The Tutor (23 page)

with Richard, a storm had been gathering all around us. Something was about to happen and soon, maybe this very day.

Hurry. Hurry. You may already be too late.

Where had Lavinia and her pestering been these past weeks while I’d dallied with

her husband? Madame had suggested the lady’s spirit might be a captive of the much stronger evil entity. Perhaps she’d been unable to communicate with me, or perhaps I simply hadn’t been listening anymore.

Thunder rumbled and lightning crackled through the gray billowing clouds, far

too close for comfort. My legs were leaden, my body chilled so my teeth chattered, but I managed to pick up the pace and nearly jogged as I reached the drive leading to the Hall.

Another nearby crash and flash made me flat-out run the final yards to the shelter of the building.

I went around to the servants’ entrance since the front would be locked, and could barely shut the door behind me, the wind pushed so hard to keep it open. I rested for a moment, simply breathing and rubbing feeling back into my hands. Then I hurried into the kitchen to see if there was anything hot on the stove to eat or drink. A cup of tea to restore me, and I’d take up my duty again.

The kitchen was empty. Not even the scent of breakfast lingered. It was the first

time I’d seen the room without Cook or the scullery maid in it. I grabbed an apple from the larder and crunched it down as I trotted upstairs.

The twins weren’t in the schoolroom or their bedroom, and the notes I’d left for

them were gone. So at least two people in the house knew I’d run away. I wondered if the boys were upset or sad. Maybe they were glad to finally be rid of me, although it
had
been some time since either had played a trick designed to drive me away.

The door to my room stood partially open. I entered and halted when I beheld

Richard sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the trunk I’d left behind.

He leaped up to confront me. “Where have you been? Smithers told me you’d left

with your valise in hand. You would go with no word or letter of explanation, nothing?”

His fierce scowl would take the starch out of the bravest soul, but it no longer had the power to affect me. I knew his bark was worse than his bite. I knew many things about Richard Allinson.

I calmly took off the coat I still wore and hung it on a hook. “I came back,” I

answered simply. “I thought I owed it to the boys to see them off to school.”

“Their mother left them suddenly and without explanation. It was cruel and

thoughtless of you to even consider doing the same!”

“Oh, I left
them
a note.” I stressed the pronoun.

His lips compressed, and he crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Yet not your

employer, after I overlooked your lies?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Merely an employer, then? The rest of it meant nothing, an

experience to be put behind you and forgotten?”

“I didn’t say that. I…” He faltered. “It did mean something. I’ve grown very fond

of you.”

Don’t humor me
, I wanted to yell. But it was my own fault I’d allowed myself to grow attached when I always knew there was an end in sight for us.

Richard dropped his arms to his sides, his anger blown out like a strong wind. “I

never wanted you to actually
leave
. I imagined somehow we’d find a way to continue to keep company. I offered you severance pay and a reference, but I didn’t really mean to send you away. I simply hadn’t yet figured out how we might carry on. But I pictured it.”

I was pathetically pleased he’d entertained fantasies in which we continued to be

together. He’d given that much thought to it. And I was disgusted with myself for caring.

“I almost followed you to tell you that. I should have. But you were so very

angry, and my temper was up too. I thought it best to let our emotions cool and talk to you in the morning. When I came to your room and found your things gone…” He shook his head. “My heart was torn out at the thought of actually losing you. I realized how greatly I’d wronged you, particularly in the casual way I broke the news, and I apologize.”

I nearly crumbled at the sorrowful look in his eyes, which had much more power

over me than anger and yelling. But I wasn’t quite ready to accept his belated apology.

I replied blandly, injecting all the nonchalance I could muster into my tone. “I

reconsidered my rash action and returned. I’ll prepare the boys for school and accept whatever recommendation you choose to give me when my work here is finished. Right now, I need to find Whit and Clive. They’ve hidden themselves away somewhere.”

“Do they do that often?”

