Box Set: The ArringtonTrilogy (82 page)

When Judith noticed our approach, she excused
herself and casually strolled over. The group abruptly ended the
badminton game and stared over at us with questioning eyes. From
what I immediately gathered, no one knew that Richard was bringing
a guest - me.

Richard placed a quick kiss on his wife’s
cheek and announced, “We are here to join the festivities.”

“May I have a word with you, Richard?” Judith
asked, ignoring me.

Richard waited for her to speak, with an
obliging smile on his face, until her expression turned full of
exasperation. Richard let go of my arm and said in a smooth, husky
voice, “Certainly, my darling,” then went off with her, leaving me
standing on the lawn, awkward, alone, and out of place.

Within a moment, a summer storm came upon us
and the skies opened up, allowing the wind and rain to batter
against me as I stood helplessly becoming drenched. The guests
scattered for shelter, and fortunately, one kind woman came and
ushered me inside. “This way,” she shouted over the thunder, and
grabbed hold of my hand. Once we were safely inside the castle-like
manor, as we shook the rain off our soaked dresses, the young woman
turned to me, and from the expression on her face, I could see that
she knew who I was. “I see you have decided to stay on with my
sister and Richard.”

This woman was no doubt Rachael - Judith’s
sister from Savannah. She knew why I was in New York in Richard’s
care. The confident look in her eyes told me she knew of the events
that had unfolded between Warren and me.

Instantly, I began to shake, not from the
cold dampness of the rain that penetrated my dress all the way down
to my skin, but from knowing my journey home could suddenly end
with the actions of this one person. I didn’t know if she would
promote my welfare, as Richard had. Maybe she whisked me inside,
out of the rain, only to trap me and tell me she would immediately
turn me in to the local constable, who would then turn me over to
the authorities in Georgia, where they would no doubt lock me up,
try me for murder, and hang me. My pleas of innocence would
certainly go unheard, because I could never reveal the
circumstances that led up to Warren’s brutal death.

I was whisked up to a guest room where a fire
blazed in the hearth, taking the chill from the stormy afternoon.
Rachael went to her closet, picked out a beautiful rose-colored tea
gown, and laid it out on the luxurious bed. I wasn’t sure what to
do or what to say. My mind scrambled with thoughts of a confession.
Then visions of my beloved lighthouse and the people who filled my
heart came to me, and I bit my tongue. I would let her do all the
talking.

Rachael stripped her layers of wet clothing
off right in front of me, until she was down to only her corset.
Then she stepped before the oval mirror that sat atop a large
antique dresser and began to let her hair down. Still waiting for
her opinion of me, I eased myself next to the fire and warmed my
hands over the flames. She turned around, smiled, and said, “Get
out of those wet clothes and into one of my dresses. Then we shall
go downstairs and join the others for afternoon tea.”

Her voice was soft and melodious, unlike
Judith’s gruff, unfriendly tone. Rachael was slim and curvy, her
hair a silky, rich, deep brown. Rachael thought correctly that we
were near the same size, and the dress fit perfectly.

“There, I’ll bet you feel better now,” she
said, after I finished dressing with her assistance. “You can keep
that dress. I have dozens and dozens like it that I never wear. And
the corset fits; you fill it out as well as I do.”

She maintained a pleasant smile on her
ivory-tinted face, and her coffee-brown eyes lit up with a twinkle
that could only come from natural energy.

Before she showed me out, I stopped and
hesitated.

“It’s all right. You’re safe here,” Rachael
said with a light breath. “Enjoy the adventure.”

“But . . .”

She locked the door, then came and held me by
the shoulders, looking straight into my eyes. Though we had just
met, she stared through me as if she had known me all my life. The
intensity of her gaze gave me goose bumps. She felt my
trembling.

“If you’re smart like I think you are, you
will keep quiet. There are only two people here who know what
happened, and we plan to keep the scandal swept under the carpet.
It would be wise for you to do the same. In fact, you should forget
you ever knew Warren Stone. The sooner you do, the sooner you will
be able to get on with your life,” she said, then let go of me and
motioned for me to follow her.

