Page 75 of Dark Tidings on the Thames
“But why come now?” Niall asked.
“Beth has always greatly enjoyed all the activities at our lake. I think she gets real peace from the sense of community, and particularly from the ceremonies. I think she wants one for herself.”
“A ceremony?” Rob sounded doubtful.
“Protection, perhaps?” Gyda ventured.
“Or strength? I think Beth is preparing herself… for something.”
“You heard her. She means to fight.” Gyda sounded both proud and worried.
“She doesn’t need to fight,” Rob objected. “She has me now. I want nothing more than to protect her—from every sort of harm, not just this madman.”
Niall reached out and gripped his friend’s arm. “Do you love the girl?”
“Yes,” Rob whispered. “Saints help me, but I do, and by some miracle, she feels the same. I wasn’t sure, you understand. She’s shy about sharing her feelings. She’s had to hide them, hide herself away, in the past, you see.”
“She told you about her family?” Gyda was clearly surprised.
Rob frowned. “Yes. She’s been through so much, and yet she has such a quiet, dignified strength, and such a big heart. She’s the miracle, truly, to look past her own hurt and to fight so hard to ease it in others.”
“If you love her, you have to respect the strength in her as well as the kindness,” Niall told him. “It is not an easy thing, loving a strong woman.” He grinned at Kara. “It will fair drive you out of your mind with worry, at times, but the rewards are beyond anything you can imagine.”
“I don’t know how you cope with it all,” Rob marveled.
“You are about to find out. Learn fast,” Niall advised. “If you don’t, you will lose her. And if you don’t have the strength to let her fully be herself, then you will deserve it.”
Rob nodded, his gaze unfocused as he lost himself in thought.
“But why Emelia?” Gyda asked, sounding a little offended. “Why did Beth not ask one of us?”
“Emelia is the mistress of ceremonies,” Kara reminded her. “She heightens the drama and brings the magic.” Niall saw his wife bite back a grin. “But Beth is about to discover that what Emelia doesnotbring is the planning.”
Niall understood what Kara meant when they reached Hammersmith. Evening’s shadows had grown long by the time they pulled into the station and the porters came around to unlock the compartment. They had released the first-class passengers first, of course, so Beth and Emelia were already on the platform when he and the rest of the group spilled out.
Neither woman looked particularly surprised to see them. In fact, Beth merely turned to Emelia, her hand held out in silent supplication. The other woman slapped a coin into it with bad grace. “How could you know?” she demanded of them. “We were as quiet as a mouse in church!”
“I told you I thought it was Gyda slinking into the train station behind us,” Beth said. But she aimed a frown at each of them. “I will do what I have come to do,” she warned, “and I will not tolerate any interference.”
“But what is it that you mean to do, sweeting?” Rob asked.
“It’s to be a ritual. At the lake.”
Kara’s brow rose. “And how do you intend to get to the lake?”
Emelia waved a hand toward the stairs leading from the platform to the street. “We shall take a cart. Whenever we come, they are lined up, waiting to take us all to our temple.”
“They are all lined up because I make arrangements for them to be there,” Kara said.
“Surely there will be hacks waiting?” Emelia said with a shrug.
“Yes. Hacks waiting to take you somewhere in Hammersmith. You will have a job of it, finding someone willing to travel the six or seven miles to the lake.”
Emelia blinked. “Oh.”
Niall eyed the lowering sun. “I’ll check to see if the livery is still open. If not, I’ll ask the tavern to lend us their wood cart.”
*
