The Victorian Gothic Collection: Volumes 1-3 Read online

  “I’m a mystical advisor to Lord Mortimer… and in turn to your brother in law, Lord Montkeith and his bride, Lady Montkeith. I’m here to help them understand this house and how they might best survive in it given the dark nature of its other inhabitants,” Madame Leola replied. There was a threat in her tone, a certainty and a confidence in her abilities that prompted Frances to laugh.

  Collecting herself, Frances managed. “Do forgive me, Madame Leola, but I find it difficult to believe that my so very practical brother-in-law would tolerate such foolishness.”

  “I think Lord Montkeith would tolerate whatever was necessary in order to ensure the safety of his bride and his dear brother,” Madame Leola said. “Don’t you, Mrs. Llewellyn?”

  “Well, of course Eldren would. He’s so terribly bound by honor and family duty and obligation. Poor man,” Frances agreed. Unable to resist, she continued on, getting in her digs at Adelaide. It wouldn’t do to let the little mouse feel too comfortable. “I must say, it is quite admirable how he has taken to the role of husband after espousing bachelorhood so vehemently for decades. But then I suppose, Adelaide that you are such a quiet and meek thing, it’s probably not all that different from still being a bachelor, is it? Sometimes, I swear, it’s like you’re not even here. Invisible.”

  “I’m here, Frances,” Adelaide replied instantly. “I’m here and I’ve no intention of going anywhere. Don’t let my rather small stature fool you. I can be quite fierce when the occasion calls for it.”

  Frances arched her eyebrows in surprise at the rather testy retort from the interloper she so often dismissed. Perhaps there was more to Adelaide than she’d initially realized, though it was doubtful. Oh, certainly, the girl had some latent potential but she hadn’t the wit or the will to harness such a gift and use it.

  “Why, Adelaide, that sounds almost like a challenge!”

  “It is, Frances. I understand that the child you carry is the heir to Cysgod Lys and the earldom, assuming it is male, but be that as it may, I don’t have to tolerate you,” Adelaide retorted. “Not your comments. Not your schemes. Not your barbs and plots. I find that I’m at the end of my patience with you.”

  The room had grown quiet. The servants stationed at the periphery of it didn’t even dare to breathe as the new Lady Montkeith attempted to lay down the law. “I beg your pardon?” Frances said.

  “There’s a dower house on the estate. One that is in a decent state of repair. You shall adjourn there for now with a staff to see to your needs,” Adelaide continued. “When the child is born, you may return to the house. But only if your behavior continues to meet the standards I set. I’ll send a maid to help you pack.”

  Frances rose, her chair toppling over. “Eldren will never permit this! I am carrying his heir! Something you will never do if the servants’ gossip is to be believed!”

  Adelaide looked up at her then, “He will permit it. He will do what I ask because we are devoted to one another in a way that you, with your cold and icy heart, will never understand. The matter is decided, Frances. Please try to maintain some dignity in the matter.”

  “You have no authority!”

  Madame Leola smiled coolly, “Adelaide is mistress of this house, Mrs. Llewellyn. While this is certainly a considerable step to take, based on your behavior to her, it isn’t unwarranted. I have little doubt that Lord Montkeith will support her in it entirely.”

  They were throwing her out. Removing her and the child she carried from the power, the power she craved and the power that needed her. How on earth would she fulfill their bargain if she was not close enough when her time came? It was months away yet, but the plans had already begun to take shape.

  Go. Let them have their victory. It is only a single battle and not the war.

  The quiet whisper sounded in her mind and it stilled her. But she felt the measuring gaze of Madame Leola upon her. Had she heard it, as well? Frances dared to look at her and saw the condemnation in the other woman’s eyes. Yes. She’d heard.

  “You’ll regret this, Adelaide. You will!” She said and turned to storm from the room.

