Darkest Dreams

by Jennifer St Giles

  The earl had grumbled about it the most, but a certain spring to his step and twinkle in his eyes during the evening told me that he secretly liked the changes Cassie had brought about. Cassie had told me that during a conversation with the earl, he’d declared he’d vowed to stop loving anyone ever, because everyone he loved either lived under a curse of death or had already died. His glances made me suspect that he regretted his vow.

  “Crown me,” Rebecca said. Glancing down, I found to my surprise Rebecca had captured three of my men and stood ready to be crowned.

  I capped off her piece. “You make a beautiful queen, my dear.”

  “Not queen. I’m princess,” she said softly.

  “Yes, you are. A beautiful and loved princess. And a smart one too.” I tried to focus on the game then, but within two moves my mind wandered again as I played. This time they went in a darker direction.

  With dinner over and the heat of a low burning fire at my back, I should have been able to partially relax within the open warmth of those closest to my heart, but I couldn’t. In that brief moment on the boardwalk, the stranger had brought me face to face with not only the monster lurking within him, but the one within me, and my monster was more frightening than I’d imagined.

  Upon our return from town earlier, I’d immediately claimed the need to rest and requested to be left alone. Cassie had to soothe and tend to Gemini, and didn’t have a chance to question me then; and later, when I’d heard Cassie knocking on my door and peeping into my room, I feigned sleep. A tactic that her determined glare across the drawing room told me would not work again. The only thing that currently saved me from an interrogation was Rebecca’s presence during dinner and now. We were all hesitant to bring up the subject of death, hesitant to remind Rebecca about the loss of Mary, who’d been Rebecca’s teacher and beloved friend.

  I would meet up with Cassie’s questions before the night was over though, and I would have to explain what happened on the boardwalk. Once I shared with her how much I had seen of the man’s mind and actions, she would then realize how much my mind-reading gift had grown, and that would lead to more questions.

  Cassie had enough things to worry about without adding me to the list. And now that she was with child, those problems were magnified. I was glad for her, glad that there would be another priceless treasure to fill Killdaren’s Castle. Yet I couldn’t help but wish my sister had had more time as a married woman before becoming a mother. Despite the infectious cheer Cassie spread to every stone corner and into everyone’s heart, there were still so many unsettled and upsetting troubles within the Killdarens’ world.

  Eight years ago, in a brutal fight with Alexander over Lady Helen’s death, Sean had fallen from a cliff into the sea, damaging his leg and receiving a head injury that gave him excruciating pain when Sean’s eyes were exposed to bright light.

  For that reason, black velvet curtains covered the castle windows during the day, and candles were used instead of gas lighting. The darkness did little to dampen spirits, for everyone so welcomed Sean’s presence during the daytime hours and hoped that one day he’d make a full recovery.

  Since his marriage to Cassie, Sean was up during the day more than he had been in years, but he was still a man of the night. So much so that I wondered how Cassie had the energy to stay up late stargazing through Sean’s gigantic telescope or racing horses down the shore with him and still take care of all of her daily responsibilities. Thankfully the loud, screeching noise produced by hoisting Sean’s telescope up and down was barely heard from the wing where I slept. Cassie said that it had given her nightmares until she’d found out what the noise was.

  Other than being identical twins in regards to their features and their charisma, Sean and Alexander were very different. To me, Sean was more like the moon, subdued and darkly gentle, where Alexander was like the sun, bold and blazingly hot—

  “Miss Andrie, do you have any men left?” Rebecca giggled.

  I stared down at the board to find only Rebecca’s kings in place and mine all captured. It was rather disconcerting since I rarely lost at the game. “I think you’ve won, poppet.”

  At Rebecca’s laugh of joy, Gemini left Cassie and Prudence and joined Rebecca and me. Gemini still appeared haunted from the day’s events. Her rosy cheeks had paled, and dark shadows brewed beneath the china blue eyes. It was almost the first time that I could remember seeing Gemini so serious. She normally bubbled with talk of fashion or the peerage. As usual for the evenings we spent in the drawing room, she was wrapped in a cloak for warmth, claiming the draft chilled her. I didn’t remember Gemini being chilled often in Oxford, where the climate was much cooler.

