was certain that Jake had gone back into South Carolina. Sumner would know.
Ignoring the call of the bed, she sat down and wrote.
* * * *
A routine developed. The children took to their new home and family.
A tall, willowy figure, Julia would never have been considered a beauty. Her nose was too large and her eyes wide set, but she had a way about her that Cathryn admired.
Despite her blindness, Julia was quite self-sufficient. She walked around the house much like a sighted person. On first glance, one would never suspect she could not see, except her eyes had an odd glare about them and she didn’t look directly at you when she spoke.
It bothered Lucy at first…until she climbed into her new aunt’s lap and held her face in her hands while she talked to her.
“Lucy!” Cathryn admonished her daughter.
“It is no bother. The little one has questions,” Julia said.
With the patience of a saint, Cathryn listened while Julia explained to the twi
ns that she could not see, but she did not despair over her affliction. To Cathryn’s surprise, each seemed taken with their aunt.
Julia took Charles Philip down to the stables and gave him her old pony, Storm. The mild and meek ride did little to dim his enthusiasm to ride once more. Lucy seemed to think she had a new doll of some sort. Cathryn swore she saw Julia in the nursery letting Lucy style her hair in the most unusual fashion.
Though, Cathryn worried about the twins. Neither had any fear of heights or the dangers that should give a child pause. The two seemed to feed upon each other. Mrs. Pennington told her it was natural to be concerned, but children learn the limits set upon them.
Mother Pennington also called for the local mid-wife, Mrs. Gridley. The loud and opinionated woman saw no issues with Cathryn’s confinement. Moreover, she assured Cathryn she had seen many a healthy child born.
“And yours will be, too. Mark my word.”
Cathryn dared not disagree…in which she took comfort.
Not everyone was content with the move. Fanny seemed quite distressed at times. She sought Cathryn out constantly about one complaint or another.
“The rooms are drafty, my lady, and quite unsuitable for the children. They will catch their deaths with a cold,” Fanny said.
Annoyed beyond measure, Cathryn reproved, “Fanny, it is August and rather warm. The breeze, in all honesty, feels good. It will be addressed if it continues this winter.”
“Told you, Miss Cathryn,” Tacy said, walking into the room after Fanny withdrew. “There’s something wrong with that woman. I know that His Grace said she came highly recommended, but I don’t think she’s ever been around little ones. She is always handing them off to Bonnie Dear. Bonnie Dear this. Bonnie Dear that.”
“Now, Tacy, I know you don’t like her, but I don’t think she’s as bad as you proclaim.” Cathryn sighed heavily. “Bonnie hasn’t once complained about her workload.”
“She wouldn’t, Miss Cathryn. Fanny has told her it is what’s expected out of her,” Tacy continued. “I see that I might as well be whistling jigs to a milestone. I’ll not add to your worries. But I’m going to keep my eye on her.”
“You do that, Tacy,” Cathryn agreed. It was the least of her worries.
* * * *
Julia captivated the twins with stories about the legends of old and superstitions that abounded in this part of the world. She whispered fanciful stories of piskies and witches in a way Cathryn laughed that the children could really believe them.
“Wait until next summer and I’ll take you down to the Midsummer Eve. We light bonfires and welcome the summer. We will dance. You will love it.”
Lucy screamed every time Julia said witches. Charles Philip laughed at his sister.
“Only babies get scared!”
“I’m not a baby!” Lucy retorted.
Cathryn paid the stories no mind. She remembered tales the servants told when she was young. Letting their imaginations run wild was part of growing, a fun part she reasoned. And she wanted her children to have happy memories. Already in their young life they had lost so much.
August ended with no news. Cathryn refused to let anyone see the worry that lived within her, but at night when she was alone, she wept. Most nights, she stood within her alcove and prayed for his return. She stared up at the stars and believed Jake was doing the same.
This night was no different…except there was movement in the darkness.
Shock vibrated through her. Her twins were walking hand in hand, out by themselves straight toward the cliffs. Cathryn screamed, but it was useless. They couldn’t hear her with the wind.
Panicked, her eyes quickly surveyed her room. She rushed over and grabbed her bedside lamp. She tossed it at the window aiming for the stones lining the wall below. It shattered on the rocks. The twins turned toward the sound.
Cathryn screamed, “Don’t move!” She waved her arms. Lucy smiled up and gave a small wave.
Oh, my God! They’re going to continue their journey! She screamed again, “Don’t! Charles Philip! Lucy Elizabeth!”
She had no voice left. She hurried out of her room and down the stairs. She had never been so terrified in her entire life. She dashed out through the open door and found Mr. Nicholson holding the hands of Lucy and Charles Philip. Quickly, she embraced her errant children.
“Grabbed hold of them before they got to the edge. I did,” he said. “I heard a crash and came out to investigate. Good thing, too.”
Cathryn scarcely heard him. All her attention was for her children. She couldn’t even utter a coherent word; well beyond tears. Behind her, the duchess and Mother Pennington stood with their hands clutched over their hearts in their nightgowns and caps.
