by Cindy Anstey
Beth nodded, realizing that Walter was right, and she was right. It would not be prudent to include Walter in this confrontation. “Well done, Walter. You caught me.” She chuckled. It sounded hollow and forced, but Walter seemed not to notice. Quickly turning to another subject, Beth unwittingly increased his good opinion by asking about his curricle, Henry, and then, best of all, his wardrobe.
* * *
JAMES FROWNED OVER the ledgers. The walls of the library pressed in against him, shutting him away from the other members of the household. He had no desire to sequester himself there; he preferred company today, especially the company of a young lady with straight brown hair and an intoxicating laugh. But the accounts were not being cooperative. Knowing that he would get through the wretched sums faster if he were undisturbed, he informed Robert that he was not to be interrupted.
Therefore, he was greatly surprised, and annoyed, when Robert did not comply.
“M’lord, there is a gentleman here who would like to speak with you. He says it concerns his sister.”
“Has he the right direction, Robert?”
“I believe so, m’lord. He asked to speak to you directly.”
“Very well. Show him in.” James tried to complete the sum he was working on before the man entered, but didn’t quite make it. The man waited by the door.
James closed the book and set it aside. He pointed to one of the chairs before his desk.
The gentleman bowed slightly and took the offered seat. There was an unsavory air about him, although James could not divine its source. He was dressed well enough, in apparel of a reasonable quality, although his boots were muddied. The hat that he held to his lap was new with a narrow rim. His hair, straight and dark, was brushed forward on the sides. His face was unremarkable and common, except for the goatee sported below a clean-shaven lip.
James waited for the man to state his business.
“Martin Paterson, m’lord. I have come in search of my sister, Diana.”
James frowned. There had been a slight hesitation to the man’s words. “And why would that bring you to my door?”
“I believe she is housed within.”
James started. The superiority of the man’s attitude felt contrived, but his reference had been clear enough. Could this man, just barely passing for a gentleman, be related to Beth?
“Can you describe your sister?” he asked.
Paterson smiled as if it were a joke. “Of course. Straight hair, hazel eyes, considered pretty by some, and a scar under her jaw.”
James stood, doing his best to exude a calm, casual manner despite his racing heart. He straightened his waistcoat. “Please excuse me.” He bowed slightly, very slightly, to the man seated before him, and left the room. He closed the door with more force than he had intended.
“Robert, could you find Miss Ellerby and direct her to the library right away. Not Miss Beth, just Miss Ellerby.” He then reentered the room with his thoughts in turmoil. He sat back at his desk and leaned forward, hoping to intimidate.
“First I must say, Mr. Paterson, that we have a person such as you have described under our roof, but she is not known to us by that name.”
“Little minx, I’ll give her credit. Changed it, has she?”
Just then, Caroline opened the door and stepped in. James introduced the two and waited until Caroline was seated before he explained why she was summoned.
James watched Caroline swallow a few times before she spoke. Her voice was devoid of emotion. “How is it that you lost your sister, Mr. Paterson?”
“She has been missing nigh on three months. We had quite given up hope.” Mr. Paterson shifted in his chair. “Perhaps I should start at the beginning.”
“That would be helpful.” Caroline sat back incrementally from her perched, straight-back position.
“Diana’s a good girl an’ all. But she’s slightly touched.”
“Nonsense,” Caroline interrupted. “We cannot be talking about the same woman.”
“She has nightmares. Night after night.”
James could hardly hear over the noisy pounding of his heart. Thoughts flooded his mind, questions screamed.
“Diana lives with us,” the man continued. “She helps my wife around the house in small ways. Our mother used to keep her but—God rest her soul—my poor mother passed away last year.”
James recalled Beth’s assertion of her mother’s demise and felt his stomach sink. Beth had suspected her mother’s passing was a childhood event, but her memories were far from reliable.
Beth couldn’t possibly be this man’s sister! James didn’t want it to be true.
Mr. Paterson held his hat to his chest for a moment, as if in supplication. “Our Diana has a hard time dealing with change. She didn’t settle in with us as quickly as we would have liked. One day, she just vanished. We heard from the vicar that he saw her catch a ride in a wagon. Thought that she might have tried to return to Pencombe, where she lived with our mother. We have had agents looking for months. Yesterday, we got word that she had been found.” Mr. Paterson’s eyes flashed. “Can I see her?”
* * *
CAROLINE LIFTED HER hand and thought for a few moments before speaking. She looked over at James, but received no message from his furrowed brows and pensive expression. “Perhaps it would be best to explain that the young woman who may or may not be your sister is suffering from loss of memory.”
“Matters not.” Paterson shrugged. “I’ll know her to see her.”
Caroline frowned and met James’ eye. “We don’t want to startle her. Perhaps we should contact Dr. Brant.”
“Not to worry, Miss Ellerby, I always knows what’s best for our Diana. Two peas in a pod, our ma used to say.”
“I am not so sure. Did you know that she was in a carriage accident? She received quite a knock to her brain.”
“But well enough to go to town. That was how my agent found her. And if she’s well enough to shop, she’s well enough to greet her nearest and dearest.” Mr. Paterson showed his teeth.