“Not so much as when I first got here, although recently Clive has reverted to

disappearing for stretches of time.” It was embarrassing to admit how little control I’d exerted over my charges. “There are many rooms in which to play hide-and-seek, and then, of course, there’s their refuge in the garden.”

Richard glanced at my windowpanes, which rattled in the strong, wet wind. “Not

on a day like this.”

I wasn’t so sure. “If they’re angry about me leaving, they might very well choose

to run away to their special place. It’s quite sheltered there.” A sense of urgency gnawed at me. The boys had disappeared many times since I’d been here, but today felt different, as if they might be in some danger. Maybe it was simply Madame’s letter unnerving me and the boys would pop back up on their own time as they always did. “At any rate, I should like to check the walled garden before searching the entire house.”

“I’ll go with you. I’ll get my coat,” Richard said as I headed for my own coat,

which dripped water in a puddle on the floor.

He stopped before me and grasped my shoulders, forcing me to meet his gaze. “I

am sorry I hurt you. I was on the verge of riding after you, catching you before you could leave the village. And I only raged upon seeing you because I was so relieved you weren’t already on a train bound for someplace I might never find you. Please forgive me. Somehow we’ll find a way to continue our friendship once you’re no longer the boys’ tutor. I swear I won’t let you go so easily ever again.”

Hope burned bright inside me, fluttering in my chest as it had in Pandora’s box,

eager to take flight. I swallowed my growing exultation at his declaration and managed a shrug. “I suppose I
might
forgive you. But I shall demand reparation for my mental pain and suffering. I can think of all sorts of
punishments
for a cad who would treat me so.”

I batted my eyelashes coquettishly and earned a rumbling chuckle from Richard.

“You may punish me in any way you see fit,” he responded. “And I promise to utterly submit—and enjoy it.”

His quick parting kiss turned into a longer one before finally we separated. I

pushed at his hard chest and gasped. “We should hurry. Time for all that later.”

Richard nodded. “I’ll meet you at the rear entry.”

After he left, I stood for a second grinning at the double entendre of
rear entry
and gripping my clammy wool coat. Maybe my running off in a huff had been for the best if it made Richard recognize his deeper feelings for me.

I shook off such giddy joy and put on my coat. Time to plunge into the foul

weather again and search for my difficult, exasperating boys.

By the time we got outside and past the main garden, the rain had settled into a

relentless downpour. Foolish to even imagine the twins would brave this storm, but they may have headed to the garden before it got this bad and decided to remain in that rocky grotto until the rain abated.

The wind lashed, and the sky was so overcast, it might have been night rather than day. A lantern to light our way would’ve been helpful, but we hadn’t brought one, so we trudged through the murky gloom. Richard held aside the swag of vines that hid the garden’s entrance, and I passed through the gap.

Once inside, the tall yew hedges cut the wind considerably. I wiped rain from my

eyes and looked across the garden. The white angel statue seemed to glow faintly,

guiding us to the grotto. The moss and dirt that normally shrouded her form seemed to be wiped away, and the marble shone as if brand-new. I told myself this transformation was from the heavy rain washing her clean, but in my heart, I knew it was more than that.

For the first time in days, I felt Lavinia’s presence. Perhaps she’d depleted all her energy in her initial contacts with me and temporarily lost her ability to reach me. Or maybe here in her garden, she was beyond the control of the evil entity that would keep her silenced.

Whatever the explanation, I felt her beseeching message loud and clear in the

midst of the pouring rain and growling thunder.
Find them! Protect them.

I reached the statue and rested my hand on its feet as the boys had done so many

times.
Show me where and tell me how.

You know where.

Of course, I did. I’d known before coming here where this would ultimately end.

Perhaps I’d merely hoped to avoid the confrontation a little longer. Thinking of facing evil in the abstract was one thing. Admitting it was a real force and trying to combat it was quite another. I wasn’t at all ready to be so brave.

