Midnight on the river gr.., p.8
Midnight on the River Grey, page 8
I crossed back to the terrace door and set Sophie down. She wasted no time, racing inside, happy to be home, her world nothing but one jolly adventure. My own movements were not as steady. My skin tingled, and I hesitated as I moved to shut the door behind me. My gaze fell on the north horizon once again. Something had happened to Sophie out there. Where had she been the past two days?
My thoughts floated into the cold night air, thick now with more questions than answers. All at once a rider streaked across the lawn, heading for the stables. My heart slammed against my chest as I sank into the house, clicking the door shut behind me. It was Lewis again. I recognized his horse, but this time he wore a rag—like the man I’d seen from my bedchamber two nights ago.
Squeezing my hands at my side, I moved to a nearby window. So he was out and about again—with a mask. I dropped to my knees and peered through the glass. What had my guardian been up to? My hand found my necklace as I stared down the path to the stables.
Lewis Browning was involved in something far beyond simply running the estate. That was certain. Something that could have brought him face-to-face with Jacob that fateful night? Perhaps. I pulled my arms tight across my body. Either way, there was more to Lewis than he’d allowed us to know, and I meant to find out what it was.
Chapter 8
The house had awakened to Sophie’s return, and to my surprise everyone seemed genuinely glad of it. Even Cook stooped to pat the little dog’s fluffy head before thrusting her finger in the air and ordering us all out of the kitchen.
I took her suggestion and, on a lead mind you, accompanied Sophie for a walk out of doors. Aunt Jo was still abed as I had been unable to wait till morning to deliver her darling pet. It was a glorious reunion, and I daresay the two spent a great deal of time awake after I left, for I found Aunt Jo sleeping soundly late into the morning. I didn’t dare disturb her.
So, it was left to Sophie and me to soak up the beauty of Greybourne Hall’s vast estate. As I breathed in the subtle breeze, a part of me was glad I’d been blessed with a solitary ramble. With all the excitement of late, I needed a bit of time alone to process what I’d learned.
The sun was out, bright as a flaming ball, bathing the countryside in an unseasonably warm day. I decided to give Sophie the lead, which allowed her to drag me across the north lawn where she seemed determined to go. Considering the dower house lay ahead, I was curious just where she meant to direct our walk. And what I might find.
With Sophie’s scrambling misdirection, I lost sight of Isabell’s house rather quickly, discovering instead a delightful little brook and walking path. I gave her a pert smile. “Was this your intention from the start? You do love the water.”
Sophie pranced along the slow stream, which trickled over smooth rocks and subtle banks as it wound its way down a hill, leaving a fresh scent about the air. Fallen leaves littered the path, dropped from the overhanging trees that had grown enormous beside the river. Sophie nosed her way through several wet clumps before darting back and forth across the trail, tugging me ever forward as if she had come this way in search of something.
Soon a rock outcropping jutted out of the hillside above my head and filled one side of the path in shade. At the top I could just make out the corner of a stone wall, likely belonging to the dower house.
The air felt cooler along the rock, and I pulled my pelisse tight around my neck. Moss climbed the weathered stone, filling in every dampened crevice. The brook seemed louder as the rush echoed off the looming sides of the rock. I ran my fingers down the coarse surface as we passed, my imagination pricked by a lonely crevice.
Nearing the end, Sophie jerked on her lead while her tail thrashed back and forth. “Easy girl.”
I saw nothing ahead, but Sophie pulled again, then yelped for release.
“Rebecca.” A dark figure pushed off the end of the rock and Lewis stepped into the light. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
My heart leapt at his voice, and my eyes widened. He wore a strange look as if he’d been waiting for me all along. Had he? Of course, I knew that wasn’t possible. No one knew where we meant to walk that day. His cheeks held a tint of color, his loose-fitting jacket disheveled as if he might have been running.
Without thinking, I let go of the lead and allowed Sophie the freedom to charge at him. Within seconds, she’d raced to his side, properly halting to sit on the ground at his feet as her tail swished the leaves behind her.
