Authors: Melissa MacNeal
“Do we know what might have happened to Jason?” She stood up, blinking bravely, gripping Jude’s fingers as she looked at her brother. “Yesterday afternoon, he was his usual playful self! Declaring his love—fastening this pendant about my neck and proclaiming himself the happiest man on earth. I will not believe he backed out of our wedding!”
“Nor will I, Maria. Father and I encountered…a suspicious story at the parlor house where Jason last went with his friends.”
A bloodcurdling shriek from the sanctuary made them look toward the door.
“My God, there’s a white
rat
running down the aisle!” someone yelled.
“He’s jumped up my skirts! Sweet Jesus, save me! Save me—ooohhhh!!”
More shrieks and screams followed. Whatever his father had been saying to their assembled guests, Jemma’s ferret had called a halt to his announcement and all hope of having a ceremony. Not even Jason’s appearance would convince the women to stay now. Jude sighed, torn between duty to his family and affection for Maria. “Since Jason’s absent, I should try to catch that infernal little rodent,” he muttered. “If you’ll wait here, Maria, I’ll see you home—”
“I’ll take her.” Rubio slipped a protective arm around his sister’s shoulders, his eyes shining with concern. “We’ll leave now, while the uproar is diverting the guests’ attention. Saves you a lot of explaining, dear sister. Shall we go out the side door?”
She nodded mutely. Her midnight eyes looked huge with unshed tears as she gazed at Jude, and his heart ached for her. “It’s probably best,” he agreed. “I’ll talk with you later—and meanwhile, please believe we
will
find Jason! This is all a horrible twist of fate, and he is not to blame! He loves you, Maria!”
And so do I. More than I can say.
Maria sighed and turned to go, making the exquisite choker wink in the late afternoon light. As he noted her shaking shoulders, and the way even her gown had lost its luster, Jude hoped he’d said the right thing. And he prayed the bejeweled butterfly wouldn’t become a memento of the nightmare this wedding day had become.
M
aria slumped in the carriage seat, invisible to the crowd departing the church in such haste. At last she allowed the tears to fall, grateful that Rubio held her. She’d heard enough complaints and insinuations from the Darington family to last her a lifetime, yet it was Jason’s voice she needed to hear. Where could he be? What could have happened to him? Never mind that his mother and sister were so wrapped up in their dramas they didn’t care about him. If only she had a way to know her beloved fiancé was all right….
She raised her head. Studied her brother, who looked so handsome today despite the suit that constrained his usual flamboyant style. “What are you not telling me, Rubio? You talked with Jason’s friends! You heard them, and felt their vibrations, yet—”
“Something doesn’t add up. If I speak too soon, I’ll only upset you more.”
“Nonsense!
What do you know?
” Her voice sounded high and shrill, as though she’d spent too much time around Dora and Jemma. But her brother’s expressive face belied a concern, a puzzlement, that went beyond any pranks pulled at a bachelor party.
Rubio shifted on the seat. Held her hands and closed his eyes…relaxed until his shallow breathing and slow pulse told her he was in a trance state, plumbing the depths of the unseen worlds around them. “Secrets,” he whispered. Then he was still a long time. “I feel the presence of untold stories…of emotions that hide from the light of day. And they involve
you
, sister.”
She cried more earnestly then. First Jason went missing and now her dear brother accused her of withholding valuable evidence! “If you’re saying I had something to do with Jason’s disappearing, I saw him just yesterday! As I’ve told you, he gave me this pendant as a wedding gift—”
“He was in your bed, was he not?”
Maria’s mouth clapped shut. “We’ve watched over each other since Mama died, Rubio, but that gives you no right to—”
“I am not judging or accusing, Maria. I can feel Jason’s imprint…on your heart and soul, as well as your body,” he said in a faraway voice. “But he is not the only one.”
The breath rushed from her lungs. Did her powerful brother intend to betray her triangular relationship? “You must not breathe a word about—”
“That’s not my purpose. But if I am to differentiate between your fiancé’s…emotional energy and another’s…Identical twins present a challenge for me, dear sister. I don’t encounter them often.” He opened his eyes, trying not to laugh at her while she was mired in such a dicey situation. “Why are you afraid to tell me what I already know?”
Playfully she slapped his face. “This is so unfair, damn it! Why don’t you tell
me
?”
Rubio glanced away, smiling. Ever the elusive younger brother, baiting his hook.
“All right, so Jude was in my room as well!” she confessed. “He came to admire this glorious pendant he made, and to spend time with me while Jason was cavorting with his friends last night.”
Her brother kept his eyes averted, as though he knew more.
Maria released his hands, exasperated. “You already know Jude loves me, too. And that this triangle has existed for quite some time—and that Jason favors its continuation. How does this
intimate
knowledge of my love life affect the fact that he hasn’t shown up today?”
