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Authors: C. J. Archer
Tags: Fiction, Historical
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will not be leaving the coach. Understand?" He
disappeared without so much as a goodbye, probably so I wouldn't have a chance
to protest.
I sighed and
went to find Celia to tell her I was going to George's house for more research.
She was in the small parlor entering figures into columns in the household
ledger. A knock at the front door sounded before I could speak to her.
"I wonder
who would be calling this early," she said. We removed ourselves to the
bigger drawing room to receive our guest or guests.
Lucy came in a
moment later, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright. "A Mr. Theodore Hyde to
see you, Miss Emily."
I almost fell
off my chair in shock.
CHAPTER 5
Theodore Hyde! I
didn't get a chance to gather my wits because he was right behind Lucy. He
bowed to me. "Thank you for receiving me so early, Miss Chambers."
"Oh, uh, of
course. Mr. Hyde, may I present my sister, Miss Celia Chambers." He bowed
again.
"Thank you,
Lucy," Celia said. The maid turned her blush on Mr. Hyde, sighed then left
very slowly, casting doe-eyed glances at Theodore over her shoulder as she did
so.
Theodore wasn't
smiling. Indeed, he looked very different from when I'd first met him. He was
no longer jovial and friendly. Instead, he looked like a man in search of
answers.
"I met Mr.
Hyde at the Arbuthnots' house," I told Celia. "He's Mrs. Arbuthnot's
nephew."
"Oh?" She
smiled at him then at me, an unspoken question in her hopeful glance. I
resisted the urge to roll my eyes. If I told her he was a poor relation of the
Arbuthnots, would she stop her matchmaking? Probably not. Theodore might be
poor by his aunt's standards, but I doubt he was poor by ours.
"Forgive
me, Miss Chambers," he said. He cleared his throat. "But I want to
know what happened to my cousin."
Celia and I
glanced at each other.
"Please,"
he said. He leaned forward, his hat clasped loosely in front of his knees. "I
know who you are, Miss Chambers. I know you're a spirit medium."
"Ah,"
Celia said. It seemed she was capable of speaking only single words of one
syllable.
"And I
suspect you are able to explain what happened to my cousin." He ran a hand
through his thick blond hair. "He hasn't returned home, you see, and my
aunt is very worried. She's taken to her bed and refuses to rise. She's
convinced that the terrible business that befell Wallace's friend, Beaufort,
has befallen him too."
"I assure
you, it hasn't," I said.
His brows rose
in surprise and he leaned back. "So you do know what's happened to
him?"
Theodore had not
looked at me differently when he admitted knowing I was a medium. There was no
sneer on his face, no disdain in his voice, no hint that he didn't believe me. He
simply stated a fact and now he wanted answers about his cousin. I saw no
reason to keep the truth from him. I didn't think he would run screaming from
the house in terror.
"He's been
possessed."
He drew a
breath. Two. "Well." He scratched his chin. "When I learned what
you did for a living, I wondered if something like that had happened to
Wallace." He fixed his gentle gray eyes on me. "Thank you for your
honesty, Miss Chambers." His smile was grim.
"Rest
assured my sister is doing everything she can to separate your cousin from the
spirit inside him," Celia said. "She is quite a capable young
woman."
"I don't
doubt it."
"She's very
resourceful for a seventeen year-old. Mature too, all of our acquaintance say
so."
I groaned
inwardly. "As my sister so subtly puts it, Mr. Hyde, I promise to do
everything I can for your cousin. It won't be long before he's back home."
Dear God, I hoped so.
"Surely you
cannot do it on your own."
"Oh no,"
Celia said. "The ghost of Jacob Beaufort is helping."
He cocked his
head to the side. "Wallace's friend? The one whose death you came to
discuss when all this occurred?"
"The very
one," I said.