What? What did she know? My voice screamed
within. Did she know Warren was my father? No, there was no way.
She could have only speculated that I was his adolescent lover and
that I had killed him because he had abused me in some way. I
prayed she wouldn’t suspect what he had really done. The shame I
carried, the shame I tried to keep locked away deep within, left my
stomach in a giant knot, my heart racing, and my face as white as
any ghost.

Richard noticed immediately when we arrived
downstairs in time for the women to sit and have tea, while the men
took off to the billiard room. He pulled me aside, as Judith
ignored me and walked ahead to where the other women were seated in
the drawing room, sipping tea from beautiful, delicate English bone
china cups.

“I calmed Judith down,” Richard whispered.
“Though I think it’s only temporary. Just keep a fair
distance.”

“I don’t want to be here, Richard. Please,
can’t we go back to the city?” I implored.

Richard placed his fingers under my chin and
lifted my face up to his, and gave me one of his reassuring smiles.
“You're safe here. You are safer here than anywhere. Remember
that,” he said, then placed a quick kiss on my cheek. “I will see
to all of your troubles.”

Without another word, he left me alone again
to face the Van Dorn sisters - Judith, Rachael, and Anna.

* * *

The women sat close on the sofa, nibbling on
egg and cucumber sandwiches and shortbread. They discussed
everything from modern fashion to their most recent travels.
Rachael was ebullient and led most of the topics, while Judith ate
and ate and ate. That kept her quiet and she seemed uninterested in
the conversation. Anna appeared to be the oldest sister, yet I
noticed she was the only woman not wearing a wedding band. A
spinster, I assumed.

Mrs. Betsy Van Dorn joined her daughters
shortly after the tea was poured and sat amongst her girls. She was
a lovely older woman, who reminded me of Opal’s mother, whom I had
met years before. Rachael was nearest to my age, and I wondered
what her husband was like.

I blended in with the rose-colored settee I
sat upon, and didn’t take a small, delicate sandwich when it was
offered. I did have a cup of blended tea and slowly sipped away,
content just watching. I was the first one to notice a man standing
in the archway leading to the room, and he tipped his hat my way
after his eyes lingered on me for a few moments. Then Rachael
spotted him and insisted he leave us girls be. “Sterling, you go on
and join up with the men. Stop eavesdropping!”

Sterling snickered and adjusted his hat.
“Just need to know how much money my darling wife has been
spending. Darned if she ever tells me the truth.”

The women all laughed, all except Judith. She
sat and kept her gaze on Sterling, a man just as fine looking as
Richard, with features so much the same that he could have been his
twin brother. Later on that evening, as the men stood near to one
another, it was obvious they were indeed related. Twin brothers,
just as I had speculated. Sterling had a charisma that made every
woman giggle and blush, and he flirted constantly. It didn’t seem
to faze Rachael, for his eyes most often gazed upon her with
unreserved admiration. They were playful and immodest in their
affection toward one another, which I could see troubled Judith,
was envied by Anna, and displeased Betsy.

“You two stop acting like children!” Betsy
Van Dorn, seated at the dining room table, said sharply.

Up until this point, I had managed to avoid
conversation, confrontation, and disapproval by staying subdued and
to myself. I had done what Richard asked, and not burdened his
wife, who always looked unhappy in my presence. She was able to
avoid me by ignoring me altogether, at least up until Sterling
brought me into the discussion. Then I sank in my seat as all eyes
fell upon me.

“I see my older brother by ten minutes has
taken on a new victim,” he announced with boisterous laughter. He
had been drinking all evening, along with Rachael, and the two of
them were making an appalling scene.

Judith threw me a look of scrutiny,
apparently to see if indeed I was a victim or was voluntarily a
participant in this peculiar exchange. She, of all people, must
have been aware of her husband’s eye for beauty. That’s all he
seemed to live for. I sensed sketching exquisite women made Richard
feel alive, and that he had found a new way to breathe through
me.