“And yet, she has no memories from before the accident.”
Finally the man seemed to comprehend. “None … none at all?”
“That’s what we have been saying,” James snapped.
Mr. Paterson glanced from one to the other. “Diana is all right, isn’t she?” He gathered the great coat that he had lain across his lap, and replaced his hat. It was a little overlarge. “I demand to see her.”
Caroline rose and opened the door to the hall. The footman was there immediately. “Robert, could you inquire as to Beth’s whereabouts but do not disturb her?” she said. “I only want to know where I might find her.”
“She is in the garden, Miss Ellerby. I saw her out there not twenty minutes ago,” the footman assured her.
“Excellent.” Caroline waved her arm toward the door, gesturing for Mr. Paterson to follow. She led Mr. Paterson through the main hall into the saloon. At the far end of the grand room, there were three sets of large French doors. They looked out on a patio and the gardens beyond that.
Caroline held aside the draperies and they gazed out at the shrubbery. A charming picture met their scrutiny. Walter and Beth were alternately laughing and conversing as they strolled casually along the paths. Beth’s pup pulled this way and that, promoting more merriment.
“Diana!” Mr. Paterson shouted as he reached for the door handle. He was outside before either James or Caroline could stop him.
“No!” Caroline called after him, but the man did not listen. In fact, he scurried—in a most undignified manner—over the patio and straight through the flower beds.
“Diana! Diana!” he shouted. His arms spread into a welcoming posture.
James grabbed Mr. Paterson’s shoulder from behind. “No farther, Mr. Paterson.” His tone brooked no argument.
But the damage was done. Beth and Walter were very aware of their presence.
“But it is she,” Mr. Paterson declared. “Our Diana.�
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“Mr. Paterson, as my sister quite clearly explained, Beth will not remember you. You will frighten her. I am sure a brother of such devotion as yourself would not want to cause her distress.”
Paterson straightened. “Lord Ellerby, I want my sister returned to me. I will not lollygag around here waiting until you feel she is fit to venture an introduction. She is my sister, and I know what is in her best interest. The sooner she is surrounded by all that is familiar, the sooner her memory can return. I intend to quit this house immediately with Diana at my side. My pony-chaise is waiting.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Familiar Stranger
A hush fell over the garden. Walter ceased talking and Beth stood motionless, her heart rhythm accelerating. Even the active puppy sensed the disquiet at the other end of the lead and plopped down onto a burgeoning plantain lily.
Not far from where they stood, an animated conversation was taking place. Nothing could be heard of that discussion, but the gestures and postures did not appear friendly. A stranger kept waving in her direction. The scene was peculiar, and Beth was greatly disturbed by the visitor. There was something uncomfortably familiar in his bearing. Beth swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. The man frightened her, though she didn’t know why.
After what felt like an eternity, Caroline came toward them. James led the man back through the French doors and into the manor.
“What a glorious day.” Caroline’s words were stilted, her smile forced. She bent down to pat the pup that leapt and circled around her ankles. “Could we have a moment, Beth?”
Beth felt the blood drain from her face and her knees threatened to drop her to the ground.
“Walter, might you return this adorable bundle to the stable?” Caroline asked before Beth could respond.
“I should have known!” Walter scooped the puppy up in a firm but gentle hand. “Once more, I am to know nothing! You don’t trust me!” He glared at Caroline.
Caroline snorted and shook her head. “Really, Walter. That’s not my purpose, not at all. I will explain shortly, but at this time I feel Beth needs a private conversation.”
Walter straightened his shoulders, wiggling them as he did so. Then, bowing with infinite grace and dignity, he set off to do just as he was told.
Caroline led Beth through the doors of the conservatory to the white wicker chairs grouped under two large palms. The fresh smell of earth and flowers, the lush greenery, and the twittering of caged birds created a calm facade.
Caroline faced Beth, but sat for some moments with her brow creased and her mouth partially open, as if she was having trouble forming her words.
“Perhaps, it would be best just to come out with it, Caroline,” Beth said. “Can your news be that disturbing?”
Caroline snapped her mouth shut, sighed, and then shrugged. “No indeed, if it is true, it is happy news.”
Beth noted the qualifier. “If it is true?”
“Yes. The gentleman that you observed, just moments ago, has arrived to claim his sister. He has it in his mind that you are she. His name is Martin Paterson; his sister is called Diana. He claims she disappeared three months ago and he has been looking for her ever since.”
Beth was taken aback. His sister? There was nothing similar in their stature or appearance. It couldn’t be true, could it?
“I am not comfortable with his explanation.” Caroline looked toward the door. “However, his description of Diana was very much like you, and he mentioned … nightmares.”
Beth started. “His sister suffers them as well?”
“He said so.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “He says she ran away.”
Her mind awash with a torrent of questions, Beth sat silent and overwhelmed. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible. “What was she running from?”
Caroline tried to laugh. “He claims Miss Paterson to be touched.”
