Ghost of Christmas Past (6 page)

“
She lives in my old hunting lodge in Leicestershire. As you
know, the injuries she sustained in the accident were severe. They
have taken a long time to heal and she has had a mammoth battle to
even get to the point where she can manage to live with them.
However, she still refuses to join society. I have sent her many
invitations to visit me here but she has refused all of them. She
is very independent and reluctant to accept help from anyone other
than her maid, Tilly.” His frustration rang clearly in his
voice.

“
There is just Thea and Tilly in the house?” Rupert wanted to
ask if she was married. The question hovered on his lips and he
wondered if John could read it in his eyes.

“
No. She has a housekeeper, Agatha. Agatha’s husband, Bertie
looks after the grounds and does the fetching and carrying for the
ladies.” John sighed and downed his drink in one fortifying gulp.
After refilling both goblets, he settled back in his chair. “I
don’t know if I would cope as admirably as she does, I can tell
you.” There was a wealth of meaning in the man’s words that warned
Rupert there was more to the story.

“
Has she managed to walk again?”

“
Yes she has,” John replied to Rupert’s immense relief. “Most
days she only has a slight limp, but still struggles to manage
anything other than a steady walk. However she is up and
about.”

Rupert
lifted his brows at that and studied John carefully. “What about
Weatherby? Why did she not move there, even for the short term? I
know her mother was there but, given the nature of Thea’s injuries,
and the fact that house is big enough to accommodate both Thea and
Frances without either of them needing to even set eyes on each
other, surely it would have been a better option than allowing her
to live by herself with nobody but staff to support
her?”

John
shook his head slowly. “She loves the house but I think she
believes that if she did return, her mother would reappear and
demand to live there too and Thea has had enough to contend
with.”

“
Would she manage the stairs alright? I mean, she can walk but
is she able to go up and down the stairs freely?”

“
She can manage stairs perfectly well although takes her time,
obviously,” John replied with a smile. “I think that emotionally
she didn’t want any more aggravation from her mother and returning
to Weatherby, which is a big house for someone to live in by
themselves, would leave her vulnerable.”

“
Her mother would prey on Thea’s vulnerability.” It wasn’t a
question. Frances would have no hesitation in milking any
opportunity to fleece Thea and remain at Weatherby if she could get
away with it. “Where is Frances now?”

“
I packed her off to a small house in the Cotswolds. It isn’t
the large, grand house she is used to but it was the only one on
offer,” John reported dryly. It was good to be able to confide in
Rupert, and have his curiosity. It showed that the man still had an
interest in the family, and where there was interest there was
hope.

“
That must have pleased her immensely,” Rupert sighed ruefully
and shared a knowing look with John.

“
She was just like a bear with a sore behind when I forced her
out of the main house. I informed her that it was far too big for
one person to live in. Even if she could afford to remain there,
which she couldn’t, it was my house and I wasn’t prepared to allow
her to reside in such splendour given the way she had treated Thea.
I give her a small stipend and insisted that she reside in the
Cotswolds and start to live within her means.”

Rupert
sucked in a breath through his teeth at the thought of the woman’s
reaction to such a travesty and his suspicions were proven correct
at John’s next words.

“
She fought it and argued vociferously for the right to stay
but, eventually, I got her to move out while Thea was still
recovering. At first I thought that she had given up relatively
easily and disappeared off to the Cotswolds as instructed. However,
to my consternation, as soon as I moved back to London, Frances
moved back into Weatherby. I received a letter from the very
confused butler there who was struggling to understand what was
going on. I had to pay a return visit and oversee the house being
closed down to ensure that Frances understood she was no longer
welcome to reside at Weatherby. I also threatened her with trespass
if I found her in the house again. Unfortunately, because Thea was
bored at the time, I told her all of this without thinking. I think
it has been part of the reason why she has not wanted to return. I
have ensured that Weatherby is Thea’s but she refuses to reside
there because I think she feels Frances will get wind her opening
the house up again and turn up on the doorstep with her
suitcase.”

“
Why Leicestershire? I mean, what is the connection with that
part of the county? I know you had a hunting lodge there, but Thea
could have chosen somewhere closer to London.” Rupert mentally
cursed. He had been in Leicestershire only last week. For all he
knew her house could have been one of the cottages in the
nondescript little village he had been standing in. He had been in
the same county as her and hadn’t known it. He took a sip of his
drink and studied the fire in the hearth for several long
moments.

John
leaned forward in his chair. “What are you plans for the
future?”

Rupert
studied the man carefully. Was he asking what Rupert’s plans were
with regards to Thea? Or was he asking just to make
conversation?

“
I have some work to carry out here and then will move on to
wherever my next mission takes me. After that, I am not entirely
sure.”

“
Have you ever considered leaving the Star Elite, and, say,
taking up something mundane like running an estate?”

“
Have you been speaking to my father?” Rupert drawled almost
ruefully only to frown at the searching look John gave
him.

“
Only last week actually. He is keen for you to at least visit
Bainbridge Hall again, Rupert, but has Bainbridge running like
clockwork as you know. Even though you are obviously determined not
to take over running the estate, you are still the man’s son and he
wants to see you.”

Rupert
frowned and thought over their conversation carefully. He wondered
if he had missed something but hated to ask John, a veritable
stranger, if his father was in good health. If he was any son at
all, the least he could do was gather that particular piece of
information for himself. It galled him to think that he had no idea
what had happened at Bainbridge while he had been away, and
couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to him over the last
four years; to his capacity to think and feel anything for anyone
beyond himself. Had his time in the Star Elite just exacerbated his
emotional isolation?

