A Lady And Her Magic (18 page)

“You caught Ronald!” she cried. She put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot. “How the devil did you do that?”

“Finn did it, actually. Then I freed him. And he bit me. And then I caught him again. I’d like to untie him, but he has really sharp teeth.”

Sophia laughed and leaned forward, pressing her cheek over his heart for a moment, as though he alone could bolster her. He took a deep breath at the same time she did. “Set him free, Ashley. I cannot come to you.”

“Why not?” He began to feel like a lost child at a carnival, desperate to find his way to the person to whom he belonged.

She turned to face the window. “It will only prolong the hurt.” She spun back to face him. “Set him free.”

“No.”

Her eyes narrowed. She was quite adorable when she was vexed. “You’ll only do us both harm by keeping him.”

“You can put a stop to it. Simply come and retrieve him.” He bent and kissed her forehead, despite the fact that it was wrinkled with what he supposed was worry. Or anger. He wasn’t certain which. But he forced himself to turn and leave the room.

***

Sophia plucked a flower from a plant in Lord Ramsdale’s lovely garden and brought it to her nose, deeply inhaling its lavender scent. She let it envelop her as she tilted her head up toward the sun and let its warmth shine upon her skin.

“You look just like your mother when you do that,” a voice said from a few feet away from her.

Sophia startled and dropped the flower, which fell to the cobbled walk beneath her feet. “Allow me,” Lord Ramsdale said as he bent to retrieve it. He held it out to her, allowing it to twist and twirl between his fingers.

“Thank you,” Sophia croaked. She reached out a tentative hand to take it from him.

“It’s not that bad, now is it?” he asked suddenly, his voice sounding like he’d swallowed an apple and was choking on it with every word.

“I suppose it could be worse,” Sophia twittered nervously.

“I can assure you there’s nothing worse than finding out you have children you’ve never known, Sophia.” His voice grew stronger. “Absolutely nothing.”

She raised her eyes to meet his. “Yes, there is. It’s living for twenty-six years without parents at all.”

He took a moment to clear his throat and collect his wits. Then he sighed heavily. “If I could have changed it, I would.”

“Did you not know the dangers going into it?” she asked. Her tone was sharp and she was well aware of it.

He nodded slowly, as though he held some reticence about answering. “I knew the dangers. But your mother and I thought our love would transcend the odds. We were youthful. Full of folly. Ridiculously naive.”

“What made you think you were that special?” she snorted.

He plucked a flower of his own and spun it between his fingertips. “I couldn’t live in her world. I would have left this one in one beat of my heart. I swear it.” He looked into Sophia’s eyes, and she felt almost as though she could see into his soul. “But I couldn’t. So, it was your mother who had to sacrifice. We went a few years with no children at all. We planned it that way.”

Warmth crept up Sophia’s cheeks.

He chuckled at her discomfiture. “Perhaps your mother should have this discussion with you.”

“Pray continue,” she said. “You tried not to have children.”

He nodded. “But then we found out Amelia was expecting. She was over the moon with happiness.” He motioned toward a garden bench and encouraged Sophia to sit with him. She did so with hesitance, not certain whether or not she was prepared to let down her guard. When he was settled beside her, he continued his tale.

“She began to use her magic again. She had no dust—they’d taken that from her when they clipped her wings.” He shook his head, sadness clouding his features. “I think it would have been easier for them to take her life than her wings. But that is not the point of this conversation.” He pressed on. “They clipped her wings. And took her dust. But she still had magic within her. She used every spare bit of it to protect you. But it wasn’t enough.”

“There was nothing anyone could do,” Sophia said. “You’d made the choice for her to leave the fae. You must accept the consequences.” She hoped she didn’t sound as bitter as she felt. She probably did. More the pity.

“They took our memories of you. It was like you never existed. Not until your mother laid eyes upon you last night.” He reached out one hand and covered Sophia’s with his. “The moment she saw you and Marcus, she knew you were ours. And so did I. It took some time for the memories to return. But now they’re there, like they’d never left.” He patted her hand. “Please accept my apology for letting them take you.”

His voice was choked again, and he got up from the bench, looked out over his garden, and didn’t look in Sophia’s direction. Perhaps he was trying to compose himself.

“Have you seen Marcus?” Sophia asked.

Lord Ramsdale, her father, nodded. “He feels very much the same way you did, I’m afraid. I spoke to him briefly, but we need to talk more.”

“It will take some time,” Sophia tried. Time. It would take a millennium. “I’m willing to try.”

