Isoline stood and headed up the stairs toward her aunt’s rooms. She knew Auberon would be angry, but if she didn’t go look for her aunt now, Auberon might prevent her from doing so. She had to at least try to speak to her aunt.
“Isoline!” Auberon yelled after her.
“Take Bess to the carriage, then come back for me,” she replied.
Auberon growled and took Bess up in his arms. Isoline headed for the next staircase and headed to the third-floor gallery. She heard nothing save a soft rumble of thunder in the distance. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest as she raised her hand to knock on the door to her aunt’s rooms. Her mouth went dry when she realized her hand was covered in Bess’s blood. She wiped her hand on her stomach and then knocked lightly.
There was no answer.
She turned the handle, and the door slowly opened.
“Auntie?” Isoline whispered into the room. When there was no answer, she opened the door wider and called out a little louder. “Aunt Bellamira?”
She pushed the door all the way open and saw Bellamira rocking in a chair near the window. On the floor, she saw Bellamira’s maid with a stake sticking out of her chest, blood pooled around her.
“Oh…oh, auntie!” Isoline cried. “What have you done?”
“What I should have done years ago,” Bellamira said as she stood. “I was a fool to think I could take Auberon back. To think everything could go back to the way it was. They are vampires! They have no souls. They have to be vanquished.”
“Your maid was not a vampire!” Isoline said. “Neither was Bess! Why did you do this?”
“They are all loyal to him,” Bellamira said, her hands clasped tightly in front of her gripping another stake. Isoline saw the silver of the weapon shimmer in the moonlight. She knew she had to be careful least her aunt turn the weapon on her.
“We are all loyal to you, auntie,” Isoline said pleadingly, opening her hands in a symbol of peace. “You are our matriarch. I came back to make peace with you.”
“After you stole Auberon from me?” Bellamira asked loudly, but not in anger. Her voice sounded heartbroken, full of despair.
“He came to me,” Isoline said, her voice soft and calm. “You know this. He came to me in my dreams. I didn’t even know he existed.”
Bellamira sighed and nodded. “I…I thought I was doing the right thing. By him. For me. The old vicar, he seemed so sure that I was going to Hell. He didn’t know that Auberon was a vampire, of course. Only that we were living in sin. He said that my only choice was to end the relationship completely. So I cast him out and stopped exchanging blood. ‘Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water,’ he was fond of quoting.”
Isoline was aware of the prohibition on eating blood, and that was something she realized she would have to reckon with later as well. But now was not the time.
“But you felt guilty for breaking his heart,” Isoline said, adding in the part of the story she already knew. “So you approved of him falling in love with me. But what changed? Why did you turn on him? On us? On me?”
“The new vicar,” Bellamira said. “I didn’t leave the house much. People would never understand why a fifty-year-old woman still looked like a girl of twenty. So I had never heard one of young Vicar Edwards’ sermons before. Before he came to call on you, I had not realized that the God of fire and brimstone could also be one of love and compassion. Of forgiveness.”
Isoline nodded. She too appreciated the more kindly version of God the vicar had introduced her to.
“So I began to realize that as long as my love for Auberon was pure, God would not punish me for it,” Bellamira explained. “God would not hold me accountable for loving someone. So I tried to accept my forgiveness and Auberon’s newfound love for you. But when I saw his painting of you…”
The thunder grew louder and anger flashed in Bellamira’s eyes. Her jaw clenched and she gripped the stake harder.
“He never loved you, you know,” Bellamira said. “He only loves me. He loves the parts of me he sees in you. I knew it when I saw your painting.”
Isoline did not respond. She knew her aunt was blinded by rage and jealousy. She admitted to herself that it was possible Auberon loved the similar qualities of both women. But that did not mean his love for either of them was unreal. The time for loving Bellamira had passed. That was all. Isoline was determined to not let jealousy drive her mad the way it had with Bellamira. She took calming breaths before speaking.
“I did not come back here for him,” Isoline said. “I came here for you. You are my aunt, my family. I want to make things right between us.”
The room flashed brightly as lightning struck nearby. Isoline blinked. When she opened her eyes, she gasped and stepped back as Bellamira quickly moved right in front of her.
“The only way you can make things right is if you are dead!” Bellamira said as she raised her stake in the air.
Isoline cried out and stumbled backward, but Bellamira stepped toward her, bringing her stake down.
Isoline felt her breath knocked out of her as something firmly knocked her out of the way. She looked up and saw Auberon struggling with Bellamira.
“Do not do this!” he yelled as he griped both of her wrists.
“It is the only way to get you back!” Bellamira cried.
“I’ll never love you again,” he said. “It’s over, Bellamira!”
“You’ll only be mine!” Bellamira screamed as she pulled back. He must have thought that she was relenting because he loosened his grip just enough for Bellamira to pull her arm with the stake free, which she then used to try and stab him in the heart.
Isoline screamed as Auberon gasped in pain, but Bellamira had only stabbed him in the shoulder. They continued to struggle, but Auberon lost his footing and fell back over the railing to the floor below. He landed with a sickening thud.
Isoline ran to the railing and looked over the edge. She saw his legs move as he struggled to stand.
