A man with a freshly combed beard crossed the room and bowed to Nellie, and with a smile, she accepted his hand and off they twirled onto the makeshift dance floor. Edyth felt herself sway, her eyes filling when she saw Poppy give a pretty twirl, her arms poised as if she were dancing with her father. The joy in Poppy’s bruised countenance sparked warmth in Edyth’s veins, and she longed to be held by her own father once more. She let the fiddle take her to a time when life was simple, where no one struck her or desired her money more than her happiness.
She lifted her arms and stepped into her memories and began to dance, her skirts swirling as she dipped around the patients, allowing herself to be free from sorrow. Closing her eyes, she twirled with her memories and then, feeling life in her arms, she startled awake.
She blinked at the man before her, shook her head, and halted her twirling, certain that she was at long last weakening as she had seen the other new arrivals do, slowly giving in to the madness surrounding them. “Bane?”
“My darling,” he whispered, his gaze holding her as tightly as his hand upon her waist.
“Bane has never called me his darling,” she whispered, certain she was seeing things at last.
“That’s because you were a friend for so long, but now, you are my darling. Edyth, it really is me.” He stopped and placed her hand on his chest, the beating beneath her fingertips waking her. “I am here, body and soul.”
“Bane!” She threw her arms around him, thankful that the crowd of women about them protected them from the notice of the ever-present nurses.
Bane hated not taking Edyth in his arms and bolting through the doors that kept his sweet girl in captivity. He had never been slow to act when he witnessed injustice. He was a fighter, especially when it came to someone he loved. Even in her gown with its rotting lace trim, with her cut face and matted hair, he found her breathtaking.
He held her to him and kept time with the music, treasuring the feeling of finally having her in his arms. He risked resting his chin on the top of her head, whispering, “Thank God I found you. I’ve been searching since the morning you disappeared.”
“I knew you would. I knew it,” she whispered back, lifting her fingertips beneath her lashes and swiping away her tears. “Uncle told me no one could find me, but I prayed and prayed you would find me. But how did you get through the locked doors to the party?” She peeked over his shoulder, dismay flaming in her eyes.
Bane swirled them in a circle and found what alarmed her, two nurses guarding the exit.
“And how will we be escaping with such vigilance?” Edyth whispered.
“Roger was able to sneak me in tonight.”
“Roger. He left to bring you back to me?” She shook her head in open disbelief.
“Not exactly,” he replied, but now was not the time to explain Roger’s role. Bane drew her to the side of the crowded floor, the shoulders of dancers jostling them at every turn, and tucked them in the corner behind three women who were staring at the dancers and running their fingers over their braids and giggling as if they enjoyed the intricate bumps and twists of their bedraggled locks. “I’ll explain it in detail once you are safe. But we wanted to let you know tonight that we are planning our escape for tomorrow morning and to be ready for us.”
“Not tonight?” Her smile stumbled, her hands trembling.
“I wondered the same, but Roger insisted, quite adamantly, that tomorrow morning the nurses would be so exhausted from this evening that we would have a better chance of making it out unscathed.”
“Are you certain we can trust him? Surely the cover of darkness would aid our escape?”
He shook his head. “I thought the same, but I suppose we will have to trust Roger since he’s gotten me this far.”
The crowd of women cheered as the fiddlers began a Scottish reel, making her start in his arms. Bane stroked her cut cheek, his lips pressing together as he regarded the bruises on her neck and the row of stitches at her hairline. “What have they done to you?” If only I could return the favor, bruise for bruise to the one who did this to you.
She turned her lips to his hand and pressed a kiss onto his open palm. “It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that you are here with me. Your presence is enough to dull my pain. How did you find me? Uncle refrained from telling the asylum my true identity to keep the ledgers clear of any record of my being here.”