Rubio flashed her a sympathetic grin as he thumbed a tear from her cheek. “Again, it helps me to differentiate between the brothers’ bonds with you. If I held that lovely pendant, I would run into the same situation because Jason’s energy is on it, as is Jude’s, because he created it. Even without my sixth sense, I know Jude is in love with you, Maria. Anyone with eyes can see it. Be very careful.”
Her throat constricted. Were she and Jude that
obvious
when they were together in public? “I—
please
don’t let on about this to—”
“Of course I won’t. Give me your hands again, Maria,” he murmured. “We’re nearing the town house and I want to ascertain whatever I can about Jason, now that I feel the differences between him and Jude.”
Cautiously she offered her hands, and as he clasped them his pulse surged. Maria felt a concentration, a funneling of his mind and soul that made her entire body shimmer with inner electricity. She watched his chestnut mane of hair shimmy around his collar as his eyebrows peaked and his nostrils flared. What was taking so long? Usually, he knew within moments what was happening.
“A vast body of water,” he murmured, so softly she had to lean forward to hear him. “Water all around…a rocking, and—” His hand flew to his head and he grimaced with pain. “Foul play. Raised voices! A loss of control over—” Rubio convulsed, even as his thoughts remained in the netherworld. His eyes flew open, fearful, and he released her hands as though they were scorching his. Fought for breath until he could settle himself.
“What’s happening? What do you mean,
foul play?
” Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely get the words out. Never had she seen her brother look so frightened while he was in trance, as though horrible, painful things were being done to him in that other plane. He’d explained astral travel and how his soul left his body during these psychical forays, yet Maria had never fully understood how it worked, how he could
slip inside
the soul and body he connected with.
Rubio stared at the opposite seat. This was the time he allowed his soul to reenter his body, so Maria sat still, pressing her lips together to keep from blurting out her questions. They were only a block from the town house. No doubt the Daringtons would arrive soon, after they’d dealt with the cancellations: the food and cake no one had eaten, the bills that must be paid as though she and Jason had actually married.
Maria hugged herself. She was in no mood to endure Mrs. Booth’s opinions or Lord Darington’s temper, let alone the weeping and wailing Lady Darington and Jemma would delight in. She detested being their whipping girl: they would construe Jason’s disappearance as a sign that he didn’t want to marry her.
And then it struck her, hard: what if his family insisted she move out of the town house? Where would she go?
Rubio’s hand closed around hers. His long, soft fingers bespoke an artiste or a philosopher, but they gave her comfort; provided something to cling to, now that serious doubts would arise about Jason’s motives and methods.
“Jason’s motives never changed, dear sister,” he murmured. “I sense he is injured. Most likely incoherent, so he has no idea he missed his wedding. His sole objective right now is to survive.”
Maria’s jaw dropped. What could possibly have happened that—who could’ve overwhelmed him, physically and mentally, to the point he might
die
? “Oh, Rubio,” she breathed. “We must find him! We must do
something
! But how do we reach him?”
Her brother stroked her hand between his. Never had she seen him look sadder as he gazed at her, as though she wore mourning rather than bridal white. “The pieces will fall into place, Maria—if we believe they will. You must keep your faith and hope
strong
and send them out to Jason in your prayers. Right now, it’s all he has to hang on to.”
“Please, Mrs. Booth! I assure you this plate of bread and cheese is all I want, along with a pot of tea,” Maria insisted. The nosy old cook and Quentin had been hovering since Rubio left an hour ago, and she was reaching her wit’s end. Why was it more work to live with servants than to do without such insistent
assistance
? “My concern is for Jason’s well-being. The fact that he didn’t show up at the church—nor has he come
here
—tells me something is gravely amiss.”
“We’re concerned for
your
well-being, as well, Miss Palladino,” Quentin remarked with a worried scowl. “The last thing we expected was to see you coming back here with your brother! You must be devastated, now that the biggest day of your life has turned into such a fiasco!”
“And what of Lord and Lady Darington?” Mrs. Booth queried in a rising voice. “One might suppose they would come here to discuss plans for your future—”
“Or for locating their son,” the butler cut in.
Maria gasped, exasperated. “I suspect the Daringtons are indeed discussing their plans, and they won’t inform me until they’ve made their decisions. I’m only the bride, after all!” The words tumbled out before she could catch them: while she’d been holding up rather well, this nattering with the help would be her undoing. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I wish to spend the rest of evening in my room, undisturbed. You’re dismissed. Thank you both.”
