by Jane Charles
She shook her head in confusion. “Is he…dead?” she asked in a whisper, her wide green eyes still staring down at Kilworth.
“I’m afraid so,” David finally admitted. “Can you tell me…” he was unable to finish because he had to move quickly to catch the young woman’s limp body as before it hit the floor. Scooping her up in his arms, he strode from the parlor toward the salon across the corridor.
“Thorn!” Callie called to him from the end of the corridor. “What happened?”
He shook his head, trying to determine how to answer the question without disturbing Callie. As, he could find no excuse, he finally said, “Kilworth is dead. I thought it best to put her in the next room for now.”
Callie and Miss Lila Southward rushed up to him. “Is she all right?” Callie reached out a hand to her unconscious sister-in-law.
“Fainted,” David answered. “I think it was quite a shock to see him like that.”
Miss Southward placed a hand to her heart. “What happened?”
David shook his head, bewildered about the entire situation. “I actually have no idea.” Then he stepped into the yellow salon and laid Lady Hope on the settee. He needed to get back to Anna. He couldn’t leave her in there alone with Kilworth, especially since they weren’t certain what happened to the man and this was Marisdùn.
“I’ll stay with her,” Callie said, “But do find Braden and Quent, David.”
Thorn stopped. He couldn’t just leave Anna by herself, but Quent and Braden did need to be found. “Your cousin is across the hall,” told Miss Southward.
“Anna?”
“Mmm.” He nodded. “We were…talking when we heard the scream.”
Miss Southward glanced at Callie. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
* * *
Anna stepped further into the room. She couldn’t believe the man on the floor was dead. Maybe Mr. Thorn was mistaken. After all, he didn’t appear to have an injury, though he did seem quite old. Perhaps he’d suffered from a heart ailment. As she leaned in closer, Mr. Thorn and Lila crossed the threshold into the parlor. “Oh, Lila!” Anna began. “Isn’t this awful?”
Lila stared at the lifeless man as though she was in shock. “What happened to his hair?”
His hair?
“That is a very good question,” Mr. Thorn replied.
“What’s wrong with his hair?” Anna asked, more than confused.
Lila shook her head, unable to pull her eyes away from the man. “He had a head of dark hair, not an hour ago.”
Anna glanced back down at the man on the floor. “He’s not elderly?”
“He’s younger than I am,” Mr. Thorn raked a hand through his own head of dark hair. “I need to locate Braden and Quent. Will you be all right alone?”
Chapter 14
At her stiff nod, he ran from the room. The party was a crush and he had no idea where any of his friends were at the moment. Until he found Kilworth, he hadn’t cared either, because Anna was in his arms and she was returning his kisses.
At least this time when Lady Hope screamed, assuming it was Lady Hope because well, she did scream like a banshee and she was with Kilworth, it was for good reason.
As he turned on the path toward the party, he ran right into Garrick and a young woman, nearly knocking her to the ground. “My apologies.”
Garrick’s arm went around the young woman’s waist. “Have a care where you’re going Thorn and at what speed. Miss Matilda could have been injured.”
If only that were the worst thing that happened tonight. “Have you seen Braden or Quent?”
“Neither.” Garrick stopped a studied him. “What is wrong?”
Thorn glanced at the young woman, not wishing to upset her. “A moment.”
Garrick excused himself from the young woman, and he and David moved a few feet away before he quickly explained.
“Dead?” Garrick said none too quietly.
The young woman rushed forward. “Who is dead?” she asked in alarm.
“Lord Kilworth,” David whispered. “I need to find Quent or Braden and be quick about it. The Misses Southward are inside and I’m not comfortable leaving them alone with Kilworth, dead or alive.”
“My sister and cousin? I must go to them.” Miss Matilda moved quickly toward the castle entrance.
So, the other Miss Southward also happened to be the Miss Matilda that Garrick had spoken about.
“I’ll stay with the ladies,” Garrick said as he hurried after the young woman.