I turned to Richard. “I know where to find the boys. They’re in the tower. And

there’s something I need to tell you. You’re not going to want to believe it.”

He touched the angel’s wing tip and regarded its pale carved face. “I trust you to tell me the truth.”

“Do you believe in spirits haunting the living?”

Richard wiped locks of wet black hair off his forehead and stared at me.

“It will sound outrageous, but this is what has happened to me since I’ve been

here.” I outlined the various odd occurrences, two of which Richard had witnessed for himself, the crashing candlestick in the chapel and the falling book. I told him of the messages Lavinia had given me, about the negative moods coming from beyond me and the times I’d awoken feeling I couldn’t breathe. I shared the tale Tommy had told about the long-ago killer in the house. Then I gave him Madame Alijeva’s explanation of the spirit world.

“I don’t know if this thing is a demon or residual energy from a very evil man, but it
is
a real and threatening presence. It’s dangerous and insidiously works its way into one’s mind.”

My impulse was to go on talking, trying to convince him by the sheer volume of

my words, but I forced myself to fall silent and await his response. I cringed at his expression of doubt, which I could easily see despite the lack of light.

“You believe this…entity is what drove Lavinia to take her own life?” he finally

asked.

“Maybe. Probably. I experienced firsthand that crushing feeling of hopelessness.

It wasn’t my own, I swear. It emanated from the thing in the tower. I only wish I’d tried harder to prevent its influence on Clive, although I’m not sure how. I think all we can do is get the boys out of the house as soon as possible.”

“We are in agreement on that much. If I hadn’t been so mired in my own despair,

I would’ve understood sooner the boys needed a change.” Richard glanced at the rooftops visible against the gray sky. “The Hall has never been a happy home. Nothing thrives in this place.”

He didn’t say he believed my tale of haunting but nodded. “Let us go find my

sons.”

Inside the house, we shed our wet coats and muddy shoes in the back entry and

headed toward the tower. We hadn’t gone far beyond the kitchen before encountering Tom carrying a polishing rag and a stack of silver to the large table in the servants’ hall.

He looked from me to Richard and back again, his vacant gray eyes growing suddenly sharp.

“It’s time,” he muttered.

“Time for what, Tommy?” Richard asked gently.

Tom’s gaze returned to me. “You know what to do?”

“Not really. I thought a cross and some sage to burn?”

I didn’t question the boy’s ability to know exactly what was happening. A dark

and deadly feeling simmered around us in a thick and potent stew. Thrumming, humming electricity crackled in the very air, like the lightning outdoors. Danger. Trouble. Fear.

Tom nodded. “I’ll get some herbs.” He dropped the armload of silver on the table

with a clanging clatter and hurried into the kitchen.

“Catch up with us,” I called after him and tugged on Richard’s sleeve. “We need a

religious icon or cross. I thought of the one on the chapel altar, though it’s very heavy.

Do you have anything else?”

“Do you honestly believe—” he began.

“I don’t know what I believe. But we should be armed with everything we can,

just in case. Baptismal water would be good, but I suppose regular water might do for purification.”

“These are your psychic friend’s suggestions?” His mouth twisted in a skeptical

smirk.

“Some of them, but she said the most important tool to combat evil is love.” I

winced at how clichéd that sounded.

My sense of urgency grew. We’d stood talking for too long. Time to
move
, to perform some sort of action. I stopped worrying about convincing Richard, and we headed toward the chapel.

As we passed near Richard’s bedroom, he said, “Give me a moment.”

He went inside and emerged soon after with a lamp, which he gave to me. He

brandished an iron fireplace poker like a sword. “My nanny used to tell ghost tales. She said iron repels them, which is why churchyards have iron fences, to keep any spirits that would wander contained.”

His gesture touched me. I could tell Richard didn’t believe or only slightly

believed me, yet he trusted me enough to go along with my mad story. I smiled my

gratitude before hurrying on.

With every step farther into the medieval part of the building, my anxiety and