Gates of Paradise (Casteel Series #4)

by V. C. Andrews

  "I'm serious here."

  "Okay, Aunt Fanny. I'm listening. Go on." I folded my hands under my breasts and sat back against the pillows. My legs were still like two dead appendages. I had to shift them from side to side with my hands, and twice a day Mrs. Broadfield had to massage them and work them up and down.

  "I decided that I would move into Hasbrouck House while yer recuperatin', jist ta be sure it's kept up properly and those servants do what they're paid ta do. I'll take one of the guest rooms. There's enough of

  'em, and whenever Luke comes back from college ta visit, he can take one of the others."

  "I'm starting college this summer," he explained. "Harvard has a summer program that I can enter, and my full-tuition scholarship applies to that as well."

  "That's wonderful, Luke. But Aunt Fanny, have you told Drake your plans?"

  "I don't see as I hafta get Drake's permission fer anythin' I do. I got certain rights and obligations. Ma own lawya's been goin' over the wills. Yer motha was kind to me, Annie, and I feel I have an obligation here. Nobody's goin' ta tell me different, not Drake, and certainly not Tony Tatterton."

  "I don't see why Tony would object anyway, Aunt Fanny."

  "Well, Drake's still finishin' college, and since no one's sayin' I'm not the oldest livin' relative here, I'm goin' to do what has ta be done fer ma family.

  Drake will be away; yer goin' ta be away; someone's gotta take charge. Heaven would want me to do it, I'm sure."

  "I don't mind you and Luke moving into Hasbrouck House, Aunt Fanny. I appreciate what you want to do."

  "Well thank ya, Annie, honey. That's sweet of ya ta say. Ain't that sweet of her, Luke?"

  "Yes," Luke said, staring at me the way he did that day after he had told me what Aunt Fanny did to his acceptance letter from Harvard. I felt myself blush, and swung my eyes back to Aunt Fanny quickly.

  "I only wish ya was comin' back ta yer own home ta recuperate, Annie, instead a goin' off ta that big stone house ta live amongst strangers. I could take jist as good care'a ya as that leather-faced nurse Tony Tatterton hired. Bet she's expensive, too. Anyway, yer motha was never happier than when she was livin' in Winnerrow. When she was older and rich, I mean.

  'Least, that's what I think."

  "Why, Aunt Fanny?" I wondered how much of the secret past she knew.

  "She didn't like all them beantown phonies,"

  she said quickly. "And she had some bad times with that loony granny'a hers. Tony, too. Everybody always mixin' everyone else up till a person didn't know who him or her was. She killed herself, ya know," she stated flatly and cast a fish-eye on me.

  "I thought that was an accident, Aunt Fanny."

  "Accident, ma . . . no accident. One night she jist got sick'a bein' locked up like a loony, I suppose, and took too many sleepin' pills. Can't tell me that was an accident."

  "But if she didn't know what she was doing or who she was . ."

  "Annie's right, Ma. It could have been an accident."

  "Maybe, but it still didn't do yer ma no good ta hafta live in that big house with all that craziness goin'

  on. And I don't think she woulda wanted ta be buried in that ritzy cemetery. She probably woulda preferred the Willies, out there in the woods, right next ta her real ma."

  Luke and I shot quick glances at one another.

  He knew that I had often gone up to that simple grave in the Willies alone to stare at the tombstone that simply read, "Angel, Beloved Wife of Thomas Luke Casteel."

  "Course, yer daddy probably woulda wanted the huge monument and all."

  "You saw it?" I looked back at Luke quickly.

  He nodded and bit down on his lower lip.

  "Yeah, Luke and I went ta the Tatterton family cemetery on our way here and stopped by ta pay our respects."

  "You were at Farthy, Luke?"

  "Well, it was on the grounds, but we didn't go to the house. The cemetery had its own entry road and was some distance away."

  "No one invited us, anyway, Annie. And from where we was standin', that mansion looked cold and deserted," she said, and embraced herself as if just the memory gave her a chill.

  "We couldn't see much, Ma," Luke said, looking at her with chastisement.