He spun quickly to face her. “I’m so happy to hear that.”

“I’m not of this world, however, so I cannot stay here.”

“But you can come and go at will.” He looked… hopeful.

“Not quite at will. But on the night of the moonful, I can pass through the portal. Unless they oust me from the land of the fae, too. That is still to be determined.”

“The Duke of Robinsworth?” he asked.

She nodded.

“What is your relationship with him?”

“Do you plan to play the role of father now?” she asked.

“I plan to do more than play at it,” he said. Sophia’s heart leapt.

“He was my mission. Or at least his daughter was.”

“Were you able to help them?”

She shrugged. Had she? She wasn’t certain. She hadn’t solved the mystery of his wife’s death. “He plays the pianoforte. So, I was inexplicably drawn to him.” Although, now that she thought about it, the token her mother had left within her was so she could find her parents. Why did Ashley’s music affect her so heartily as well?

“The spell was to bring you to a loved one. One who has the power to love you with heart and soul, my dear,” he informed her, his eyes softening as understanding seeped into her. “Perhaps there’s more to your duke than you think.”

“There’s no such thing as predestination,” she bit out. She refused to believe that she was predestined to find Ashley and forced to love him. Forced to leave her land the way her mother had. Forced to give up any children she and Ashley created. Anger grew and grew within her.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with predestination. I think it’s a spell gone awry. I’m certain your mother didn’t think that you would find us and find a man who loved you all at once when she cast the spell.”

“The very thought is a little absurd, is it not?”

He chuckled. “Nothing is absurd when you’re dealing with the fae.”

Wasn’t it? “I have to go and see Ashley at some point. He has my garden gnome.”

Her father looked perplexed. “Ronald?” he finally asked. “I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“I suppose not,” Sophia said. If he hadn’t seen his children, he certainly wouldn’t have seen Ronald.

“Hateful little creature. Attacked me once in the garden when your mother and I were courting. Thought God had loosed the hounds of hell upon me, and then the little nuisance bit my ankle. I still have a scar.” A grin tipped the corners of his lips despite the vehemence of his tale.

“He’s loyal to a fault.”

“How did Robinsworth end up with him?”

“I’m not certain. But he bade me retrieve him.”

“I’ll accompany you, if you like.”

She smiled at him and shook her head. “I should probably do it myself. I have some things I need to say to him.” She patted his hand this time. “Don’t worry. I’ll take Margaret with me.”

“Margaret wasn’t very adept at keeping your mother out of trouble, if I remember correctly. Perhaps she has gotten more cautious as she has aged.”

“Perhaps.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to have a conversation with Marcus similar to the one that we just had. If I can locate him, that is.” He lumbered to his feet and smiled down at her. “Shall I escort you inside?”

“No, thank you, Lord Ramsdale,” she began. His face fell.

“Will you ever call me Father? Or did we botch things up too badly?”

“I don’t even know how long I’ll be in this world.”

“For quite some time, if your duke has anything to do with it.”

“He’s not my duke,” Sophia began.

“Certainly, he’s not,” he said with a chuckle. Then he bent and placed a chaste, comforting kiss on her forehead. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Yes.” Yes, he would.

“It would serve the little beggar right if you left him there until the end of time,” Margaret groused from where she was bent over Sophia’s valise, packing her belongings.

She absolutely could not leave Ronald with Ashley while they all went back to the land of the fae. He had to be retrieved, and it looked like Sophia would be the one who had to retrieve him. She wanted a moment alone with Lady Anne, regardless. More than a moment. She wanted to solve the puzzle that was her mother’s death for the girl and for Ashley. She couldn’t do any of those things without going to the Hall. “I will retrieve him. Then I will return and we can go back to the fae on the rising-dawn wind, just as we had planned.”

The midnight wind was already swirling. She could feel it in the air. All she had to do was step aboard and she would be back in the land of the fae. They all would. Well, Sophia, Marcus, and Margaret would. Sophia had very little time to say her good-byes to Ashley, speak with Anne, and retrieve Ronald.

Say good-bye to Ashley… She’d be leaving the biggest part of her heart behind when she did. But it couldn’t be avoided. She couldn’t live in his world. And he couldn’t live in hers. When she returned, they would all step aboard the rising-dawn wind and it would be as though they’d never been in the human world.

Sophia picked up her reticule and looked inside. Her vials of dust, in their clear glass bottles, shimmered like diamonds. She might need them. Heaven forefend, she might need all of them. She might also need none of them.

“Stop fretting, Sophia,” her mother said from her chair by the wall. “Everything will work out as it should. You’ll see.”