  * * *

  Adelaide watched Frances storm from the room. She’d done it. Without Eldren’s input or permission, without first discussing her plan with Madame Leola or Lord Mortimer, she’d simply allowed instinct to lead her. She’d acted impetuously and followed her gut, just as the mystic had encouraged her to do. It felt right. And she felt powerful, at least in that moment. But now, facing the realization of what she’d done and the notion that she would have to face Eldren’s disapproval, nerves were beginning to take her.

  “That was not part of the plan,” Madame Leola summed up. “I’m quite aware that Lord Montkeith had made peace with the idea that she should remain here.”

  “I’m not sure we have a plan,” Adelaide replied caustically. “And yes, Eldren had stated that she should remain. But after our discussion yesterday, Madame Leola, I have decided to follow my instincts as you suggested. And my instinct is very clear on one point. We are safer with her far from us and far from this house. I believe, wholeheartedly, that she and this terrible thing that exists within the walls of Cysgod Lys are feeding off one another. Only by halting that exchange of power, can we hope to be victorious.”

  “Then I suggest you go and find your husband. You’ll need to sway him to your course now or all may be for naught.”

  “Right enough,” Adelaide said and rose. “Excuse me, Madame Leola. I need to find Eldren and explain my highhandedness in this matter.”

  “Good luck to you, Lady Montkeith. For what it’s worth, I am in complete agreement with your assessment. I do think that separating Mrs. Llewellyn from this house is for the best. I hope he will concede.”

  Adelaide left the breakfast room and sought out the study where Eldren would likely be. As she neared the study door, she heard Lord Mortimer’s voice. He spoke in a hushed and subdued tone. She’d been aware that morning in the breakfast room that something had shifted and altered between Madame Leola and her patron, but what it was and how it might impact all that they were working toward there she could not guess.

  Pausing to take a deep and settling breath, she knocked upon the door. The conversation inside ceased and Eldren called out for her to enter.

  “I need to speak with you,” she said. “I fear I may have done something rash.”

  He raised an eyebrow at that and rose. “Very well. You’ll pardon us, Mortimer? I had thought to go into the village this morning and speak with Father Thomas. Why don’t you accompany me and we can discuss it at length?”

  Getting out of the house, even if they did not go far, seemed like a wonderful way to begin. “If you’d be so kind as to ring for a maid to fetch my cape,” she said.

  Eldren reached into his desk drawer and retrieved the ancient leather bound book she had discovered in her nightly wanderings only the night before. She was rather relieved to get it away from the house.

  Within moments they were heading out to the carriage parked in the small drive before the house. As they settled onto the padded benches, Adelaide still didn’t speak.

  The silence drew out, stretching taut between them. Finally, Eldren spoke. “Adelaide, whatever it is, just say it. It cannot possibly be that bad.”

  “I threw Frances out. I banished her to the dower house here on the estate and told her that she can’t return to the main house until after her child is born… and I know we spoke of it, and that was not your wish, but, Eldren, it’s the right thing to do. I feel it all the way to my soul. There’s something occurring in the house that she is a part of. And I think it’s a danger to her as well as to us. But more than that, I think it’s a danger to the child she carries. There’s something dark afoot, something more wicked than we can even begin to imagine,” she said. The words had tumbled out, one atop another.

  “Take a breath, Adelaide. How do you know these things?”

  “Well, I don’t know them I suppose. But I feel them.
And I think that might be even more important,” she said.

  “And Frances just agreed? That seems highly unlikely.”

  “No. She was quite vocal in her displeasure. And I imagine that she will seek you out and attempt to sway you to her cause by using her pregnancy and the child she carries to manipulate you.”

  He nodded sagely as he carefully opened the book. “Yes, she likely will. She’s been doing so since her condition was disclosed.”

  “You’re not angry?”

  He looked up at her then. “No. I’m not angry. It isn’t what we discussed, but I understand just how trying Frances can be. She’s made it a point to be as nasty to you as one person can be to another. More than that, I agree that she does have a significant role in the darker occurrences that are surrounding us. I’ll not be sorry to see her go.”