“I hired a detective who managed to go undercover as an orderly and find where you were hidden. I should have hired him the moment you disappeared.” He chewed the inside of his cheek, debating whether or not to continue with his confession. By the widening of her eyes, he could tell she was wondering why he had waited. “I’ll admit, I almost didn’t hire the man, because I was afraid of seeming like a stalker. I thought maybe you had left because I’d startled you with all that talk of commitment and … marriage.” He paused, knowing it sounded ridiculous to mention marriage while Edyth was trapped under this roof.
She squeezed his hand. “You could never frighten me. You have always been the one person I knew I could spend the rest of my days with until the Lord calls me home.”
His brows rose, surprised by her candor and the mention of God. She had always been private about her faith, even with him.
She smiled, recognizing her openness was unexpected. “The only good thing about my time here is that the asylum has felled the walls of my heart, Bane. Outside these walls, I was so busy chasing distractions that I never allowed myself to have time with my thoughts … or spend the time I should at the Lord’s feet, giving Him my burdens. This place has stripped away the layers of thick skin, and I am raw, for I have had no one and nothing to lean on here but the Lord. I don’t think I have ever prayed so much in the past decade as I have in the time I’ve been here. And my prayers for the future always included you. I know what I want, and I’m going to say it, because life is too short for coquettish games.”
He took her hand in his, rubbing her palm with his thumb, aching to hold her. “Your wants are my own, dear Edyth.”
A woman whose hair had been pulled from its coil tugged on Bane’s arm. “If you aren’t going to dance with this handsome prince, I shall,” she cackled, her grin revealing a lone tooth as her chin jutted forward through her wiry gray locks.
“No.” Edyth scowled at the woman and tugged Bane’s arm to lead him away, but the woman howled and grabbed his other arm, her long, curling, yellowing nails digging into his sleeve.
“I do not wish to create a scene, Edyth. Perhaps one dance could not hurt?” Bane suggested. His gaze flickered to the nurses sprinkled about the room who were surveying the group and removing anyone they thought was losing control of herself. He froze at the sight of a middle-aged doctor flirting with a very young nurse. Jasper Wentworth’s father. If he saw Bane and reported him to Mr. Foster—
“I said back off, Marta.” Edyth bared her teeth at the woman and seized his arm, jerking him back and away from the clawing hand of the old woman.
Bane’s neck bristled at her feral tone. She had been dancing alone when he came in, smiling as if to someone. He rubbed a hand over his jaw, fearing that this place had truly addled her.
But then, Edyth relaxed against him and sent him a wink. “Sorry. If I didn’t hiss at her like that, she would have fought me for you. And I’m afraid I would not have let her win even if she is three times my age, for I want every second of your time while you are here.”
“Which is about to be cut short,” Bane said through his teeth as a large nurse glared at Edyth from across the room. The women’s confrontation must have caught the attention of one of the nurses.
Edyth’s voice dropped. “Oh no. Nurse Sweeney. She is the one who beat me.”
“She did this to you?” Bane’s blood pulsed in fury, but Edyth pressed a gentling hand to his arm before folding her hands and demurely lowering her head.
“Please, don’t. It will only make it worse for me if you say anything. Be nice and pe
rhaps she won’t hurt me tonight.”
He swallowed his anger and forced himself to send a smile to the woman coming their way, hoping she would think all was well and turn back.
But, at the sight of Bane, Nurse Sweeney’s scowl disappeared and a coy smile took its place, revealing her mottled rotting front teeth from a lifetime of smoking a pipe. “What a fine guest you have cornered, duchess. Why don’t you make yourself scarce while I take a turn with our new doctor?”
“I am actually the new doctor.” Roger appeared at Bane’s elbow and clamped him on the shoulder, drawing him back ever so slightly. “Nice to see you again, Nurse—?”
“Hester.” Nurse Sweeney kept her batting lashes on Bane. “You must be the specialist I’ve been hearing about tonight.”
If being nice helps Edyth … Bane gave the nurse a bow, sweeping her hand up to press a kiss atop it as he adopted the part of the specialist. “What a delight to meet you, Hester. Yes, I am Professor Lyons, a specialist Doctor Hawkins brought in to speak with the duchess. I know it’s rather odd for me to attend your festive party, but I pressed Doctor Hawkins into returning with me tonight so I might introduce myself to her before our first official session tomorrow. I wish to study her for a series of articles I am writing.”
