Realms of Stone

by Sharon K Gilbert

  Hansen interrupted. “If you wish to leave, my dear, then you must pay the departure fee. As you agreed when we accepted you, it is one year’s earnings. A thousand pounds.”

  “A thousand pounds!” she gasped. “That is outrageous!”

  The earl stepped around MacKey. “Get your coat and anything else you wish to take with you, Cousin. And if Madam Hansen chooses to contest your right to leave, then she can explain her case to the sea of detectives who will descend upon this house by end of day.” He reached into his wallet and withdrew a hundred pounds. “For your trouble and any food which my cousin may have consumed. Expect no more, madam. She is done here.”

  In five minutes’ time, he’d put Lorena and her few belongings into the coach, and the two began a long journey towards Westminster.

  “Hansen will tell the others of your visit,” MacKey began as the wheels engaged. “Redwing, I mean. They meet at the Empress every Saturday, and several of their members play cards there of an evening.”

  “Why were you there, if you play no part in their deeds, Lorena?” he asked, not bothering to hide his anger.

  She rubbed the injured shoulder, the intense pain bringing tears to her eyes. “You wouldn’t believe me.”

  He leaned forward, compassion slowly replacing outrage. “Here, let me,” he said, placing his fingers on the shoulder. “I am sorry, Lorena. I may have dislocated the joint. I can fix it, but it will hurt.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I know what you’re about to do. Go ahead.”

  The earl took her wrist in one hand and the elbow in the other. He gently lifted the arm away from her side until it was at a forty-five degree angle. “All right so far?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “Good. As I said, this will hurt, but once done, the pain will ease considerably. Ready?”

  “I think so. I’ve done this with patients, but never experienced it,” she whispered tightly, her words coming in gasps through pain.

  “I’ve experienced it from both sides, more than once. Look the other way now. On three. One, two, three,” he warned her. On the third count, he slowly pulled on the entire arm until the head of the humerus repositioned itself beneath the shoulder blade and back into the socket. The process had been almost unbearable, but once done, MacKey felt instant relief.

  “Where did you learn to do that?” she asked.

  “From the duke. When I was fourteen, we spent a summer in Africa, and I fell out of a mopane tree, dislocating my right shoulder. Don’t ask me why I was in the tree. It’s much more embarrassing than the injury, actually. I’ll only say that a snake and a lion were involved. James didn’t so much as blink. In fact, he laughed the entire time he was repairing it. It was a hard lesson, but one I’ve never forgotten.” Aubrey found a light blanket in the coach and fashioned it into a makeshift sling. “You’ll need to wear this for a few days. We’ll put some ice on it when we get to Haimsbury House.”

  “You’re taking me there? Why? I don’t understand.”

  The earl’s face hardened again. “Do not think yourself returned to my good graces, Lorena. I want the circle to question you. But as we’ll be on the road for thirty minutes, you have time to explain your actions to me first. If you are blameless, then I promise to take that into consideration. And do not count on your beauty to charm me. My cousins have been separated from one another since their wedding day. Charles is in a coma, and Beth might even be dead. If I appear sympathetic at the moment, don’t be fooled, for if I think you culpable in any way, I shall see that you hang.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Sinclair took the empty crockery bowl and set it on a hand-hewn table near the hearth. “Better?” he asked his wife.

  “Much,” the duchess answered. “Thank you, Captain. It’s very quiet here, don’t you think?”

  “And private, except for those bird creatures in the woods. If we were in our own world, Beth, I’d want to remain here for as long as possible, for it’s very nice to have you all to myself.”

  She took his hand, stroking the bright wedding band. “If only this could be our wedding night cottage, Charles, but you’re right. We mustn’t linger, no matter how pleasant it might be.”

  “Pleasant is an odd word for such circumstances as these. Surely, those creatures outside frighten you.”

  “Yes, a little.”

  “Only a little?” he asked, a smile playing at his lips.

  She laughed. “How could I feel anything but safe in your presence, Captain? From the first moment I saw you, all those years ago, you’ve made me feel protected and loved. It is strange, I know, for many across the kingdom riot and plot in the name of suffrage and women’s rights. They depict men as oppressive and evil, but I think they somehow miss the good that men do.”

  “Darling, the women who protest are generally those trampled beneath the boots of heartless men. Is it any wonder they see nothing good in my sex?”

  She sighed. “If that is true, then I’m very sorry for it, Charles. I’d change those awful circumstances, if I could, and I know you feel the same. I wish all women had such brave men to encourage and protect them; for whenever you’re with me, I feel as though I could accomplish anything!”

  He drew her into his arms. “And so you can, little one. I’ll be the first to cheer you on in any endeavour, no matter what, but for the present, we must try to escape this place—as pleasant as it is.”

  She pointed to his watch. “You said that you tried to wind the stem already and that it failed to work.”

  “Yes, but it’s likely I overwound it. Why?”

  “Because properly winding it might require both of us, our combined effort, Charles. These entwined hearts all about us must represent that, don’t you think?”

  “Perhaps, but it’s more likely they represent our physical union, Beth. That which created our children.”

