A Loving Spirit (21 page)

"I am guarding your door, fair lady," he answered.

"Guarding my door?"

"In case those Jamaican ruffians return." Sir Belvedere shook his head. "Those two are most untrustworthy, my lady."

"I certainly agree! It is very kind of you to keep a watch for me."

"I am most happy to do it."

"Where are Louisa and Lady Lettice tonight?"

"They are in the East Tower, talking about shoes and jewels. They have been chattering on about them for hours." He pulled a very masculine mystified face. "How can ladies talk about such things as shoes for so long?"

Cassie shrugged. There was just no way to explain to a man, even one who had been dead for five hundred years, the deep fascination a pair of new shoes could hold. "Well, good night, Sir Belvedere. And thank you again."

"You may rest easily, dear lady. I am ever vigilant!" Then he set off on his march again.

Cassie went back into her chamber and crossed the room to close the draperies at the window. A glimpse of a figure in the garden below stopped her, and she paused with her hand on the cool satin.

It was Phillip, standing in the garden within sight of her window, his tall figure limned in silvery moonlight. He waved up at her, and she blew him a kiss, laughing.

She opened up the casement and leaned out to call, "How very secure I will feel tonight, Phillip, with both my window
and
my door guarded!"

He came closer, until he stood just under her window. "Your door?"

"I just found Sir Belvedere marching up and down in the corridor."

"The ghost?" Phillip's tone was rather doubtful.

"He
does
have a sword."

"A real one? Or a phantom one?"

"I have no idea. It looks rather substantial." Cassie feared she was grinning like a simpleton at this silly conversation.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure you were quite all right and that you were able to sleep."

"I was a bit anxious at first," she admitted. "But I feel fine now. Better than fine, in fact. I am sure that I will sleep very well."

"Mr. Bates cannot come back," Phillip said. "There are guards all around the castle."

"I am not afraid," Cassie answered truthfully.

"Good. I would never want you to be afraid."

They watched each other in sweet silence for a moment, a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity yet was over in an instant. Then Phillip smiled and waved at her once more. "Shall we go riding tomorrow after breakfast?"

"Oh, yes. I would like that."

"I would, too. There are some—things I would like to discuss with you. Good night, Cassandra."

"Good night."
My love,
she added silently.

* * *

"And you are certain that is what Mr. Bates said?" Lady Lettice asked Angelo, leaning over him intently.

"He is coming back during the masked ball to kidnap Cassie?" Louisa said, appalled.

Angelo nodded firmly, the bells on his cap tinkling. "That is what he told that overdressed cousin of his. His grandfather will take away Mr. Bates' inheritance, which is a very large one, unless Mr. Bates can prove he is a reformed, responsible character by making a success of his plantation. And gambling away a portion of that plantation is decidedly
not
responsible."

"No, indeed," Lady Lettice murmured. "So he wants Cassie's land to begin to replace what he lost."

"He will kidnap her and force her to marry him in order to get it. And to have his revenge on her for refusing him, as well," Angelo said. Then he burst into tears, wiping at his streaming eyes with the velvet sleeve of his doublet. "Angelo doesn't want the evil man to kidnap Cassie!"

"Oh, do cease crying, Angelo," Lady Lettice said. "He will not kidnap her. We will see to that. It was very clever of you to get into the carriage with them."

Angelo sniffled, his tears dissolving into a rather pleased expression. "It was?"

"Indeed it was," Louisa agreed. "Now, it is five days until the masked ball. Plenty of time to come up with a plan of our own." She gave a merry little peal of laughter. "It is certain that Mr. Bates will never darken
our
door again after that night!"

* * *

Late that night, when the castle was quiet and dark, Lettice slipped into Antoinette's chamber. She moved quickly and silently, careful not to wake the woman who slept peacefully in the curtained bed. This would be much easier with Antoinette's help, Lettice knew, but she did not want to involve the humans. It could be too dangerous.

She selected one of the leather-bound volumes from Antoinette's bookshelf, and leafed through it until she found what she was looking for. A solidifying spell for spirits.

Lettice smiled as she read it. Sir Belvedere and Louisa were very blithe about the whole matter, not at all considering in practical terms how it might be brought off. But Lettice knew they had to have a plan, and that being able to mingle freely with the humans had to be part of it.

As she read over the spell again, memorizing it, Lettice tried to reassure herself.

"All will be well," she whispered, trying to maintain her hard-won confidence.

Deep inside, though, were the stirrings of doubt and fear. Lettice had not had very many people to care about in all her existence. Just her father, and Angelo, and, for a brief while, Jean-Pierre. Now she had all these fragile humans, who did not even realize the danger they were in.

She never wanted any evil to befall them.

Chapter 21

It was a bright, cool morning when Cassie and Phillip rode out from the stables and galloped along the cliff-top paths. White-gold sunlight shone down on the blue and foam-white sea below, and a light breeze ruffled the treetops and sent autumn leaves skittering across the path.

