A Lady of Secret Devotion (32 page)

She awoke with a start sometime in the night. Something had made a noise downstairs. In fact, it rather sounded like pans being dropped. She strained to listen. The house was now quiet, and even Elida seemed to be in a deep sleep across the room.

“I’m just being silly.” Cassie closed her eyes and tried to relax.

She drew a deep breath and folded and unfolded her arms from across her waist, but it did little to help. Cassie tried to pray, knowing that God had a plan in all of this. Still, she worried about whether doing such a thing was putting God to a foolish test.

Thoughts of her mother and Mr. Westmoreland came to mind. She smiled at the memory of her mother’s cheerful spirit.

She had seemed years younger from the moment Westmoreland entered their house. Could there be a future for them?

“Would I want a future for them?” she murmured aloud.

The thought of her mother remarrying had never really entered her mind. It would be strange to have another man in the life of her mother and sister.

“Elida seemed to like him well enough,” Cassie mused. “Of course, string tricks performed by a dinner guest are one thing. Instruction and rebuke by a new father are quite another.”

She looked at her sleeping sister. Cassie felt sad for the girl. She had no memories of a father’s love. Every time a man came into her life, she seemed starved for the affection he offered. Hadn’t Cassie seen that with Mark? Elida was always dogging their heels if the opportunity presented itself. She would sit and hang on Mark’s every word and drink up the slightest bit of attention he offered.

A father might be exactly what Elida needed. A strong, godly man would make her feel safe and protected. He would do the same for her mother. Mr. Westmoreland at least shared a past with her mother. That familiarity would give them something upon which to build a relationship.

“They both have lost their mates,” Cassie reasoned. “They understand marriage and what compromises are required.” She laughed at herself and silently chided her thoughts. After all, she’d never been married and the knowledge of such a relationship was truly only something she had witnessed secondhand.

She thought of Mark and what it would be like to be his wife. Could she make him a good wife? Could she compromise when necessary? What if she failed to please him? She wasn’t a very good cook. The poor man might well starve to death if they weren’t wealthy enough to hire help.

Cassie closed her eyes, willing her mind to calm. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and the issues of the day would press her in every direction. She would need her rest.

It seemed she’d only just dozed off, however, when something woke Cassie again. She yawned and struggled to come completely awake. Getting up, she went to the open window and gazed out. Nothing seemed amiss.

She yawned yet again and made her way back to bed. It was then that she caught the tiniest whiff of smoke. She craned her neck and breathed deeply. As far as she knew, no one had lit a fire in the house. It was much too warm. Of course, Mrs.

Jameston was given to chills.

Cassie pulled a shawl around her nightgown. She would go check on the older woman and see if there was a problem.

If Mrs. Jameston had started a fire in her hearth, she might have forgotten to open the flue.

Elida moaned and rolled over in bed as Cassie opened the door. Smoke billowed into the room, stinging Cassie’s eyes and choking her. Immediately Cassie slammed the door closed.

Panic coursed through her. There was a fire in the house!

She quickly woke up her sister. Elida protested the rude awakening and sat up, pushing Cassie back. “What’s happening? Why did you shake me?”

“The house is on fire,” Cassie said as calmly as she could.

“We must get out.”

The words caused Elida to immediately jump up from the bed. “Fire? Where’s Mama?”

“I must help the others. I have no idea if the stairs are on fire or where exactly the danger is.”

“Don’t leave me,” Elida said, clinging to Cassie’s side.

“I won’t. Come with me. We’ll see if we can find the easiest way out. I’ll need to wake up the others. We haven’t much time. Pull the sheet from the bed.”

Elida did as instructed while Cassie went to the pitcher of water on their nightstand. She doused the material as soon as Elida brought it to her. “We will use this to help against the smoke and . . . flames.”

“I’m scared,” Elida said, her voice cracking.

“We must be brave. Pray and ask God for strength.” Cassie pulled Elida with her and wrapped the wet sheet around them both. “Get down low. The smoke isn’t as bad near the floor.”

“Are we going to die?”

Cassie felt a surge of protective power come over her. She tightened her grip on Elida. “No. I won’t let that happen. Come on!”