  “I’m sure that’s true, but isn’t it also possible it represents our escape? Bear with me. What if both our hands must touch the stem for the watch to start? And what if starting the watch, forces time to move forward again, allowing us to return to our own world? You said, yourself, that the gatekeeper called the watch a key. Perhaps, it is precisely that. Our key to escape! ”

  He withdrew the watch and opened it. “Please, Lord, let it be so!” he said, considering all the possibilities. “Beth, I’ve no idea how this will proceed. Whether you and I will leave together, or even return to the same place. If not, then I will find you. No matter where you now linger, I promise you, I will find you!”

  Still holding her hands, Sinclair closed his eyes and began to pray. “Father, we know not why you’ve allowed us to come here, but we trust that it is for your perfect purpose. Please, my Lord, I beg you to protect my wife. Wherever she is at this moment, heal her of any illness and keep watch over her welfare. And, please, when she and I return to our world, help me to find her. Help us to find each other.”

  “Amen,” she whispered. “I love you, Captain.”

  “And I love you, little one,” he answered. Charles took her sweet face into his hands and kissed her lips. He fought against the cruel birds’ voices that whispered into his mind: This is your final kiss. She dies now. Here. And you will never see her again.

  “I will find you, Beth,” he promised her once more.

  “I know, Captain. We’ll see each other again very soon.”

  He took a deep breath. “All right, then. Here we go.”

  She touched the watch within her husband’s palm. The duchess twisted the tiny stem, and instantly, the watch’s intricate gears engaged, causing the golden timepiece to tick.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Haimsbury coach bearing the earl and Lorena MacKey turned right off Bishopsgate onto Threadneedle Street. “What role did you play in Beth’s abduction?” he asked his passenger.

  Lorena took a deep breat
h, steeling her nerve. “I didn’t want to hurt her, Paul. That was never my aim at all. Trent forced me to assist, and Anatole instructed me to play along.”

  “Romanov? I knew that Russian had something to do with it!” he shouted. “That smooth-talking meddler has circled about our family like a carrion crow, and he shows far too much familiarity with Elizabeth.”

  “It isn’t what you think. Truly, it isn’t.”

  “Do not make excuses for that creature, Lorena! It does nothing to advance your defence.”

  “I don’t. I merely try to explain. Will you allow me?”

  He sighed in irritation. “Go on, but I warn you that I have an excellent memory, and anything I hear is likely to be used in the Crown’s case against you, if it comes to that.”

  She moved slightly to offer her bruised shoulder a moment’s respite. “Thank you. It’s true, the prince does love the duchess, but I don’t believe he’d ever act on it; not in the way you imagine. Anatole Romanov is complicated. Despite your doubts, I choose to trust him.”

  “I suppose, you would,” he answered indignantly.

  “Paul, I understand your anger, but allow me a full hearing before you declare me guilty. I’ve known the prince for a long time. He’s always treated me kindly and even rescued me from a terrible and hopeless situation. When you and I first met, I mentioned my family links to Glencoe, near your castle. Do you remember?”

  “That seems very long ago,” he declared.

  “Yes, but only six weeks have passed since you and I first met.”

  “Six and a half,” Aubrey corrected.

  She smiled, realising he’d revealed his mind for a moment. “Yes, six and a half. Anyway, the story of the MacKey family is true, but I left out one, very painful part of my childhood. My father died when I was six, and my mother remarried a hopeless and very cruel drunk. Gregory Whitcomb knew every publican in London and enjoyed abusing me almost as much as he enjoyed the taste of cheap gin. My stepfather made a daily practise of beating me, and when not inflicting his belt upon my back, he abused me in less obvious ways,” she said softly, her eyes gazing out the window as the coach passed the Bank of England. “By the time I turned eighteen, I’d had two miscarriages, and I thank the Lord each day that Whitcomb never had a chance to hurt the children he created.”

  “I am sorry, Lorena,” he whispered. “No woman should have to endure such abuse.”

  “No, they shouldn’t, but it’s far more common than most would imagine, and not only in poor homes. The wealthy of this world engage in sadistic behaviour that makes my stepfather’s pale by comparison. I’d grown to hate my life and was considering ending it, when two miracles happened. My stepfather was killed in a pub fight, and Anatole Romanov knocked upon my door. The prince forever altered the course of my life.”

  “And he taught you to be a witch,” Aubrey interjected. “How is that a good thing, Lorena?”

  “You’re wrong. The prince wanted me to rise above my past. He taught me kindness and altruism. It was William Trent who schooled me in the manipulation of others for material gain. He taught me to be a witch. A week after my stepfather died, I received a letter from the London Medical School for Women offering me a place in the next class of students. To my shock, I was told that a wealthy patron had come forward to underwrite my education.”

  “Anatole or Trent?” he asked.

  “The prince. During my first two years, Anatole served as a mentor and tutor. My life took a sharp turn, however, when I met Sir William in the summer of ’78.”

  “’78? You knew that bounder before he killed Beth’s mother?”

