Among the Darkness Stirs

by Nicola Italia

  She felt a sudden surge of emotion. “I have no friends here. It’s been lonely. I hope soon to bring my mother and sister here. I’m sure that will help,” she told him softly.

  Henry looked at her with sympathy. “There are some cottages at the far end of the workhouse grounds. The doctor lives in one of them when he is here, and some of them have been used for different things over the years. They are small. Two, three rooms at the most. View them tomorrow. If they suit, let me know. I will have it readied and then you can send for your mother and sister.”

  A flash of excitement went through her. “Really? Thank you!”

  He acknowledged her gratitude and then asked, “Has the staff been treating you well?”

  Still buzzing with excitement, she thought about who all she had encountered so far. “They’re all different. Levi and Joseph are kind. We speak often and talk about our work. Matron is strict and firm. I met the doctor. He seems a decent sort, and the chaplain is a bit Old Testament.”

  Henry raised an eyebrow. “Old Testament?”

  “The wrathful God,” she explained.

  When the carriage slowed to a stop minutes later, Audrey turned to him. “I know you’ve only meant to be kind and helpful. I’m sorry I said what I did earlier. I do appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Truly.”

  He waved away her apology. “You’ve no need to apologize, Ms. Wakefield. You are under immense stress. Send me word about the cottage.”

  “I will. Good night.”

  The next afternoon when school had finished, Audrey asked Levi to show her where the cottages were, and they walked there together. There were several cottages in a row with red brick trim and each with small gardens. She tried the door to one, but it was stuck. Levi heaved himself against it, and the door finally gave way. She walked through the cottage, which had a small parlor, a dining room, a kitchen, and three bedrooms on the second floor. It was half the size of their home in Kent, but she thought it was perfect.

  “It’s lovely, isn’t it,” Audrey asked him.

  Levi leaned against the doorframe. “It’s cozy.”

  After looking at the small yard and the lattice that traveled along one side of the house, she felt a wave of happiness. They would be happy here. She could see them as a family again, enjoying meals at the table and sitting in the garden at sunset and in the afternoon enjoying tea. It would do very nicely.

  She made her way back to the workhouse and took up her gloves and bonnet. She was so excited she decided to tell Mr. Ryland now that she would like the cottage readied.

  When he entered Henry’s office, the young clerk apologized for interrupting him.

  “Yes? What is it, Madden?” Henry asked, looking up from his work.

  The clerk stuttered. “There’s a—there’s a young woman to see you.”

  Henry sighed. “Does she have an appointment?”

  “No, sir. But—she’s—”

  Henry interrupted him. “Yes? She must have an appointment.”

  Madden swallowed hard, looking nervous. “I think you’ll want to see her, sir. She’s quite—”

  Henry looked up at the young lad. “Quite?”

  “Quite,” the lad finished awkwardly.

  Henry put down his pen. “Juvenile idiot,” he muttered under his breath.

  He walked outside his office and instantly recognized the black mourning gown and slim figure encased in it. He smiled to himself. “Quite.”

  “Ms. Wakefield,” he said, coming to stand before her.

  Audrey turned around and beamed at him. He noticed the faces of his clerks and associates focused on him and Audrey. She had pulled back her veil, and her pale oval face was something to behold.

  “Mr. Ryland, am I disturbing you? I suppose I shouldn’t have come to your place of business,” she said suddenly. “That was forward of me.”

  “No, no.” He waved it away. “What brings you here? Come inside. Do you care for tea?” he said in a rush.

  Audrey shyly followed him into his office. “I was too rash. Forgive me. I should go.”

  “No. You’re here now. It’s fine. You’ve taken me away from this bloody paperwork.” He took a seat behind his desk. “What brings you here?”

  “I was able to view the cottages. They are perfect.” Audrey’s eyes were bright with excitement.

  “Are they?” Henry tried to remember the last time he had seen the cottages. To him, they had seemed old and out of date, clustered together at the far-left corner of the workhouse grounds near the orchards.