Chapter 26

C
assie stood across the street with her family and watched as the flames danced high in the night sky. Minute by minute, a lifetime of memories was rendered to ashes and soot.

The fire department battled to see the blaze put out, but there was little hope of saving much. Neighbors had come outside to offer what help they could. Having escaped with only the clothes on their backs, the women had need of nearly everything.

Mrs. Jameston had been taken inside by the Radissons while Cassie’s mother accepted a dressing gown from someone and remained outside. Elida clung to her even now, the wet sheet still wrapped around her body. Tears streamed down their faces as the dawn of new day revealed the destruction in full light.

Suspicion raged in Cassie’s mind like a maelstrom. It pulled in every rational thought and refused to calm even for a moment. Sebastian Jameston was behind this fire. Cassie was certain of it. Only her anger served to keep her from collapsing into sobs.

Twenty minutes had passed since Cassie had sent a man to notify Mark. She had no doubt that he would arrive as soon as possible. They would need a carriage in order to transport Mrs. Jameston, and she had issued the suggestion that Mark might ride his horse to the Jameston house and awaken Wills in the carriage house. Cassie had never felt so alone.

“Such a terrible ordeal,” Mrs. Radisson said, coming to stand behind Cassie. “Here, I thought you could use this.” She handed Cassie a man’s robe.

“Thank you.” The words didn’t sound like they were her own.They certainly lacked the emotion that threatened to rage out at any moment.

Cassie pulled on the robe, finding it several sizes larger than her frame. She tied it securely, all while searching the street for some sign of Mark. The entire area seemed alive with people and noise. The activity had brought the entire neighborhood to life much earlier than most mornings. There was a great deal of conversation and speculation about what had happened and why the fire had started, but Cassie held her tongue. The image of Sebastian Jameston haunted her. She would make him pay for this. She would make him pay for taking away her mother’s security.

“There’s Mr. Langford,” Elida called out and pointed down the cobblestone street.

Cassie looked and found Mark pressing through the crowd on Portland. She left her mother’s side and went to meet him.

“Cassie! Did everyone get out?” Mark called as he dismounted.

She rushed into his arms and then her own tears could not stop flowing. “Yes, everyone is safe. Oh, Mark. I’m so glad you came.”

He held her close, whispering comfort in her ear as she sobbed. “It will be all right. I promise you. I’m here now. It will be all right.”

Cassie pulled away. “He did this. I know he did.” She had no need to explain. Mark’s expression immediately registered understanding.

“Are you certain?”

“What else could have done such a thing?”

“Fires do happen, Cassie. Besides, Jameston had no way of knowing that you were here. Mrs. Jameston’s letter would have led him elsewhere.”

She shook her head. “It would have led him to Dr. Riley, who would in turn have told him that his mother had refused to go to the spa. It may sound ridiculous, but I know it was him. I feel it. Remember—he once threatened to burn the house down around his mother and me.”

Mark’s features darkened. “If that’s the case, we need to rethink our plans. You certainly can’t go back to that house— not so long as he is there.”

“He’s tried to kill us. He won’t stop now. No matter where we go. Mark, we have to trap him now. We cannot allow him to strike again.”

“How are your mother and the others?” Mark stroked her cheek, wiping at the wetness there.

“Shaken. Mrs. Jameston is resting inside our neighbor’s house. Ada is with her. Elida and Mother are just over there.

Mother wouldn’t leave the scene. She’s watched the fire ever since we escaped.”

“August is on his way. He’ll be able to offer her some assistance. In the meantime, we need to get you all inside. If Jameston did do this with the intent of killing you, then he now knows that you aren’t dead. He wouldn’t leave it to chance.

He’d have men watching, or he’d be watching himself.”

Cassie nodded. “I’m sure you’re right. I hadn’t thought about it.”

Mark led her to where her mother and sister stood. Portland walked behind them and, to Cassie’s surprise, gave her a feeling of protection rather than fear.

“The fire is out for the most part,” Cassie’s mother told them as they rejoined her. “Everything is gone.”