  “Yes, but I had no idea William had any such plans. Remember, Paul, that most of my life had been spent in hardship and under the whip of a cruel man. I never quite understood the prince’s kindness, because in my heart, I thought I deserved cruelty from men. William presented himself as a wealthy gentleman with considerable influence.”

  “And what was Romanov’s response?” Paul asked her.

  “I believe the prince paid a call on Sir William, for the baronet sent me a letter saying he no longer wished to see me. It sent me reeling, and I wondered what I’d done to disappoint him. It formed cracks in my alliance with Anatole, but then, a very strange thing happened. The prince changed his mind about Trent, and even encouraged me to see him.”

  “That makes no sense.”

  “No, but I was only twenty, and I didn’t look for life to make sense. From that point forward, the prince seemed to have two different opinions on William. One day, he would deride him and offer warnings, but then the next, he would encourage me to see him. It confused me.”

  “I imagine it would,” the earl told her. “Did you ever learn what lay behind the contradiction?”

  “Not until the night before Charles and Elizabeth’s wedding. Did you know that Prince Alexei Grigor is actually a spirit being like Romanov?”

  “Yes, we’d surmised as much. Grigor has appeared to Charles once or twice, as has Anatole. Their comings and goings make it clear they’re not human. Are they angels?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure just what they are, but if Grigor is an angel, then he is a fallen one. I’ve never known anyone so diabolically cruel!”

  Their coach passed by St. Paul’s cathedral, and the earl knew they had little time remaining. “We’ll reach the house in less than ten minutes. Tell me more about Trent.”

  She shifted slightly in the seat, trying to calm her mind. “Yes, all right, but I can tell you more about the fallen realm another time, if you want.”

  “Fine, but for now, I want to hear about Trent and your part in the abduction. 1878. Trent sent you a letter breaking off your friendship.”

  “Yes, but not for long. A week, perhaps, ten days passed, and then William called on me one evening at my flat. He brought flowers and chocolates, and he asked if I would go for a short walk along the river. That night we began a new, much different relationship. He lured me into Redwing by promising me power. Looking back on it now, I realise how foolish I was, but at the time, I thought myself wise. William could be very charming, when it suited him. I thought him handsome, and he made me feel as if no other woman compared to me.”

  “He flattered your pride,” Aubrey noted. “He played on your weakness.”

  She bit her lower lip in regret. “Yes, he did. I became his mistress soon after.”

  “Yet you knew he was married?”

  “He never made a secret of it, but he convinced me that he didn’t love her.”

  “That much is true. William treated Patricia with disdain, controlling her every movement, her every thought. I never understood why any woman would permit a man such power!”

  “Women are born powerless, Paul. Don’t you know that?”

  The coach turned onto Queen Anne Walk. “We’ll need to finish this later, but before I leave you, I want to know one thing. Did you assist with the abduction?”

  “Yes, but it isn’t as simple as you make it.”

  His eyes turned cold. “Explain.”

  “Anatole instructed me to participate. He was...”

  “There is no reason why I should believe anything you say!” he shouted. “How do you expect me to trust either you or Anatole? Where is he? I would hear these lies from his own mouth.”

  “I’ve no idea where he is. After the fire broke out, I...”

  “You saw the fire? You saw Charles get hurt? Lorena, why didn’t you help? You’re a doctor!”

  “I was afraid,” she admitted, trembling all over. “You didn’t see what I saw, Paul! A great battle had broken out over the house, only minutes before the fire started. I cannot see well enough into the other realm to know who was involved, but I tell you that it was two very powerful entities. Possibly Watchers. I ran back into the Empress to seek a place to hide.”

  “Wait. D
id you just say back into the Empress? You’d been inside previous to this? That night?”

  “Yes. There’s a second mirror in the suite used by Redwing for their meetings. Inside a closet. Sir William, the duchess, and I emerged through this mirror, and then he took her across to Charles’s house. Paul, I had no idea William would try to hurt her! He told me that he was trying to protect her from the others in Redwing. Yes, I know how foolish that sounds, but I’ve been a fool about many things in my life. Some more profoundly personal than others.”

  He looked into her eyes, trying to discern whether or not she lied. In most cases, the earl could spot deception at a hundred paces, but he felt completely lost in MacKey’s presence.

  “Did you see Trent die?”

  “I saw him thrown from the window, if that’s what you’re asking. He did not jump. Something hurled him through the glass. Meg Hansen was also watching when it happened. We were all standing outside the Empress, and when Trent crashed to the ground, both of us screamed. That’s when you and Charles arrived, I think. My attention was on the spirit entities engaged in battle.”

  “We’re here,” he told her as they pulled through Queen Anne’s main gate.

  “I thought you were taking me to Haimsbury House.”

  “First, I want you to see Michael Emerson. He’s the physician who’s been caring for Charles. He’s been staying at Queen Anne since last Sunday night. Lorena, I want to believe you, but it’s difficult.”

  “I realise that. I don’t think I’d believe me. You’re far kinder than I deserve. Is Charles really in danger of dying?”

  “He’s still unconscious, but we’re praying for his full recovery. Look, I’m very sorry that I injured your arm. It wasn’t my intent. I fear my anger got the better of me.”