  “They’ll be perfect. It’s just my mother, sister, and I, and we could even make do with two bedrooms,” she told him.

  He immediately shot down the idea. “Nonsense. You all must have your own space. Which cottage did you like? I think there is a handful of them.”

  Audrey considered it for a moment. “It was red brick, and it had a trellis on the side of the wall. It was quite pretty with a little garden.”

  “Then I’ll have it prepared for you. I’ll make sure it has a fresh coat of paint and a good cleaning.”

  Audrey looked down at her gloves and back at Henry. “I really should not have been so imprudent to come to your place of business. I should have written you a note.”

  “Really. It’s fine,” he reassured her. “I’m glad you sought me out.”

  They both heard the mantle clock chime, and he was surprised at the late afternoon hour. “Are you hungry? I haven’t eaten all day.”

  Audrey hesitated. “I am hungry.”

  “Come. You can’t tell me you wish to return to the workhouse for its cuisine,” he asked.

  “No, indeed.”

  “Then let’s away. I know a place nearby. The Maids Head for tea.” He grabbed his hat in excitement at the thought of spending more time with her.

  She stood and smoothed her skirt. “Very well.”

  Outside his office, he informed his clerk that he was leaving for the evening, and his clerk gave him a searching glance before they were gone.

  Chapter Eleven

  They sat together, and Audrey admired the small tearoom before she turned her attention to the handsome man before her. They ordered, and their tea arrived quickly.

  “The Maids Head dates back almost eight hundred years. I’m sure you’ll like it,” he told her.

  She took a sip of her tea and loved how the flavors mixed together. “I do like it.”

  He leaned in as if he were imparting a secret to her. “I’ve heard it said that the hotel is haunted.”

  She glanced around. “Is it also a hotel?”

  He leaned back in his seat. “Yes.”

  “Who haunts it?” she asked.

  “Apparently a woman has been seen floating around the corridors with a strong scent of lavender. She is rumored to have been a maid at the hotel,” Henry told her as he sipped his tea.

  Audrey smiled. “Of course, she would smell of lavender. It would be so off-putting if she smelled of ale.”

  He laughed and took a scone. “You seem to be settling in quite well now. I’m glad.”

  She beamed. “Bringing my family here will help tremendously. And the cottage! I can’t wait to dress it up.” She reached across the table and covered his hand with hers. “Thank you. Truly. It means so much to me to have them here with me. I’m grateful.”

  He could feel the warmth of her hand covering his, and he was about to respond when he saw two people out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head, and his heart sank.

  This was possibly the worst situation he could imagine.

  “Henry,” Nanette Keene said, as she coolly acknowledged him, looking at their hands entwined on the table.

  He turned to the black-haired woman standing next to her. “Hello, Della.”

  “Hello, Henry,” she said, her voice a quiet tone.

  Audrey took back her hand as she looked at the two women and then at Henry.

  Henry caught himself. “I’m sorry. Nanette, you may already know fr
om the meeting but allow me to introduce you properly. Nanette Keene, Della Keene, this is Audrey Wakefield.”

  “We have met before but not officially,” Nanette said. “My daughter and I come here often. I thought you remembered that, Henry.”

  “I didn’t,” he said coolly. In fact, if he had, he never would have come here.

  Nanette seemed to be assessing Audrey and then cast a glance at Henry.

  “Mother—” Della said softly.

  Henry’s eyes followed the two women as they went across the room. He remembered it as if it were yesterday. Her letter. He had been thrilled to receive it with his name written in her small cramped handwriting. The letter that once opened had revealed all. He had never realized before that moment how fleeting happiness was. In one minute, he had gone from being blissfully in love to losing her completely. Seeing Della in the cafe brought it all back. All that she had meant to him and how she had thrown it all away for a cheap thrill.

