Alex grabbed her hand. “But it isn’t his,” he hissed. “Wistmere belongs to the one who worked for her, the ones that suffered for her. Only you and I are meant to have this manor.”
“Oh? And what about Katherine?”
Alex frowned. “You’ve seen for yourself,” he replied, impatience edging his voice, “how troublesome and demented she has become. And now she has taken sides with Garth.” The man’s name stuck in his throat, and his anger was so intense that he didn’t see the look of horror on May-Jewel’s face.
Suddenly her free hand whipped across his flushed face.
Alex grabbed her arm in defense and held her fast. “What was that for? I thought you wanted this estate as much as I do?”
“Not your way I don’t!” She tried to pull free.
His jaw tightened. “You’ve lost sight of your goals. Permit me to bring them back into view.” Pulling her to him, he secured her arms behind her. His glazed eyes scanned her heaving breast. “There’s only one way to control a woman like you.” His mouth came down hard upon hers.
Struggling against his iron embrace, May-Jewel realized that he could fully force himself upon her and have his way. A scream rose to her lips, but he crushed his mouth over hers again. The longer he kissed her, the more her desires rose within her until she stood limply against him.
Alex released her locked arms and firmly grasped her shoulders. Her yielding heart broke his rising heat and, drawing his lips from hers, he gently kissed the concave of her throat. Victoriously smiling, he fingered the fine gold necklace he found there.
“It looks better on you,” he whispered, “than it did on the old lady.”
May-Jewel, the fair skin of her face now red and burning from the scraping of his short beard, tried to wrest free. Any desire was quickly being replaced by anger. Thrusting her knee into his groin, she tore from his grasp and ran from the room. As she fled up the stairs, she knew there would be no escape from him in her chambers. Hearing footsteps behind her, she quickly entered Katherine’s room.
As she breathlessly leaned her face against the cool wood of the door to hear whether she had been followed, the back of her neck started to prickle and her heart beat harder. Suddenly aware of another presence, she quickly turned. A small form stood cloaked in the shadows beside Katherine’s night stand.
“Who are you?” May-Jewel demanded in a voice that was edged with fear.
The glass that the woman was holding slipped from her hand, its contents splattering over the carpet.
May-Jewel gasped with sudden realization, “You’re that maid Selina! Where d’you come from? What are you doing in here?”
The intruder inched around the bed, remaining within the shadows.
“This room is yours?” the maid questioned in a raspy whisper, her bearing that of a humble servant.
Closing the space between them, May-Jewel moved toward the bed. “No, I mean yes, this is my room. Katherine and I traded.”
“And you are her servant?”
Straightening her shoulders, May-Jewel declared, “I am not! I’m her sister!”
Selina’s eyes narrowed. “She is not the only daughter then?”
“No.” May-Jewel watched the woman’s face grow hard and threatening. Suddenly a greater fear filled her heart than that which she had experienced only moments before in the dining room.
A noise, like a door slamming, sounded from the hall, startling Selina.
“I will return when you have need of me,” the strange woman said as she moved swiftly toward the unguarded door.
“Wait!”
But May-Jewel was too slow. The door slammed shut before she could reach it and she knew, even before entering the hall, that the woman would be gone by the time she looked for her. With shaking hands, May-Jewel returned to the bed and knelt to inspect the saturated spot on the floor. The odor was unrecognizable, but the intent was not.
So Selina was real! May-Jewel shivered, recalling the evil she had seen upon the woman’s face. And now she had placed herself in the same jeopardy as Katherine. She had told Katherine that she had believed her when she first spoke about the maid, but she had said it without conviction, said it only to be contrary to Alex’s lack of belief more than anything else. It was disturbing to find out that Katherine hadn’t been lying. What then of the incident in the cottage? And the cemetery? Could Selina have been behind those awful attempts on Katherine’s life?
“It had to be her,” May-Jewel gasped. “She’s trying to kill Katherine!” Wrapping a shawl about her shoulders, she started to leave the room. But a thought, a horrible thought stopped her in her tracks. Oh, God! Was Alex a part of this whole episode? Was that why there hadn’t been any attacks on her but only on Katherine? What would Alex do now that he knew she didn’t want to take part in any of his kind of ‘solution’ for Wistmere? Would he allow Selina to attack her as well? Trembling, she realized that neither Katherine nor she were safe.
Chapter Eleven
The uneven stone walkway gave cause for Garth to hold Katherine’s elbow as they sauntered through the garden.
“Why didn’t you look at the document from Jameson?” he inquired, holding her firmly.
“There wasn’t any need to look at it.”
“Oh, why not?”
“Because if you’re a fraud, you are likely to be well prepared to establish your claim. You don’t strike me as being a fool, and it would be foolish to come here unless you were completely prepared to face the questions that people like Alex and Mr. Jameson would throw at you. And if your claim is valid, it’s valid. What would looking at a document prove