  “I see the smart princess has managed to do something I’ve yet to do and beat my sister,” Gemini said.

  “I’m not even sure how she did it.” I stood to let Gemini have my seat.

  “I doubt I’ll be much of challenge either.” Gemini shuddered. “I’m having a difficult time—”

  “Remembering your name,” I interjected before Gemini could mention the accident in town.

  Gemini winced at what she’d almost said before the child. “Yes, that’s right. I keep thinking my name is Georgie Porgie.”

  Rebecca laughed and sang. “Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie…kissed the plums and made them cry.”

  “Girls, poppet,” I said smiling. “He kissed the girls and made them cry.”

  “No,” Rebecca said. “I don’t want the girls to cry.” Her face clouded with worry, and she tightly clutched her rag doll that had been in the seat beside her.

  My heart squeezed. The seriousness of her tone told me it was very important to her that the girls weren’t made to cry. I touched her shoulder, reading her thoughts from the day Mary died. They were the same as before, reaffirming to me that, at least from Rebecca’s perspective, what Mrs. Frye claimed happened to Mary and what Rebecca interpreted as happening didn’t match.

  “Then plums it is,” I said. “The plums can cry until they turn to prunes.”

  Gemini and Rebecca laughed. The sound I so needed to hear eased into my soul a bit.

  Sean moved from where he watched the earl and Sir Warwick and joined us. “I’m giving up my turn at the backgammon board tonight. In the last thirty minutes my father and Warwick have made five moves. It’ll be past midnight before they’re done complaining about which one of them is more onerous than the other and finish the game. Cassie and I have plans to search the stars tonight.” When he glanced at my sister, the love filling his gaze caught my breath and somehow made me ache inside.

  Sean playfully tugged on a tress of Rebecca’s dark hair. “How is little Becca doing with checkers?”

  “Gave me a trouncing.” I stepped back from the group, needing space for the many thoughts of Alexander that the gleam in Sean’s eyes had incited.

  “I made lots of princesses,” Rebecca added, describing all the crowned game pieces.

  “Glad to hear it,” Sean said. “Soon we’ll have you playing chess as well. Stuart and I are carving the pieces now.”

  A knock on the drawing room door brought a startled silence to the room. I fisted my hand, knowing this intrusion had to be about what happened in town today. The butler, Mr. Murphy, opened the door. He and his wife, the cook, reminded me of fresh bread, warm and plump and inviting.

  “Begging your pardon, Mr. Sean, Constable Poole is here to see you and the earl. Shall I show him in?”

  Sean turned sharply, a frown creasing his brow. “Constable Poole? Show him to the library, Murphy.” The butler gave a slight bow and left.

  Cassie stood. “Sean, I didn’t have the chance to tell you what happened in town earlier—”

  “Rebecca, it’s time for bed,” Prudence interrupted. Worry that Rebecca might hear something to trigger a bad memory from Mary’s passing rang in Prudence’s voice.

  Rebecca shook her head. “Play game with Georgie Porgie,” she said.

  “Who?” Prudence asked, moving s
wiftly toward us. Deep lines of concern marred the china doll perfection of her face and shadowed her eyes.

  “Me.” Gemini, who longed for the title of Lady, groaned at the undignified moniker she’d just saddled herself with. She took Rebecca’s hand. “Would it be all right to save our game for tomorrow, and for us to read a story with Bridget before bedtime tonight?” she asked the little girl.

  Holding her doll tight, Rebecca solemnly nodded, sensing something was wrong.

  “Wonderful,” Prudence said with relief.

  The three of them quit the room, and I tried to edge out in their wake as Cassie told Sean about the incident. I wanted to know what the constable had to report even though I already knew the grisly details, but I didn’t want to face another interrogation over the matter. That meant I had to find a good place for eavesdropping before Sean, the earl and Warwick went to the library to meet with the constable.

  “Wait for me, Andrie,” Cassie said, stopping me before I made it through the door. Her request surprised me. Knowing my sister as well as I did, I had expected her to insist on accompanying Sean and the earl to the library.

