She’d been treated like Cinderella, but that horrid era was over. Their shenanigans had been exposed, and their many crimes were being prosecuted. She was free of them, and she was about to marry Jacob’s half-brother, Caleb Ralston.
Joanna had been astonished to find him in residence at Barrett, astonished to learn that he was about to wed Caro, and she was frantically trying to figure out what it indicated.
She’d been biting her tongue, wondering if she should mention her connection to Jacob. She knew Jacob viewed Caleb in a cordial way, but she wasn’t sure of Caleb’s opinion in the other direction. With her only just walking in the door, she hadn’t been keen to raise a difficult topic, and at the moment, she wouldn’t ponder Jacob.
He’d been recalled to the navy, and she couldn’t imagine when he’d return to Ralston Place. When he did, would he still be fond of her? Would he ride to her cottage to see her? When he found it burned to the ground, the meadow cleared by Kit Boswell, what would he think? Would he even recollect their fleeting amour?
“Tell us more about your Aunt Pru,” Libby said. “What was she like? I remember your mother quite vividly.”
“That is so lovely to hear. It warms my heart.”
Joanna’s mother had lived for several weeks after they’d staggered onto their island. In the beginning, there had been six adults with them, but they’d gradually died from illness or injury. Joanna’s mother had been the last one to go. She’d cut her foot, and it had become infected. Their health had been so depleted that she hadn’t been able to survive it.
“Did your aunt look like your mother?” Caro asked.
“Yes, she looked like her, and they were a year apart in age. They were completely similar in temperament, so it was like being with my mother all over again.”
Caro and Libby sighed with pleasure.
“I missed both of you so much,” she said, “and we tried to contact you. Caro, we wrote to your grandfather and suggested a visit, but we received such a nasty reply that we didn’t attempt it again.”
Caro’s jaw dropped. “I never knew!”
“I wish now that we’d continued to pester him. I can’t guess if it might have improved your circumstances, but Aunt Pru was like a force of nature. She wouldn’t have stood by and let you be abused.”
“I can’t blame her for avoiding my grandfather. He was such a bitter, unhappy man. I can just envision the terrible remarks he’d have penned about me in a letter.”
“And Libby,” Joanna said, “we tried to see you too. We read a newspaper advertisement that you’d be performing in a nearby village, so we bought tickets, but you weren’t in the show. We inquired of the manager afterward, and he advised us that you’d accepted another engagement and weren’t there.” She chuckled. “He wouldn’t refund our money, and Aunt Pru was so mad.”
Libby clucked her tongue. “I used to nag at my Uncle Harry that I wanted to find you. For years, he claimed it was impossible to discover where you were, then, once I was older and grew more adamant, he lied and insisted he’d written to the navy, and they’d lost the records.”
“No!” Joanna protested. “That is so malicious. Why would he act that way?”
“He was a wily character, and I could never divine his motives. I was such a gullible dunce that I believed whatever he told me.”
Caro said, “I never understood their keeping us apart. Why couldn’t we have been allowed to remain friends? It never made any sense to me.”
“Tell us more about your life,” Libby said to Joanna, “and I swear I’ll stop interrupting. I’m constantly blabbing about my own past, so you never finish with yours. It sounds as if you were the only one of us who was content.”
“I was very content.”
“Mr. Periwinkle informed us that you were living at Ralston Place, which belongs to Caleb’s half-brother, Jacob. You’re aware of how they’re connected to us, aren’t you?”
“Oh, yes, I’m aware of it,” Joanna said.
“How did you end up there? And have you met Jacob? If you have, does he realize who you are?”
“And what happened to you?” Caro asked. “When you arrived, you were positively bedraggled. You and your dog were injured. What was the cause?”
Joanna launched into a lengthy story, admitting the truth about her parents, about her father’s vicious wife who’d chased her mother out of England. She told them about her female ancestors, the special gifts they had that scared so many others. She explained how they’d learned over the centuries to be vigilant and careful.
She told them about Clara being born and discarded by her mother. She told them about moving to Ralston Place in order to conceal Clara’s whereabouts from her despicable kin.
Previously, Joanna had assumed that was the impetus, but with Kit Boswell and Roxanne Ralston winding up in the same spot as Clara, she was wondering if Pru hadn’t transported her and Clara to the estate for a reason.
Pru had firmly believed in pre-destiny. Perhaps she’d read Clara’s and Joanna’s cards and had decided their fate lay at Ralston. Who could be certain?
Joanna told them about Kit Boswell and Roxanne Ralston being Clara’s parents, how they’d resolved to be rid of Clara. Then, she confessed why Roxanne had wanted Joanna gone too.
“You had an affair with Jacob Ralston?” Libby appeared stunned.
“I wouldn’t call it an affair,” Joanna said. “That would indicate a protracted relationship. This was more of an illicit flirtation.”
Libby and Caro exchanged an odd glance, and Joanna’s spirits sank. Had she revealed too many details? They’d blithely accepted her description of her powers and ancient knowledge, but maybe a carnal amour was too much.
“Do you hate me for it?” she asked, her mood plummeting.
“Gad, no,” Caro said. “We’ve been talking about how Miles Ralston’s ghost seems to be hovering. I’m convinced that he brought Caleb into my life. Now you have been seduced by Jacob. It