"It sounds
dangerous." He frowned. "I don't think the spirit possessing Wallace
is a particularly friendly one. Are you sure Beaufort's help is
disappeared without so much as a goodbye, probably so I wouldn't have a chance
to protest.
I sighed and
went to find Celia to tell her I was going to George's house for more research.
She was in the small parlor entering figures into columns in the household
ledger. A knock at the front door sounded before I could speak to her.
"I wonder
who would be calling this early," she said. We removed ourselves to the
bigger drawing room to receive our guest or guests.
Lucy came in a
moment later, her cheeks pink and her eyes bright. "A Mr. Theodore Hyde to
see you, Miss Emily."
I almost fell
off my chair in shock.
CHAPTER 5
Theodore Hyde! I
didn't get a chance to gather my wits because he was right behind Lucy. He
bowed to me. "Thank you for receiving me so early, Miss Chambers."
"Oh, uh, of
course. Mr. Hyde, may I present my sister, Miss Celia Chambers." He bowed
again.
"Thank you,
Lucy," Celia said. The maid turned her blush on Mr. Hyde, sighed then left
very slowly, casting doe-eyed glances at Theodore over her shoulder as she did
so.
Theodore wasn't
smiling. Indeed, he looked very different from when I'd first met him. He was
no longer jovial and friendly. Instead, he looked like a man in search of
answers.
"I met Mr.
Hyde at the Arbuthnots' house," I told Celia. "He's Mrs. Arbuthnot's
nephew."
"Oh?" She
smiled at him then at me, an unspoken question in her hopeful glance. I
resisted the urge to roll my eyes. If I told her he was a poor relation of the
Arbuthnots, would she stop her matchmaking? Probably not. Theodore might be
poor by his aunt's standards, but I doubt he was poor by ours.
"Forgive
me, Miss Chambers," he said. He cleared his throat. "But I want to
know what happened to my cousin."
Celia and I
glanced at each other.
"Please,"
he said. He leaned forward, his hat clasped loosely in front of his knees. "I
know who you are, Miss Chambers. I know you're a spirit medium."
"Ah,"
Celia said. It seemed she was capable of speaking only single words of one
syllable.
"And I
suspect you are able to explain what happened to my cousin." He ran a hand
through his thick blond hair. "He hasn't returned home, you see, and my
aunt is very worried. She's taken to her bed and refuses to rise. She's
convinced that the terrible business that befell Wallace's friend, Beaufort,
has befallen him too."
"I assure
you, it hasn't," I said.
His brows rose
in surprise and he leaned back. "So you do know what's happened to
him?"
Theodore had not
looked at me differently when he admitted knowing I was a medium. There was no
sneer on his face, no disdain in his voice, no hint that he didn't believe me. He
simply stated a fact and now he wanted answers about his cousin. I saw no
reason to keep the truth from him. I didn't think he would run screaming from
the house in terror.
"He's been
possessed."
He drew a
breath. Two. "Well." He scratched his chin. "When I learned what
you did for a living, I wondered if something like that had happened to
Wallace." He fixed his gentle gray eyes on me. "Thank you for your
honesty, Miss Chambers." His smile was grim.
"Rest
assured my sister is doing everything she can to separate your cousin from the
spirit inside him," Celia said. "She is quite a capable young
woman."
"I don't
doubt it."
"She's very
resourceful for a seventeen year-old. Mature too, all of our acquaintance say
so."
I groaned
inwardly. "As my sister so subtly puts it, Mr. Hyde, I promise to do
everything I can for your cousin. It won't be long before he's back home."
Dear God, I hoped so.
"Surely you
cannot do it on your own."
"Oh no,"
Celia said. "The ghost of Jacob Beaufort is helping."
He cocked his
head to the side. "Wallace's friend? The one whose death you came to
discuss when all this occurred?"
"The very
one," I said.
"It sounds
dangerous." He frowned. "I don't think the spirit possessing Wallace
is a particularly friendly one. Are you sure Beaufort's help is
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