Was that how the lady of the house received time alone? Maria was too upset to care. She, too, had expected Phillip, Dora, Jude, and Jemma to roll up in their carriage at any moment—and the last thing she needed was
their
yammering in addition to what the servants had heaped upon her. No amount of concern would compensate for Jason’s absence, so she was damn tired of hearing about how she
surely
must feel or what Lord Darington and his family
might
decide. All the words in the world wouldn’t bring Jason back to her!
She climbed the stairs with her tray, sighing tiredly. Once behind her closed door, she gazed around the too-cheerful yellow and pink room, the chamber where she’d expected to be celebrating with Jason before they left for an extended holiday in Spain. Her wedding gown hung outside the armoire, a sad testament to this difficult day.
Maria gazed out her window, wrapping her dressing gown more tightly around her. Twilight always brought a sense of serenity to London, as the time between a bustling, busy day and the evening, when business was done and family matters held sway.
Serene
hardly described her mood, however: Rubio’s visions had scared her more than any decisions the Daringtons might make about her future…for if Jason was injured and incoherent, how would they find him? Help him? Sending out prayers seemed so trivial and ineffective….
Yet she was in a unique position to call out for help of a more tangible sort, wasn’t she?
Maria smiled, her pulse thrumming. She moved her vanity bench beside the window seat, set her tea tray on it, and then took up pen and paper. Ensconced in this little niche, overlooking the lamplit streets, she closed her eyes…assumed the persona of Miss Crimson, society columnist…smiled as a grand idea came to her, fully developed yet so simple. She would write as though she’d been a wedding guest—for she could
not
reveal herself as Jason Darington’s intended bride! Perhaps this point of view would give her a fresh perspective on the day’s events. Stir her to action. Place her above the debilitating pity others would heap upon her.
Dear Readers, Miss Crimson entered Saint Paul’s Knightsbridge with high hopes for having her faith in love and marriage—her delight in a happily ever after—reaffirmed,
she wrote.
The words flowed from her pen, a sure sign of divine inspiration. Yet—as you may have heard—the wedding of Miss Maria Palladino to the dashing Jason Darington, heir apparent to Phillip, Lord Darington’s title and estates, left the guests gaping.
It began as any wedding, with the gathering of family around the beautiful bride. Miss Palladino’s gown, an original design from the house of LeChaud Soeurs, befitted a queen with its layers of elegant lace and seed pearl embellishments. When I caught sight of her posing for a bridal portrait being made by Jude Darington, twin brother of the groom, she glowed with a rosy anticipation—not to mention the glimmer of an exquisite jeweled butterfly pendant unlike any I have ever beheld. Maria Palladino was the picture of bright-eyed anticipation, a dusky rose opening to the life of privilege and sophistication her dashing groom would surely provide. Her brother, Rubio Palladino, London’s esteemed trance medium, waited to escort her up the aisle.
Maria paused, smiling as she nibbled the end of her pen. It was a treat to sketch her own wedding from a columnist’s viewpoint.
Lady Darington and Jemma, her daughter, were exquisitely arrayed, as well,
she scribbled.
But as the minutes ticked by, the assembly of friends murmured beneath the organ prelude: where WAS the groom? What reason could he possibly have for not taking this lovely woman as his wife? Upon questioning Jason’s groomsmen, Lord Darington and his younger son set out to locate Jason while Father Stoutham assured the guests all would be well.
WELL, indeed! The guests erupted in disbelief when Lord Darington canceled the ceremony! Then, an albino ferret scampered down the aisle and up a guest’s skirts, causing the crowd to disperse in hasty, shrieking dismay. One can only imagine the bride’s devastation, her concerns about her groom and her future. Yet her dignified grace under such scrutiny and pressure impressed this columnist so deeply that I am moved to depart from my usual juicy fare to lend my assistance.
Maria paused, her pulse pounding with the sheer
nerve
of what she was about to do. But damn it all, if Miss Crimson couldn’t come to the distraught Miss Palladino’s aid, who could? Who
would
?
I implore you, Dear Readers: anyone knowing details of Jason Darington’s disappearance would be performing an act of tremendous generosity by informing me of his whereabouts! It’s quite plausible he’s ill or injured, unable to get word to his beloved Maria. Please submit any information to me in care of the
Inquirer,
as soon as possible, and I will see that this beleaguered bride and the Darington family receive your assistance. Something is gravely amiss, and we must use the power of the press to hasten Jason’s return. Thank you so very much for your understanding and cooperation!
There, she’d done it! Maria stepped into the plain dark skirt she wore while delivering her columns, and then paused. The town house was silent, except for the delicate ticking of her mantel clock, but what if Mrs. Booth and Quentin were hovering in the hallway, peering through the keyhole? If she allowed the servants to stop her now, what did that say about her devotion to Jason? To the life she’d hoped to share with him?