The Ghost Who Loved Me (13 page)

The thought of Edward discovering his part in all of this kept him awake at night. The one who hired him threatened to expose him if he ever tried to warn Edward and Elizabeth of what came for them.

Simon kept silent of it, but only because he couldn’t bear to lose Edward’s love. For the first time in his life he was truly happy. All of that would disappear if Edward learned he was nothing more than an opportunist hired to entrap him.

In the end, all happened for a reason. Edward took his advice in regard to handling his wife’s latest transgression. Elizabeth was spirited out of harm’s way. His accomplice didn’t know he was cleverly undermining the whole matter.

His partner was working another mark at the moment. Simon breathed a sigh of relief the last time they met in the city, knowing his accomplice might have relented in blackmailing Edward if only to set sights on another.

Common sense warned Simon his partner in this wouldn’t be content with only the present mark he was working. His partner wanted a large chunk of the staggering wealth that was Westerleigh.

Eyes would turn once more to Edward, he knew. All Simon could was pray that they fled the country by then and the man he adored would never learn the truth about him.

Elizabeth arrived in London a few hours earlier than anticipated. She took refreshment in a tea house to wait for her train. She was aware of the scrutiny she received while there. The open speculation of her presence in London was noted by those who must have questioned her banishment to Westerleigh.

Elizabeth cringed to know what they must be thinking, nodding to those she knew politely, looking away. That was when she glanced out the window and saw Anthony.

Her heart lurched in her chest in denial. She looked out the window and saw him walking with a tall pretty blonde woman at his side. They were talking and laughing. Pain filled her eyes to know that was the American heiress he was to marry.

Surprisingly, Elizabeth felt little jealousy as she watched them move off down the walkway. She finished her tea and left the establishment, her heart aching if only to know what a fool she was.

James was right.

Anthony was not pining for her, quite the opposite. He wasn’t planning to storm Westerleigh and come to her rescue either. He was going on with his life as she asked him to do.

Elizabeth was grateful for the time before her train arrived to collect her thoughts, mildly depressed by what she saw. She was determined to put her feelings for Anthony aside, knowing it was for the best for all involved.

She arrived in York late in the afternoon. She was met there by her older brother George, who stood somberly on the platform when her train pulled into the station.

He looked much like her father with his thick dark brown hair and pale blue eyes. He was dressed impeccably as always, consulting his timepiece in annoyance as he waited.

George didn’t fail to see she travelled unaccompanied from London. She explained at length that Annie was visiting her family in London, cringing from her proper brother’s outraged expression to see her arrive alone.

Her brother was as stringent and as unyielding as their mother and was horrified to know she travelled alone, grumbling over it as a porter claimed her bags. She bit her lip to keep from reprimanding him for such snobbish observations once they were seated within the family coach.

“Mama doesn’t need to hear of you travelling here so scandalously or your excuses for it at a time like this, Elizabeth. She has enough to worry about with Papa so ill. How could you be so thoughtless?”

Elizabeth bit back a harsh retort, forcing herself to remain calm. “My maid expressed a desire to see her family in London. It certainly wasn’t her desire to remain on in Westerleigh but Edward’s. I couldn’t refuse her. I have no idea when Edward will allow us to return home. I thought due to expediency there was no point in securing a chaperone for the trip. I am a married woman, George, and hardly a child.”

Her brother frowned darkly. “Why did Edward really exile you to Westerleigh? What have you done now, Elizabeth? You might as well tell me and we will keep the matter quiet for our parent’s sake.”

Elizabeth grimaced, knowing by his disapproving look he heard gossip. “I can assure you what you are thinking is wrong.”

George leveled her with a look of dismay. “Is it true? People are talking, Elizabeth. The rumors you were exiled because of your liaison with Wakefield are being bandied all over London!”

“I did nothing but incur Edward’s wrath over some trivial matter! You know him as well as I do, George. When does Edward ever need a reason to find fault with me?” Elizabeth glared her older brother into silence. “We argued and he is showing his bluster by ordering me about. It can’t be helped, I’m afraid.”