  "It looked like one'a them old castles in Europe," she insisted. "That's why I'd rather ya was where I could look in on ya, than stuffed away in that ole mansion. It's probably haunted. Maybe that's why yer great-grandma went loony."

  "Oh, Ma," Luke moaned.

  "Well, Logan once told me how Jillian —that was her name, Jillian —claimed to see the dearly departed," she whispered.

  Luke looked away. Any reference to my father and his mother always embarrassed him. I squeezed out a silly little laugh to change the mood.

  "You don't have to worry about that, Aunt Fanny. Tony's going to fix Farthy up to make it very comfortable for me," I said. "He's got all kinds of plans . . ."

  "Sure." She shifted her gaze from me as if she didn't want me to read her thoughts in her eyes.

  "Aunt Fanny, do you know why my mother didn't want to have anything to do with him?"

  Still looking at the floor, she shook her head.

  "That was between yer daddy, yer motha, and him. It all happened jist before Drake's custody hearin', and me and yer ma wasn't very sisterly then, so she didn't tell me everythin' and I didn't ask. After we mended fences, she wanted ta keep her unpleasant memories buried, and I didn't push none ta know. But I'm sure she had good reason, so maybe ya oughta reconsider what yer doin'," she added, her eyes small now and her lips pursed.

  "But Aunt Fanny, Drake thinks Tony's

  wonderful, and he's done so much for me. He's promised Drake a job for the summer, an important job, too."

  "Yeah, well, jist ya keep yer wits about ya when yer in that castle, Annie, and if anythin' upsets ya, that nurse or anythin' at all, ya jist give yer aunt Fanny a call and I'll be there in a jiffy ta bring ya back where ya belong, hear?"

  Aunt Fanny sounded funny and her ideas were often weird, but I couldn't help wondering if she wasn't right about Tony Tatterton. Were there any other reasons for his doing all that he was doing? Was Aunt Fanny right about the stream of madness that ran through the family? For now I decided I would wait and see. At least I felt secure because Drake and Luke would be close by in Boston. In fact, I'd be closer to Luke if I stayed at Farthy. His going to Harvard, which I had thought would separate us forever, would now mean we would be near each other again.

  "Thank you, Aunt Fanny, but I think be fine, and there is all this special medical attention I need now."

  "She's right, Ma."

  "I know she needs special care. I jist thought.

  anyway, I"ll be where ya kin find me. Now." She straightened up again, trying to look like my mother did when she conducted business. "Seems yer parents neva changed that part of their wills that left management of their finances up ta Tony Tatterton. So I suppose he's got control'a what happens with the factory and such."

  "And Drake will have a lot to do with it.

  Someday he'll probably run it himself."

  "Wouldn't my pa be proud'a that," she said, beam ing. She shook her head and reached into her handbag for a lace handkerchief with which to dab her eyes. "You and Luke's the only family I really got, Annie, and I mean ta do well by ya both, I'm gonna really try to behave and be a decent motha and aunt. I swear it." I could see she was convincing herself as well as me.

  "Thank you, Aunt Fanny," I said, grateful for her intentions, intentions I suspected she would have trouble sustaining.

  We kissed each other's cheek. Her eyes

  glistened with tears. It saddened me to see it, but I fought back crying, too. She straightened up again and stuffed her handkerchief back into her bag.

  "I'm jist goin' ta go down ta that fancy cafeteria fer a cup a coffee. Promised Luke I'd let ya two have some time alone, though why there's gotta be secrets kept from me, Ah don't know." She cast a suspicious eye on Luke.


  Luke blushed.

  "It's not secrets, Ma. I told you."

  "All right, all right. I'll be back in ten minutes."

  She got up, squeezed my hand, and left. As soon as she went out the door, Luke moved closer to my bed. I reached up and took his hand into mine.

  "How have you really been, Annie?"

  "It's been hard, Luke; especially when I'm awake and I can think and remember. All I do is cry,"

  I whimpered, and I began to cry again, to really sob as Luke sat on the side of the bed and comforted me with his strong arms. We remained like that for a long time, until my heart got stronger and my tears receded.

  "I wish there was something more I could do for you." He looked down and then looked up quickly.

