Magic In The Storm (10 page)

“But when it comes to his mother...” Adriana
said, not taking her eyes off of him.

“Exactly,” Miss Havelock said, not even
waiting for Adriana to finish her sentence.

How odd that she knew just what she was
thinking, Adriana mused. It was lovely in a way. It made her feel
close to Miss Havelock, even though they had only known each other
about a week.

“But she holds nothing over him. She has no
need to, I assure you,” Miss Havelock finished. She paused for a
moment and then asked gently, “Do you ask that from experience? Are
you being forced into marriage with my cousin?”

Adriana dropped her gaze to her own hands
clasped tightly in her lap. “My guardian has told me if I don’t
marry Lord Vallentyn, he will destroy all of my paintings and never
allow me to paint again.” A tightness began to well up in the base
of her throat, but she swallowed it and went on, “Painting is my
one joy in life, it is the only thing that makes me happy. He knows
this and uses it to control me. He always has.” She was unable to
keep her mind from straying to the only other thing that had ever
made her truly happy—Morgan. “I thought perhaps your aunt had some
sort of similar hold over Lord Vallentyn,” she finished.

Miss Havelock’s grip on Adriana’s arm
tightened consolingly and Adriana was surprised to see tears well
up in her new friend’s eyes. She blinked them away. “No, Aunt
Vallentyn does not need to resort to such tactics. I am so sorry
your guardian threatens you in this way.”

Adriana could only nod. Her throat was
beginning to constrict, even as she held her own tears in
check.

Miss Havelock sat in quiet sympathy while
Adriana gathered her emotions together. Then she asked, “Were you
successful yesterday afternoon with your search?”

A rush of heat and good feelings suffused
Adriana as she allowed her mind to dwell on Morgan and remember
their encounter earlier that day.

Adriana had built up the courage to ask Miss
Havelock about Morgan the day before, but all she had said was that
Adriana must find out for herself. Now she was very glad she had
followed that advice. She smiled and opened her mouth to tell Miss
Havelock that she had, in fact, met Morgan when suddenly she found
she could not call forth her voice. She did not know what was
wrong.

She tried again, and then thought to move her
hand to her throat.

She could not move! She couldn’t even nod her
head to indicate she had found him. She couldn’t do anything.

Her heart began to pound in her chest and she
thought her head would explode from the tension building up. She
was frozen with fear and... and she did not know what.

Help!
She screamed out in her mind.
Oh God, help me!

Her eyes must have shown her distress, for
immediately Miss Havelock grasped tightly on to her hands. “It is
all right, Adriana. Do not fight it. Be calm. Just take a deep
breath and relax.” Miss Havelock’s hazel eyes looked directly into
Adriana’s as she said the words again more softly.

Adriana did not break the eye contact. She
was not sure she could if she wanted to, but she did
not
want to because what she saw in Miss Havelock’s eyes was kindness
and concern. Like someone who was drowning, Adriana held on to Miss
Havelock’s gaze as a life support. A calming heat from her hands
slipped up Adriana’s arms and filled her chest and throat. She
could feel her heartbeat slow, and the pain in her head reduced to
a dull throb.

Adriana felt the invisible force fade away.
Tentatively, she opened her mouth. “What...what happened?” she
whispered, but couldn’t keep the tremors from it. “I couldn’t move,
I couldn’t speak!”

“It is all right. Did someone, my aunt
perhaps, tell you not to speak of him?”

Adriana’s throat tightened again as if it
were about to make it so she couldn’t speak again. But before she
lost her voice altogether, she quickly whispered, “Not Lady
Vallentyn.”

Miss Havelock’s eyes went wide. “Was it
Morgan then?”

Adriana tried to nod, but her muscles had
formed knots in her neck and again she couldn’t move. She tried
hard not to panic a second time, forcing herself to take deep
breaths and pushing down her fear.

Miss Havelock smiled and gave her hands a
reassuring squeeze. “I will take that for a yes. It is all right, I
understand. Do not even try to speak of him. And I promise not to
ask you any more questions.” She paused and drew her eyebrows down,
a look of worry coming into her eyes. “How did he manage to put a
suggestion into your mind? I shall have to ask him how he did
it.”