“Say nothing of any of this to Mama or Papa,” George added coolly and flicked a stern warning look her way. “Mama didn’t have the heart to tell him you were sent to Westerleigh. She feared he would worry of a scandal.”

“The only scandal is that I’m not able to defend myself to these accusations, George.”

“Papa had such high hopes for this marriage, Elizabeth. Say nothing about this. It will do more harm than good.”

“How is he?” Elizabeth listened with an aching heart as her brother gave her the worst of it.

“It is his heart again,” George explained quietly. “His most recent collapse was far worse than the last, the doctor told us. This time he won’t recover. They are doing all to keep him comfortable. You arrived just in time. It won’t be long, the doctor has said.”

“What was it you wished to discuss away from Camden Downs?” She tensed on the seat, waiting for his reply.

George’s handsome face became etched in sadness. He reached over to cover her gloved hand with his, his blue eyes filled with remorse. “You may as well know the truth of all. Camden Downs is to be sold after the first of the year. They are making it into a ladies finishing school,” his lips twisted in disgust. “They mean to call it The Camden Downs Academy for Ladies. I thought you should hear all from me. Mama has not taken the news well. She refuses to accept it.”

Elizabeth’s lower lip quivered to hear her childhood home was to be sold. “Is there nothing we can do? Surely if I go to Edward, he—”

“No!” George cut her off sharply and shook his dark head adamantly. “No, it would do no good to get a loan, only delay the inevitable. The estate cannot support itself anymore. We would only lose it at some later time for the very same reason. It is to be sold and the proceeds will satisfy the current tax delinquency with enough left over to keep Mama and the Dowager in comfort. Not much is left except for the Dowager’s residence and the house in London. Marian and I have agreed to have Mama come live with us at Camden House. Grandmother will never leave Yorkshire, we can all agree? She will stay in the Dowager’s residence. There is much arguing over it. Mama says the house is hers. By law she is right, if Papa should die, but I ask you not to involve yourself.”

“I never thought we would ever see this day,” Elizabeth said sorrowfully, wiping a tear from her cheek to learn her beloved childhood home was lost to them.

“Elizabeth, Papa worked himself nearly to death trying to avoid this from happening for years. I’ll not waste my life as he did just to save face. We simply can’t hold on anymore. And we aren’t alone. Lord and Lady Mosby’s country home was auctioned off just last week to an American. It’s a regular occurrence these days.”

“What of Grandmother? She has wealth of her own. Can she not help with the taxes?”

George made a noise of disgust. “She refuses to loan us one shilling to save Camden Downs. She and Mama had a terrible row after Papa’s collapse. Grandmother blames Mama for his condition. They haven’t spoken since he fell gravely ill.”

Elizabeth fell silent, knowing her father’s mother had her reasons for disliking their mother. The Dowager Countess of Camden never cared for her daughter-in-law, the Lady Margot.

She adored her only son Robert and deferred to him in all things but his determination in maintaining Camden Downs. She probably disapproved of how he kept his wife oblivious of his criminal activities all of these years to give them all the illusion nothing was amiss.

Elizabeth could be sure her grandmother made Mama very aware of how their father earned his living all of these years to support the struggling estate, just to win the argument. George said whatever they argued of that Mama took it all poorly and retreated to her bed for days.

Elizabeth knew no amount of mediating would resolve the situation. Her father was the only buffer in place between the Dowager and her mother for years. Now that he faced certain death, the two women that loved him the most no longer had to pretend for his sake.

“Is Marian here with you?” Elizabeth perked up, wanting to visit with George’s wife, excited for the child due in just one month’s time.

George shook his head, eyeing her apologetically. “The doctor in London said she shouldn’t travel. She’s at Camden House resting and told to stay off of her feet. You might want to stop in to see her on your return to London to pick up your maid. She would like to see you very much. She has been after me for any news of you since you left for Westerleigh.”

Elizabeth agreed to stop in to Camden House to see Marian before she returned to Westerleigh, knowing she wouldn’t likely make it back to London for the birth of their first child. She wasn’t about to push the matter with Edward over it.