A smile emerged on Lewis’s face as he stared down at Sophie. “I heard you’d returned to us, little one. I’ve missed you about the estate.”
My gaze flicked to Lewis, my mind still fresh with the image he posed the previous night, but he continued to regard Sophie. “Most importantly, I need to know that you have learned your lesson.”
Squatting, Lewis scratched under her chin, and Sophie’s tongue popped out of her mouth as if to show some kind of remorse. He finally glanced up at me with a casual smile. “Perhaps the two of you would like to join me for the rest of your walk. It’s quite beautiful along Middlebottom Brook.”
His sudden boldness alarmed me. Mr. Galpin’s comment popped into my mind—how Lewis hid in the house during the day. A recluse, he’d called him. Yet here he stood plain as day, an unrestrained air about him, steps from Isabell’s home. Perhaps the neighbors were not completely aware of all of his habits—some things went unseen. I bit my lip. Had he been at the dower house the previous night?
I affected a smile as I reclaimed Sophie’s lead. “Thank you for the invitation. We’d love to join you.” I peeked farther down the path. “What brings you out here on this fine morning?”
His eyes narrowed slightly as if he’d noticed I agreed far too quickly. “Oh, I walk this way most mornings. In fact, Sophie here has joined me on several of my morning jaunts.”
I lifted my eyebrows. So it was Sophie who’d arranged this tête-à-tête. The little imp. “I didn’t realize the two of you were so close.”
He chuckled. “She does grow on one, does she not?”
“Yes.” I smiled. “A few years ago, when Aunt Jo moved into the townhouse to be with me in London, I thought I should scream with Sophie’s ridiculous behavior, but I’ve found I don’t like the thought of living without the silly dog. She’s a great champion of ours.” I paused, then grasped my bonnet ribbons. “I mustn’t go on without thanking you for your help in her search. My aunt was quite overset, and—”
“Not at all. I was concerned as well.” He shook his head. “I’m just glad to see nothing ill has befallen the little madcap.” Then more to her than me, “Perhaps she will be more careful in the future so as not to get lost again.”
Lost? Did he believe his own words? I wasn’t sure. “You think she was only lost?”
He slowed. “What other conclusion should I come to?”
“None, I suppose. It was just all so strange.” I glanced up, surprised to catch Lewis’s searching gaze that showed no sign of abating. Heat filled my cheeks.
He must have noticed, for he turned quickly away, concentrating instead on the path ahead. “I do apologize, Rebecca. I didn’t mean to stare. Only . . . I’m sure you’ve heard before that you look very much like your father. I can’t help but feel at times as if I already know you. He spoke of you often when he visited Greybourne Hall about five years ago.”
“Oh?” My chest grew tight.
“I suppose you were still in Scotland and—”
“Yes. Yes, I was. Conveniently put away for a time.” I hadn’t concealed the edge to my voice. What was it about my family that made me unable to discuss them with any sort of control?
Concern crept into those dark blue eyes. “That time was difficult for everyone, especially for your father. He stayed about six months after your mother’s illness progressed.” He touched his forehead. “Your father and I . . . I don’t know how to explain it exactly, only, we got along quite well.”
In that, he likely spoke the truth. Two people who’d changed others’ lives without a thought. They would have been well suited. “To tell the truth, I spent little time with my father during those last years. And when I did, he had no use for prattling on about his misfortunes, which does make me wonder what the two of you had to discuss. I mean, besides me.”
A new expression took over Lewis’s face—one of pity, or something else? “Your father was a complicated man, private in many ways. He said little to me about your mother, but I am certain he loved both of you dearly.”
Not the answer I had expected, nor the way it squeezed my heart. “Then perhaps you can help me understand why he sent me back to Scotland when I came home.”
A furrow crossed his brow. “I—”
“He didn’t say too much about how I felt about my situation, did he?”
“A little.”
“I came back to London over the holidays when I was sixteen to see Jacob and Father. I had ideas for my upcoming London season, but my father would have none of that. He simply packed me up and sent me back to Scotland. Mother and I had to remain out of sight, you see.” I gave Lewis a hard smile. “If you were so close, perchance you can answer a question I’ve had for some time. Why didn’t my father ever visit us?”
