Margo Maguire (13 page)

But when Charlotte touched her shoulder, Lilly
spun around, her heart pounding for no good reason. Nothing was amiss. She told herself that no one had invaded their private rooms while they were out.

She or Charlotte had simply forgotten about opening the window.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she replied to Charlotte’s quizzical expression. “I must have left the window open and forgotten about it when I left this morning.” And no wonder. She’d been so preoccupied with thoughts of Samuel.

Charlotte went to her own room, and Lilly dressed. She pinned her hair into a careful chignon, then watched Charlotte go to the kitchen, where she would be given chores by Mr. Clive. Lilly was in the process of lighting the gas lamps when she heard horses and a buggy drive up. Likely it was Mr. Hinkley again, here to press his proposal.

The front door opened, and when Saint Jerome’s pastor stepped in, with his son behind him, Lilly could not have been more surprised. “Why, Reverend Graham,” she said. “How lovely to see you.”

The pastor hadn’t been up to Ravenwell in three years, not since the day Maude died.

“I would have brought Mrs. Graham, but after I heard what transpired here last night…”

Lilly did not know what to say.
If only she had thought before putting on that display!

She took a deep breath, then swallowed. “W-what brings you to Ravenwell?”

“Need you ask, Miss Tearwater?” Alan replied for his father. His voice was stern, his expression harsh.

“Well, yes, I—”

“We’ve come to see if the tales are true.”

“Tales?” A heavy sense of dread settled in the
pit of Lilly’s stomach. It did not help, knowing that Reverend Graham would never learn that Lilly herself was responsible for last night’s lewd apparition.

Heaven help her if he did!

“You should close Ravenwell,” Alan said.

“Close Ravenwell?” She was beginning to feel like a parrot, repeating every word they said, turning her head to and fro to follow the two clerics.

“Miss Tearwater,” said the elder Reverend Graham. “We’ve come to stay the evening and bear witness to the antics of these ghosts of yours. After we’ve seen them—”

“It’s unlikely they will appear tonight, Reverend,” she interjected, Alan’s remark still ringing in her ears. “You are welcome to stay, of course, and have supper with us. But the ghosts rarely show themselves on two consecutive nights.”

“We shall see,” Alan said. “And when we do, rest assured that I will do what must be done.”

“I’m not certain I understand.”

“Exorcism, my dear girl. I will exorcise them from this place.”

Lilly clamped her mouth closed. She needn’t reply to Alan’s ludicrous remark. He was not a likely candidate ever to witness a ghostly exhibit at Ravenwell.

“We would be pleased to stay for supper, Miss Tearwater,” Reverend Graham said, “if it’s no trouble.”

Lilly glanced toward the dining room. She already planned to feed more than fifty guests. How could two more be any trouble?

Sam’s good spirits turned foul when he saw Lilly sitting beside the pastor’s tall, good-looking son. Her
posture was stiff and formal, not at all the way she’d been with him that afternoon.

He wondered if she’d have stayed with him longer had she not sighted the couple making love in the boat on the lake.

Sam smiled. Clearly, it had distressed her, but not in the way some women would have been disturbed.

Lilly was different from the ladies in Sam’s past. No timid country lass, she wanted to know about everything he did, hear about all the places he’d traveled. Her desire to leave Ravenwell was palpable, but she was trapped by her promise to care for Charlotte.

If only…

Sam couldn’t begin to think about taking Lilly away.

“Mr. Temple,” she said as he walked toward his usual table, “won’t you join us?”

There was a hint of desperation in her voice that Sam could not ignore. Either something was amiss, or she simply did not care for the company of the two ministers. He greeted the men and sat down.

The younger of the two was the more stern, although his father didn’t appear to be in high spirits, either.

“I supposed you saw the Ravenwell phantoms last night, Temple?” Alan Graham asked.

Sam nodded. “I did.”

“And would you say that the display was indecent?”

It was clear that Lilly felt herself under attack. And Samuel could do no less than ride to her rescue. His scientific background would stand him in good stead.

“The question is not so much indecency as whether the manifestation is a variation of some preexisting form. Is it a variation in bodily structure, or of mental capacity that follows some natural law of which we are wholly unfamiliar? Or are these organisms malformations of a species heretofore undiscovered?”

Sam knew he had them when their eyes glazed over. But he did not relent. He continued speaking of organisms and peculiar anomalies of species until the meal was served and Lilly excused herself to visit with her other guests.

Her subtle smile betrayed the shared intimacy of his joke. She left the table and Sam watched her move through the dining room, graceful, warm, hospitable…

And so arousing that he barely heard Mr. Graham’s reaction to his scientific diatribe—something about staying to watch for the ghosts to appear tonight. But all Sam could think of was Lilly and the smile that she bestowed upon every guest she encountered.