Charles Philip pushed back from his mother, thinking well her silly. “We were only going to catch piskies.”
“They fly over the cliffs in the full moon. They wouldn’t have let anything happen to us,” Lucy tried to explain.
“Over the cliffs?” Cathryn breathed. Suddenly, she felt faint…then all went dark.
* * * *
“I have sent for His Grace.”
Cathryn sat up in her bed. Lucy and Charles Philip played on the floor beside her bed. She had refused for them to leave her sight since that night.
“I believe it will be for the best,” Cathryn agreed. It was the first comforting words she had heard in days.
Bonnie had been discovered in her bed unable to be wakened. Quickly, it was surmised she had been drugged. Furthermore, Fanny had disappeared.
“Told ya she was no good. I heard her I did,” Tacy had told her, feeling vindicated. “That woman filled the little ones head with nonsense. Added to stories that Miss Julie was telling. Told ’em that piskies protect you under a full moon. Ya could fly off the cliffs with their help. Swear I think she just wanted them to walk out to the cliffs on their own. Once they went on their own, I wager she was in wait to push them off.”
“Oh, Tacy, do be quiet. My heart is still aflutter. I do not need you to add to my wretchedness!”
Pushing all thoughts aside except her children’s safety, Cathryn admitted to the duchess she was scared. Someone had tried to murder her children…her precious children.
“I am certain he will be here within the week,” the duchess said.
Cathryn waited.
* * * *
Eversleigh burst upon Mount Gevlyn as a mad man. A woman that he had hired had tried to harm his grandchildren! A massive manhunt ensued, but after a month there had been no clue as to what had happened to the nanny. It was as if she’d vanished from the face of the earth.
The duke began to make arrangements to take everyone back to Longwood, but Cathryn would not be able to make the journey. She had been placed on strict bed rest.
Cathryn slept restlessly. Who…who wanted to harm her children? Every time she closed her eyes she was back at Elm Bluff the day Monsieur Renton descended upon them. She searched desperately for her children, Mary, Caleb, Juriah…and Jake, but to no avail. She heard their screams…then she would awake with Jake’s name on her lips.
The duchess refused to leave Cathryn in her state despite His Grace’s insistence. It changed the first of October. A courier arrived with a letter from Charles Town.
Cathryn recognized the handwriting immediately.
Sumner! With trembling hands, she read.
Jalyn,
Much has changed since you have departed. Your friends have made their presence known and I doubt they are going to disappear in the near future. I’m glad you are safe, for here the fighting has been fierce. Caleb is safe within Charles Town. He has thrived with the Petersons. I have to admit it has been a while since I’ve laid eyes upon him, but Henry writes me often of his progress. It has been difficult to go home, for I have committed to the militia until the end of his bloody war.
I write to you to calm your fears. The concern you wrote about is a concern no more. I owed him for my son, you and the plantation. He will
let you know the circumstances that affected the ability to let you know, but he is alive and well. I don’t know when I’ll be able to communicate with you again. I hope this gets through, for I’m sending it to Henry. Take care.
Your loving brother, Sumner
Cathryn knew when she read ‘Jalyn.’ She read it over again and again to make sure it was real. She could not contain her happiness.
All eyes turned when they caught sight of her walking into the drawing room. Mother Pennington walked over to her.
“Child, you shouldn’t be up,” she said.
Cathryn shook her head, clinching tight to her letter. “No, everything is going to be fine, Mother Pennington,” she cried. “Jake’s alive. He’s alive!”
* * * *
Eversleigh expressed his doubts, but Cathryn had none. He didn’t know Sumner. She did.
“Why did he call you Jalyn? Who is that?” Eversleigh asked. “I don’t think your brother would know one officer from another in His Majesty’s army.”
Nothing he said changed her mind. The whole of her being believed Jake was alive. With that knowledge, her strength returned.
“I don’t mean to give pause to your conviction that your husband is alive, Cathryn. I hope to God you’re correct in your assumption, but we have a more pressing problem. I received news that they are preparing to arrest Lord Blankenship. Everything has been set in motion for such. I need to return.”
“You are to leave?”
“I beg your pardon,” Eversleigh said with mock humility. “Did I hear correctly? It can’t be that you are sorry to see me depart?”
His eyes gleamed, for he had caught her fairly, but Cathryn bit her lip in a huff. With the greatest reluctance, she acknowledged, “I have to admit, I have slept better knowing you are under my roof.”
“Then, my dear, my next suggestion might not be shot down as I thought it might.” His voice softened with sincere humility. “Even though I’ve been unable to prove such, I believe Fanny may have been in Lord Blankenship’s employment. It would be the only logic that makes sense. To have disappeared so effectively, she had to have help. Since I’m unable to stay, I would like to take the twins with me along with the duchess and your Bonnie. I will leave you a couple of my footmen. I can assure you they can well look after you if the need arises.”