“Do you know...?” Adriana couldn’t believe
that Miss Havelock knew Morgan. Why hadn’t she said anything when
Adriana had asked?

“I am so sorry that I couldn’t say anything
yesterday,” Miss Havelock said quickly. “I did so want to, but it
is forbidden to tell anyone about him who doesn’t know him. The
same thing would have happened to me that just happened to you. But
the two of you have met now, so I can...” She stopped, her eyes
darting over to Lady Vallentyn, who had now moved over to the table
and was helping Lord Devaux and Lord Vallentyn to more tea.

“It is still unwise to speak of him within my
aunt’s hearing,” she said, her voice barely audible . She let go of
Adriana’s hands just as Lady Vallentyn looked over toward them.

“Would you care for some tea, Miss Hayden?”
Lady Vallentyn asked in her overly sweet, unctuous voice.

Adriana took another deep calming breath
before she could trust her voice not to give away any of her inner
turmoil of just a moment ago. Oh, how she would love a cup to quiet
her nerves! “No, thank you very much, ma’am,” She replied, not
trusting her hands not to shake and spill it.

“Katrina?”

“No, thank you, Aunt Vallentyn.”

As Lady Vallentyn turned back to the
gentlemen, each sitting straight–backed in one of the matching
chairs formally arranged around the tea table, Miss Havelock gave
Adriana’s hands one more quick, reassuring squeeze. But Adriana’s
mind could not be soothed so easily. Something had happened,
something Miss Havelock knew about and understood, but Adriana did
not.

And that frightened her nearly as much.

<><><>

Adriana sat on a pretty wooden bench at the
edge of the formal garden the following morning with a small box of
water color paints on the bench next to her. She had secretly
brought them with her, and when she had learned Lord Devaux would
be out all morning with Lord Vallentyn, she could not resist taking
them out. In her lap was her sketchbook.

Very carefully, she added the final touches
to the painting she had been working on—a single pink rose,
glistening with moisture and hope.

The person for whom the painting had been
intended slowly walked up the path toward her. Miss Havelock looked
particularly pretty this morning, wearing a peach–colored dress
that brought out the natural pink of her cheeks and accented the
beauty of her chestnut colored hair.

She stopped and closed her parasol as she
approached Adriana, who sat in the shade of a large elm tree. “Good
morning, Miss Hayden. What are you working on?”

“A present for a friend,” Adriana said,
smiling up at her. She then put the final touch on the rose and
signed her name to the bottom of the page.

Miss Havelock bent her head to see. She
gasped with pleasure. “Oh, how beautiful! Oh, Miss Hayden, that
is...” She stopped speaking, her mouth open just a little, as if at
a loss for words.

She then looked to Adriana curiously.
“How...? Is that for me?”

“Yes! How did you know?” Adriana laughed.

“I... I don’t know...” Her new friend was
finally at a loss. She looked just like Adriana imagined herself to
look when Miss Havelock sensed how she was feeling or knew what she
was thinking.

“You are sounding very much like me, Miss
Havelock,” Adriana giggled.

“Oh, please call me Kat, and I shall call you
by your given name as well.”

Adriana smiled. “Of course, I am very happy
to. Now will you tell me how you knew this was for you, or is that
another one of those questions I should not ask?”

Kat looked perplexed for a minute, clearly
trying to figure out the puzzle. “Well, I... I could feel it. Is
that right? I could feel you had painted it for me. And you have
painted in such beauty and—and hope and happiness!”

Had she painted in happiness? Adriana
supposed that she had, since she had felt that way while she had
painted the picture. Or perhaps Kat could just feel it now that
they were together.

“It is to thank you for being so kind to me
last night, and yesterday morning as well. Late last night, when I
couldn’t sleep for thinking about what had happened to me in the
evening, I realized that if you had not been there, if I had been
trying to speak with anyone else, I would have been in terrible
trouble. You were so good and kind. You calmed my fears and helped
me. This painting is just a small way for me to thank you.”

Kat impulsively reached out and grasped
Adriana’s hand. “I am so glad I was able to help. And I would be
happy to do so again, in any way you need me.”

