“Go on.” He steepled his hands against his chin.
“While I was having problems with David, I confided in another woman…one that I knew would hold my secret. This morning when I went to tell her about me leaving for North Yorkshire, she said something that made me very curious.” She rubbed her arms. “Thinking about it even now makes my skin crawl.”
“What did this other woman say?”
“She reassured me that none of this was my fault…that going to North Yorkshire was the best thing to do to have my baby. When I made a comment about missing David, even though I know he’d wronged me, she told me that David was Satan’s spawn and that David deserved dying in such an unnatural way. She believed it was her duty in life to weed out men like David and make them pay for their sins.”
Nic could now understand why Miss McFadden’s skin had crawled after hearing this, because his was doing the same thing. He tried shaking off the feeling. “Indeed, that isn’t natural for someone to say. Will you tell me who this woman is? Perhaps this information should be given to the constable.”
Her head bobbed quickly, making her ringlets bounce in rhythm. “Yes, that’s what I thought as well. It was Miss Talbot who I had confided in; who had said those most disturbing things to me.”
“Miss…Mildred Talbot? The spinster sister of Mrs. Smythe?”
“Yes of course. Is there another Miss Talbot you know?”
“Actually, there isn’t.” Slowly, he shook his head. “That does surprise me that she’d said such things about David.”
“Apparently, many years ago when Miss Talbot was younger, a man had broken her heart, as well.”
“Yes, I did hear about that.” This tale was becoming very interesting now, and he was eager to find out more. “Well, I do appreciate you coming to me first. Please don’t say anything to anyone right now. I’ll take this up with the constable and let him see if it needs further investigating.”
“I thank you, Mr. Woodland.” She stood and walked to the door.
“Miss McFadden,” he stopped her from opening the door. “Please remember that God does love you, and your sins can be forgiven.”
Tears collected in her eyes. “Yes, I know.”
He nodded. “I’ll pray for you while you’re gone.”
He walked her through the house and to the front door. As he opened it, Sally stood on the other side, her hand raised and ready to knock. She hitched a breath but didn’t say anything. Miss McFadden mumbled something and hurried off the porch and down the drive. Sally watched the other girl leave and didn’t turn back to look at Nic until Miss McFadden was gone.
“Sally? What do you need?” he wondered.
“Oh, Lord Hawthorne. We are most distressed. Tabitha is still missing,” she cried out before placing a hand to her mouth.
Quick footsteps from the other room came toward the entrance. Nic glanced over his shoulder to see Tristan and Diana ahead of the others.
“Sally?” Diana exclaimed and rushed to her, taking her shaking hands. “What is this about Tabitha?”
“She’s gone, my lady. She disappeared and nobody knows where she went.”
Tightness enclosed around Nic’s heart. “She never returned last night?” he asked the maid.
She looked at him with watery eyes and shook her head. “No, she didn’t. Today we all asked around town to see if anyone had seen her. Nobody had seen her since yesterday. The only person who confessed to being with Tabitha after the luncheon was Miss Talbot. She said she noticed Tabitha strolling alongside the ocean, but that’s the last time she saw her.”
His head throbbed with panic. Miss Talbot? Could the woman be as insane as Miss McFadden made her out to be? He prayed the girl was wrong about the spinster, because if she was correct then Tabitha might be in grave danger.
Chapter Twenty-one
Slowly, Tabitha came awake. Immediately, a pain shot through her skull. She didn’t dare open her eyes yet, but being careful, she lifted her hand to her throbbing head. Why did her arm ache, too? Softly, she patted her head, but couldn’t find where she might have injured herself to have that kind of pain.
As she came more alert, a different scent hung in the air, making her want to sneeze. The dusty, unclean scent reminded her of being in Lord Elliot’s attic on those occasions when he’d placed her there as punishment. Wherever she was now, she was certainly not in the room where she stayed at her aunt’s house.