  “I am afraid that removing her from the house will cause things to intensify,” she warned.

  “Is this one of those things you know or feel?”

  Adelaide sighed. “Yes. I do know. I think Frances and the child had brought a tenuous peace to the house, not because of a truce or anything so benevolent, but because it was biding its time. That will have come to an end now.”

  He frowned again. “You spent most of the day closeted with Madame Leola yesterday. And now, you’ve suddenly been blessed with this plethora of insights… Are these your notions, Adelaide, or hers?”

  “They are mine,” she insisted, somewhat offended by his suggestion. “Madame Leola encouraged me to trust my instincts, to allow them to guide me. And that is precisely what I’m doing, Eldren. It feels right. It feels as if I have more control now, even though that may only be an illusion.”

  “Well enough,” he said.

  They continued on in companionable silence as the carriage rumbled over the slightly rutted lane. The houses and buildings grew thicker as they neared the village. Soon, the spires of the church were visible over the tops of the trees.

  “Do you think Father Thomas will be able to help with the book?”

  “I do. He and I… we attended school together. His father was a groundskeeper at Cysgod Lys. He has some understanding of the house and its, well, oddities,” he explained. “He has expressed interest in the past in trying to help us solve these issues via spiritual channels.”

  “Can he?” Adelaide asked.

  “No. Others have tried. My mother, when I was a boy, had his predecessor come in and it only made matters worse,” Eldren admitted.

  The carriage halted in front of the small church. “If you know Father Thomas so well,” Adelaide began, “Why did you not have him conduct our marriage ceremony?”

  “Because he counseled me against marriage… well, I should explain that he counseled me against the kind of marriage I initially proposed to you. He felt that it was a sin to embark upon the holy state of matrimony with such restrictions imposed upon it.”

  Adelaide blushed slightly. “Oh. I hadn’t thought you might have discussed it with anyone beforehand.”

  “Thomas and I, despite our stations, are friends. We have been since boyhood. He knew all along that I never intended to marry and that having children was something I could not in good conscience undertake in this life. The conversations occurred because he was aware of my determination before I ever considered making you such an offer,” Eldren admitted. “And yes, I offered for you because I assumed that your situation was such that you would be grateful of the offer and accept it regardless of my stipulations. I was a fool, Adelaide. In so many ways. And I cannot tell you how glad I am to have been so wrong about so many things.”

  Mollified by that apology, Adelaide smiled. “Let us go speak to your friend and see if he can help us to make sense of an ancient text, shall we?”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “It’ll be nice to be working in a smaller house, ma’am. Not traipsing up and down those stairs dozens of times a day on these old bones. And having a wee one in the house will be a nice bright spot, as well!”

  Frances said nothing as the housemaid, now promoted to housekeeper at the dowerhouse, waxed on about her new position. The woman hadn’t shut her mouth since they left the main house.

  “And don’t you be worrying about birthing that little darling. My mother was a midwife, you know? Delivered many a babe, she did. And I’ll be right there to help you. Now, I know some might be concerned what with how small your hips are, and whether or not you’d be able to birth a child but I’ve seen enough to know that it don’t much matter. Some women are cut out to bear that sort of pain and others aren’t. But I imagine you’re a strong enough woman that even such agony as that wouldn’t phase you… No indeed, Mrs. Llewellyn I think you’ll do just fine. Birth that babe and be back to yourself in no time. Or least ways as close as a woman comes to being back to herself, afterward. Don’t much matter what they say or what sort of fancy corsets the doctors tell you to wear during, no woman who has birthed a babe will ever have a flat stomach or a full and youthful bosom again!”

  “Are you quite finished?” Frances asked. She’d been regaled with tales of breach births, conjoined births, multiple births, births where both the mother and child died, births were the child died and the mother survived and vice versa. She was sick of hearing the words.