David paused at the edge of the party, up on the incline where Anna had been sketching and looked over the throng of people. There was Quent, just entering the grounds.
“Quent!” David yelled loud enough to be heard over the music and conversation.
His friend turned and David hurried over.
“You all right?” Quent asked, looking at him oddly.
David moved closer. “It’s Kilworth,” he said quietly enough so as not to be overheard.
Quent’s face hardened. “What did he do now?”
David blew out a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. “He’s dead.”
Quent’s mouth fell open. “Dead? How?”
Thorn shook his head and wished he had a bloody answer. “That I have absolutely no idea about. On my word, it looks like he was scared to death.”
Quent looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. Maybe he had.
“He’s in your blue parlor. I left Miss Southward with the body and came to find you straight away.”
“You mean Lila?”
“I meant Anna, but…”
“Damn it all,” Quent grumbled as he turned towards the castle.
“Callie sent me to find you and Braden,” Thorn started to follow after him. “But I’ve only run into Garrick and Miss Southward and—”
“Lila?” Quent stopped so quickly that David nearly ran into him.
“Matilda Southward,” David clarified. “You do seem overly concerned about Lila Southward this evening.”
Quent made no comment. After glancing over his shoulder, back at the crowd one last time, he started for the castle with David following right behind him.
“Lord Quentin!” bellowed an angry voice.
This time David couldn’t help but run into the back of his friend. Really Quent shouldn’t be starting and stopping so suddenly. “Apologies,” David muttered even though he didn’t think he was all to blame, but Quent seemed preoccupied, especially about Lila, and not so much about the death of Kilworth.
“Not as sorry as I am,” Quent muttered low enough that nobody else could have heard it.
David turned toward the voice that had called out only to see a furious Vicar Southward stomping toward them. Bloody hell, he needed to hide Anna. It was no secret how the vicar felt about the party or the guests and once he realized that not only his niece was here, but his daughters as well, there would be hell to pay for everyone. As soon as he could, he’d sneak Anna out somehow, without the vicar seeing her, and get her safely delivered home without the man being the wiser. It was a good plan, David just wasn’t sure how he could accomplish it.
The vicar’s eyes were narrowed on Quent and his face so red David halfway expected smoke to come billowing out of the man’s ears.
“Where are my girls?” the vicar barked.
Hopefully the man was only concerned with his daughters and not his niece. Would he consider a niece one of his girls? Maybe there was still time to save Anna from being discovered, as long as Quent didn’t tell the man anything.
“I am sorry, sir. I’m actually in the middle of dealing with an emergency at the moment. Can we reconvene in the morning?”
David stepped around Quent. He could deal with vicar alone, especially seeing as he had an excellent reason for putting the man off.
“I want my girls this instant,” the vicar ground out.
“I’m not ready to concede Lila to you, but someone has just died, sir. I truly must deal with this situati
on. I’m sure you’ll find your daughters and niece on your own. You can expect me at the vicarage at first light.”
“What do you mean someone has just died?”
David stopped and turned back toward the vicar and Quent. He had hoped it would remain a secret, at least for a small time until they figured out what had happened.
“That’s all I know. Mr. Thorn just now found me. I’m on my way to see things for myself.”
“Well, I’ll just come with you, shall I?”
David winced. He could not come into the house. Not until Anna was safely away. “No need, sir. We can take care of the situation ourselves.”
The vicar looked David up and down as if he were no better than something beneath one’s heel. “I hardly think I’d take your word for that.” Odds were the man had heard about David’s reputation even here in Ravenglass.
David clenched his fists behind his back and calculated the distance between here and Scotland. The sooner he had Anna out from under that man’s roof and under his, the better.
“You are, of course, welcome to help, Mr. Southward,” Quent said as he turned and entered the castle. David tried to hurry past him, to warn the others, but his friend reached the blue salon before him. Besides his dear Anna, also present were Braden, Grace, Patience, Garrick, Miss Matilda Southward and Miss Lila Southward.