As she tried to remember what she’d been doing last, the memories spinning in her head seemed fuzzy. She recalled her talk with Nic and how much it hurt to say those things to him and to see the pain in his eyes. She remembered going to the ocean and meeting Miss Talbot—Mildred, the woman had asked Tabitha to call her. And she recalled the special kind of tea the older woman had served that made her feel very tired and sick to her stomach. Mildred had suggested Tabitha lie down, and…
That’s all she could remember clearly. But then there were those disjointed flashbacks that didn’t make any sense. Mildred had carried—almost dragged—her to another house up on a hill. Tabitha knew she’d been there before but couldn’t pinpoint the location. Once inside, there were stairs going up, a hidden trap door, and darkness as they carefully made their way down another set of stairs into a musty, cellar with little to no light.
Mildred’s voice echoed in Tabitha’s mind, but her words didn’t have any meaning. She’d said something about justice being served and made mention about how all heartless men and the jezebel women who led them astray deserved to die.
It took a few minutes of breathing deeply, but soon the pain in Tabitha’s head lessened enough for her to open her eyes. A small amount of light shown through the cracks on the wooden door at the top of the stairs, but it didn’t highlight the room very well. Thick shadows floated everywhere. She could barely see the stairs she’d come down from the hidden trap door. She rested upon a mattress covered by one woolen blanket, and she was thankful that she had this much. It was then when another scent assailed her senses, smelling like strong urine and…manure. Her stomach lurched. What was down here that had this kind of aroma?
Listening closely, she hoped she could detect any sounds from outside. At first she heard nothing, but soon there was a sound from within the room. The muffled cries were barely audible. Fear of the unknown escalated through her, but then she felt as if she wasn’t the only one in the room. She trusted her instincts that this was a good thing.
“Is anyone there?” she said in a low voice.
A distinct gasp echoed and the rustling sound in the other corner of the room stirred the silence. “Who is here?” The voice belonged to a woman.
Relief swept through Tabitha that she was not alone. “My name is Tabitha Paget. I’m visiting my great aunt, Mrs. Burls.”
“Oh, Miss Paget.” The woman didn’t sound very old. Perhaps still in her twentieth year or thereabouts. “Why are we here?”
“Where is here?” Tabitha wondered.
“I don’t know, but it’s an abandoned house. I’ve been here almost a week.” A shaky breath rented the air. “At least I think it’s been a week.”
Slowly, Tabitha’s memory opened. She now remembered the house. This was where she and Nic had met that one afternoon. “Have you seen anyone come here?”
“Only Miss Talbot. She’s the one holding me prisoner.”
Tabitha’s head pounded harder. “Do you know why? I cannot imagine that sweet, old woman doing this.”
“Looks are deceiving. Miss Talbot is not the sweet, old woman she has portrayed. She drugged me with her tea that first day, and since I’ve been here, she continues to put something in the food that makes me sleep. I eat it, only because I’m hungry, but I know it will put me to sleep.”
A bitter taste coated Tabitha’s tongue and mouth. She swallowed hard. There had been something in the tea, to be sure. Maybe even in the cookies she’d fed her. It made sense now to why Miss Talbot kept urging Tabitha to partake of the refreshments.
Tabitha sucked in a quick breath. “Are you Miss Johnson?”
“Yes.” The younger woman’s voice shook.
“Keep talking. I’m going to crawl over to you.”
“All right.”
As Miss Johnson told Tabitha about how Mildred had brought her here, Tabitha scooted across the dirty floor on hands and knees toward Miss Johnson’s voice. When she reached her, she grasped the other woman’s hands. Sobbing, she fell against Tabitha.
“Oh, Miss Paget, I didn’t think anyone else would be here. I thought I was going to die in this abandoned house…alone.”
A chill passed through Tabitha and she tried to shake it off. She would not accept death. Especially not now. Not when she had lived through Lord Elliot’s beatings and had begun living the kind of life she’d always dreamed about having. “Nobody is going to die if I can help it.”
