The Virgin’s Secret

by Victoria Alexander

  Dennison leaned toward Nate. “I shall be in the library if she—if you—need me.”

  Nate nodded and followed the two women.

  “I wish to see Gabriella,” Miss Henry said staunchly.

  “And you will.” Mother settled her on a love seat and rang for tea. “Nathanial, if you would be so kind as to begin.”

  Nate quickly recounted the events of yesterday and last night, from Gabriella’s finding Lord Rathbourne’s body to the fire. Miss Henry listened, eyes wide with horror and concern. “This is all quite unbelievable.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “You should as well know we were sent on a fool’s errand. We received a note saying Mrs. Muldoon’s mother was gravely ill. We arrived to find her mother is fine so we saw no need not to return.”

  “Then someone wanted your house empty,” Nate said slowly. “To search it, no doubt.”

  “So it would appear.” Miss Henry shook her head. “This is my fault. I should have expected something like this. I never should have condoned her search for that blasted seal in the first place.”

  “My dear, I haven’t known her very long,” Mother said in a kindly manner, “but I sincerely doubt that you could have stopped her.”

  “No, you’re right there. But I have been concerned from the beginning that this might prove dangerous. Her brother was…” She shot Nate a questioning glance.

  Nate nodded. “We are all aware of what kind of man Enrico Montini was.” He paused. “As is Gabriella.”

  Miss Henry heaved a resigned sigh. “I have long thought so but she never said anything. And I never brought it up.”

  Nate studied her. “We found the seal.”

  Miss Henry’s eyes widened.

  “It was among her brother’s things.” He paused. “But we don’t have the impression.”

  “Oh.” She waved in an offhand manner. “I have that.”

  “You do?” Nate stared.

  “I thought it would be safer for Gabriella if she didn’t have it. After all, no one would expect me to have it.”

  “Safer?” His voice rose. “Whoever was in that house last night might well have been looking for it. And as Gabriella had claimed to have it, she was scarcely safer.”

  “Yes, well, that might have been a mistake on my part,” Miss Henry snapped.

  “I think,” Mother cut in, “what Gabriella needs now, in addition to rest,” she shot her son a pointed glance, “is her family.”

  Miss Henry shook her head. “Aside from myself and the Muldoons, she has no family to speak of.”

  “No, Miss Henry,” Mother said firmly. “In truth, Gabriella has a very large and extensive family.”

  “Her mother’s family, you mean?”

  Mother nodded.

  “They didn’t want her.”

  “Quite the contrary. They tried to find her for years.” Mother paused. “They were told she was dead.”

  Miss Henry stared for a moment, then her eyes widened with understanding. “Enrico.” She looked at Nate. “To keep control of her money?”

  Nate shrugged. “Probably.”

  “Gabriella’s aunt is one of my oldest friends,” his mother said. “She, along with her sister and her daughter, have been in Paris. According to the last letter I received from Caroline, they are to return the day after tomorrow and should arrive in Dover by afternoon. From there, they have planned to go to Caroline’s estate in the country rather than return to London.” She looked at Nate. “We can leave on a morning train. That will get us to Dover in time to catch them, and we can bring them directly here.”

  “We?” Nate scoffed. “I’m not going anywhere. Can’t we telegraph them?”

  Mother’s brows drew together. “This is not the kind of news one imparts in a telegram.”

  “I’m not leaving Gabriella.”

  “You are not supposed to bother her, remember?” Mother turned to Miss Henry. “The doctor says she is to have as few visitors as possible and she is not to be overly excited.”

  “I have no intention of overexciting her.” Nate glared at his mother.

  “No doubt.” Miss Henry sniffed.

  “Well, you certainly can’t if you aren’t here. Besides, it’s likely she will sleep for at least another few days. We’ll be back probably before she knows we’re gone,” Mother said firmly. “She needs her family, Nathanial. She needs to know there are people who care about her.”

  “I care about her!”

  “She has lost her brother, the only family she thought she had. Regardless of the kind of man he was, she obviously loved him. Now she has lost her home as well. This will help her. Not her body as much as her heart, I think. And I know you want that.” She leaned toward him, laid her hand on his arm and gazed into his eyes. “Do this for her.” She straightened. “Besides, I am certain Miss Henry will wish to stay with Gabriella.”

