like sentinels.
The church door was not locked, and we went inside, where the cold stone seemed to hold on to the stormy chill of last night. I pulled my cloak around me as Jonathan led me to the brass plaque that had been set in the wall between two windows. The stained glass spilled color onto the floor at my feet, and I looked up to the figures of saints high above my head before I could bring myself to look directly at Arthur’s memorial.
He was gone.
There was a finality to that as I read the name and dates engravedinto the brass. Beneath them were the words Beloved son and brother in graceful script.
I very much wanted to reach out and touch it. But not with Jonathan there.
I had not been at the service when his body was committed to the sea. I had been standing in the operating theater fighting to save another life. I had felt the ship slow, then resume her speed, and not allowed myself to think why.
I swallowed my tears and said as steadily as I could, “He would have been pleased.”
“Yes.”
We turned away without another word and walked back into the sunlight. Standing in the shadows of the west door, Jonathan said, “I expect I’ll be as ready now as I ever will be. What was it Arthur entrusted to you to say to me?”
C HAPTER F OUR
I TURNED AWAY , looking at the gleaming white walls of the rectory in their black framework, the tiny panes of glass set into the windows like small diamonds glittering in the morning sun.
“Go on.” There was impatience beneath the urging.
I took several seconds to think. To wonder if I’d done the right thing in coming here. The message seemed different suddenly. Futile, and somehow infringing on something I didn’t understand.
I tried to set the stage, so that Jonathan Graham could see what I had seen. “He had finished his medicines, and he took my hand, pulling me closer. I thought at first that he was having difficulty seeing me, but it was only to drop his voice so that no one else could hear him. He asked me if I’d carry a message to his brother for him. It was very brief, I had no difficulty remembering it. ‘Tell Jonathan I lied. I did it for Mother’s sake. But it has to be set right.’ And afterward, he made me promise to deliver the message to you in person.”
He was watching me, his gaze intent.
“Tell Jonathan I lied. I did it for Mother’s sake. But it has to be set right.”
“Yes, exactly as he told me.”
“And what did you make of his request?”
I could feel my face flushing. I could hardly say what had gonethrough my mind over the weeks that had passed. It would have sounded presumptuous even to hint at it. I answered only, “I don’t know, Lieutenant Graham. I’d hoped you would.”
“And he didn’t explain to you what it was he was trying to convey?”
“No. To be frank, I don’t think he would have said anything at all, if he hadn’t realized he was dying. But something was preying on his mind, I could see that. And it was disturbing enough for him to try to do something about it while he could still speak.”
“Then why not write it in your letter?”
“I don’t know,” I said again. “It was almost as if—” I stopped.
“As if what?”
“It was almost as if he hadn’t wanted to put it in writing. He was insistent that I come to you personally.”
“But Arthur has been dead some months. If it were a pressing matter, surely it would have been better to come here at once?”
I prevaricated. “You were in France, Lieutenant Graham. And there were my duties as well. And this—” I indicated my arm.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” He continued to stare at me, but his mind was elsewhere. Then he said again, “And that’s all of the message? You’re quite sure?”
“Yes. I’ve given it word for word.”
“Thank you, Miss Crawford. It was kind of you to carry out my brother’s wishes. But I think you liked him, a little. Is that true?”
“He was a very likable man,” I answered
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