“Such an indelicate spectacle is utterly unacceptable in this parish, Mr. Temple,” Graham the younger said. “It will not be tolerated.”

“And how do you propose to stop it?” Sam asked. “If these apparitions are actually ghostly visions, then it follows that they are beyond your control.”

“What do you mean,
if?
”

The last thing Sam wanted was to get in the middle of this, but he wasn’t about to let these men rattle Lilly. Or interfere with the way she ran her inn. To Sam’s way of thinking, the ghosts were none of their
business. “It’s just scientist talk. We question everything.”

“Which may not necessarily be the most wise course, young man,” said Graham the elder.

“Yes, well, I’d like to know how you intend to discipline Ravenwell’s ghosts. Will you stand up to them and demand that they desist? Perhaps prayer… Will enough prayers stop them?”

“My dear Mr. Temple,” Alan Graham said, “never underestimate the power of prayer.”

The man had obviously never been strapped down while the skin of his shoulders was viciously flayed or hot embers were dropped onto his belly. He’d never prayed his heart out to a deaf God while being forced to watch his closest friend bleed to death slowly from unspeakable wounds, his cries fading as his life flowed out of him.

“Sunday services will begin at nine o’clock sharp tomorrow, Mr. Temple,” the elder Graham said. “Perhaps it would do your soul good to join us?”

“I don’t see how it would.”

L
illy felt uneasy the next morning. Besides being unable to dispel the sense that someone had prowled through her private rooms, she had the troubling sensation that she was being watched—and that someone knew she had made Lady Alice and Sir Emmett appear and wanted to catch her at it. It was ridiculous, of course, but her nervousness persisted.

Ravenwell’s more hearty guests walked to town for Sunday service. For the rest, Lilly always arranged for carriages to convey them to and from Asbury. She and Charlotte drove themselves every Sunday, except this morning. Samuel had offered.

His offer seemed to surprise him, but Lilly appreciated it, since the feeling of being watched had not abated with her morning activities.

He left them at Saint Jerome’s with the promise to return at the end of the service. Lilly did not try to persuade him to join them. She’d gotten the distinct impression the night before that there was no love lost between Samuel and the two reverends.

Lilly and Charlotte walked to their usual pew near the front of the nave, and she was vaguely surprised
to see Mr. Dawson already in church, sitting beside Miss Simpson and her brother. Tom Fletcher’s mother murmured a quiet greeting as Lilly slid into the seat beside her, and they stood almost immediately for the opening hymn.

Alan Graham performed the service, but it was a struggle for Lilly to be attentive. Ever since Samuel’s arrival at Ravenwell, events had careened out of her control. She’d lost confidence in the powers she’d taken for granted all her life. That had never happened before.

She was going to refrain from any use of her gift for the next few days. Most of Ravenwell’s current guests had seen Sir Emmett and Lady Alice, and the others would have to wait…at least until she was certain she could produce a manifestation that would be inoffensive to everyone.

Reverend Graham’s sermon did not help Lilly’s peace of mind. He decried the sins of the flesh, admonishing every member of the congregation to eschew their earthly desires, to cast off all such weaknesses.

Lilly heard the words guiltily. Not only were sins of the flesh on her mind, but deceitfulness and envy, as well. Everything about her life was untrue—except, perhaps, her love for Charlotte.

She bent her head and prayed for the fortitude necessary to be content with her lot. Life at Ravenwell was a good sight better than what many other young women her age enjoyed. She ought to be grateful for it.

When services were over, the Reverends Graham met the congregation out on the lawn, exchanging warm greetings. They spoke with Miss Simpson and
Mr. Dawson at length, while Lilly looked around for Samuel.

“Will you and Charlotte come have your dinner with Tom and me?” Mrs. Fletcher asked.

“I really shouldn’t, Mrs. Fletcher,” Lilly replied. “But Charlotte is free.”

Tom’s mother shook her head. “A bit of advice, Lilly Tearwater,” she said. She’d been more of a mother to Lilly and Charlotte when they were children than Maude Barnaby had ever been. The two girls had spent many a spare hour with Mrs. Fletcher and Tom at their farm, learning about normal household chores and helping to tend the sheep. “You need to find some time to yourself, lass, or you’ll take sick.”

Lilly laughed. “I’m as healthy as that new ram Tom brought home.”

“I’m not saying you’re unhealthy, only that too much work will turn you into a shriveled turnip. A bit of time for yourself would not be amiss.”

They walked toward the Fletchers’ wagon. “And who will take charge of Ravenwell while I’m enjoying all that leisure?” Lilly asked.