  “Oh, aye, ma’am. Don’t mean to worry you with my nattering on. Just excited to be bringing life back to the old dower house! Why no one has lived here since the late Lord Montkeith’s mother passed on. Oh, that woman was a beastly person to work for! I was just a girl when I came to Cysgod Lys and she was the very devil, ma’am!”

  Frances had never been so glad to see a dilapidated house in her life as the driver of the small cart set her out before the dower house. Small and cramped, with an ugly Tudor facade that hadn’t been painted in ages, the house was an eyesore and should have been torn down ages ago. And it was now her home. She could have returned to Bristol, but that would not allow her to uphold her end of the bargain with the powerful being that existed within the walls of Cysgod Lys.

  The servants that had been sent down to the dower house to see to her needs were older and would likely be pensioned off soon. But caring for a smaller house would be less taxing on their aging bodies and perhaps that was why they had been selected. Of course, Frances had her own suspicions. Older servants were more loyal, after all. Would they report back to Eldren and Adelaide at every turn? It was likely, she thought.

  Climbing down from the cart, she stepped into the dusty main hall of the dower house and turned to her left. The furniture in the small sitting room had already been stripped of holland covers and given a cursory dusting. A maid was even then stoking the small fire that burned in the hearth.

  “Get out,” Frances said. “I don’t wish to be disturbed.”

  The maid scrambled to her feet and made for the door, bobbing a curtsy as an afterthought before she fled. When the door closed behind the departing servant, Frances sank down onto the dusty sofa. “I know that you’re here. You’d never have let her run me out of that house if you couldn’t get to me here.”

  I am always here. The house is the center of my power, but it is not my prison. I go where I please.

  “How do we stop this madness? How do I stop her and take my rightful place there?”

  Your rightful place? And what is that precisely?

  Frances once more touched her rounded stomach. “The vessel by which you will once more be flesh. Or have you forgotten our bargain?”

  I have forgotten nothing. But you forget your place, Frances. By taking your child, but entering your body and making myself flesh of your flesh, I am granting you the boon. I will be sharing my power with you.

  Frances laughed. “Is that so? And how many women over the past centuries have offered up their unborn for you?” The laughter ceased abruptly and Frances doubled over in pain, grasping her stomach as it robbed her of breath.

  More have than you know. But you are special, Frances. Do not make me punish you
for your disobedience again. Get off your knees, dry your tears and take care of the child that I will inhabit. Trust that I will deal with Adelaide and Eldren in my own time.

  Still gasping, her face pale and her body trembling from the aftermath of pain more intense than anything she’d ever experienced, Frances struggled to her feet. “And Warren? What of him?”

  In due time, my dear. He’s no threat to us. Not now that you’ve taken care of your little footman.

  Frances knew when she was alone. The temperature of the room suddenly rose and she no longer felt the chill of it on her skin. Still shaken, still weak in the aftermath of such agony, she sank once more onto the settee and curled upon her side. Carrying a child did not terrify her. Even the threat it posed to her figure and beauty did not offer any real obstacle for her. But pain did. What she had just endured was only a taste of what she would feel as she struggled to birth a child. And that gave her pause. Reneging on her promise would have consequences, but she would have to find a way. Having experienced that pain, she now understood that birthing a fully developed infant was not something she would ever be able to do. Instead, that bit of flesh would meet its end when it was too small and fragile survive. A miscarriage. Something would occur early enough that the pregnancy would not ruin her body and so that the pain of birth would not destroy her.

  * * *

  “Eldren! And you must be Lady Montkeith! How exciting to see you both here in our small church. I was very sad to have missed your wedding,” Father Thomas said and the barb was rather pointed for a man of the cloth.

  “Enough, Thomas. Enough. Adelaide is very well aware of your feelings on my notions of marriage,” Eldren said. “But we are not here to talk about our marriage, dear friend. We’ve come on rather different business.”