Nurse Sweeney’s scowl landed on Edyth, and to his shock, Edyth stepped behind him, betraying her fear of the large woman.
“You need to watch this one.” Nurse Sweeney pointed at Edyth, causing her to shrink completely behind him.
Bane felt the quiver of her hand when she discreetly rested it on his back as if seeking to draw from his strength. “Most certainly. I appreciate your warning.”
“Ah, Nurse Sweeney, I hate to interrupt, but I believe one of the doctors is signaling to you,” Roger interjected, pointing to a rotund doctor who gripped the arm of Marta.
She grunted. “Of course he is. My work is never done. Let me return that one to her cell, but when I come back, let’s have us a dance, Professor Lyons, you hear?”
“It would be my honor,” he said with a bow, keeping his fingers crossed behind his back for Edyth’s amusement. He waited until Nurse Sweeney left to turn around to face Edyth, grasping her hand in his, the world narrowing to only her. “I hate the idea of leaving you tonight.”
Roger leaned into their small group so that Edyth and Bane would be the only ones to hear him. “We need to get you out of here at once, Bane. News will spread soon of the specialist’s presence, and we cannot have them asking a dozen questions before I can sneak you in tomorrow under the guise of giving Edyth her treatment.”
The sheen of tears in Edyth’s eyes broke Bane’s resolve for their plan. “Are you certain we cannot do this now?” he pressed.
“Are you going to challenge the plan again? Nothing is prepared for tonight. Trust me and wait.”
“I trusted you once,” Bane muttered under his breath.
Roger narrowed his eyes. “And you will see that I meant my apology. I will not let you down twice.”
Bane sighed, his shoulders caving. Roger was right, of course. Nothing was ready, and if they tried to escape and failed, it would be nearly impossible to get to her again. “Very well. We wait.”
Edyth’s hand immediately gripped his. “Bane?” Her voice was strained.
“I’ll come for you.” He ached to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but with so many about, they would without a doubt be seen. Even holding hands was a risk.
A tear traced her cheek as her lips trembled. “Goodbye, Bane.”
“Until we meet on the morrow,” he whispered, his gaze embracing her. He pressed her hand to his heart, wishing he could tell her that he loved her. But now was hardly the place for such a declaration. He stepped back, their connection stretching, and when their fingertips parted at last, a cold seeped into his very bones that was mirrored in her eyes.
Chapter Eighteen
I put my heart and my soul into my work, and have lost my mind in the process.
~ Vincent van Gogh
Edyth floated back to her chamber with Nellie giggling by her side and going on and on about the evening’s much-needed distractions from the cruel reality they faced daily.
“Being rather short on partners, one elderly lady, Marta I believe her name is, practically shoved me into the wall to cut in during my dance with Doctor Hawkins. Thankfully, she was only given a warning, but it wasn’t long before I saw Nurse Sweeney cart her away. I would have laughed at Marta’s dramatic claims to innocence, worthy of the stage, when she was told she was being locked away early after her antics … if only it was Nurse Jenny and not Sweeney removing her from the hall.” She shook her head and sighed. “I hope Sweeney was at least gentle with the poor dear. What about you, Edyth? I saw you with that specialist.” Her eyes sparkled. “Do you have something to tell me? I thought you were in love with Bane?”
Edyth returned Nellie’s smile, eager to tell her friend the news once safely inside their room, but when they stepped into the dark, cold cell, she stiffened at the sight of Uncle Boris, standing with his hands behind his back and staring up at the wall she had covered in her crimson sketch.
“Uncle. Did you not have enough amusement at my expense on your last visit?” The rotting scent of the dead flowers was branded into her memory, making her stomach turn. But she lifted her chin. She would not crumble before him tonight.