“I didn’t say you must leave,” Mrs. Fletcher retorted. “Only take a day now and then to do nothing but sit on the beach, walk the fells, fish in the lake. Or sit on the beach doing nothing but looking at your books of faraway places.”

Charlotte and Tom walked ahead, and Tom laughed at something Charlotte said with her hands.

“It was a raw disappointment for you when Maude fell ill and you couldn’t take that post as Mrs. Blakeley’s companion. I know how you wanted to travel with her,” the older woman murmured.

“Well, there’ll be no traveling for me now, in any event.” Charlotte needed her.

Didn’t she?

They reached the Fletcher wagon as Samuel arrived with the Ravenwell buggy. Lilly felt herself blush as Mrs. Fletcher appraised him frankly. “Remember what I said about shriveled turnips, lass,” she said quietly, then turned to Tom. “Help me up, lad. Charlotte’s coming to dinner, so lend her a hand, too.”

Sam put on the brake and jumped down. He’d spent an hour at the hive near the road, observing the worker bees that returned to the hive. He’d noted two different dances, but since he hadn’t tracked the “dancing” bees prior to their arrival at the hive, he couldn’t correlate their pollen collecting with their later movements.

Still, it was valuable information, and Sam had documented it in his notes.

He caught sight of Lilly bidding farewell to Charlotte and Tom, and a woman who must have been Tom’s mother. Jumping down from the buggy, he went to them, avoiding Reverend Graham and his son.

“You’re just on time,” Lilly said.

She wore a trim, rose-colored walking dress along with white gloves and a hat. Sam did not offer his arm, but Lilly did not seem offended.

“Where did you go during services?”

“Bee hunting.”

“Ah.”

The crowd of people began to dissipate as the two
of them walked toward the buggy. “And did you find many?”

“On a fine day like this? Sure.”

She did not wait for him to help her into the vehicle, but climbed up quickly, before there could be any awkwardness between them. She kept her distance, but she was close enough for Sam to catch her scent, a subtle floral fragrance that tickled his senses.

Soft tendrils of hair curled at the nape of her neck, and Sam felt a most amazing urge to press his lips to them.

“Where is your home?” she asked after Sam guided the horse onto the road. “You’re American, but your address is London?”

“That address is my brother’s house. I don’t really have a place that I call home. Although—” he gritted his teeth “—that’s going to change.”

“What was it like, going from place to place? Never putting down roots?”

Sam had never really thought about any of it before—the canvas bag in which he packed his clothes, the crates that carried his camera and plates, the old leather portfolio that had traveled the world with him. He considered the foreign train stations and dockyards he’d seen, and the crush of people in flowing gowns and turbans. For the first time in months, he was not overcome by a cold, clammy dread at the thought of it.

“Your ears get tuned to different sounds,” he finally said, answering her question. “The language—that’s the first thing I notice.”

“What then?”

“The smells. Different spices, the animals and hu
mans… The places I’ve known each has its own distinct aromas.”

“Oh!” She angled her body toward him, listening expectantly. “What else?”

“Colors,” Sam recalled. “Not the staid and tasteful hues of civilization, but wild, vibrant colors, all pieced together in one ensemble. Turbans. Other headgear. Baskets. Noise.”

He heard her sigh. “It must be wonderful.”

Yes, it was,
Sam thought. The only life he’d ever wanted.

“If you’ll turn off just here,” Lilly said, “I’ll show you the most wonderful spot in the Lake District.”

Sam didn’t think there could be any finer place than right where he was, beside Lilly Tearwater, but he turned the buggy onto a narrow track that made a gradual climb through a grassy meadow, until it petered out and they could go no farther.

Lilly took off her gloves. When she removed her hat, her hair fell out of its combs. Appearing not to give it a thought, she twisted it and somehow secured it again. “We must walk from here.”

A suitor would have taken Lilly’s hand as they hiked on the path that led to one of the high fells. But Sam was not Lilly’s suitor.

The path became steeper, resulting in a much more strenuous climb. It did not deter Lilly even slightly. Sam followed her until the path changed again.

“It’s a bit of a climb from here.”

“Lead on,” Sam said.

She didn’t make a fuss about the dust on her skirts or the heels of her shoes. She scrambled over craggy
rocks, then skirted branches and brambles, continuing until they reached a peak that overlooked a magnificent vista. Four mountains converged over a deep green valley. A river meandered through the base of the valley and two waterfalls crashed over rocks in the distance, feeding the river.

It was spectacular. Sam experienced the sensation of standing at the top of the world and looking down. He glanced over at Lilly and saw by her expression that she felt the same.