“Stay there!” Isoline yelled. “I’m coming!”
“Look out!” he said, pointing up at her. She looked and saw that Bellamira had grabbed a candlestick from a nearby hall table and raised it to swing at her. But it was heavy and unwieldy, so Isoline was able to duck out of the way.
“Auntie!” Isoline cried. “Please, stop this!”
“This only ends one way, Isoline!” Bellamira yelled as she swung again. This time she had a better handle on the candlestick and was able to strike Isoline hard in the shoulder, knocking Isoline off balance.
Isoline realized she had to get away. Bellamira had gone completely mad and was determined to kill her. There was no reasoning with her. She had to escape. She turned and ran down the hallway, grabbing each door handle she passed. If she could get into one of the rooms and lock the door, she could buy herself some time. But each door was locked!
She was nearing the end of the hallway, where there was only a large window. She was trapped!
Even though Bellamira could move at unnatural speed, she slowly stalked toward Isoline. She was enjoying the hunt, which made Isoline feel sick to her stomach. There was a small sitting chair in the hall, so she grabbed it and smashed the window. If there were ledges, it was possible she could climb down, or fall slowly enough she wouldn’t injure herself too greatly.
She knocked as much of the glass out of the pane as she could and started to step out, but she felt her aunt’s hand on her shoulder. Isoline turned to face her and grabbed her wrists to hold her off. Bellamira tried to push Isoline out the window, but Isoline planted herself firmly, refusing to budge.
“Stop!” Isoline cried as she felt herself weaken under the strength of the stronger woman. “Please…”
“Just die!” Bellamira growled.
We live here, or we die here. The words of Catherine, her friend from the asylum, echoed in her ears. Isoline realized she was right. Either Isoline was going to die in this moment, or she was going to live. But
she would have to choose.
Isoline held her breath and said a quick prayer for forgiveness. She then shifted her weight to one side. It was a small movement, barely discernable, but it was enough to catch Bellamira off guard.
Bellamira plunged out the window head first, screaming to her death below.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Bellamira Estelle Granville,” Vicar Edwards said at a private funeral attended only by Isoline, Auberon, and the household staff at the family cemetery on the Thornrush Estate, “was born in 1762, and lived a long life. She lived in the grace of God, and we pray she is now walking at His side.”
Isoline had asked the vicar to keep the sermon simple, but there was little more he could say than that. A widow for seven decades with no children, no friends, and no contributions to the community, there was little else for him to add.
Isoline nodded toward the gravediggers, and they began pouring dirt onto the coffin. She did not place the first handful of dirt on it herself, nor did she drop a rose there. She simply thanked the vicar for his services and headed back to the house.
Her feelings toward her aunt were complicated, and she was not sure she would ever be able to sort them out. She had sought some sort of reconciliation, but her aunt had only tried to kill her. True, her aunt was now dead. She had paid for her crime of killing her maid and of almost killing her, Bess, and Auberon, but Isoline still felt anger in her heart. She hoped it would go away with time, but she wasn’t sure it would.
As she approached the house, a carriage pulled up and Mr. Harper, the solicitor, stepped out.
“Oh dear,” he said when he saw her in her mourning garb. “What has happened? Who has died?”
“My aunt,” Isoline said as she pulled up her veil.
His face blanched and he kindly took her hand in his. “I am so terribly sorry for your loss. I had no idea. Your aunt sent for me several days ago, saying she wished to make further adjustments to her will, but today was the soonest I could come. How tragic!”
“Indeed,” Isoline said as she tried to appear heartbroken but was afraid she only appeared stoic.
“I suppose it is a good thing I arrived then anyway,” Mr. Harper said. “Shall we go inside? I have the paperwork for the will with me. I could go over the terms with you.”
“With…with me?” Isoline asked. “She left me something?”
“Something?” he asked with a laugh. “Didn’t she tell you?” Isoline shook her head. “My dear, she left you everything!”
The world started spinning, and Auberon had to catch her to keep her from falling.
Mr. Harper laughed as he led them inside. “I do understand it must be quite a shock.”
They went to the parlor and took their places by the fire.
“Talbot,” Auberon said. “Some tea for the lady and our guest.”
“Yes, sir,” Talbot said as he left the room.
Mr. Harper sat his business case on his lap and began pulling out papers. “I don’t know why she didn’t tell you. She was quite excited to finally name an heir after so many years.”
“I suppose she didn’t want to get my hopes up,” Isoline said. “In case she wished to change her mind.”
He nodded. “She instructed me to say nothing to you that day. I thought she wanted the pleasure of telling you herself. I was surprised when I received the notice to return and make further changes. But she said nothing specific, so all I know of her final wishes is what we discussed on my last visit.”
“And what were those wishes?” Isoline asked as she accepted a cup of tea from Talbot.
“Her will was quite simple,” Mr. Harper said handing her a single piece of paper. “She decreed that everything should be left to her niece, Miss Isoline Beresford.”
At hearing the words, Isoline’s eyes teared up. Only moments before, she had never imagined forgiving her aunt. But this news had gone a long way toward softening her heart. The fact that her aunt had probably meant to change her mind and cut her out of the will didn’t seem to matter.