Judith, on the other hand, was no beauty. And
for a brief moment, I found myself feeling power I had never felt
before. Someone was actually jealous of me! She must have been! As
much as I hated yearning masculine eyes upon me, I actually liked
that Richard’s wife was evidently intimidated by me. In addition, I
wondered how, since Judith appeared to have Richard walking on a
tight leash, he had managed to get what he wanted - me.

“Hush up, brother,” Richard snapped, and took
a bite of his roast.

“Are you going to make her famous too,
Richard?” Sterling went on bantering while Richard ate. Judith’s
face flushed, heated, and her eyes fired daggers at me. Rachael
continued to giggle. Mr. Van Dorn, the elderly father, drifted off
and slumped down into his chair. Anna had left to greet her
fashionably late personal guest.

“She is, most definitely, as breathtaking as
Vivienne,” Sterling added, causing Richard to explode, fly up out
of his chair, reach across the table, and grab his brother. Rachael
had fallen backward onto the floor as the others gasped and cried
out for Richard to stop. Mr. Van Dorn’s eyes flew open and he
quickly came to.

The men fought with fists pounding into one
another. The food, which had been so beautifully spread out along
the crisp, white, tablecloth, was scattered and spilled everywhere.
I pushed my chair back just before the red wine nearly stained the
beautiful gown. There was chaos everywhere.

Betsy was aghast at her son-in-law’s behavior
and demanded the fighting stop immediately. Her command was heard,
and Richard let go of his chokehold on Sterling. They both had
bloody lips and bruised eyes. Sterling fared much worse, and
Rachael was furious. She lashed out, “How dare you, Richard, strike
out at Sterling for what he said. All of it is true, you know - all
of it!”

“Never mind him, Rachael. I need some fresh
air. Come with me, darling. The stench in here is wretched.”

They walked past Anna and her woman friend,
their expressions stunned. The formal dining room was a disaster.
Butlers and maids scurried about cleaning the mess as Betsy fumed,
furious. “Those two have no sense. No sense,” she muttered
repeatedly. “I have no idea what my daughters see in such
troublesome men.”

Anna came to her mother and ushered her out
of the room. Her tall, handsome woman friend briefly noticed me,
but paid little attention and assisted in comforting Betsy.

I went to go see what had become of Richard
and Judith. They had quickly disappeared, and I assumed they had
headed upstairs to their private suite. I wasn’t sure where I
belonged, where I would sleep for the night. Richard treated me
like a pet and expected me to find my place without any
guidance.

The house was a maze of halls, turns, and
dark corners. The corridors were longer, wider, and colder than
Sutton Hall. The thick walls retained a chill from the late
afternoon storm. Walking along, I felt as if I was in a mysterious
castle. I imagined, for once, that I was the beautiful princess of
the magnificent castle and the center of attention. It was I who
had created the drama and perhaps delight, at least on Richard’s
part. I had not imagined chaos and bedlam would ever appeal to me,
but it was beginning to grow on me like moss on a tree - climbing,
invading, and becoming a part of my existence.

I listened for voices, and finally a faint
sound came from up ahead, in a wing not far from the main
staircase. The voices were those of Richard and his wife, though
they weren’t raised or heated as I had expected. Sobs and sadness
escaped from the small space under the thick door. I crouched down
and listened, curious as to what made their relationship tick like
a tightly wound clock.

“I swear to you, Judith, it’s nothing like
what you think,” Richard implored as he comforted his sobbing wife,
begging her to understand. “You need to believe in me, trust me.
What troubles you is all in the past. Haven’t I proven myself to
you since?”

“I don’t understand why she needs to be here.
You promised me you would give up your unrelenting quest to become
a famous illustrator. Aren’t you happy with me and with my money?
Can’t that ever be enough, Richard?”

There was a long silence, and I could see
Richard’s shadow pacing the floor. I was interested to see them
interact, and curious to know if Richard was happy just to be her
husband. I decided to crack open the door, praying they wouldn’t
notice me eavesdropping. My heart pounded madly as I inched open
the heavy door just enough so I could peer into their world and
witness a marriage, a very different marriage from that of Momma
and Daddy.