Cassie tilted back her head and breathed deeply of the fresh, salty air. She laughed aloud at the glory of the morning.

"You are looking very well today," Phillip commented with a smile.

Cassie gave him an answering grin. "I
feel
well today. And you are looking quite—refreshed yourself."

"Well, I have had a realization of late, and it has lightened my mind considerably."

"A realization?" Cassie thought of her own realizations of the night before. "What, pray tell, was it?"

He just shook his head, and gave her the little half smile she had once disliked so much, but now found adorable. "Shall we walk?" he said, drawing his horse to the side of the path.

"What a good idea. It's such a lovely day." Cassie pulled her own horse to a halt, then waited for Phillip to dismount and come to her assistance.

His hands lingered at her waist as he lowered her to the ground, holding her warm and safe. Cassie leaned against him, her palm laid lightly against his shoulder. His scent of starch and soap and ink was sweet in the cool air.

"So," she whispered, "what was your realization?"

In answer, he shook his head again and took her arm, leading her along the path. The sun was warm on her head, so warm that she took off her hat and carried it in her hand, letting the breeze ruffle her hair.

It
was
a lovely day, and she was content to walk along next to Phillip in silence. The peaceful moments were most welcome after the shock of Mr. Bates' sudden appearance and just as swift exit. Under this sky, with this man beside her, nothing could hurt her.

They walked until they reached a scenic spot overlooking the cliffs and the sea, where there was a weathered old bench. Cassie and Phillip sat down, but he did not remove his hand from her arm.

"So much has happened in the short time you've been at Royce Castle, Cassandra," he said. "More than ever happened in the years before I met you, I vow!"

"Is this your revelation?" Cassie teased. "Never to have houseguests again?"

Phillip laughed. "Or perhaps to have
more
houseguests?"

"Was that it, then? That you ought to expand your social engagements?"

"Something of the sort." His hand slid down her velvet sleeve to her gloved hand, which he held between both of his. "As I said, so many things have happened since you came here. Most of them to the good."

"Most
of them?"

"Very well,
all
of them. Or almost all. But they have all conspired to make me think. To make me realize that my life of study, while satisfying in many ways, is not enough."

"Is it not?" Cassie said softly, not daring to hope what he might be saying.

"No. I will always love my books and my work, but they are meant to be part of my life, not the whole of it. There must be time for things such as family, and fun, and wonder at the mysteries of life. Things are not always rational—nor should they be."

"You have taught me many things, too!" Cassie said, curling her fingers tighter around his.

"Have I? I've no idea what they could be."

"I have discovered that our lives are
now.
The past is gone from us, and the future unknowable. I loved my life in Jamaica, but it was over when my father died. I could never have it back, no matter what, and I would not choose it if I could. My memories will always be with me, but my home, my life, is here now. I am where I am meant to be." She looked past him, out to where the sea lay blue-gray under the sun. "Life cannot be built on a foundation of all dreams and fancies. There has to be logic and solidity, as well. And family."

"So we have learned from each other," Phillip said thoughtfully.

"I think we have. My time here at Royce Castle has been the best of my life."

"I hope that time is not over yet."

"Of course not. There is still the ball."

"I mean—oh, I am saying this badly. I mean that I hope it will not be over, ever."

Cassie's gaze swung back to him, her hand tightening on his. He watched her seriously, almost warily. "Wh—what do you mean?"

Phillip took a deep breath. "I mean, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?"

She stared at him, trying to decide if she had actually heard what she thought she had. Had he actually said those words?

The silence lengthened, and he looked away from her. His hands began to slide from hers, but she grabbed onto them and held them tightly.

"Do you truly want me to marry you?" she whispered.

"More than anything else," he whispered back.

"Then, yes. I will marry you."

"Cassandra!" he said, his voice ringing with triumph. His arms came around her, drawing her against him, and she tilted her face for his kiss.

It was sweet, and ardent, and filled with all the promise of their life to come. All the passion, all the laughter, all the uncertainty—and all the logic, too.

Cassie's hand crept to his cheek, which was warm beneath the thin leather of her glove. The wind blew a lock of his hair loose, and it fell like a piece of silk across her neck.

He drew back, but his arms stayed around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed in contentment. "I thought you would
never
ask," she said.

He laughed, stirring the curls at her temple with his sweet breath. "Never? Dearest, we have only known each other a short time. I moved as quickly as I could."

"But I knew the first time I saw you that I loved you."

"You hated me the first time you saw me!"

She gave a little shrug. "So I mistook one strong emotion for another. I knew I felt
something
for you, something I would not be able to let go of."

"And I knew I felt something for you, as well. Something I could never feel for anyone else."

"Love?"

He paused just an instant too long before saying, "Yes. That must have been it."

Cassie hit him on the arm, laughing. "So sincere you are! Well, no matter what, that is all behind us now. We have found our love, and I am deeply grateful for it."

"As am I. There is just one more detail to decide."