Memories resurfaced of those times Lord Elliot took her out in the barn and beat her with nothing but his iron fist. During all of her beatings, he’d been drunk, but the man still retained his strength. The few times he tried to rape her, he’d been too drunk to follow through with it. Thankfully, God was watching out for her then. So she must believe God would help her now.
“How often does Miss Talbot come to check on you?”
“Twice a day. She brings me food, but very little.” A whine escaped the woman’s throat. “I think she’s trying to starve me to death. Oh, Miss Paget, I don’t want to die.” She sniffed. “Miss Talbot blames me for David’s death. Can you believe that?”
Tabitha stroked Miss Johnson’s matted hair in hopes of calming her. “How so?”
“She told me that if I hadn’t flirted with David, he would still be alive.”
“You don’t suppose…” Tabitha held her breath. No, she shouldn’t even think such a thing. The very idea was preposterous.
“Suppose what, Miss Paget?”
“That Miss Talbot…killed David.”
“Oh, yes. I do think she killed my David. I don’t know why, but she’s very capable of murder. The grip she had on my arms was very strong, and I recall when she brought me here, I was surprise by her strength. She even kicked me a few times while I was on the ground. Indeed, that woman has the strength to end someone’s life.”
Miss Johnson started crying again as she leaned against Tabitha’s shoulder. Each sob from the other woman broke Tabitha’s heart. Miss Johnson was probably very weak and wouldn’t be much help if Tabitha tried to go up against the spinster, who for some reason was set on revenge. But she couldn’t understand why Miss Talbot would want Tabitha. What had she done to the older woman to upset her?
The only way she was going to know would be to ask her. Hopefully, Mildred would come soon. Tabitha didn’t want to be in this dark, smelly room any longer.
Although her head was still spinning from that tea she’d sipped, Tabitha must find a way out of here. Blinking, she tried to adjust her blurry vision enough to map out the room, but unfortunately it was too dark. But, from the small amount of light coming from the hidden trap door above them, she could barely see an outline of the stairs.
“Miss Johnson? Has Miss Talbot been here today yet?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to tell when it’s day or night. All I know is that she brought me some food, which of course made me sleep, and when I awoke, you were here.”
“I’m going to try and crawl to those stairs.” Tabitha studied the pathway she’d have to take. “I want to see if I can open the trap door.”
“It’s locked. I tried doing that the first day I was here, but I’m not very strong, and I couldn’t get the door to budge.”
Tabitha frowned. “Have you searched the room to see if there are any boards or sticks, or rocks? I’m wondering if there is anything in here we can use to defend ourselves from when she comes.”
“No.” Miss Johnson shivered. “I hate dark places like this. I haven’t left my mattress, except of course to do the womanly necessities.”
Bile rose in Tabitha’s throat. Now she knew why the room smelled so wretched. “Well, I’m determined to break that door open. I still have a little strength, so I must try.”
Miss Johnson squeezed Tabitha’s fingers. “May God be with you—with us.”
“Yes, I pray for that as well.”
Taking a deep breath in hopes of clearing her mind a little better, she moved away from Miss Johnson and slowly scooted across the floor toward the stairs. Dizziness assaulted her, and she paused, trying to control the feeling consuming her body. She closed her eyes and breathed steady again, but her world still continued to tilt. No! She must not allow this to happen. She must be in control.
She had something to live for, and she would fight every second to keep alive. Regrets surfaced in her mind, and saddened her. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so ashamed over her parentage and allowed the Worthington brothers to introduce her to society as their sister. After all, it wasn’t her sin that she was born out of wedlock. It was their deceased father’s sin.
And then there was Dominic, Lord Hawthorne—the only man who had achieved making her feel like a desired woman. At first she hadn’t taken his flirtations seriously, because he was, after all, a gifted rogue. But he was still able to make her weak in the knees, and yearn for his passionate kisses. He’d accomplished making her fall in love with him.