“I’m not fretting. It’s only Ashley I’m going to visit. Not some mad killer who will chop off my head.”

The corners of her mother’s lips tipped up in a smile. “It’s not your head I’m worried about.”

Margaret grunted from her corner of the room. Nothing more was heard from her. Just a grunt.

Her mother pretended to look affronted. “Now, Margaret, do speak up if you have something to say.” She cupped a hand around her mouth and pretended to whisper, “I never knew Margaret to withhold her feelings on any matter. Has she gotten soft in her old age?”

“She has gotten wise,” Margaret piped up. She shook a finger at Mother. “And you should not encourage her.”

“Not encourage my daughter to follow her heart?” Lady Ramsdale placed a hand upon her chest. “What kind of a mother would I be if I did that?”

Margaret pursed her lips, as though she wanted to say something but withheld it.

“Say it,” Sophia’s mother prompted, her eyes narrowing in challenge. “I dare you.”

Margaret opened her mouth as though to rush into speech but closed it quickly. Then she opened it again and said, “You of all people should recognize the folly in this.”

“The folly in falling in love?” Sophia could tell that her mother was purposefully goading Margaret into speech.

“The folly of giving your love to a man who’s not meant for you.”

“Like I did?” her mother questioned softly.

“The fireflies tell tall tales about you,” Sophia said, trying to break the tension in the room.

Her mother scoffed. “They do love to prattle on about nothing. Always have.” She speared Sophia with a glance. “Pray tell me what they have to say.”

Sophia shrugged. “Just that you committed some heinous crimes and were banished from the fae.”

“It’s a crime to fall in love,” her mother said.

Margaret took a deep breath and then her mouth opened. And words Sophia had never expected to hear tumbled forth. “The crime, my lady, is that your children were raised without a mother and a father.”

Sophia interjected, “Margaret, please hold your tongue.”

But her mother overrode her. “Margaret, please let loose your tongue. It always was razor sharp and viciously wicked. What has changed you, I wonder?”

“You knew the dangers when you chose him.”

Her mother finally jumped to her feet. “Don’t you see? There was never a choice. Not for me. He is the other half of my soul. I gave up my life as I knew it for love. And if offered the same opportunity, I would do it again.”

“You’d abandon them again.” The words slashed like a whip across the room, harsh and painful.

“I. Never. Abandoned. Anyone.” Her mother said the words slowly, and her voice choked with emotion.

Sophia sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “We have already determined the previous course of events. Must we rehash it?”

“Only as a lesson to you, because you’re about to make the same mistake,” Margaret said.

Sophia stepped forward and clutched Margaret’s hands in hers. “I choose the land of the fae, now and always. I choose it over Ashley. Over any life I could have had with him.”

“Yet you go to him for one night.”

Would one night sustain her for a lifetime? Maybe it would.

Sophia sighed heavily and opened the door. She stepped through it and looked back over her shoulder. “I will meet you tomorrow on the rising-dawn wind. We’ll complete our journey together.”

Margaret snorted. “I will believe that when I see you step back into our world.”

“I never left our world. I’m still firmly planted there.”

“You will return one day, Sophia. Won’t you?” her mother asked. Her voice was hopeful and almost afraid.

“To visit you, yes. Of course. Now that I have a mother, I do not plan to stay away from her for long.” Sophia tried to offer an encouraging smile. But returning would be difficult.

“Are you certain you don’t want to take Margaret with you tonight? To keep you from being distracted by his beauty and charm? Or his need for you?”

Perhaps she wanted to be distracted by it. She didn’t answer, and simply hooked her reticule around her wrist and walked down the corridor. Away from her mother. Away from Margaret’s scolding look. Away from her conscience. Away from the land of the fae for one night. When moon sank low in the sky, she would have to leave. There was no other way.

***

Ashley tossed a card onto the growing pile in front of him. Who would have thought a garden gnome could best both him and Finn in a game of whist? He never would have believed it in a million years. Yet the little fellow smirked at them both from across the table, his feet pumping back and forth in front of him, high off the floor.

Finn ran a hand through his hair and tugged it gently. “I can’t believe I let a garden gnome beat me.”

Ronald said, “Pfft! Let me? I think not.”

Finn laid his hands flat on the table and leaned forward toward Ronald. “You are an odious little man.”

“Better to be odious than odiferous,” Ronald replied as he pinched his nose. “You smell like the horse you rode in on.”

“Just because your legs are too short to allow you to mount a horse,” Finn snarled back.

