Read Online If He's Wild by Hannah Howell - Free Book Online Page B

to womanhood? And spirited? I think she would not be hiding.” He shook his head. “If you seek some clue that they still live, I am afraid we can give you none. I did not feel their presence, and Alethea has not yet seen them in her visions. It could mean that they yet live. Sadly, it could also mean that they, well, moved on, shall we say.”
    “And there is no way you can seek them out?” Hartley asked.
    “Not really. Alethea’s visions cannot be that well controlled, if at all. You just saw how she fell victim to it by simply picking up a handkerchief. If I see the spirits who cling to Claudette’s skirts again, I might seek them, might have a chance to gain some information from the strongest of them. I can promise nothing, however. Spirits are not always cooperative. The ones about Claudette are most specific about what they want, but they may ne’er be clear about why, or who they are. How long ago would they have died?”
    “Nearly three years ago. That was when the escape was all planned, yet they never made it.” He mumbled a curse and dragged a hand over his hair. “I cannot believe I am accepting this, even suggesting more, and yet…” He waved a hand toward the sketchbook.
    “Exactly,” said Aldus. “And yet. A shame it cannot all be controlled and used as one wishes, when one wishes it.” He looked at Hartley. “Give it a little more time, see if more comes forth, and then we will set our people on it.”
    “But they have been looking for the de Laceaux for three years.”
    “Yes, for a family, for the compte and his lady and four children. That could be blinding them. Once we can offer more than, er, visions to explain how we know only the two eldest children may have survived, we will do so.”
    Hartley nodded and helped himself to an apple tart. “Bayard would be fourteen now and Germaine a young woman of eighteen. That would, indeed, alter the search that has been ongoing.” He struggled to temper the hope surging to life inside of him, but it was difficult. Although reluctant, he knew he was rapidly becoming a believer in what the Vaughns could do.
    “If you have anything from that time,” began Alethea, and then she shook her head. “It would have to be something personal, something that was there when the deaths occurred or the danger was present.” She looked at the handkerchief still lying on the floor near the fireplace. “I could try to see if that stirs another vision.”
    “But not today,” Iago said firmly. “We shall both have a go at it on the morrow, under the proper conditions. ’Tis possible Claudette had it with her and that she was there when the de Laceaux family was set upon. ’Tis also possible it but held some memories from those who cling to her. I favor the latter, for what woman keeps a handkerchief for three years?”
    “One who was once very poor,” Alethea said as she poured herself yet another cup of tea. The harsher the vision, the more thirsty it left her. “One who has suffered the sting of poverty and the scorn that can come with it. The handkerchief is of the finest linen and the most expensive lace, things she never had the coin for. She will not rid herself of it until it is stained beyond cleaning or tattered.” She noticed all four men were staring at her, thought over what she had just said, and frowned. “I wonder how I knew that. Ah, and she was raised in a poor tenant’s cottage.”
    “How do you know that? ” asked Hartley.
    “I have no idea. Something about chickens. Odd that that should come forth now.”
    “It was probably overshadowed by all the more upsetting images,” said Iago.
    “That must be it. Perhaps more will come to me later.” She smiled faintly at Hartley, heartsore that she could not provide him with something he could immediately make use of. “None of it is much help, is it?”
    “It confirms a lot of our suspicions,” he replied.
    “And gave us some information concerning the deaths that we had not