  “Mrs. Killdaren, not so fast,” Sean said as Cassie hurried my way. “What is it that you are not telling me?”

  Cassie’s gaze met mine, and she lifted one brow before turning to Sean. “I think I remembered everything,” she said, giving him a brilliant smile.

  He narrowed his eyes to a “we’ll talk later” glare as I grabbed Cassie’s hand and pulled her out the door.

  “Hurry,” I hissed under my breath, dragging her along the corridor toward the library. At the center hall, I ducked behind a statue of a David-like man, except for the strategic placement of leafs—an example of the castle’s more conservative art.

  “Take off your shoes,” she whispered.

  “Whatever for?” I asked.

  “The marble. It’s the best way to sneak across it and not be heard.” A very telling statement of Cassie’s time investigating Mary’s death. I almost envied my sister the adventure she’d had.

  Mr. Murphy shut the library door, apparently having just seen Constable Poole into the room, and headed toward the kitchens. The second he passed our hiding spot, we flew across the marbled entryway, down the corridor, and slipped into the room adjoining the library. Slightly breathless, I stood inside the door, my heart thumping.

  A sliver of pale moonlight cut an eerie path through the objets d’art, many of which were statues of Greek gods, making a person wonder if she’d suddenly stepped into the middle of Zeus’s decadent court.

  “Why eavesdrop when you could have requested to see the constable?” Cassie asked in a whisper as we moved closer to the wall separating us from the library.

  “I didn’t want to have to answer more questions about today. Besides, men tend to tell more and speak more freely when women aren’t present. I discovered that you can hear a conversation going on in the library rather well from this wall when I was examining the statues not long ago.”

  Cassie slid into place beside me. “I feel like I’m seven years old again, and we’re trying to discover our Christmas surprises with our ear to our parents’ door. Who did you overhear in the library?”

  “You and Bridget talking about a vampire book, about lovers no less.” Cassie’s mouth fell open in shock that matched what mine had been when I discovered what book my most proper sister and her newfound friend were reading. “Shh,” I said, as I heard Sean greet the constable in the library.

  “Did you learn the identity of the poor fellow?” the earl asked.

  “I did. Wouldn’t be calling the gentleman poor, though, nor let any sympathies rest upon him. His name was Prichard, Miles Prichard. Lived north of here, between Dartmoor’s End and Falmouth.”

  “The chap was a bad sort then?” This from Sir Warwick.

  “Quite possibly,” the constable said. “I found his wife strangled to death, propped up all prettily in her bed. It’s likely that he killed her. The neighbors say they kept to themselves and that he was a mean chap, yelling and ordering his wife around. I’ll have to investigate further, but I’d wager he killed her.”

  Cassie gasped and I shivered, my stomach wrapping into a quick knot.

  “Damnation,” Sean said. “What madness could drive a man to kill the very woman he’s sworn to protect?”

  “Betrayal would be my guess. Seen it more times than I care to say,” replied the constable.

  “Nothing will send a man to anger quicker than an unfaithful wife,” Sir Warwick added.

  “You all sound as if you’re worthy enough to cast stones,” the earl said. “I for one won’t be throwing any, gentlemen. Let’s get back to topic. Constable Poole, are you saying there is no family we need to make condolences to, then?”

  “Quite right. I’ll let you know if we learn differently. Odd thing, you know,” the constable added.

  “And what’s that?” Sean asked.

  “The woman who claimed Miss Andrews chased the man to his death thought she overheard what Miss Andrews said to him.”

  The men were silent, and I thought they could hear the pounding of my heart through the wall.

  “She said Miss Andrews cried out ‘killer’,” the constable reported.

  “Andromeda chased the man into the street shouting that he was a killer?” Sean’s incredulous demand drowned out any other response there was to the constable’s revelation except Cassie’s.

  She clutched my arm, her eyes wide with horror. “You should have told me, told someone.”

  I bit back a groan and tried to minimize what I’d seen. I didn’t want her to know how bad it had been. “I wasn’t sure. I could have been wrong.”

