Crystal Gardens (26 page)

E
vangeline was in the parlor, finishing a cup of tea with Beth and Florence and enjoying the afternoon sunshine that streamed through the windows, when Judith arrived in the doorway.

The parlor was situated on what Evangeline had come to think of as the sunny side of the house, the side that faced away from the walled gardens. The warm light would not last much longer. In another hour the sun would begin to disappear behind the dense woods, creating an early summer twilight around the abbey.

“Miss Ames,” Judith said. “I was hoping to find you here.”

“Mrs. Sebastian,” Evangeline said. “Please join us.”

Beth picked up the teapot. “Do sit down and have some tea, Mama.”

“Yes, Judith, have some tea,” Florence urged. “You look as if you need a bit of fortifying. I understand, believe me. I vow, the atmosphere of this place is very hard on the nerves. It was always unpleasant in the past, but now it is more distressing than it ever was.”

“I know what you mean,” Judith said quietly.

“Last night I took a double dose of my special sleeping tonic but I got very little rest,” Florence continued. “I finally fell asleep just before dawn, only to be awakened a short time later by all the commotion caused by the discovery that Lucas and Miss Ames had vanished. Really, this entire visit has been too much.”

“Aunt Florence has just told us that she intends to leave in the morning,” Beth explained.

“It is clear I am no longer needed here and I really cannot take any more of this place,” Florence said. She shuddered. “Rose is upstairs packing. We will take the morning train to London tomorrow.”

“I wish to speak in private with Miss Ames,” Judith said. She looked at Beth and Florence. “Do you mind leaving us for a time?”

Florence gave her a searching look and then glanced at Evangeline. Comprehension flickered in her eyes. She put down her cup.

“Not at all,” she said. “I shall go upstairs and try to nap.”

She rose and swept out of the room.

Clearly relieved to be dismissed, Beth set the pot down and jumped quickly to her feet.

“I’m off to the library,” she said. “I was just taking a short break.”

Judith looked blank. “From what?”

“Tony and I are assisting Lucas with some research.”

Judith frowned. “What sort of research does he want you to do?”

“We are reading through Uncle Chester’s last journals to see if we can find the names of any of his colleagues who many have visited here at the Gardens in recent months.”

“What on earth for?”

Beth paused in the doorway. “Haven’t you heard? Lucas thinks Uncle Chester was murdered.”

Judith’s frown turned to horror. “Dear heaven.”

“Uncle Chester’s housekeeper, Mrs. Buckley, might have been
another victim, as well,” Beth said. “There were intruders on the grounds last night. Evie and Lucas encountered them in the gardens and were nearly killed. Mr. Stone was knocked unconscious.”

“No, please.” Stricken, Judith more or less collapsed onto one of the chairs. “Not more murders. Not here. What is wrong with that man? I swear, he is obsessed with death.”

“Evie can explain,” Beth said. “I must return to the library. Lucas is very impatient for the answers. Naturally he’s afraid that the murderer might escape.”

She rushed out into the hall. Evangeline waited until the patter of rapid footsteps had faded. Then she picked up the teapot and poured tea for Judith.

“Thank you,” Judith whispered. She picked up the cup with a shaky hand, swallowed some tea and set the cup down with great care. “How dare he involve Beth and Tony in one of his dreadful investigations.”

“To be fair, Lucas was not inclined to do so. It was my idea. Beth and Tony seem quite enthusiastic about the business, though.”

“Of course,” Judith said faintly. “The twins have always considered Lucas’s dreadful little hobby exciting.”

“There appears to be no danger involved,” Evangeline said quickly. “They are simply reading the journals and making some notes.”

“You do not understand. No one does.” Judith sounded oddly weary.

“What don’t I understand?” Evangeline asked.

“I knew from the start that he loathed me.”

“Who? Lucas?”

“Yes, Lucas. He was only three years younger than me, barely fifteen when I married his father. “He terrified me from the beginning. Such a strange young man. I was convinced that he was mentally unstable. After the twins were born, I refused to let him anywhere near the babies.”

“You can’t possibly have believed that Lucas would have been a danger to you or the children.”

“In those days I could not be sure that anyone was safe around Lucas. His behavior became increasingly bizarre. He was reclusive. He spent hours locked in his room with his books. On the occasions when he did emerge, he looked as if he had barely slept. When he was away at school I could sleep but whenever he was in the house I lay awake until he left the house at night to prowl the streets. He seldom returned before dawn. I was so relieved when he moved into lodgings of his own.”

“I see.”

“I learned that his midnight forays into the streets did not stop. I heard the servants talking. There were rumors that Lucas disappeared more and more often into the night and that sometimes he returned with blood on his clothes.”

“How did the servants in your house discover such a thing?”

“Because he took Paul, one of the footmen, with him when he moved out,” Judith said grimly. But after a month or two, Paul quit Lucas’s service and asked my butler if he could have his old post back. After he was rehired he confided to some of the other members of the staff that he was afraid Lucas might be involved in black magic.”

“Lucas was coming into his paranormal talents. His psychical powers are quite strong. They could have easily overwhelmed a young man. He was struggling to control his new senses and in the process he no doubt behaved in an unconventional fashion.”

“Unconventional does not touch it, Miss Ames.
There was blood on his clothes
, I tell you.”

“Because he had begun to investigate murders with his talent,” Evangeline said gently. “I’m sure that crime scenes are often bloody.”

“You speak of the paranormal so casually, Miss Ames.” Judith’s jaw
clenched. “I realize it’s fashionable to attend séances and psychical readings, but please bear in mind that to many of us that sort of thing is nothing but occult, superstitious nonsense.”

“Paranormal energy has nothing whatsoever to do with the occult or superstition,” Evangeline said. “It is just energy.” But she knew that she was wasting her breath. “Did Lucas’s father realize that his son was troubled and seeking answers?”