“I would have thought you had given up this inane little project of yours. I’ll have the nurses notified so that it can be scrubbed clean. I cannot have anything interfering with your healing.” Her uncle’s laugh mocked her as he turned to her, ignoring Nellie, who took a seat on her cot and stared at her hands to give them a semblance of privacy.
“Since when have you ever cared about my health?”
Ignoring her question, he paced the length of their small cell. “They called me down here again because of your exhibitions of anger this week and this very afternoon. Your little display will cost you dearly.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Will it cost me more than their beating me for trying to aid a poor girl whose only crime was reading her Bible?”
His scowl deepened. “I did not care for that piece of news.”
Her lips twisted into a smirk. “And why is that, Uncle? Did you suddenly discover a hidden love for me?”
“Because whether or not I like it, you are my brother’s flesh and blood. And as such, I will have the most humane treatment made available to you. Since you have become so violent, I have seen fit to have a new type of treatment given to you.” He looked pointedly at her.
“What treatment?” She slowly lowered her arms, tilting her head.
Her uncle remained silent, pausing at the window and staring up at the moon through the bars.
“What treatment, Uncle?” she asked again, a cold seeping up from the soles of her dilapidated slippers.
“They will treat you with an immersion therapy and a series of injections of morphine and one other medication designed to help you to forget, starting tomorrow.”
She blanched, gripping for the foot of the cot to steady herself. Bane was impersonating a specialist … did he somehow hear about Uncle’s plan and has some sort of plan to intervene? She should have asked him more about the plan. She shouldn’t have allowed herself to be swept away by his eyes. Bane never said what time he would be able to come … what if he misses me? If she was taken straightaway in the morning, how would he know where to find her? Would she still be herself when he did find her? She had seen how the patients who went in for these treatments returned from the chamber. Broken. Some muttering only one word, gray. She clenched her fists and stepped toward him. “You cannot expect to get away with this. Doctor Hawkins will not—”
“Doctor Hawkins agrees with me. In fact, he came in person this afternoon after his shift to bid me come to you after your little ball tonight. He was insistent, saying something about you wanting to try to escape again, which, judging from your last attempt, w
ould not end well for you.”
Edyth blinked. “Doctor Hawkins … he saw you today?” This must be part of their plan to save me. Her heart pounded, waking her to the danger of inadvertently giving away her alliance with the man.
Her uncle nodded. “You should thank him for fetching me and saving you from your own violence. In fact, he was the one who suggested the new treatment to help calm your frenzied nerves.”
Nellie rose and took Edyth’s hand, lending her strength and time to compose her thoughts. “Sir,” she said to Edyth’s uncle, “you cannot know what you are saying. The people who go in for that treatment, they are never the same when they return. It’s as if they are no longer with us.”
“Quiet, girl. Do you think I would take the ramblings of a mad girl into my consideration when deciding what is best for my niece? No, she will have the injections starting with her first tomorrow.”
Edyth slipped her hand from Nellie’s grasp. She collapsed on her knees as if she were truly giving in to her despair, her hands digging at the floorboards like they would allow her to claw her way through, burrowing to freedom. “Please. Have mercy. I repeat my vow that I will give you everything you’ve ever wanted. I will sign over my fortune. I’ll disappear. You’ll never hear from me again. Only, please, do not erase my memories.” She whimpered, longing again for a weapon of any kind to defend herself against this vile man, but she was powerless. The only weapon she had available to her was deception. Edyth felt Nellie’s arm drape over her shoulder. Good. If I can fool Nellie, I am certainly fooling him. He will not suspect Roger’s aid.
Uncle rested his hand on her wild, matted hair. “It’s for the best, dear. You will finally have peace and forget all about those paintings.”
She looked up at him, her bottom lip quivering. Even though she was acting, it still cut her that he would go to such lengths to rid himself of her. “Peace about what? I don’t need treatment. I am fine, truly.”
“Why, the three hands, of course. Surely you know by now what they mean, don’t you?”
The Gray Chamber Page 17