  “Without question.” Miss Henry nodded.

  “And as you and Mrs. Muldoon have lost your home as well, I suggest you both stay here for as long as is necessary.”

  “That’s most kind of you.” Miss Henry thought for a moment. “If we are to avoid excitement, I would suggest, if she awakens, she not be told what you are up to.” She shook her head. “The truth will come as a shock to her. She has long said she has no interest in her mother’s family, although I have never quite believed it.”

  “Miss Henry,” Mother said gently, “she went back into that burning house to retrieve her mother’s letters. I think that says a great deal about her true feelings.”

  Miss Henry nodded. “I agree.”

  “Then we are all agreed.” Mother beamed.

  “No.” Nate’s gaze skipped from his mother to Miss Henry and back. “We are most certainly not agreed. The Verification Committee ends its meeting at noon two days from now. If we miss that, the opportunity to present the seal will be gone forever. It’s what she’s worked for. What she wanted.”

  “She wanted her mother’s letters. Which makes this—” His mother set her chin in a stubborn manner. “—more important.”

  Nate clenched his jaw. “Miss Henry?”

  Miss Henry thought for a long moment. “Discovery of the seal would have made her brother’s reputation. She very much wanted that. But she has always wanted to…well, belong somewhere, and she has never felt that she did. So yes.” She nodded. “I agree.”

  “I don’t,” Nate said. “However,” he rolled his gaze at the ceiling, “I can see how knowing there were people who wanted her might be the best thing for her. And I certainly can’t let you go alone.”

  “Excellent.” Again his Mother beamed.

  “And, as this might well turn out to be quite disastrous…” He blew a long breath. “I have an idea of my own.”

  “You want me to what?” Quint stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.

  Nate had asked his brothers to join him in the library. If he was going to fetch Gabriella’s lost family, he was going to need help.

  “Listen to him, Quint,” Sterling said from behind his desk.

  “As I was saying…” Nate drew a deep breath. “The Verification Committee ends its meeting in two days. Even if I were to get back in time to make it, and in spite of Mother’s assurances, I am not confident of that, there will be no chance to prepare a presentation. With luck, Gabriella will be well enough to present the seal herself, but she will not be able to prepare anything either. I can begin tomorrow but—” Nate met Quint’s gaze firmly. “I need you to help me put a presentation in order. Indeed, I need you to do most of it.”

  Quint snorted. “I think not.”

  “You’re more than qualified,” Sterling said mildly. “Aside from Professor Ashworth, you probably know as much about Ambropia and the legend of the Virgin’s Secret as anyone.”

  “I don’t care,” Quint scoffed. “I am not about to do anything to legitimize Enrico Montini’s claim.”

  “You wouldn’t be doing this for Enrico Montini,” Nate said, “you’d be doing it for
Gabriella. And me,” he added pointedly.

  “All things considered, it seems to me this is the least you can do.” Sterling had been told of Quint’s involvement with the seals and was not pleased with his brother’s actions.

  Quint glared at his younger brother. “If you’re not back, I have no intention of presenting…” He gritted his teeth. “The Montini seal.”

  “If I’m not back, you’ll have no seal to present.” Nate shook his head. “I’m not letting the seal out of my sight.”

  Quint crossed his arms over his chest. “How am I expected to prepare an argument for the validity of an artifact without the artifact in question?”

  “You’ll have it until I leave for Dover, and I can give you the impression.”

  Quint narrowed his eyes. “You don’t trust me.”

  “I trust you with my life.” He met his brother’s gaze directly. “I always have.”

  Quint studied him for a long moment, then shrugged. “I’ll do what I can.”

  “Nate, is there any other way we can be of assistance?” Sterling asked.

  “We?” Quint muttered.

  “Yes,” Nate said. “I don’t like leaving her, but apparently I’m not permitted to see her. The doctor says she will be fine physically. But even though we have the seal, I’m not certain she isn’t still in danger. Muldoon will be here and he has protected her for much of her life. Still, I would feel better—”

  “Of course.” Sterling nodded. “We will make certain she is kept safe. Anything else?”