“August is on his way with a carriage. He said to tell you that you could come and stay at the boardinghouse. Nancy is preparing rooms for you now.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry about this,” Cassie said, hugging her mother close. “This is all my fault.”

“Nonsense. It’s a fire,” her mother said, shaking her head.

Cassie looked at Mark. He shook his head as if to warn her from speaking. “Look,” he said, “here comes August now.”

Cassie turned to find the stout man driving a team of blacks. He maneuvered the carriage through the people who were by now starting to thin out and head back to their own homes. When Westmoreland reached them, he threw on the brake and jumped from the driver’s seat in one fluid motion.

“Dora, are you all right?” He went to Cassie’s mother and took hold of her shoulders.

Cassie thought her mother looked so small against the man’s barrel chest. So small and helpless. Jameston could have killed her, taken her and Elida from Cassie forever. Her mother fell against Mr. Westmoreland in tears.

Cassie clenched her jaw and squeezed her hands into fists. “I want him to pay. If Sebastian Jameston did this, I want him to pay.”

Mark took hold of her arm. “He will, Cassie. Believe me.”

Mark observed Cassie as she sat across from her mother at Mrs. Jameston’s breakfast table. It had been the older woman’s idea that they all return to her home. They would act as if nothing had ever been amiss with their hasty retreat from the mansion. They would also mention having stayed at the Stover house and then share details of the horrible fire. If Sebastian thought they would play into his game of fear, Mrs. Jameston declared, he could just think again.

“So you believe as Cassie does—that your son had something to do with the fire?” Dora Stover asked her hostess.

“I do. It’s exactly in keeping with his previous threat. I mean to expose him.” Her tone made no question of her disgust. She appeared stronger than Mark could ever remember seeing her.

“How do you hope to accomplish that?” Mark asked. He had accompanied the ladies to the mansion, fearing that Sebastian Jameston would be there to harm them. However, upon their arrival, Brumley announced that Mr. Jameston had been gone from the house since the previous afternoon.

“If I know my son, he will make the announcement without much prodding. He’s no doubt proud of his accomplishment, and once he hears us talking about it as if it were nothing more than an accident, he will have to set the record straight and take the glory for his work.”

Mark nodded. It sounded reasonable, given the type of person Jameston had proven himself to be. “But once he does that, the danger will be greater than ever. You will have to get him to confess to his role in your poisoning and the death of Richard. Westmoreland is on his way even now with his friends. Once they are in place and Sebastian confesses, they will take him into custody. It might prove to be very dangerous, Mrs. Jameston.”

“I understand. However, it cannot be more dangerous than what we’ve already faced. Cassie and her family might have been killed because of me. I intend to put an end to this once and for all.”

“I’m glad Elida fell back to sleep,” Cassie’s mother said, shaking her head. “I would hate for her to hear any of this.

She’s so upset about losing her beloved dolls.”

“She doesn’t need to know the details,” Cassie assured. “And the dolls can be replaced.”

“Oh goodness, yes,” Mrs. Jameston declared. “I intend to replace the house and everything in it. It was because of me that the fire was set.”

“I cannot let you take that responsibility,” Cassie’s mother countered.

“Look, all of this can be dealt with at another time,” Mark interjected. “The important thing is to get the information needed and resolve this problem once and for all.”

“I’d still feel better if Mother and Elida were able to stay elsewhere. Mr. Jameston isn’t going to have any compunction about hurting them. He’s proven that.”

“I agree.” Mark took in Cassie’s worried face and smiled. “Mr. Westmoreland and I discussed it. We will have them driven back to his boardinghouse. They can stay there with his sister and the other boarders.”

“But what about Cassie?” her mother asked. “She’ll be in danger as well.”

Mark nodded. “She’ll be under my watch the entire time. You needn’t worry. She will have less to concern herself with if she knows you and Elida are safe.”

Cassie squared her shoulders and gave a slight nod. “It’s true. I’ll be able to completely concentrate on helping Mrs. Jameston.”

“Excuse me,” Brumley interrupted. “Mr. Westmoreland and his friends have arrived. They are being taken upstairs.”

Mark reached out to squeeze Cassie’s hand. “And so it begins.”