  The constable drew our attention back to their conversation. “Ahem, I beg your pardon, Mr. Killdaren, I didn’t mean to imply that at all. In fact, I have it on good authority from your brother that Miss Andrews tried to stop the man from running into the street. As for what the woman overheard, she must have mistaken the incident. I just thought the account strange.”

  “Alex was there?” If possible Sean’s voice grew even louder and more incredulous. Cassie and I both winced. Considering all that stood between Sean and Alexander, we’d stand a better chance conquering the whole of the British Empire than the brothers.

  “Yes. He received a delivery of a prized horse at the same time as Mr. and Mrs. Andrews’s ship set sail and took a moment to exchange a few pleasantries.”

  “Indeed,” Sean said. “I’ll trust, Father, that you’ll let him know his efforts to associate with my wife and her sisters are unnecessary and unappreciated.”

  Cassie sighed, a soft whisper of despair that tugged at the very center of my heart. She had her hand pressed to her stomach, as if she could already feel the babe within. Concerned, I set my fingers upon the back of her hand and heard the cry in her heart.

  Twins. Dear God, what if I have twins?

  “Hush,” I whispered. “Don’t borrow tomorrow’s worries. The Killdaren stubbornness has yet to encounter the Andrews sisters’ forces combined as one. The Trojan Horse Plan begins tomorrow.”

  “He agreed to let you catalogue the antiquities, then?”

  I only nodded, unable to give breath to my lie. She clasped my hand in hers and drew comfort from my words. Comfort I couldn’t find for myself later that night, for I dreamed of myself unclothed and bound, a prisoner of Captain Black’s on the high seas where he ruled as a pirate king.

  Chapter Four

  At first light, I sent a footman to Dragon’s Cove, informing the viscount that I would be arriving at his castle midmorning, for I needed to speak with him about a matter of importance. His return message said that he would await my visit.

  I then spent the next two hours pacing, trying to determine how to best approach him. Any other time I’d seen him, we’d always been accompanied by a number of people, which afforded very little opportunity for conversation—exactly what I didn’t want to occur today. I had things t
o say that I knew my family would not understand, and would only be hurt by. For the Trojan Horse Plan now not only had meaning for my sister Cassie, but for me too.

  In light of the incident with the man on the boardwalk, I desperately needed to face the reality of my situation. After my sensual thoughts of Alexander and pirates, my dreams had turned ugly, to a scene so nightmarish I’d awakened early, drenched in perspiration and shivering. I’d had a vision of myself trapped within a cage where strangers came, constantly touching me, drowning me in their thoughts. I became completely lost, no longer knowing who I was, or who anyone else was either.

  Had the dream portended that madness was to be my fate if I didn’t find a way to shelter myself? I shuddered.

  I had to live alone, and I had to support myself. The only thing I knew of life was antiquities and how to catalogue them, which meant I would need to seek employment in a museum or, as Alexander had suggested earlier this summer, and as my father had alluded to by the gift of Aphrodite’s ring, I could be paid to catalogue individual art collections in private homes. Employment in a museum would most likely put me in a position of having to interact with more people on a daily basis than working in a private home. By living alone and frugally, it was possible I would not have to take many assignments to survive.

  To this end, I would need references, thus I needed a job. And that was exactly what I planned to ask Alexander for today. He’d offered before, so it wasn’t too outrageous for me to approach him about the matter today. Still, my heart fluttered at the idea of going to meet him alone, even if he was, in fact, now family. Working for him could be the path to my independence.

  Living in the wilds of Cornwall, far from the eagle-eyed confines of Oxford’s proper society, afforded both Gemini and I more freedom than we’d ever known, and now having a married sister had—in a number of ways—expanded those strictures. I knew the viscount had a housekeeper, a widowed sister of Mrs. Murphy’s, who lived at the castle. I knew he had a number of servants as well. So, in truth, I wouldn’t exactly be alone with him. It wasn’t as if I was a society miss with a reputation to keep sterling, either. Marriage was not in my future. Besides, a woman employed did not have need of a chaperone. Cassie herself had gone alone to Killdaren’s Castle months ago to work as a maid, and she didn’t bring a chaperone along. I could do the same.