They both fell silent for the duration of the trip to Camden Downs, both lost in their own private thoughts. Elizabeth always desired to be closer to her older brother, but George was way too much like Mama in his narrow attitudes and beliefs.

George often disapproved of her living arrangement with Edward, even though she suspected her brother knew what Edward was. He was unrelenting in his staunch opinions on how such looked to others, even more so since he married Lady Marian Grayling two years before.

George thought of only how his sister’s actions were a reflection on the family, not how his brother-in-law desired such an arrangement. It was if they were no more related than strangers, she reflected sadly, watching him out the corner of her eye.

The impressive sight of Camden Downs was seen in the distance, making her feel sad to know this would be her last trip here before it was sold.

The estate was a large slate-colored stone structure of Venetian design built in the late 1600’s, with multiple columns in front and two towers on each side.

The ancestral home had been in her family since 1682 when the fourth Earl of Camden built the residence for his lovely new bride, Lady Elizabeth Trent, her great grandmother several times removed, and who she was eventually named after.

The estate employed over one hundred servants, had over thirty tenant farms, and supported a large village nearby of nearly eight hundred people. The news the estate was being sold would cripple the village financially and the surrounding boroughs. She refused to dwell upon it and looked away, dreading the thought of never coming back here.

Anthony was right in his assessment of the future. The nobility had to change the way they lived, the way they lavishly spent money, if only to survive in the new world growing up quickly around them.

The ruling class that once set the tone to government policy was now fast becoming the minority. Workers now outnumbered the nobility and caused the political tide to shift in another direction. Americans and their capitalistic ways were catching on fast. The industrial revolution was off and running.

Elizabeth didn’t fear change as much as her mother and brother did. She despised the yoke of duty and privilege slung about her neck all of her life. She often despaired over the limited expectations of a woman of her class, and yearned to make her own choices. For that, she began to falter in her determination to refuse Edward’s despicable plans.

Elizabeth knew deep down that freedom would not come cheaply. The only way to have such was to agree to Edward’s plan. She swallowed hard, fighting a wave of disgust to think of doing something so despicable just to give Westerleigh an heir.

It was early September. In just a few short months, Simon and Edward would arrive in Westerleigh. Her husband would give no quarter in his foul demands of her.

She thought of James’ reaction and cringed to think of how he would think of her when he learned of what her husband expected of her. She prayed he didn’t try to intervene out of some sense of chivalry.

James would likely regard her in disgust that she began to consider such as the only option to being free of Edward once and for all. To beget an heir to a stolen dukedom would only reaffirm his opinion that she was no better than the other Carlisle family members he already viewed as outright thieves.

Elizabeth caught herself worrying about what a ghost would think of her desperate actions. She almost laughed aloud at how preposterous that sounded to her own ears. She was far too concerned of what James thought about anything of late.

The man was dead! She was alive, and reminded the living had so fewer choices left to them in order to survive.

The coach turned off down a circular lane to the estate. Elizabeth took a deep breath and was determined to be strong for the sake of her parents. Mama would need her support right now. She was determined to stay out of the discord broiling between her grandmother and her mother.

Such had been seen coming on for years.

They all knew it was inevitable their grandmother have it out with Mama. And they knew Mama would likely never forgive or forget it. Taking sides at a time like this was pointless.

A son, a husband, and a father lay dying upstairs and the only person that kept them together. She feared once he was gone, all would change forever.

~ ~ ~

The sixth Earl of Camden died peacefully in his sleep on September 17, 1846. He was survived by his mother, wife, and two adult children. The outpouring of grief at his funeral was felt throughout the county where hundreds came to Camden Downs to express their condolences. Among them was Anthony Wakefield.

Elizabeth was startled to see him sitting in one of the pews in the back when the mass was over and she exited the chapel with her family. By his grim expression, she knew he came to pay his respects for her sake.

After the trip to the family cemetery, a reception was held at Camden Downs for the immediate friends of the family to pay their respects.

Anthony arrived and approached her in the salon, his green eyes seeking hers intently. She excused herself from an elderly couple she was speaking with and met Anthony alone in the library.