Somewhere My Love (42 page)

“Shhhh,” his queenly mother hushed him, touching his cheek in attempted comfort, a trait Nora had in short supply.

Will softened his
rough
tone and spoke again to Laertes.  “‘Hear you, sir, I loved you ever.’”
Toug
h
words to force from his lips.
Will preferred his parting
lines.  “‘But it is no matter.
Let He
rcules himself do what he may.
T
he cat will mew and dog will have his day.’”

While onlo
okers pondered
the meaning of that utterance
as had legions before them
, Will knelt beside Julia.
Marv poured his sou
l into the violin as Will
gathered some of the petals, fluttering
the pink spray back over her
,
and
then
adl
ibbed his own tribute.

“
Fairest
, Ophelia.  I love thee still,”
he said huskily, and pressed his lips to her cool brow, satin cheek, and finally her warm mouth. 

Julia
returned his kiss with the
slightest pressur
e of her soft lips
.

Thank God
for that
.
She
’d
pretended
death too well
.
She smelled seductively
of musk
, with a
hint of the deep forest and
moss roses.
Will
wanted to do so much more than plant a
parting
kiss on her folded hands
.
But he did, then stood
and
crossed himself
.
Touching
his fingertips to his forehead, he
l
owered his hand in tribute.
“A
dieu.
”

“Bravo!” Grandmother Nora applauded.

Lyle shot daggers through
him with
his eyes.

The impending duel bet
ween them had begun in earnest.

Clear midnight blu
e spread across the vaulted sky,
hung w
ith the first glittering star.
A thousand
blossoms scented the evening, and t
he breezes were as mild as a baby’s sigh
. Alone now,
Julia strolled in the g
arden thinking of Will
—
Cole,
still not certain
who was who, even though Will had said he was both. 

She wished he were here
with her.
He’d driven away
in his red sport’s car
to meet with Marv’s ensemble to discuss their performing on the big night for
the play and the
ball.
Nora also wanted musicians present at rehearsals to coordinate
the
background music.
The next thing Julia knew, the old lady would probably have
the cast
performing a Hamlet/Broadway musical of her own devising, but admittedly, it was
all such enormous
fun.

The
erratic
woman seemed to be forming a gruff fondness for Julia, and she
smiled to herself.
She’d never
experienced anything to equal the marvelous height of these past
days.
Even before,
with Cole, as unspeakably wonder
ful as that brief time had been
,
life at Foxleigh
with Will,
Nora
,
and t
h
e play was more extraordinar
y,
e
specially Will.
He made her laugh an
d love as she’d only dreamed of.
A s
ong soared in her heart whenever
she was with him.
She hoped he’d finish up early
this evening
and return soon.
She should have foregone the solitude
of the scented garden
and gone with him to the noisy smoke-filled room, but it was peaceful here.
And so lovely.
 

White lili
es glowed in the fading light.
For all the appeal of bright
colors, white reigned at dusk.
Fireflies flickered in the darkening trees and night birds called
overhead
.
Breathing in sweetness, Julia bent to gather a bouquet
of the snowy
bells
. 

She plucked sever
al perfumed spires, and froze. Someone was watching her.
A man
––
n
ot Will.
She felt his presence like a tickle at the back of her throat. 

Som
ething about him wasn’t right.
Was h
e of this world or the next?
She didn’t scare easily, but the thought of any ghost besides Cole
––
if that’s what he was
––
fri
ghtened her nearly senseless.
A
nd
she
suspected
a brooding
spirit haunted Foxleigh.
W
as this him?

Even if the
presence
were flesh and blood, that cou
ld be worse.  He might be armed and
dangerous.
If only she could hide from whoever or whatever it was.
 
She remained absolutely still
,
bent near the flowers, afraid
to stir.
Maybe if she didn’t
move
and acted as if
she hadn’t noticed him,
he’
d
creep away. 

Heart in her throat, sh
e said nothing.
He didn’t spe
ak or make a move against her.
The suspense was unendura
ble.
She had to know who he was
. 
Terrified of what she might see, she straightened
and
slowly
turned
. 