  “You were engaged?” Audrey wondered out loud, but Henry said nothing. She shook her head. “It’s none of my business.”

  “Then you’re the only one.” He grimaced.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Everyone in Norwich knows.” He sighed. “Della and I were to be married. I purchased the land and thought to build a house on the river, where inside I would build a life with her. She went away for the summer to broaden her horizons,” he said coldly.

  “Yes.”

  “She broadened them more than I hoped.”

  Audrey frowned. “Hmmm?”

  He exhaled. “Not long after, I received a letter that she had fallen in love with a French marquis.”

  “Oh.”

  “But apparently it wasn’t a love meant to last,” he said bitterly. “She wrote me a month later. She had made a mistake, she said. She wanted our engagement and us reconciled. She wanted to marry me.”

  “And you love her still,” Audrey said softly.

  Henry grimaced but didn’t answer. “I need a drink.”

  Audrey fiddled with her teacup. “I’ve never been, but Levi and Joseph have invited me to the Adam and Eve. I could keep you company if you wish.”

  He looked up to meet her eyes. He wanted to be alone with his thoughts and his past, but he also wanted to drink and sit with this elusive woman who he found himself intrigued by.

  “Would you really?” he asked.

  “Why not?” She shrugged her slim shoulders.

  They sat in the back of the pub together. There was a woman dressed in all black, pale and lovely, and a handsome man nursing a whiskey. Audrey looked at the first and only ale she had ever ordered and then back to Henry’s face. He did not say much, but she could tell he must have loved Della very much before she had broken his heart.

  She didn’t speak either, and when they ordered cod and chips, she ate most of it while he drank one whiskey after another.

  “We grew up together,” Henry told her, staring into his amber-colored drink. “It was an understanding between the two of us that we would marry when she came of age. I agreed with it, or I should say I never disagreed with it, but what was there not to like? She had fine manners, a good family name, so that was that.”

  She let him speak and took another chip.

  “She was pretty and feminine. I liked that,” he admitted.

  “She’s very pretty,” Audrey agreed.

  Henry looked up at her and then back down. “I wanted a short engagement, but she wanted to travel. I told her we could travel on our honeymoon, but her mother urged her to leave before, and so off they went.”

  She frowned. “They?”

  “Nanette and Della. I heard from her often, and then the letters stopped. When she did write, they were cold and distant. I should have guessed something was off, but I was busy with work.” He took a swig of his drink.

  Audrey put her hand lightly on his arm in comfort. “You couldn’t know.”

  She looked about the room, but there were few people, and no one seemed interested in the couple in the corner.

  “I wanted to build a life with her.” He shook his head.

  “Perhaps I should get a cab. To get you home,” she suggested.

  He shook his head. “This wasn’t a good idea. I don’t drink often and definitely never this much.”

  She bit back a smile. “I won’t tell anyone.”

  It was dark outside when the cab pulled up. He entered the cab, and she followed him inside and gave the driver directions to his house.

  “You know what the funny thing is?” he said, gazing at her intently.

  “What?” She busied herself with arranging her skirt.

  “I thought Della was so lovely. I thought she was the perfect embodiment of what a woman should be.” He paused and then admitted, “And then I met you.”

  Audrey looked up to meet his eyes, sure she had heard incorrectly. “What did you say?”

  “If I could do it all over, I wouldn’t have asked Della to marry me. I would have waited for you. You are intelligent. Strong but feminine.”

  Audrey knew the drink had loosened his tongue, but she found herself wishing the words were real nonetheless. “We’re strangers,” she reminded him.

  “Then. Not now.” He sighed. “I’m not making any sense. I know. I can hear myself. I’m rambling.”

  “Your secrets are safe with me,” she told him.

  He looked out the window and then exclaimed, “Tell the driver to go to the Broads!”

  Audrey hesitated. “I should get you home.”

  “You owe me a favor,” he told her.

  She laughed. “Do I?”