* * *
Anna’s heart dropped to her stomach. As if the dead earl wasn’t bad enough, her uncle had just walked into the room. Where had he come from and why wasn’t he asleep? She was certain she put enough of the herbs in his bedtime tea.
Mr. Thorn stood behind Uncle, a look of helplessness on his face. Had Mr. Thorn tried to keep her uncle away?
Her heart nearly melted. That might just be one of the nicest things anyone had ever tried to do for her.
Uncle Walter’s face hardened as he spotted Tilly, Lila and her, and then he turned a glare on Lord Quentin.
“Didn’t know where my girls were, hmm?” Uncle Walter glared back at his daughters and Anna. “It will be a very long time before the three of you see the light of day.”
“Now see here,” Mr. Thorn began. “I—”
Anna wanted to warn him that it was probably best not to say anything at this juncture, but she wasn’t about to draw further attention to herself.
“Honestly,” Lord Bradenham interrupted and motioned to Lord Kilworth’s body, not far from where she stood. “I hardly think now is the time for any of this.” Then he heaved a sigh. “Callie has sent for Sir Cyrus, but I don’t think you want to alert anyone out there to what’s going on in here, not until Eilbeck decides what to do.”
“Quent.” Mr. Garrick peered closer to Lord Kilworth. “Isn’t that your ugly Roman soldier ring?” He gestured to an old ring on the carpet not far from the earl’s cold hand.
Lord Quentin rubbed the back of his neck and colored slightly. “I, uh, promised him he could have it.”
“Seems that ring’s a bit of bad luck,” Mr. Garrick returned. “The blacksmith had it when he died and now Kilworth.”
Anna took a step back. If that ring had anything to do with two deaths, she didn’t want to be anywhere near it.
Lord Quentin scoffed. “It was in my possession and I am quite whole and hale.”
The image of the black form over his body in the middle of the road flashed in Anna’s mind. “But you weren’t. I saw…I saw that thing above you on the road, and—” She took another step back, wishing she was on the other side of the room, next to Mr. Thorn.
“I had just sent it to the blacksmith,” Lord Quentin said very softly.
Mr. Caldwell, who died after falling into the fire. Anna stepped back again.
“All right,” Mr. Thorn said. “No one touch the ring.”
“Nonsense!” Uncle Walter marched over and yanked the ring from the rug. “I will not have my girls subjected to more stories of ghosts and magical rings when no such things exist. This ring is an old relic, probably recovered from the ruins, and nothing more.”
Before anyone could stop him, Uncle Walter slipped the ring onto his finger then held up his hand for anyone to see. “See! Nothing.” He dropped his hand and made to remove it from his finger. “Now, I will take my girls and be gone from this place.”
As he tugged on the ring, the very air shifted in the room. Candles flickered and the curtains blew into the air as Uncle Walter began seizing, his body going stiff as he trembled and his eyes rolled back in his head. Everyone backed away, afraid to touch him or go near. Mr. Thorn hurried across the room and pulled Anna closer to the wall then slid the table away from her uncle. Anna assumed it was so Uncle Walter would not hit his head when he fell, if he fell. But the man was straight as a poker, head thrown back, and rest of him stiff as a board. She’d never seen anything like it in her life and it frightened her beyond anything she’d ever encountered at Marisdùn before.
Uncle Walter needed help and there was only one person who could help him. “I’ll get Brighid!” Anna dashed past the others in the room and ran down the hall, into the kitchens and stopped just at the door to the herbarium. Brighid would know what to do. Surely she’d have a remedy for her uncle. Anna may not like the man, but he was her uncle and she did love him and didn’t want him to suffer another moment.
Anna stepped out of the way as three maids rushed past her with buckets of steaming water. They were followed by more servants with blankets, sheets and trays of food.
“Brighid, you will not deliver that child in this cursed castle,” Mr. Chetwey yelled as Anna stepped into the room.
Her friend was standing at the wooden table, clutching it so tight her knuckles were white as snow. “The child isn’t exactly giving me a choice, Blake,” she bit out right before her body stiffened and Brighid cried out in pain.
