Katherine listened, beset with sorrow. She thought about what Charles and Molly had said. Garth believed that Sir Robert had killed his mother, and that belief spawned the hate and haunting found in his brooding gray eyes.
“I understand that Charles’ actions, too, could have been questioned at that time,” she mentioned. As he turned, she saw him frown.
“Yes, he was there. How much he saw or heard, I don’t know. How much he had to do with it, I don’t know either. But I’m going to find out by questioning the old man.”
Katherine then repeated what the cook had told her earlier about her suspicions of Charles’ part in Lady Edythe’s death.
Garth nodded as if he had heard her comments before or had arrived at similar conclusions. “Had I not been so young and had I not been sent away so soon afterwards, I would have proven who was guilty.”
“Is that why you let everyone think you were dead? So that you could come back and reveal the truth?”
“Yes and no. I ran afoul of Father in India, and, as a result, the law was also looking to arrest me. My loving Father had sworn out a warrant against me on the grounds of theft. Faking my death was the only escape from them both.”
“Theft?”
He shook his head. “Never mind. That’s a story that has ended.”
She wanted to believe him. His sorrow seemed real enough, as did his hate for his father. Though pretending to be dead seemed like an extreme solution to that situation. It was also so unlike the man that she thought he was. Robert Craig had indeed stacked the cards against his son. She fully understood Garth’s hate for him.
She looked past him, the manor fully in her view. “But now what will you do about the estate? Are we expected to leave?”
Garth looked toward the manor also and smiled. “Of course not.”
Relieved, she smiled in return. “May-Jewel will be happy to hear that.”
“And you? Are you happy to hear that too?”
“Yes, I guess I am. I will be satisfied to stay, at least for a while. Although there has been so much injustice done here, Wistmere is, after all, where I was born and raised, although, I, too, have many bad memories. Perhaps now is the time for healing to begin.”
“What do you mean ‘for a while’? You’ll stay forever.”
She could see his features in the nocturnal light. He had declared that she would stay as if there wasn’t any arguing or discussion about the issue. Part of her was relieved and part of her was wary. But seeing an encouraging smile spread over his face, she only replied, “Well, we’ll see.”
He seemed content with that and taking her arm, they returned to the manor.
Tomorrow, she thought entering the great hall, tomorrow I will tell him about Selina and the cottage.
* * *
As she entered her room, she was surprised to see May-Jewel dozing in the over-stuffed chair. She awakened her by gently shaking her shoulder and asked, “What are you doing here?”
May-Jewel quickly sat up. “I was waiting for you. To warn you. That maid, Selina, was here!”
“Oh, Lord, you’ve seen her?” Katherine couldn’t help but be overwhelmed and, at the same time, relieved by May-Jewel’s admission.
“Yes! I’m sorry but I really didn’t believe you when you spoke about her, and then I opened the door and there she was!”
“What was she doing? Did she say anything?”
“I came in here after dinner to get away from Alex and when I entered, she was standing by your night table holding a glass of what I thought was water. When she saw me, she dropped the glass and ran.” She pointed to the wet spot. “I don’t think that the contents were just plain water though. And,” May-Jewel added a bit slower, “she now thinks this is my room.”
“Why does she think that?”
“Because I told her it was.”
“But why did you tell her that? She’s apt to show up in your room now! You’ve put yourself in an awful dangerous position. She has to be behind the cottage incident and the one who locked me in the mausoleum. We don’t know what she’ll do next!” She sat down on the bed and bit her lip in apprehension.
“Well, we know that she drugged your water,” May-Jewel concluded.
“I have to know where she hides during the day and who’s helping her. How does she move about the manor without anyone knowing it? And remember, Molly said food has gone missing from the pantry. I’m sure she’s the culprit.”
“You don’t still suspect me of being her partner, do you?” May-Jewel asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“I kind of thought ‘yes and no’.” Then she added hurriedly when she saw the shock on her sister’s face, “I mean I did until you wrote to Jeremy. Before that, I was suspicious because of your growing attachment to Alex. Oh, you don’t think that maybe she and Alex are in on this together, do you?”
May-Jewel sat on the bed next to Katherine. She had thought as much herself. Now that she had seen the mysterious woman she could understand Katherine’s actions and her fears. “I’m glad you’ve cleared me of any wrong doing. I’ve been sitting here asking myself, ‘what now’? I don’t have any answers,