A solitary figure stood motion
less several yards behind her.
The lilies spilled heedless from her hands to the damp ground.

“DDD
––
Don’t be afraid
ppp
––
pretty Julia.”

She slumped over, breathing hard
, clutching her middle.
“F
or God’s sake
, Paul
.  Don’t sneak up on people.”

“I
ddd
––
didn’t sneak.
I
sss
––see
things.”

“
So you said.
B
efore you shut me in the attic.” 

She lifted her head, searching
his dim shape in chest-fluttering uneasiness.  The safety lights had come on overhead in the estate, but only faintly illumi
nated this part of the garden.
“What are you doing here, anyway
?  Didn’t Dave take you home?”

“I ccc
––
came back
fff
––
for you.”

Julia didn’t like the sound of that, or being alone deep in the garden with
this unpredictable delinquent.
“Why?”

“To
sss
––
show you
something.”

That seemed innocent enough, as long as it didn’t involve closed doors.  “What is it?”

“You’ll see.”
Paul stepped nearer until he was right beside her.  He hadn’t bathed yet and was still a li
ttle rank from the day’s work.
Maybe yesterday’s too, although Father Seth had tried to impr
ess hygiene upon him, among
other virtues.

Paul held out his fist and uncurled
tight fingers. 

Julia could just make out his
cupped palm in the low light.
There
in the grimy recess l
ay a tiny white orb
––
t
he pearl from her glove.
She remembered w
ith wrenching clarity when Cole
had
picked it up a
nd slipped it into his pocket.
So, her memory had been real, not only some kind of dream.

“You took it after all,” she said weakly.

“YY
Y––Y
es.  PPP
––
P
retty.”

“You can’t just take things that don’t belong to you.”

“
I ccc
––
can.
If
nnn
––
no one sees.” 

Disdain edged Paul’s stuttering voice, as if he felt himself somehow superior because of his thieving abilities. 

“It isn’t right.”

He shrugged.
“YYY
––Y
ou take it back.”

Moisture blurred her eyes as she picked up th
e iridescent pearl that her fingers
hadn’t touched
in two hundre
d years.
She closed her hand
around
the sacred object, last held
by Cole apa
rt from Paul’s grungy paw.
H
ardly able to gr
asp
the rea
lity of what she clutched
, she
chided him
shakily,
“You mustn’t steal from Mr.
Wentworth
.
He’s
kind to you, letting you work here and act in the play.”

“NNN
––
N
ot that MMM
––
Mr.
Wentworth
.
Captain Wentworth
.”

Her heart almost stopped.
For a shuddering moment, she stood g
aping at Paul’s shadowed face.
It seemed to her that his yellowish eyes shone with an unusually intent light.

“You took it from
Captain Wentworth
?”
She squeezed
the words from her constricted throat.

“HHH
––
His coat.”

“Oh.
You mean after he was gone.”

“DDD
––D
ead,” Paul corrected
her
. 

Julia recoiled from
the unyielding tern and the off-hand
ed
way he said it.  “Then you really took it from
Mr.
Will.
It was his property by then.”

Paul was adamant.
“NNN
––
No.”

The sound of a car driving up the lane distract
ed him.
Will must have come
.  Thank God
. 

Pau
l seemed nervous.
“III
––
I
’ll
go now.”

“Thank you for returning the pearl to me,” Julia said.

“I still
hhh
––
have
your
glove.  OK?”

“What glove?”

“I washed off the
bbb
––
blood.”

The one she’d dropped after binding the napkin around Cole’s a
rm?
Paul had been
there?
Julia
r
emembered Peter, Cole’s groom.
A prickling
current ran
through her
and
she
sank to the ground beside the lilies.
It was difficult even to get her breath.

Paul reached down and aw
kwardly stroked her head.
“PPP
––P
retty Julia.
I
’ll
take care of you.” 

With that uncertain
assurance, he disappeared into the leaves.

****

Julia!
Will sensed something was wrong the momen
t he parked his
car
and rolled out
the door
.
He
shouldn’t have left her alone.
Why had he left her alone?