“Too short?” Ronald cried as he jumped to his feet. If Ashley didn’t put a stop to it, they would be at fisticuffs within moments. The same way it had been for the last few days.

“Stop it, both of you,” Ashley snapped. “Watching the two of you is like caring for unruly children. The pair of you need a governess.”

“I’ll take that one you hired for Anne off your hands, Ashley,” Finn said with a rakish grin.

The gnome raised his fists. “You will do no such thing.” He rushed toward Finn.

“Bloody hell,” his brother growled as he stepped to the side to avoid the gnome. “Keep that thing away from me, Robin,” he bellowed.

“Ronald,” Ashley called, using his most imperious tone. The gnome stopped, with Finn’s hand upon the top of his head, holding him back. “Stop tormenting Finn.”

The little fellow adjusted his waistcoat with all the dignity he could muster. “Is that your wish?”

“You know it’s not.”

The gnome growled low beneath his breath. “Blast and damn,” he said. “You have to set me free so I can meet the midnight wind with Sophia. She needs an escort back to the fae.”

“Sophia has been notified that she will have to retrieve you herself if she would like to see you. Two days ago.” Two days of pure hell. Two days of being unable to go to her. Two days doing nothing but look for her arrival. Wishing for it.

Dreading it.

He had a feeling it would be the last time he saw her.

Finn glanced at his watch fob. “It doesn’t look as though she’s coming tonight, either, Robin,” he said with a look of pity on his face. “Shall I escort it back to its chambers?”

Finn had quickly learned that nothing ruffled Ronald’s feathers more than being called “it.” Ashley shot Finn a quelling glance. But Finn just smirked at him.

A soft scratch sounded at the door and Wilkins stepped inside the threshold. Ashley jumped to his feet.

“You could at least try to play hard to get, Robin,” Finn said.

“What is it, Wilkins?” Ashley asked.

“You have a visitor, Your Grace.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s her, Your Grace.”

There were a good many hers he could be referring to. But only one Ashley would give his last breath to see.

“It’s Miss Thorne.” Wilkins looked like he was almost happy about it.

“Thank God,” Finn roared. “Finally, he can stop pacing and looking at the clock. Bring the lady in, Wilkins. Don’t just stand there.”

Ashley really wanted to see her alone. But he had the whole night to do that, didn’t he?

“Your Grace?” Wilkins questioned. He lifted his nose higher in the air and ignored Finn. Finn was better left ignored in most situations.

“By all means, show her in,” Ashley finally choked out.

***

Sophia preceded Wilkins down the corridor and toward Ashley’s study. Her heart beat like mad within her chest, and her lungs refused to take in a full breath of air. Yet, still, she went where the butler led. Because Ashley was at the other end of the journey. She stepped into his library and the room fell silent. He stood with his back to her, looking down at a piece of parchment on his desk. He did not look up. Not when Finn bowed over her fingertips nor when Ronald took her hand and brought it to his lips to greet her.

She forced herself to look down at Ronald. “Are you well?” she asked.

“As well as can be expected after being imprisoned by the dangerous Duke of Robinsworth.” He played with a loose thread on the sleeve of his coat.

Sophia ruffled the tiny tuft of hair on the top of the gnome’s head. “You’re lucky he didn’t consume you in one bite, as small as you are.”

Finally, Ashley looked up, and storm clouds brewed behind his sky-blue eyes. “I save the big bites for those who are not innocent,” he said, his voice low. A shiver walked down her spine. She remembered him saying those very same words to her in his garden the first time they were alone.

She could barely find her tongue. But she forced herself to scoff. “And you think he is innocent? You couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Ronald puffed out his chest with pride. He worked hard at being a libertine at times.

“Wilkins, could you see Ronald to his chambers?” Ashley asked. He still hadn’t greeted her. He still hadn’t touched her hand. She wanted desperately for him to say or do something.

“Back to my chambers,” the gnome grumbled.

“Don’t worry,” Sophia assured him. “I’ll be along to collect you shortly.”

He skulked away with Wilkins at his side. Wilkins poked a finger at him in warning. “Don’t even consider trying to trip me. You remember who won the last time.”

When they were gone, Sophia looked from Ashley to Finn. Finn appeared as though he had no intention of leaving.

“Good night, Finn,” Ashley said loudly, not taking his eyes from Sophia’s. His gaze was locked with hers.

Finn started for the door, mumbling, “I can tell when I’m not wanted.”

It wasn’t until the door clicked shut behind him that Ashley reached for her.