Adriana gave Kat’s hand a squeeze. “Thank
you. I can’t tell you how much that means to me. The only friend
I’ve ever had is my companion, Henrietta. Now, I would be honored
if I could call you friend as well.”

“Of course! Morgan is my only friend, and as
you know, he cannot be spoken of. It can be difficult for me to see
him at times, since my aunt usually keeps me very busy here. I do
try to visit him as often as I can, though.”

“You, you are very close?” A slice of pain
bit into her heart. The thought of Morgan looking at anyone else
the way he looked at her the previous day made her sick to her
stomach. He had said she was special, but perhaps he said that to
every woman...

“We are good friends only,” Kat said quickly.
“I assure you. We grew up together. He’s like a brother to me.”

The pain eased, and Adriana’s stomach muscles
relaxed. Adriana even managed to smile and nod her head. “Thank you
for explaining.” She couldn’t believe the sudden anger that had
assailed her. She had never felt such a thing about anyone before.
She paused to calm herself down and then asked, “Are not you and
Lord Vallentyn close friends?”

Kat thought about that for a moment, and then
said, “Vallentyn is much older than I am, and he’s always been so
busy with his estates. Caroline and Susan are closest in age to me,
but both are rather empty headed, I’m afraid.”

Adriana looked questioning at Kat. “Caroline
and Susan?”

Kat laughed for a moment. “Vallentyn’s
sisters. Did you not know? He has five sisters.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t know!” Adriana said, rather
grateful for the change in topic.

Kat nodded absently, “They’re all married
now.” She was looked intently at the painting sitting on Adriana’s
lap, and then up at the house as if expecting someone to be
there.

The beauty of the ancient abbey was certainly
not lost on Adriana, but somehow she didn’t feel compelled to
sketch it. It was too... heavy, she decided, too closed and too
cold. While still formal, at least the gardens held some feeling of
warmth and openness to them.

“May I take the painting? I am very selfish
and do not wish to share it with anyone!”

Adriana laughed. “Of course. Just be careful,
the paint is not fully dry yet. And I really must put away my
paints before Lord Devaux comes back and finds out that you have
seen my work.”

“Is no one allowed to even see your
paintings?” Kat asked a little incredulously.

“No. Lord Devaux doesn’t like my work. I’m
afraid he is embarrassed by it because it is too emotional.”

“Oh. Well, I will take this upstairs before
anyone sees it, then,” she said, indicating the picture resting
delicately on her hand.

They walked together back to the abbey, but
stopped short as soon as they entered the rear of the great hall.
Standing directly in front of the grand staircase were Lord Devaux
and Lady Vallentyn.

Adriana began to back away. The last thing
she wanted was to be caught by her guardian with her paint box in
her hands, but his words stopped her.

“My dear Lady Vallentyn, I would be honored
if you would join me for a walk in the garden this evening—after
dinner perhaps?” Lord Devaux was asking, looking up into Lady
Vallentyn’s face with a smile that made Adriana’s skin crawl. What
could he possibly be up to?

The lady looked at the diminutive man with a
look of contempt. “I thought I had made it clear that I am not
interested in your puny aspirations.”

Lord Devaux lost his smile. “Puny... I will
have you know, my lady, that I am a major player in Parliamentary
politics. A major player! Why, I might very well end up as Prime
Minister one day...”

“Which is why I am allowing my son to marry
your ward,” Lady Vallentyn interrupted Lord Devaux’s rant, her
voice quiet, but filled with contempt. “But that does not mean I
will subject myself to suffering
your
attentions.”

Kat’s mouth dropped open, but she quickly
covered it, hiding her smile.

“Well, you will have to suffer my attentions
if you wish for your son to marry Adriana! I can put a stop to this
marriage without a moment’s hesitation,” Lord Devaux
threatened.

His face began to turn a rather alarming
shade of red, but he snapped his fingers to show just how quickly
he could put an end to the engagement. Silently, Adriana applauded
him. Oh, if only he would carry out his threat!

Lady Vallentyn exuded menace and anger, then
took a step closer to Lord Devaux. Locking her eyes onto his, she
said in a deep penetrating voice, “Adriana will marry Vallentyn.
You will ensure that she does. No matter what you have to do, you
will see to it that this marriage takes place.”