Page 23 of The Curse of Penryth Hall
He sputtered again, and I could have sworn I heard Tamsyn hold back a laugh from behind me.
“I take it you don’t believe in Pellars either, Reverend?”
He bristled, shaking his head once more. His color even higher now. For half a second, I worried all my goading might cause him an apoplexy. “Nonsense is what it is. If I were you, Miss Vaughn, I wouldn’t spend more than five minutes with the gentleman—not that he warrants the term. He’s as common as they come. Filthy, and there’s something not right about him beyond those eyes of his.”
Despite my general mistrust of Mr. Kivell, I felt a strange kinship with him. He was an outlier. Existing on the periphery of society as was I. And while I wasn’t quite certain of hismotives, I found I’d much rather take a chance and put my faith in him than theman of Godsitting before me.
“Not a single redeemable quality to him, and while he did do his duty during the war—” Reverend Fortescue made a comically pious expression. “He’s a dangerous sort. A rabble rouser. Likely a Bolshevik—”
I sighed with a bored examination of my free hand. “Pity… I’m fond of Bolsheviks.”
Tamsyn squeezed the other in reproach, but I wasn’t about to stop. Not now. I loathed this man even though I had no reason to do so. I’d met plenty others like him and been able to politely extricate myself from conversation with little effort. But Reverend Fortescue was a menace and he brought out the very worst in my nature.
He trembled again, his color brighter by the second. “But it’s no matter. His kind will disappear before long. The modern world has no place in it for men like Ruan Kivell.”
A growing pang of affection rose in my chest for the poor reviled Pellar, misplaced I was certain, but I swallowed it down and minded my tongue. Otherwise we’d never get rid of this odious man. Tamsyn sensed my retreat from the field of battle and steered the conversation back to safer waters.
It took another half hour of small talk before I could convince the vicar that Tamsyn was safe with me, and that there were no more witches hiding in the closets. We said our goodbyes and she walked him out.
Once the door closed firmly behind the pair, I collapsed whole-bodied on the settee and closed my eyes. The fabric even smelled of her. It was the most divinely terrible moment of my life. Her husband was dead, she was irrationally convinced she was going to die, and yet I longed for her—for the way things might have been—in a way I hadn’t longed foranything in my life. She was free. Truly free and if I wanted, perhaps I could reach out and grasp our broken past and bring it into the present. And yet some piece of me remained wary. Afraid. And I didn’t know why.
I heard the door snick shut. “That was poorly done of you, Ruby.”
I rested my folded hands atop my forehead and didn’t bother to open my eyes. “Wouldn’t want him to get the misperception I’m redeemable.”
Tamsyn sighed heavily and settled down beside me on the settee, lifting my head so it rested in her lap. “He’s dreadful, I know. But you shouldn’t goad him so. He’s been the vicar in these parts for ages. He even christened me, if you’d believe it.”
I breathed in, relishing the stolen moment. The faint lemony scent of her invaded every crevasse of my memory and I hated it. Her fingers grazed gently over my features in the sweetest agony I’d ever endured. She wasn’t mine. Not any longer.
Her touch traveled slowly down my neck until it suddenly stopped at the collar of my blouse. “What happened to you…?” Her cool fingers were again at my throat, shifting the collar of my blouse to reveal the bruises there, following the same path of Mr. Kivell’s earlier, albeit with a bit more tenderness.
“I haven’t a clue. I didn’t even know they were there until Mr. Kivell so keenly noticed them.”
Her breath hitched in her chest at the mention of his name. “Was he truly in your room or were you just goading the vicar?” She hesitated for a moment. “I know I have no right… no right to ask after how things ended between us.”
“Honestly, Tamsyn, do you think me fast enough that I’dhave bedded your Pellar when I’ve been in town less than a day?”
She let out a little huff and shook her head. “No. Of course not, it’s just… I’m sorry, I’m not thinking clearly.”
I reached up, opening my eyes and touching her cheek softly. “It’s fine, darling. He was looking for something. He thinks…” I rolled my eyes, wetted my lips, and pulled myself upright. It was easier to talk—to think—with some space between us. For someone who had spent the last several years running from the past, I seemed to be lingering a great deal in the place. “He thinks someone attacked me last night too.”
“What?!”
“I thought it was a dream, you know how I used to have terrible nightmares after…”After my parents died.Before, even—but those I kept to myself. How I’d seen my younger sister disappear beneath the waves. Ribbons in her hair as she sank farther and farther away from my outstretched hand before at last she disappeared. It ached, even now some seven years after their deaths.
“Oh, Ruby, have they returned again? You should have written. You shouldn’t have to be alone with that burden.”
I walked to the window, hefting the heavy sash up. It groaned with the effort, but the sweet August breeze was worth it. Particularly vocal pigeons called to one another from a nearby tree. “I don’t know if they have or not. It was strange. It wasn’t like the ones I used to have. It seems I was saved by my stowaway cat. I woke up to Fiachna screaming bloody murder.” Perhaps not the best choice of words considering the morning. “Mr. Kivell said there was blood on my sheets as well. All I can think is that he must have startled whoever meant to do me harm.”That or I murdered your husband and brought his blood back in with me.
“Ruby, that’s terrible! I don’t know how to apologize toyou for… Oh, goodness. I’m ever so glad it wasn’t you.” She stood and ran to me, hugging me tight enough I couldn’t draw breath.
“Yes, yes, I’m rather pleased it wasn’t me either.”
She laughed again, stepping away and wiping at the tears on her cheeks. “I’m glad you’re here. I have no one to talk to but you.”
“You mean the vicar isn’t a good listener?”
She laughed at that, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.