A sigh escaped Lewis’s lips before silence fell between us for several steps. “If I were to dare speculate, I would credit your father with deep feelings. I fear he was at a loss as to what was best to be done. He wanted to remember your mother the way she once was. And I’m not saying his decision would be mine or that it was right. However, if you try to see the world from his perspective, his profound pain, you might begin to understand why he was not able to bring himself to go to Scotland.”
My throat felt scratchy, my arms heavy. I thought I’d trained myself not to feel anything for my father, not to care what he once thought, but I couldn’t help myself. I had to ask. “Not even to see me?”
Lewis offered me his arm as we passed the side wall of the dower house, turning up a slight hill, away from my initial destination. He didn’t spare Isabell’s home a glance. Sophie ran happily along beside us. “I find what you say a bit remarkable. I had no knowledge of his relationship with you. I only assumed . . .”
Perhaps I felt relief at disclosing one of my family’s many secrets, or I believed the empathetic scowl on Lewis’s face, but I surprised myself by saying more. “I barely knew him, and then he died from pneumonia two years before my mother. One or two letters is all I have to remember him by.”
Lewis let out a long sigh. “Though your words are at odds with the man I thought I knew, I will offer no defense for his actions.” His jaw tensed. “Such neglect by a father, and a gentleman, is hardly excusable.”
I’m not sure what I expected Lewis to say, but I found his words oddly comforting. I’d been around few men before, but Mr. Browning was altogether different. Goodness, he had turned out a far cry from what I’d expected to find. Jacob had described him as cold and inhospitable. Of course, Jacob had his own reasons for such thoughts. Lewis was Jacob’s guardian until he reached the age of majority. And who could blame Jacob for feeling threatened by Lewis’s tightfisted control of his purse strings? Father had even sung Lewis’s praises to me, and Jacob was never one to share anyone’s affections, particularly our own father’s.
Of course, Ellen thought Lewis a devil like the rest of Plattsdale, but what about me? I glanced over at my walking companion. I’d found a man—conflicted. Slow to speak, yet clearly riddled with secrets.
I’d come to Greybourne Hall intending to expose the wretch, but having dwelt in his home now for several days and shared his pain over Mr. Drake’s death, my feelings had grown far more complicated. I paused. What was it about Mr. Browning that enticed me to know him better? His calm control in the face of heartache? The way everything around me shifted in his presence? I’d felt something in the library that night when he’d held my hand. Something I could not explore—not with him.
My shoulders slumped, my vision blurring the path in front of me. Likely, I was simply confusing pity with a curious connection. Either way, I would never rest until I knew what had happened between him and Jacob.
Lewis nudged my shoulder. “Allow me to add, however, that your father was kind to me during that same time. He taught me much of what I needed to know to turn around a failing estate, when my own father had imparted nothing but how to gain further debt. Things are much improved at Greybourne now. The last few years have been kind, and I have him to thank.”
My muscles tensed. Kind indeed. I suppose inheriting and renting Jacob’s holdings were only an added bonus.
Lewis’s steps slowed, and he touched my hand in the crook of his arm. “I can also see now that the man I admired had his own share of flaws alongside his virtues. It was inexcusable that he hurt you.”
I found it difficult to respond. “Yes, well, at least at the time I had Jacob. Now, I have no one but Aunt Jo.”
His arm slackened, but he didn’t respond, his eyes fixed on mine.
My heart pounded as I allowed myself to search the depths of that steady gaze. What really happened that night on the bridge? He’d told me his version in a letter soon after the accident, at least the one he meant for me to believe. Questions screamed in my mind, but I dared not give them voice. Not yet at least. I needed Lewis’s favor if I were to uncover the truth. I turned away, continuing into the woods.
Soon the trees parted at a split in the path, opening the shady trail to long fields and crisscrossing hedgerows. Beneath the clear blue sky, a cluster of cottages poked up from the gentle swells, swirls of smoke rising from the chimney tops, the fiery scent riding on the breeze.