“
I have a job to do here before I think about returning home,”
Rupert replied coldly. Deep inside though, he knew that John was
right.

Although
he had been cast out of his own family who had happily declared him
the black sheep of the family, John Weatherby had proven himself to
be anything but a down and out wastrel. Through his ownership of a
chain of cotton mills in Yorkshire, he had made himself a veritable
fortune which had been invested wisely, and had turned him into one
of London’s most generous philanthropists. If he gave advice,
Rupert needed to listen to it.

“
I know, I am not suggesting for one moment that you put
everything to one side with the Star Elite and head home. I am just
recommending that you consider returning to Bainbridge for a visit.
After all, your father is not getting any younger.” John sighed and
placed his elbows on his knees. “We all do things we regret,
Rupert. God knows I have made my fair share of wrong decisions and
have hurt people I care about by doing so. I know I am prying, and
you are at liberty to tell me to mind my own business if you want
to, but I just don’t want you to take anything for granted, that’s
all. Make peace with the past and you will find the future will
open up a whole host of opportunities for you that you never
considered possible.”

Rupert
wondered if he was talking about Thea, Bainbridge, or
himself.

“
I will consider it before I take on my next mission,” he
relented, and smiled carefully to hide his concern. Why did John
want him to go to Bainbridge? It wasn’t as if the man had a long
history with the family. If he hadn’t met John through his
association with Thea, Rupert would never have known he existed at
all yet John had said that he was a friend of his fathers. Why had
his father never mentioned it?

Now,
here he was, sitting in the man’s study, drinking fine brandy and
having lectures on what to do with his own family. It should irk
him. If anyone else of his acquaintance had had the temerity to
interfere in his family business they would have been told where to
go. With John however, he found it impossible to find the will to
be angry at him. The man had been the key reason why Rupert hadn’t
been able to gain access to Thea after the accident. Rupert
shouldn’t even be speaking to him let alone taking advice from him.
However, Thea was too damned important to him to turn his back on
John completely.

“
Well, I am going to bid you goodnight. I have a lot of work
to do in the morning.”

“
I hope you will give some thought to what I have said, and I
hope that I haven’t caused any offense by being so bold as to issue
advice.”

John
rose and held his hand out in a friendly gesture. There was an
almost companionable atmosphere between them as Rupert walked into
the hallway. Given the lateness of the hour, John himself
accompanied him to see him out and stood beside the front door
while Rupert quickly donned his cloak.

As John
opened the door, the loud gunfire that broke the silence changed
both of their lives once more.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Rupert spun
around at the sound of the loud bang. He rushed to the door where
John was staring blankly down at the growing red stain on the left
side of his chest. His years of training immediately snapped into
place and, within seconds, he yanked John out of sight of the road
and slammed the heavy door closed to protect them from the gunman
outside. John all but slumped into his arms and began to groan as
he was carefully lowered to the floor.

Rupert
cursed his lapse of attention. The procedure for opening any door
was something he had learned from his early days with the Star
Elite. It had been rank stupidity to allow John to see him out;
even though he owned the house. Now, thanks to Rupert’s
pre-occupation with the emotional draw of the past, Thea’s only
surviving relative of note had been shot and badly
injured.

Movement
in the hallway behind him drew his attention. Argus, John’s butler,
still dressed in his nightshirt, was hurrying toward
them.

“
Get some water and blankets,” Rupert demanded harshly. “If
you are alright for a minute, I am going to get a doctor. Stay
inside and lock the door behind me. When I come back I will knock
three times. If you don’t get three knocks then don’t answer the
door.” He didn’t wait for the butler’s nod of agreement before he
pushed to his feet and raced out of the door. As he flew down the
steps to the pavement, he caught sight of a dark, nondescript
carriage turning slowly out of the end of the road. He glanced up
and down the empty street but it was too late to race after the
carriage. It would be out of the area before he even got to the end
of the row of large town houses. Besides, John needed help, and
quickly.

The hour
was late and it took far too long to get the doctor to answer his
door. By the time he returned to John’s house with the doctor in
tow, the growing pool of blood the butler had failed to stem
covered a large area around John’s unconscious body. The gravity on
the doctor’s face said everything and together, the men carried
John up the stairs to the master bedroom in worried
silence.

Having
fought on battlefields, Rupert was no stranger to death and
destruction, and had seen more than his fair share of injuries,
primarily gunshot injuries. However, he still struggled to control
the shaking in his hands as he helped the doctor dig the bullet out
and held the wound closed while the wound was sewn. It was nearly
dawn by the time the Doctor Malder shook his head sadly at Rupert
and washed the last of the blood off his hands.

“
If he has any relatives, I would suggest that they pay a
visit.”

“
I don’t know where she is,” Rupert sighed. He should have
pushed John for the details while they had been in front of the
fire. Now, thanks to the man’s reluctance; well, both of their
reluctance really, he faced a race against time to find her before
John succumbed to his injuries. When the doctor pulled some
laudanum out of his bag, Rupert moved toward the bed.

“
John? Can you hear me?” He leaned over to look down into the
man’s pale face.

John’s
lids fluttered before slowly lifting to reveal eyes that were
filled with pain. “Thea,” John whispered, in a voice that was reed
thin.

“
Where is she, John? I need to go and find her.”