  "I dreamt I had gone to college and become a doctor and I was able to treat you and make you well again very quickly."

  "You would be a wonderful doctor, Luke," I said as my sobs subsided.

  "I wish I was one now." He fixed his eyes on me.

  "Everyone's been wonderful," I insisted. "Drake comes every day, and Tony is really doing a lot for us." He nodded. "Anyway, I'm finally going to Farthy.

  I just wish it were for different reasons."

  "I'll come see you, Annie. If they'll let me." "Of course they'll let you," I assured him.

  "As soon as I get my first opportunity. And if you're still in a wheelchair, wheel you all about and we'll see all those places we dreamt about. We'll even go to the maze and—"

  "Perhaps you'll take rue to their grave site, Luke. If I don't get there before you come," I said solemnly.

  "Oh, I'd like that, Annie. I mean—"

  "Maybe soon be able to wheel myself, so we can separate and try to find each other like we dreamt we would," I said quickly. It seemed to wrong to turn Farthy into a sad place, especially after we had built it up to be so fantastic in our minds.

  "Yes, and we'll go down to the big pool and the tennis courts—"

  "And you'll still be my prince?" I teased.

  "Oh, more than ever now." He stood up and took a princely pose. "My lady," he said with a wide sweep of his arms. "Might I wheel you through all the gardens this morning? We'll go to the gazebo, where we'll sit until the sun goes down, talking softly and drinking mint juleps."

  "Afterward, do you promise to sit with me in the concert hall so we can listen to music by the grand piano, Prince Luke?"

  "Your wish is my command, my lady," he said, kneeling beside the bed and taking my hand to his lips. He kissed my fingers and stood up. His eyes dazzled as another fantasy returned.

  "Or we can be Southern aristocracy again," he offered.

  "And get all dressed up for elegant dinner parties?" I asked smiling.

  "Of course. wear a tuxedo and you'll come floating down the long stairway, looking like Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind with your dress trailing behind you. And you'll say—"

  "I'll say, 'Why, Luke Casteel, it's so nice to see you.'"

  "Annie, you're looking more beautiful than ever," he recited, imitating Clark Gable in the movie.

  "But I must keep my wits about me. I know the way you manipulate men with your dazzling beauty."

  "Oh, not you, Luke. I would never manipulate you."

  “Oh, but Annie, there is no one I would rather have manipulating me," he said with such sincerity in his eyes, I was speechless for a moment.

  "It's not good if you let me know you know I'm doing it, Luke Casteel," I finally responded, my voice breathy.

  We laughed. And then I looked up.

  "Luke, there's something else I want to see; something I want to see very, very much now."

  "What?" he asked, his sapphire eyes sparkling.

  "A cottage that is on the other side of the maze.

  It's something I feel I've got to see. It's something I feel I've got to do."

  "So we'll do it. Together," he added confidently.

  "I hope so, Luke." I squeezed his hand for emphasis. "Promise me, really promise."

  "Every promise I make to you, Annie, is a real one," he said hoarsely, looking more mature and more determined than I could ever remember. For a mo-

  ment our eyes remained glued together and I saw his love for me like a warm cleansing lake, big enough to swim in. Then Mrs. Broadfield returned, bursting in on us like a cold wind.

  "Time to change your head bandage," she announced.

  "Just wait outside a moment, Luke."

  "I'll go check on my mother. She might be turning this place upside down by now."

  Fanny and Luke returned for a while after

  lunch, and before they left, Luke and I agreed on a time when he would call me the next day to read me the final version of his speech.

  "I've added something to it," he said.

  "Something I want you to be the first to hear."

  Later than afternoon Tony and Drake arrived.

  "I heard your aunt was here visiting," Tony said as he came through the door.

  "Yes." I turned right to Drake. He was dressed so handsomely in a silk black-and-white pinstriped suit just like the ones Tony wore. I thought he looked years older already and very mature and successful.

  "Drake, Aunt Fanny wants to move into Hasbrouck House to watch over things. I said it was all right for her to do so."

  "What? Now wait a minute, Annie."