“All you need to do to accept the terms of the will is sign at the bottom,” Mr. Harper said as he handed Isoline a pen.
Isoline tried to read the page, but she could not through blurry eyes. With a shaky hand, she accepted the pen and signed at the bottom of the piece of paper.
“Congratulations, Lady Beresford,” Mr. Harper said.
“Oh, I thought that the title was long gone,” Isoline said.
“It is,” Mr. Harper said. “But you are the lady of Thornrush Manor now. I am sure no one will deny that.”
Isoline blushed. She did not think she could accept people calling her lady when she wasn’t one, but she accepted his gesture graciously.
“There is one more thing I wish to discuss with you,” Mr. Harper said. “Your cousin, Mr. Greer.”
Isoline felt her heart beat anxiously at the mention of him. She had informed him of their aunt’s death, but she did not allow him to attend the funeral.
“In preparation for making you the heir, your aunt asked me to review the estate accounts to make sure everything was in order,” Mr. Harper explained. “I am sorry to report that there were some…discrepancies.”
“What sort of discrepancies?” Isoline asked.
“It was your cousin who was managing your aunt’s estate,” he said, and Isoline grimaced. She remembered her aunt mentioning something to that effect, but she had thought nothing of it at them time. “Apparently, his parents did not own their land, but were renting. He gifted the land and an annual stipend to himself on her behalf many years ago, but she never signed off on it. I am afraid he has stolen thousands of pounds from her over the past decade, not to mention the value of the land and house.”
Isoline shook her head. She was not surprised he would do something so underhanded, especially if he had ever thought he would become her heir and inherit everything eventually anyway.
“What are Isoline’s options?” Auberon asked. He had sat by silently, allowing Isoline to manage her own affairs, but he must have seen that Isoline was having a hard time coming to terms with this knowledge. She nodded that she did wish to know this information.
“We could get the law involved,” Mr. Harper said. “Order him to pay back the funds or go to prison for theft if he cannot. If he somehow can pay the money back, we could have him charged with fraud.”
Isoline shook her head. “I am angry with him, but I’d rather put this nasty business behind us. What else can I do?”
“He has money sent from his aunt’s accounts to his every month,” Mr. Harper said. “I would put a stop to this immediately.”
Isoline nodded.
“And we can issue an eviction notice,” he went on.
“How much money does it take for a man to live on?” Isoline asked, feeling rather foolish. But as a middle-class woman who had all her needs met by her father and then her aunt, she really didn’t know what life cost.
“A man could rent a small home or city apartment, and have enough money for food and necessities, for about…oh, I’d say ten pounds per year,” Mr. Harper estimated.
“Then adjust the automatic payment to two pounds per month,” Isoline said. “That way he will realize I discovered his scam, but he won’t immediately be destitute. He can then either come clean to me and we can come to a new arrangement, or he can vacate the estate himself when he can’t afford its upkeep.”
“That is quite generous of you, miss,” Mr. Harper said with a wry smile as took notes down of her wishes. “I will stay in town for a few days to finish up the paperwork and make sure everything is in order before I head back to York. Is there anything else you require today?”
Isoline looked at Auberon. “There is something else,” she said. “Mr. Dracoia is a third-generation resident, but he has no papers. No birth certificate or anything.”
“I wish to be a legal citizen so I can marry Miss Isoline,” Auberon explained, picking up on Isoline’s quickly concocted story.
“I see,” Mr. Harper said without any hint of judgment. “You were born at home? Your family probably came here with the clothes they were wearing and nothing else?”
Auberon nodded. “Something like that.”
“I see this quite often with immigrant families,” Mr. Harper explained. “It can be difficult to prove identity in such cases, but it can be done. Is there any paperwork with your ancestors’ names?”
“A rental agreement,” Isoline said. “Between the last Earl of Payne and Auberon’s grandfather.”
“Send it to me and there should be no problem,” Mr. Harper said as he packed his papers away in his case and stood. “You’d be surprised the weight the word of an earl carries in the courts, even a dead one.”
“I also wish to purchase the Shore Home for the Mentally Insane,” she said, and Mr. Harper raised his eyebrow. “I wish to help improve the care of the residents there,” she explained.
“That…will prove complicated,” Mr. Harper said. “But I am sure it is nothing that money cannot overcome. It will take some time and research. I’ll have to get back to you later on that account.”
“I understand,” Isoline said. “I also need you to reach out to my brothers. I wish to cover any expenses for the education of my nephews, and any nephews and nieces who come along.”
“I’ll write to them immediately,” Mr. Harper said at the door as he doffed his hat. “Good day to you both.”
After Talbot shut the door, Auberon wrapped his arms around Isoline. “You can relax now,” he said softly into her ear. “Everything is as it should be.”
Isoline turned to him and nodded. “For now, but who knows what the future will hold.”
He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I can only promise that we will find out what that future holds together.”
“I’m going to give you your land,” Isoline said. “I can’t imagine you would be able to continue painting without it.”
“You…do not wish me to live here? With you?” he asked.
“Actually,” she said. “I’d rather live there, with you.”
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