Mr. Chetwey’s face was nearly as white as Brighid’s knuckles, and raw with fear. “Dearest, at least lay down.”
“No!” she hissed. A moment later, her body seemed to relax, though she still breathed heavily. “It’s better to stand. I’ll rest when it’s time.”
With a deep breath, she relaxed and took a sip of tea. All Anna could do was stand there. Her uncle was having convulsions and the one person who could help was about to deliver her babe.
Brighid looked up, meeting her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re here. I was about to send for Quent.”
“Why?” Anna asked even though whatever the reason couldn’t be nearly as important as what had happened to her uncle.
“Did they find the ring?”
Her blood chilled. “The….ring?”
“That’s the only explanation for the shift into darkness here.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It’s all right here.” Brighid turned the book and Anna stepped forward. She couldn’t read anything of the foreign language but the drawing of the ring looked exactly like the one on her uncle’s hand.
She was afraid to ask, but she needed to know before she said anything to Brighid. “Why?”
“Someone must have taken it from the box, maybe even just recently, because I’m certain I felt a shift in power just a short time ago.”
“It is out of the box,” Anna said.
The way Brighid’s eyes widened and grew dark scared Anna almost as much as seeing her uncle after he’d put the ring on his finger.
“It must go back in that box right now!”
Anna took a step back. She’d never seen Brighid this intense. Maybe it was the babe coming, but she didn’t think so. Her dearest friend was scared, and that was a definite rarity.
“You need to stay calm, dear,” Mr. Chetwey tried to sooth his wife.
Brighid took a deep breath, clenched her jaw, and grasped the table once again.
Anna had heard childbirth was painful, but she’d never seen someone in so much pain.
After a moment, Brighid slowly blew out a breath and then sighed before focusing on Anna. “This is very important. Nobody is to touch that r
ing. At first, it injures but the longer it is out of the box, the stronger it becomes and brings death.”
“The smithy,” Anna whispered.
“What about the Smithy,” Mr. Chetwey demanded.
“Lord Quentin had given it to him to clean.”
Brighid’s eyes widened. “The apparition you saw over Lord Quintin?”
Anna swallowed and nodded.
“It’s been out of the box for two days?” she nearly cried.
Anna swallowed against the lump in her throat and nodded, afraid to tell Brighid where it was now. She was already about to have her babe, the most recent turn of events was likely to bring it about quite efficiently.
“Listen, this is very important,” Brighid implored. “The ring is evil. It belonged to Rufus Flavius and he was wearing it when he killed Cynbel the Celt and his family.”
Anna gasped.
Cynbel was filled with so much agony and hatred that as his blood coated Flavius’ hand while he was tortured, his spirit went with it, along with the curse. That blood is what’s given the ring its power.”
Mr. Chetwey pushed the cup of tea before Brighid. “Drink!” her ordered.
Brighid took a sip and set it aside. “Flavius died a week later and nobody ever knew how, except his hair turned white and his body was cold as ice immediately. Others died before they realized that it was the ring. Anyone who wears it turns evil so you must make sure nobody puts it on. Do you understand?”
Panic rushed through Anna’s body. “And, if they do?”
“Just make sure it doesn’t happen,” Brighid snapped.
Anna bit her lip. She wasn’t about to tell Brighid the ring was now being worn by her uncle. “Well, just in case, you know, what if someone did put it on. How would you get it off?”
“In the past a Druid Priest was able to exorcise the demon, but the last time it happened, they had to knock the man out and cut off his hand.”
Anna brought a hand to her throat. There had to be another option.
“The hand was kept in the grove.”
“What grove?” Mr. Chetwey asked.
“There is a grove of Oak and Ash trees at the southwest corner of the property. It was a hallowed place for the Celts as these are the most sacred trees. Inside is a circle of stones, which I have only viewed on a few occasions. The hand was placed there until the Druid Priests returned.”