She should have done things differently with Nic. Instead of trying to hide her feelings for him, she should have embraced them, and let him know how she’d fallen in love. She should not have pushed him away. Instead, she wished she’d have cherished every day—every moment—he’d made her happy and complete.
If she got out of here… No, when she got out of here, she’d find him and apologize and tell him her feelings. Hopefully, he would return them.
She started out toward the stairs slower this time, and focused on her destination. I will do this! When she bumped against the bottom step, she heaved a relieved sigh. “I’m to the steps.”
“Oh, Miss Paget. Please be careful.”
At this point, Tabitha didn’t dare stand, so she bunched her gown to her knees and proceeded up the stairs in an unhurried pace. Right away, she could tell the steps were very rickety and old. She would definitely have splinters in her palms and knees once she was finished. But she’d worry about that later.
When she placed her weight on the next step, it creaked and wobbled. She held her breath, praying that it wouldn’t break beneath her. Then she realized if Miss Talbot’s large frame hadn’t broken the piece of wood by now, there was no way Tabitha’s small body would, either.
Continuing on her way, she crawled slower. She discovered that hurrying only made the dizziness in her head worse. But she was almost to the top of the stairs, so she couldn’t stop now. As she climbed the next step, it trembled more than the first had. Reaching her hand out, she tried to grasp something to hold onto. Wasn’t there supposed to be a railing? But she couldn’t find it. Blindly, she searched for something to stop her—to keep from tumbling down the steps, but her hand came up empty.
God, please help me!
* * * *
For some reason, Frederick was also missing.
But Nic was more worried about Tabitha. Unfortunately, in order to find her, Nic needed his cousin to make an appearance and take over the role as clergyman. This way, Nic could go and do as he pleased without people thinking he was the man of God.
While the Worthington brothers and their wives settled in their rooms at the inn, Nic went out in town dressed as the clergyman—since he felt he needed to play this part. His main purpose was to find Miss Talbot. He didn’t know what he’d say to her when he found her, but if she did take Tabitha, he wouldn’t stop hounding the spinster until he received some answers.
His walk through town was more hurried
than before, and some of the people who waved, gave him a curious stare. He could tell some of them wanted to talk, but Nic wouldn’t stop for anyone but Miss Talbot.
Ever since his conversation with Miss McFadden, he wondered why the spinster would act in such a way. He knew about having her heart broken by a man in her younger years, but why would she think that men like David didn’t deserve to live? Why would Miss Talbot make it her duty in life to weed out men like David and make them pay for their sins?
His gut feeling told him Miss Talbot was not right in the head. Something sinister was afoot in this town, and he needed to find out what it was. Because of Miss Talbot’s anger toward David Griffin, Nic wondered if she had anything to do with the young man’s death. Was the spinster insane enough to kill? She was a tall, stout woman—whereas David was thin. Did the woman have the strength to carry a dead body to the sandy beach and bury him by herself? Or had she enlisted help?
And did this even relate to the theft at the church? Frederick had remembered seeing someone who was thin twist their ankle as the suspect fled the scene of robbery. Frederick also recalled seeing a larger man who’d sprinted out the back door first. By these descriptions, Nic wondered if it was Miss Talbot and David. After all, when the doctor had examined the young man’s body, he’d mentioned a broken ankle. What were the odds Miss Talbot was dressed as a man? But more importantly, why was she doing this? What were her reasons?
These questions and more would be answered if he could find the blasted woman!
The house she shared with her widowed sister was finally within view. He quickened his step until he stood in front of the door. He knocked hard, and then grimaced. Perhaps he shouldn’t have pounded on the door with so much force.
The door was answered by Mrs. Smythe. When she looked at Nic, her eyes widened.
“Oh, Mr. Woodland. What a wonderful surprise to have you visit.”
He smiled the best he could under these circumstances. “I hope you don’t mind me coming unannounced. I’m actually looking for your sister.”
The Sweetest Secret Page 21