  He met her stare. “Don’t you?”

  She did as he said and gave the driver the new directions. “What is the Broads?”

  “You’ll see.” Henry leaned his head against the side of the carriage.

  “It’s dark. I won’t see anything.”

  When the carriage slowed, she exited first, and he stepped out after her, a little unsteady on his feet. He looked out over the vast green and, beyond that, the River Yare.

  “Drive on driver,” he told the man, his words slightly slurred.

  “Wait—” Audrey started, but it was too late. The driver and his hansom cab were gone. “We need him,” she told Henry.

  “We don’t.” Without warning, he grabbed her hand in his and pulled her along. His warm hand enveloped hers. “Come with me.”

  She felt the grass under their feet as they walked together into the darkness to an unforeseen destination. “Where are we going?”

  “To the edge of the river. The edge of the world,” he told her dramatically.

  She let him lead her on, certain they would fall into a swamp and never be seen from again. Her legs scissored back and forth through the heavy black cloth. His warm hand curved tighter around her own. The cool air surrounded them. They walked for a minute or so before he stopped.

  “Here,” he said triumphantly.

  She looked about and thought perhaps he was seeking something not there. “I’m not sure—”

  “Look.” He pointed to the river. “The moonlight over the water. It’s magical.”

  And then she saw it. The green lawn spread out before them, and the moon was low in the sky, but its reflection could be seen in the water, looking like glass. It was a lovely sight.

  “It is lovely,” she admitted.

  “I know the perfect way to see the moon.” He took her hand in his again and walked a little bit closer to the river, where the grass was lush. Then, without warning, he sat down upon the ground, releasing her hand. “This is it.” He laid down and looked up at the stars.

  “You’ll muss your clothes,” she told him, standing above him.

  He shrugged. “That’s why we launder them.”

  “I can’t—” she said before he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the grass beside him.

  “Look at the moon,” he whispered.

  Audrey sighed. She co
uld give him this little bit of time. He’d had too much to drink, and he was obviously fostering a broken heart. She looked up at the moon in the sky. It was a lovely sight to behold. Here she was, lying in the grass with a madman, looking up at the sky in the middle of nowhere. She would never have thought her day would end like this.

  “Have you ever heard of the Inuit people?” he asked her suddenly.

  “No.”

  “They are the native people of a place called Greenland,” he said.

  It sounded familiar. “I think I’ve seen it on a map.”

  “They have a story about the moon,” he said quietly. “Anningan is the moon god. He has a sister named Malina, who is the sun goddess. The Inuit people believe that Anningan raped Malina, and that every night, he chases her to possess her again.”

  Audrey turned to look at Henry and saw that he was still staring at the moon almost, as if he had forgotten her existence.

  “During the chase, Anningan forgets to eat so he gets thinner and thinner every night,” he explained.

  Audrey understood the story then. “The moon getting smaller.”

  “Yes. To satisfy his hunger, Anningan disappears for three days each month, which signifies the new moon, and then returns to chase his sister again.”

  Audrey hummed. “Very clever.”

  “That is why the sun and moon rise and set at different times. At least according to the Inuit.”

  She thought about that. “I hope he never catches her.”

  Henry turned his head to look at her. “It’s natural for men to chase things of beauty.”

  “Is it?” she asked.

  “It is. Very natural.”

  As the air thickened around them, she swallowed. “We should get back.”

  “A few more minutes.”

  Her head was spinning, and she felt a little drowsy. She had only had the one ale, but she rarely drank. Her father enjoyed drink and her mother her port, but she had never taken a liking to them. She closed her eyes and dreamed of a field of golden wheat. As she walked through it, she touched them with the palms of her hands.

  The sun was upon her back, and the sound of water came from nearby. It was a perfect day. Her mother was under a grand oak tree, knitting while her sister and father played croquet. As usual, her father was letting Frances win. She was back in Kingsdown, and nothing had changed. Her family was together again.