The Lady Who Lived Again
Page 26
She leaned back in the chair, still reeling. Visions of strangers came rarely but were no less disturbing. She shoved the card into the envelope and tried to stay calm. The thundering pulse at her temples refused to recede as each detail of the vision pelted her brain.
She remained seated for several long moments before attempting to stand. Rising on shaky legs, she composed herself. Exhaustion in the wake of the vision struck hard. She clutched the chair for support. She’d almost forgotten how draining it could be—it had been so long. Why this was happening now, after all this time, she didn’t know. But of one thing she was certain.
Landen J. Elmsworth, whoever he was, was going to die.
* * * *
Gia stared at the gable-roofed house, urging her feet to move. She dreaded meeting the man she’d seen dead in her vision, dreaded meeting his family. A part of her longed to ignore the vision, run miles in the opposite direction and try to forget it. While she was unsure if she could prevent her visions from becoming reality, she was determined to try. She had to.
The memory of Prudence Alber’s death pierced her chest like a dagger. Gia had stood idle, and a young girl had died. The heavy weight of her guilt kept her rooted in the gravel drive in front of the large house, too ensnared in the past to move. She took a deep breath, then stepped to the porch. She had to do something to make up for what she hadn’t done for Pru.
Somehow—some way—she would save Mr. Elmsworth.
Gia rang the bell. After announcing herself, she was led by a tall housemaid through the foyer and into a finely decorated parlor. “My name is Florence, Miss York. Please make yourself comfortable while I get Miss Elmsworth.”
Gia took a seat on the small settee, glancing around. The spacious room was styled to perfection with elegant furnishings and bright hues and only a hint of the musty smells so common in summer retreats. Outside the large windows, the lake sparkled amid mountains and trees, a scenic painting come to life.
There were several such lakes in the area. Were there as many creeks as well? Gia pushed from her mind the thought of her vision and the challenge ahead. She had to stay positive. A few moments later, Florence returned. A young woman followed demurely behind her.
“Miss York, this is Miss Alice Elmsworth.” Florence urged the girl forward.
“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Alice,” Gia said. “May I call you Alice?”
Alice nodded, staring down at her shoes.
“I will bring tea,” Florence said
Alice watched Florence exit the room. From her forlorn expression, Gia half-expected the girl would follow. “She won’t be but a few minutes,” she uttered instead. She said nothing more as she took a seat across from Gia.
Beneath Alice’s clenched hands, her knees bounced with nervous tension. The timid creature appeared as though she wanted to be anywhere but in the presence of this stranger who’d been hired to be her companion. Gia sighed, feeling increasingly uncomfortable for causing the girl’s palpable distress.
Gia fidgeted in her seat, wondering how best to approach the situation. They waited for tea in excruciating silence until Gia could bear her own discomfort no longer. “May I ask how old you are, Alice?”
“I turned twenty in March,” she replied without looking up.
“I turned twenty in March as well.”
Alice glanced up, and Gia smiled. “Six years ago.”
Alice smiled too. A brief little smile that came and went so quickly, Gia almost missed it. Alice shifted in her seat, relaxing a bit, but the strain in her voice remained. “You attended the Troy Female Seminary?”
“That’s right. But I’m originally from Boston.” Gia worked in her mind the tale she’d concocted to explain her relocating to Troy. “After the death of my parents, I took up residence at the seminary,” Gia said, feeling guilty for the lie.
“My parents are deceased as well,” Alice said. She lowered her gaze to her lap, but not before Gia glimpsed the pain in her eyes.
If possible, Gia felt guiltier. She was also perplexed. So, Landen Elmsworth was not Alice’s father as Gia had presumed. Her uncle, perhaps? Florence entered the room with a tea tray, and Gia was grateful for the distraction.
Alice and Gia drank their tea amid bits of conversation that consisted of little more than Gia’s questions and Alice’s yes or no answers. Although it was obvious the girl lacked the usual self-esteem that came naturally to most young women of her class, Gia sensed that a treasure trove of fine qualities lay buried beneath Alice’s severe anxiety. When she wasn’t avoiding eye contact by fidgeting with her hands or the folds of her skirts, her large blue eyes shined with wit and intelligence.
Unfortunately, the effort involved in exhuming these qualities would exhaust anyone attempting to draw them to the surface. Gia imagined the girl in a crowded ballroom. Alice would disappear into the wallpaper. Gia understood, now, why her family had resorted to hiring a companion. The security of having someone at her side might help build Alice’s confidence.
“Alice!”
A male voice boomed through the foyer.
“Alice!”
Alice straightened in her seat. “We’re in the parlor!”
The sound of heavy footsteps stomped toward the room, and then he was there, posed in the doorway. Gia stared. The black coat, the dark hair. The wide shoulders. Was this him? The man in her vision?
He stepped into the room, addressing Alice as if Gia weren’t there. Anger blazed in his blue eyes. “I just saw Mrs. Folsome in town,” he said.
Alice set down her tea.
“She told me you declined the invitation to her dinner party next week.”
Alice shot to her feet, hands on hips. Her entire demeanor changed as she challenged the man, face to face. The timid mouse was a tiger at heart. “I told you, Denny, I do not wish to attend.”
Denny. Gia exhaled in relief. For some reason, she felt inexplicably grateful that this particular man was not the man in her vision. Not that she’d wish such a fate on anyone, but the thought of this young, virile, and stunningly handsome man’s end seemed a terrible waste.
“And I told you, you must make an effort,” he said to Alice. “You are twenty years old now. Much too old to spend your days holed up in the house.”
Alice motioned with her eyes toward Gia. “We will discuss this later,” she said through clenched teeth.
Ignoring the cue they had company, he said, “There is nothing to discuss. You will attend Mrs. Folsome’s dinner and that is the end of it.” He turned toward Gia, finally acknowledging her presence in the room. “You’re the companion?”
His blunt question sounded more like an accusation. Gia nodded.
“Then please explain to this stubborn miss the importance of socializing.”
Reluctant to engage in their familial dispute, Gia opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“Denny!” Alice gaped. “You have yet to introduce yourself to Miss York, and you’re already barking orders at her.”
He frowned, lips pursed tight. For a moment, Gia thought he might protest. But with a sigh of resignation, he affirmed that Alice was right. “My apologies, Miss York,” he said as he yanked off his hat. He tossed the hat to a chair and a stern look at Alice. “But my sister has a habit of distracting me from my manners.”
He turned toward Gia, and she swallowed hard beneath his bold scrutiny. He moved closer. The tense slant of his brow slackened, as did the taut line of his mouth. His perfect lips parted, luring all lucid thought from her head. “How do you do?”
Even the smooth sound of his voice had turned pleasing. She licked her suddenly dry lips and managed a nod.
His gaze held hers as he extended his hand. Clasping her fingers, he gave her hand a slight squeeze, all the while appraising her with those placid blue eyes. The heat of his touch pulsed through her veins. He released her, but she remained gripped by a strange giddy sensation. The reaction was girli
sh and silly, and as overpowering as her visions.
She stared into his face, lost in a moment of mesmerizing desire. Like a cuff to the head, his next words jarred her back to her senses.
“I am Landen Elmsworth.”