  “I don’t know.” Nate absently paced in front of the desk. This wasn’t enough. Regardless of what his mother and Miss Henry thought, if he missed that meeting, Gabriella would never forgive him. No reunion could ever make up for it. He would need to do something to make it right. Some sort of grand gesture. Something unexpected to absolve him and capture her heart. The vaguest of plans took shape with every step.

  “Perhaps,” he nodded thoughtfully. “But I shall need the help of…of an intrepid earl and a daring smuggler king.”

  Sterling grinned. “As ever we ever have and ever will be.”

  Quint looked from one brother to the other, then smiled reluctantly. “Brothers, one for the other.”

  “One for the other.” Nate grinned.

  It was still a very good pact.

  Twenty-eight

  Caroline,” Mother called with an enthusiastic wave.

  Lady Danworthy stared for a moment, then smiled, and made her way toward them through the crowd on the Dover pier. “Millicent!” The two women embraced. “What on earth are you doing here? Are you on your way to Paris? Wait until you see the gowns we purchased. They are magnificent. But then if you’re going to Paris, you’ll be visiting Mr. Worth’s establishment yourself.”

  “I’m not going to Paris,” Mother said. “I have come here to meet you.”

  “Why how very kind of you, and most unexpected.” Lady Danworthy’s brow furrowed. “My apologies, Millicent, but I don’t understand why you’re here.”

  “Get on with it, Mother,” Nate said under his breath.

  The boat from France had, of course, been late. Not that he hadn’t expected exactly that. Regardless of the arguments made by his mother and Miss Henry, he knew this was a bad idea. Still, he and Quint had the presentation well in hand, and he’d made other arrangements as a precautionary measure. Mother was right about one thing, though. While Gabriella had awakened briefly a few times yesterday, barely long enough to take the medication the doctor left for her, she had gone right back to sleep. They might indeed return before she realized he was gone.

  “I have something of great importance to tell you that simply could not wait,” Mother said. “There’s a café I noted at the end of the pier. We can talk there.”

  “Oh dear.” Lady Danworthy’s eyes widened. “It’s something dreadful, isn’t it?”

  “No, dearest, it’s something quite wonderful.”

  Lady Danworthy studied Mother for a long moment. “Millicent, I have known you for much of my life. If you say this is important, then it is.” She turned and gestured at two women who stood some distance away, surrounded by several servants amidst a virtual sea of baggage. Nate winced at the sight. Oh, wouldn’t that make all this easier?

  “Nathanial,” Mother said when the two women drew near. “You remember Lady Danworthy’s sister, Mrs. Delong? And of course you know Emma.”

  “Although we haven’t seen one another for years.” Emma Carpenter held out her hand to Nate. “How are you, Nathanial?”

  “Very well, thank you.” He could barely choke out the words. He took her hand as much to give himself a moment to regain his composure as anything else. No wonder Gabriella seemed familiar to him when they first met. It wasn’t merely that he had met her brother in Egypt, but aside from differences in the shade of their hair and eyes, and a slight difference in the shape of their mouths, Emma and Gabriella could have passed for twins. “You are as lovely as ever.”

  She laughed. “And you are more charming than ever, I see.”

  “Nathanial.” His mother raised a brow. “Time is of the essence, remember?”

  “Of course.” Within a quarter of an hour he had arranged for the servants to stay with the luggage, settled the ladies in a café with an excellent view of the channel, and resisted the urge to check his watch more than twice.

  “Well?” Lady Danworthy said. “I am dying of curiosity. What is this matter of great importance?”

  “Caroline.” Mother took her hand. “We have some news for you about Gabriella.”

  “Gabriella?” Confusion crossed Lady Danworthy’s face, then she sucked in a sharp breath and her free hand reached for her sister’s. “Gabriella, our niece?”

  “Yes, Gabriella Montini.” Mother paused, and Nate wasn’t sure if it was to find the right words or prolong the drama of the moment, although it did seem to him dramatic enough. “Caroline, she’s alive.”