Judith made a soft little sound of disgust. “George was useless. He would not listen to my concerns about Lucas. Actually, he did not pay much attention to anyone, including his own son. He was rarely home and when he was, he secluded himself in his study with his books on ancient Egypt and Rome. Occasionally he wrote papers for journals no one read. But most of the time he was off excavating some archaeological site in a foreign land. Three years after our marriage he died on one of the expeditions. The walls of a tomb he was excavating collapsed on him.”

“What of Lucas’s grandfather?”

“He was certainly more of a father to Lucas than George ever was, but I know that Lucas’s claims of paranormal talent alarmed him. He worried about the taint in the bloodline, you see.”

Evangeline tightened her grip on her cup and managed to keep her voice steady with an effort. “Psychical talent is not a taint in the blood.”

“That is your opinion. All I can tell you is that I was aware that Lucas’s grandfather had some concerns about his grandson’s mental stability. In the end, however, he acknowledged that Lucas was very shrewd when it came to managing the Sebastian investments. He made Lucas his sole heir. Lucas has had complete control of the family fortune for years.”

“I have the impression that your marriage to Lucas’s father was not what anyone would call a love match.”

Judith’s mouth twisted. “Is there any such thing? I married George
Sebastian for the usual reasons. My parents had no money. All I had to recommend me was my youth and my looks. George and my father were colleagues. Both of them were obsessed with archaeology. Shortly after Lucas’s mother died, my father suggested to George that I would make an excellent wife. George considered that to be an extremely convenient solution to his problem.”

“What problem?”

“George had discovered that he needed someone to oversee his household,” Judith said, her tone very dry. “He was having some difficulty retaining housekeepers—in part, I suspect, because of Lucas. Whatever the reason, George and I were married within the month.”

“So quickly?”

“George was not interested in an elaborate ceremony. He was occupied with plans for his next expedition. He departed for Egypt less than a week after we were married.”

“I’m surprised you agreed to the marriage.”

Judith looked toward the windows and then turned back. There was pain in her eyes but her voice was steady. “I told you, I had just turned eighteen. My parents insisted that I wed George. I had no choice. One does what one must. But that is all in the past. The only reason I am being so candid with you is because I wish to make it clear that I do comprehend your situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“I realize that you have been presented with what appears to be a golden opportunity to marry into the Sebastian fortune. But speaking woman to woman, I would advise you to be careful what you wish for.”

“As it happens, I am very much aware of the risks involved when one seeks to marry for the sake of fortune and social status,” Evangeline said. “I assure you that I have no interest in making that mistake.”

“I’m glad to hear that because I can promise you that such a marriage is sometimes a lifetime sentence.”

“But your husband died years ago.”

“His death changed nothing for me,” Judith said. “Lucas controls the fortune, which means that I am still trapped in my lovely gilded cage. What is worse, my daughter and son are trapped with me.”

“I don’t understand. Surely your husband made provision for you and the twins.”

“George never paid any attention to financial matters. The only provision he made for the twins and me was to stipulate that Lucas was obliged to support each of us unless or until we marry. That has never been an issue for me. I have never had any desire to remarry. But I fear what Lucas will do when the time comes for Beth and Tony to wed.”

“Surely you don’t believe that Lucas will cut them off after they marry?” Evangeline said.

“I told you, I know him as you do not, Miss Ames. I have always been aware that he would one day find a way to take revenge against me for what he perceives to be my crime of marrying his father.”

“You can’t be serious. Perhaps Lucas resented you when he was fifteen years old. He had only recently lost his mother, after all, and his father was bringing a new woman into the household. But that was years ago and he is no longer a boy. He understands such things now. He knows you are not to blame.”

“You are wrong, Miss Ames. Lucas does blame me and he intends to punish me. What is more, he is going to do so in the way he knows will hurt me the most, through my children.”

“No, I cannot believe that,” Evangeline said. “Not for a moment. Even if he does harbor a grievance against you, he would never take it out on Beth and Tony. It is obvious that he is very fond of them.”

“You do not believe me because you do not know him as I do, Miss Ames. Lucas is planning to cut off both Beth and Tony. But first he must see them wed. Nothing would enhance his vengeance so much as seeing my daughter run off with her penniless antiquities expert.”

“I am certain that you have badly misjudged Lucas,” Evangeline said. “I think that Beth has a much more accurate sense of his character. She certainly does not fear him.”

Judith made a short, harsh, exasperated sound. “You need not point that out to me. Beth and Tony positively idolize Lucas. He was the closest thing to a father that they ever had in their lives. And I will give him credit for playing the role well. The twins are so naive, so innocent. They have no idea that Lucas has been biding his time, waiting until he can use them to exact his revenge against me.”

“That cannot be true,” Evangeline said. “I refuse to believe it.”

“You have been acquainted with Lucas for only a few days. You know nothing about him.”

“I know enough to be convinced that your fear of him is unwarranted. It is no doubt based on your personal fear of his paranormal talents. I understand that he made you anxious when you were a young bride. But surely by now you must realize that he is not unbalanced.”

“Has he told you of his unpleasant little hobby, Miss Ames?”

Evangeline stilled. “You refer to the fact that he occasionally consults for Scotland Yard?”

“It is bad enough that he involves himself in police investigations. That sort of thing is hardly the province of a gentleman. But Lucas only consults on the most ghastly cases of murder, the sort of lurid crimes that appear in the penny dreadfuls. And now he has concluded that his own uncle was murdered when it is obvious that Chester Sebastian was very likely the victim of one of his own unnatural botanical experiments. I ask you, Miss Ames, does that not sound like a mentally unbalanced man to you?”