Halfway down the winding road, I caught sight of a man leisurely leading a donkey cart toward the cottages. I breathed in the beautiful countryside, my skin itching to bathe in the sun. Sophie tugged on the lead, but Lewis pulled me back.
“I do apologize, but it is time to return to the house.” He took a quick look at the man coming toward them. “And I think it best you accompany me. I’d rather you not go on alone.”
He was right of course. There had been gunshots and murders on this very estate, but I was determined to maintain my independence. It had taken me years to go back into the woods after the vicious dog attack, but I had then and I always would. If I gave in to fear now, I would be locked away in the house with little chance of ever learning the truth of Jacob’s death. I straightened. “I have Sophie with me, and it was my intention to take a stroll alone from the onset.”
“I’ve been meaning to speak with you about that. I prefer you take your aunt or someone else for an escort.”
“An escort? For a short country stroll? Ridiculous.”
“You mustn’t fight me on this, Rebecca. You know there is more.” His jaw clenched. “I’d prefer not to list the reasons why you may or may not be received well in town. I daresay you can guess.” His voice deepened. “Not only am I your guardian and under your father’s orders to protect you, but I’ve lived here a long time. My judgment must remain paramount.” He motioned back the way we’d come. “You shall return to the house with me at once. Trust me, if you are seen out and about with me, it could only put you in danger.”
The sound of approaching hooves sent Lewis stealing behind a tree branch. My mouth fell open. Sophie barked, and I nudged her back with my foot.
The man reined the donkey to a halt. “Good morning, miss.” He removed his hat and nodded, revealing a sweaty bunch of copper hair and a long face that resolved into a jutting chin.
I patted Sophie again to silence her barking. “Good morning.” I could sense Lewis’s distress beside me, but I forced a smile. He wasn’t visible, and what else could I do?
Dressed in a worn work shirt and tainted trousers, the man steered his donkey cart to the edge of the path and squinted as he looked at Lewis’s land. “Name’s Miller. My wife and I wondered if we ought’n check on you.” He shrugged. “Considerin’ things.”
“Thank you, but I assure you, I have been well taken care of.”
“Have you now?” His face screwed up into a ball. “And maybe you haven’t. Perchance you aren’t even aware of everything going on in these parts.” He motioned me closer.
Curiosity fought my better sense, and I took a step forward, leaving Lewis in the trees. I wanted to know what the man meant to say, but as I approached, the venom in his sharp green eyes sent shivers across my shoulders. His lips turned up at the corners, and suddenly I felt small beside his cart. Nevertheless, I had to know what he meant. For Jacob. I didn’t dare look back at Lewis as I held Sophie tight. What would he think of my behavior?
The man in the cart swiped his shirt sleeve across his forehead. “We live just over yonder.” He glanced right and then left, a hesitation about his movements. “You alone?”
“I have my dog, as you can see.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
His voice dropped to nothing more than a whisper. “Listen, miss, you need to know that there was a death at that house you’ve been brought to, and more’n one. Unnatural they said it was. And the master might just ha’ been responsible. He sneaks out all hours of the night, he does.” He cocked his eyebrows as if I should run screaming at the news.
Of course, I’d seen Lewis myself, so I went on. “Do you have any proof as to what you claim?”
The man stiffened, his gaze flicking to Lewis’s land once again. “Listen here. Don’t go off in the boughs. Just stopped to warn you to be careful, is all. Some say Browning’s got the devil in him, that one. But we know how to defend our own around here. He won’t show his face in our town, not since the people started throwing things. So if you—”
My eye’s widened. “People throw things . . . at Mr. Browning?”
A slow smile spread across his face as if he reveled in my discomfiture. “I got a rock by me front door just in case. They say he crawls around at night to do his bidding. Been seen, he has.”
My tongue felt dry. An evening ride on a horse could hardly be called crawling around, but Lewis was up to something, something he needed a mask for. “Who saw him, um, crawling?”