  Mrs. Delong gasped. “What do you mean, she’s alive?”

  “I mean she’s not dead. She’s never been dead.” Mother huffed. “Goodness, of all the things I have to explain I didn’t think alive would be among them.”

  Lady Danworthy stared. “But we were told—”

  “Yes, well that was a lie.” Mother’s expression hardened. “Gabriella’s life up to now has been somewhat unusual, but I can tell you she is a lovely young woman. A bit headstrong and prone to impulsive behavior perhaps—”

  Nate snorted to himself.

  “—but brilliant and really quite delightful in her own, independent way.”

  Mrs. Delong’s brows drew together. “Are you certain of this?”

  “We have confirmed her identity, and you will have no doubts yourselves the moment you lay eyes on her.” Mother smiled at Emma. “She looks very much like Emma.”

  “Who strongly resembles Helene,” Mrs. Delong said under her breath, a stunned expression on her face.

  “Helene’s daughter,” Lady Danworthy murmured, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “But how?”

  “It’s a very long story and somewhat complicated. I shall tell it all to you on the way to London. You should know as well that Gabriella has been injured, although she is expected to be fine,” Mother added quickly. “But she needs her family.”

  “Ladies, we should be on our way,” Nate said, trying and failing to hide his impatience.

  “No,” Mrs. Delong said. “We can’t go to London.”

  Nate groaned to himself. “Why not?”

  Caroline looked at her sister. “Why not indeed?”

  Mrs. Delong met her younger sister’s gaze firmly. “We cannot meet Helene’s daughter without her necklace.”

  “Yes, of course,” Caroline murmured.

  “I had forgotten all about the necklace.” Mother shook her head. “I should have thought of that.”

  Nate clenched his jaw. “What necklace?”

  “Nathanial,” Emma began in a soothing manner. “One
of our ancestors made his fortune working for the East India Company. He gave his wife a Chinese gaming chip set in gold to wear as a pendant, for luck I believe. She passed it down to her daughter, who passed it to hers. My grandmother had two more made, as she had three daughters, and never revealed which was the original.”

  “When Helene left England, hers was somehow left behind.” Mrs. Delong set her jaw in a stubborn manner. “I will not meet her daughter without her necklace. She would have wanted her to have it. It means, more than anything else could, that we welcome her as a part of our family.”

  “Can’t you give it to her later?” Nate said hopefully.

  All four women stared at him as if, being a man, he couldn’t possibly understand, and indeed he didn’t. And the look in each and every eye told him this was not open for debate. He groaned to himself. “Where is this necklace?”

  “It’s at my country house,” Lady Danworthy said.

  He shook his head. “We can’t—”

  “Or course we can, Nathanial,” Mother said firmly. “And can still make it back in time.”

  “In time for what?” Emma asked.

  “As I said, my dear, this is a very long story. I shall explain it all to you on the way.” She glanced at her son. “Shouldn’t we be on our way?”

  “Yes,” he said sharply. “Let’s be on our way.”

  They still might be able to make it back to London before the committee adjourned. If not, he had made plans for that as well. He only hoped his plan worked better than any of Gabriella’s.

  Gabriella struggled to open her eyes.

  She was lost in the thickest of London fogs. Tendrils of haze, like incessant fingers, plucked at her, wrapped around her, reached into her soul. Voices sounded far in the distance, fading and growing more distinct and fading again. She tried to go toward them but couldn’t seem to progress, couldn’t seem to move at all. The fog grew deeper, darker, nearly black. So thick she could feel it envelop her, press against her skin, push into her mouth, her nose.

  She couldn’t see anything at all save for an orange glow off to her right. Fire, of course, the house was on fire. She turned to flee and realized she couldn’t, she had to go back. She held out her hands. They shook and were empty. Shouldn’t she have something? But what? And why couldn’t she remember? She turned again and Lord Rathbourne stepped out of the blackness, a vaguely surprised look on his face, his shirt crimson and dripping. Somewhere in the distance a woman screamed. A high-pitched, rasping, hysterical sound of terror and panic, and…it was her voice!