“Touched?” Beth didn’t feel unbalanced. Her brain seemed to work perfectly fine, if she overlooked that small problem of memory loss. No, she was not touched. “That is too convenient.”
“I thought so as well.”
“By claiming her to be touched, Mr. Paterson has control of her—or rather me—if he is to be believed. Any claims I might have, or denials, can easily be discounted.”
“Yes, those were my thoughts exactly.”
“How did he find me?” Beth had felt no comfort when looking at the man. If he were her protective brother, would she not feel something? Something other than horror?
“Apparently, it was his agent asking questions in town the other day.”
Beth slowly shook her head. “Caroline, when I saw him in the garden just now—”
“Yes?”
“I felt a spark of recognition and … fright. If he is my brother, we are not on good terms. I do not want to go with him. It doesn’t feel safe.”
“I quite agree. I have a plan.” Caroline patted Beth’s tightly laced fingers. “I am going to have another conversation with Mr. Paterson. You are going to develop a sick headache—”
“That is true enough.”
“Might I then suggest the quiet of your room for the time being?”
Beth nodded and rose with Caroline, straightening her skirts. Caroline led the way through the narrow opening in the corner of the conservatory to the manor’s back hall. The servants’ stairs were just beyond the entrance. They allowed Beth to reach the floor above without entering the main hall, where Mr. Paterson might observe her. She was not going to take the chance of encountering the man who claimed a right over her.
* * *
IN THE LIBRARY, an uncomfortable silence permeated the room. James sat at his desk with the appearance of calm, reading his correspondence, while Paterson impatiently squirmed and shifted in the large wingback chair. He cast James a furtive look, and then glanced to the doors and the windows.
“It shan’t be long now, Mr. Paterson. Miss Ellerby was going to speak with Beth directly. Perhaps you need something to do in the interim.” He gestured around the room. “You are in a library. There must be something here that would interest you.”
Paterson glanced from side to side at the tall cases of thick tomes. He turned back to James with a look that could easily be attributed to abject indifference. Without comment, the man returned to squirming and shifting.
James frowned. Strange that Beth’s “brother” would find the written word of so little interest when she treated books with fascinated reverence. James lifted the letter before him, trying to understand the incongruities of the man.
By the time Caroline returned to the library, Mr. Paterson was stomping across the room, pacing. It irritated James excessively.
While the expression on Paterson’s face held suppressed anger, he greeted Caroline with a tone that masked his rancor. “Now that Diana is acquainted with my arrival, I assume she is packing, and my pony will not have to wait much longer.”
“Would that it were so easy, Mr. Paterson.”
The man’s complexion began to redden.
“Beth is not well and has gone to lie down,” Caroline explained. “She has a sick headache.”
“Nonsense!” Paterson shouted. “Diana is just avoiding me.”
James watched Caroline raise her eyebrow and fix a silent questioning stare at the visitor.
“Our last words to each other were, perhaps, not as affable as usual, but she need not avoid me.” Paterson looked back and forth between the Ellerby siblings, apparently unsure who would respond best.
“Nonsense!” Caroline echoed Paterson’s words. “Beth is not avoiding you, nor does she remember those caustic words. Beth has lost her memory.” Caroline stepped closer to James and then took a deep breath. “Beth will not be going anywhere today, Mr. Paterson,” she said firmly.
Paterson’s reaction was less explosive than James expected. The man’s heightened complexion dissipated and his posture relaxed. If anything, Paterson was quieter and calmer th
an James had seen thus far.
“Why would that be, Miss Ellerby?” His voice was akin to ice.
“As I mentioned earlier, Beth was in a carriage accident, and I do not believe she should be doing any lengthy traveling without seeing her physician first. I will request his attendance, but the afternoon is already half gone. It will not be until tomorrow that he will be able to examine her.” Caroline glanced over at James.
He nodded his approval. Caroline returned her gaze to Paterson with her chin slightly elevated. A cagey expression formed on the man’s face. “On the morrow then.”
“We cannot possibly be ready in so short a time, Mr. Paterson.”
“We?”
“Yes, we. I promised Beth long before your arrival that I would not let her go to any situation in which she was unhappy,” Caroline said coolly. “I cannot keep that promise unless I accompany her and see for myself.”
“Are you suggesting that I would not do well by my sister?” Paterson’s volume began to increase once more. “That is insulting.”
“It has nothing to do with you, Mr. Paterson.”
“Do you expect me to twiddle my thumbs while the two of you pack at leisure?”
James had had enough. “Sit down, Mr. Paterson,” he barked. “It would appear to me that you have four choices, and none of them involve taking Beth away anytime soon. You could return home, content to have found your sister in safe hands. Then you could either return for her at a later date, or give us your direction and I would accompany Miss Ellerby and her companion to your home. Your third choice is obvious. She could stay here.”
Paterson opened his mouth as if to speak, but James raised his hand to indicate that he was not finished speaking. “You may also accept our hospitality and stay with us for a few days while the proper preparations are made. Hardwick is not known to be a difficult place in which to while away time.”
Paterson fixed James with a glare. It was likely meant to be intimidating, but it merely increased James’ resolve.