“It’s called Penny Top. I know it’s not the Parthenon, but…”

She walked to the edge of the cliff, and Sam’s heart stopped when she stepped off. “Christ!” He grabbed for her.

She’d only dropped down about three feet, and turned to look at him with an impish smile. “I didn’t frighten you, did I?”

His heart started to beat again. “Just don’t tell me I’m the only one ever to be taken in by your trick.”

She laughed while he vaulted to the ledge beside her. It was a wide, rocky slab, covered with lichen and moss. Lilly sat down, drawing her knees up to her chin, and looked out at the scene before her.

“Charlotte and I explored every inch of these fells with Tom. There are trickling waterfalls and caves hidden in cliffs all over. Maude would have confined us for a week had she known we were climbing up here. And given us bread and water, besides!”

Lilly’s cheeks were pink, her lips slightly parted as she gazed at the sky and the valley below. Sam wanted desperately to take her in his arms.

He’d nearly done it a moment before, when he thought she was falling. Perhaps he could do it again.
If it happened spontaneously, without thought, he might just be able to slip his hands around her shoulders and pull her close.

He cleared his throat. “So you just happened upon this place?”

She nodded.

He sat down nearby and eased back on the soft, green moss. When the whisper of a breeze touched his mouth, Sam closed his eyes. It was easy to imagine that it was Lilly’s fingers stroking his lips, his face.

The sensation continued, tickling his ear, embracing his shoulders. He felt Lilly’s lips on his own, soft kisses mixed with her warm breath. He pulled her close and pressed her soft curves to the hard planes of his body.

She caressed him, his shoulders and chest, his waist, his thighs. Sam felt so aroused, it was painful.

He needed desperately to be on top of her, inside her.

Sam heard himself groan. He pulled Lilly under him and opened the buttons of her gown. A soft, lacy fabric covered her breasts, but he pushed it aside and lowered his head, taking one pebbled nipple in his mouth. A moment later, her skirts were gone and he pressed his hand against her most exquisite heat.

He heard her sigh, felt her working the buttons of his trousers. Nearly ready to burst, Sam made a harsh sound of relief when she finally touched him.

He could not bear her stroking for long. He raised himself over her and plunged, feeling her tight heat envelope him.

Nothing else existed. Just the two of them, fitting together perfectly, as nothing in the world ever
could. She moved with him, and made small sounds of pleasure, then suddenly contracted around him, triggering his own climax. It went on until Samuel thought his heart would burst.

But when it was over, and he lay on the soft moss with Lilly in his arms, he knew he’d never felt such contentment. He could lie coupled with her forever.

An ear-wrenching crack sounded, making Sam jump. He sat up abruptly, barely in time to see a nearby outcropping of rock rip away from the cliff and plummet to the valley below.

He suffered only a moment’s disorientation when he realized that he was fully dressed, as was Lilly, who remained seated several feet away from where he’d been.

“Move, Lilly! We’ve got to get out of here!”

She turned and quickly climbed up the embankment to solid ground. Scrambling away from the ledge, they hurried down the hillside, sliding and stumbling on the rough path until they reached the buggy, certain that the rest of the mountain was about to fall into the abyss at any second.

“What the hell was that?” Sam asked when they finally reached safety. “There was no storm, and this area isn’t known for earthquakes.” Unless he counted the earth-shattering orgasm he’d just experienced.

It was just one more thing he couldn’t understand. Had he fallen asleep and dreamed of making love with Lilly?
It had seemed so real.

But she’d been sitting a decorous distance away when the crash had startled him to his feet. She certainly hadn’t been wrapped cozily in his arms the way he’d imagined.

“I…don’t recall anything like that ever happening before,” she said, climbing up into the buggy. Her cheeks were pale and her voice strained, but Sam couldn’t read her expression.

“Would there have been any people down below?” he asked.

She shook her head. “There aren’t any houses on this side of the valley. And there are no footpaths down there. The terrain is too rugged.”

Sam didn’t know what to make of it. First, the erotic dream, then the cataclysmic rending of the cliff, not fifty feet from where he and Lilly had been sitting. It was absurd to think that the two events were related, but they were unquestionably connected in Sam’s mind.

Just as each of the phantom caresses he’d experienced had been connected with a strange sudden wind, or shooting stars or an unexpected rainstorm.

He should be able to make sense of it. He was a scientist, damn it! Not some fool who was unable to collect data and draw logical conclusions.

He climbed onto the buggy. Picking up the reins and releasing the brake, Sam was absolutely no closer to understanding why these strange events were happening, or why Lilly sat so stiffly beside him. Was it the shock of seeing half the mountain crash down beside her?