  "Now, now," Tony interjected. "That's a big house, from what I hear." I saw the look he gave Drake, the look that said, "Don't do anything to disturb Annie." The fire in Drake's eyes extinguished quickly. He shrugged.

  "That's true. I suppose it's all right. For a while, anyway. I'm going to be too busy, and you'll be at Farthinggale, so she can't bother either of us."

  "She's trying to do something decent, Drake." I tried to defend Fanny, wanting so much to believe the best of her. "She wants family again. I believe her, and I just didn't have the heart to turn her away. Not now."

  He nodded.

  "That was very kind of you, Annie," Tony said.

  "To be thinking of other people's needs while you have so many yourself. It's going to be refreshing to have a person such as you at Farthinggale. You'll warm the place as it hast't been since . . . since your mother lived there.

  "And now," he added quickly, "I have a surprise. Dr. Malisoff tells me that you can be released by the end of the week to continue your recuperation and begin your therapy at Farthinggale.

  Isn't that wonderful?"

  "Oh yes. I can't wait to get out of here!" I exclaimed.

  Both Tony and Drake laughed, Drake shifting his eyes to Tony a split second beforehand to see if he would laugh first. I was amazed at how quickly Tony had made a disciple of Drake. How different Drake was with Tony! I had never seen him so deferential to anyone!

  Tony took my hand. "I hear what a wonderfully cooperative patient you've been. Why, Mrs.

  Broadfield just raves about you," he added, looking toward her. Instead of flashing one of her imitation smiles, she looked at me and nodded, her eyes full of real appreciation and warmth.

  "Thank you," I said, smiling at my nurse.

  "However, Annie, there is something very important that you have been hiding from me," Tony said.

  "Hiding?"

  "Drake tells me you're quite an artist."

  "Oh, Drake. Did you exaggerate my abilities?"

  "I just told the truth, Annie. You are good," he declared, confident of his opinion.

  "I'm just learning," I told Tony. I didn't want him to be too disappointed when he saw my work.

  "Well, I'm going to find one of the best art instructors in town and have him come out to Farthinggale to give you lessons. I won't let you be bored; I promise you that. We need a new portrait of the Manor, and I can't think of anyone better to do it than you, Annie."

  "But Tony, you haven't even seen what I can do."

  "I think I know what you can do," he said, his sharp, penetrating gaze resting on me with deep consideration. Thoughtfully, with narr
owed eyes, he waited as I stared at him and wondered what he thought he knew. What did he see in me that I couldn't see in myself?

  "One more surprise." Tony reached into his pocket and produced a small jewelry box. I took it from his palm and opened it slowly to gaze down at a magnificent pearl ring in a gold setting. "I searched and searched through your grandmother's things until I found what I thought would look best on your hand."

  He plucked the ring out of the box and took my left hand into his to slowly put the ring over my finger. He didn't seem surprised that it was a perfect fit.

  "Oh, Tony, it's beautiful," I marveled. And it was! The pearl was large and set in rose gold.

  I held my hand up and turned it about so Drake could see. He nodded in appreciation.

  "Beautiful," he agreed.

  "In time everything I have and everything that was your grandmother's will be yours, Annie.'

  "Thank you, Tony, but you've given me so much and done so much, I don't know how to thank you."

  "Just come to Farthinggale and get well there.

  That will be more thanks than I had ever hoped to receive?'

  It was on my lips to ask why, but once again I told myself that all the questions, and hopefully all the answers, would be uttered at Farthinggale Manor, and suddenly it seemed so right that the mysteries of my mother's past would be solved for me where they had been born for her.

  The next day, at the time we had arranged, Luke called to read me the new part of his speech.

  "Everyone in Winnerrow knows about our family tragedy, Annie. When they look up at me after the principal introduces me as the valedictorian, it's going to be in their eyes. So I thought and thought about Heaven and how she would want me to react and what she would want me to say.

  "Annie, you know your mother was an

  inspiration to me, maybe the biggest inspiration in my life,. because she was born to a hard, poor life and struggled up and out of it more or less on her own, battling so many hardships and emerging with dignity and beauty. I mean, she never let me feel out of place in your home, and I know it had to be painful for her to see me there?'