Mark of Caine Trilogy: Book One: Hidden in the Shadows (Victorian Villains) (5 page)

“Did they not feed you in there?” he
blurted out with annoyance.

She shrugged. “They fed us enough. The
trick is keeping the others from stealing one’s portion. I was not always
successful.”

Her hair was the colour of sunshine through
an autumn leaf. Tanner could not give a name to the glinting, glowing shower of
red sparks and yellow gold.

Laura peered at him, her head tilted to one
side, examining him as though he was a curiosity.

“Do you find me grotesque?” he asked
gruffly, and then privately cursed himself for caring what she thought. “My
deformity has been a stumbling block for other young ladies I have tried to
help. You are not the first to be repelled.”

“I am not repelled. On the contrary....”
Laura’s gaze drifted over the planes and lines of his face. Tanner blinked,
momentarily blinded by a flash of sunlight. “The curls in your hair are so dark
they absorb light like indigo ink. You are far too handsome to be real.”

Tanner scowled. “Do not mock me.”

“Then do not ask me if I find you
grotesque! You know you are not.”

He turned slightly so that the deformed
side of his face was presented to her. Let her stare if she liked and think on.
“Hurry and dress. They are almost here.”

“They don’t know the way. No one does
except me. I have spent many hours decoding this maze. I know exactly how to
get out. Hand me the uniform.”

He listened, lifting his ear to the wind,
reminding her of an animal alert to danger. “It’s too late for that—they’ve
found us.
Shit
.”

“I’ve got them cornered, Doctor! At the
very end—I can hear their voices! Turn left and then right at the statue. I
knew we would find them here!”

Tanner shot Laura a look of grim resolution
as Rutledge and Sutherland rushed around the hedge, followed by two orderlies. In
a flash, he caught her in his arms and crushed his mouth against hers in a show
of passionate lovemaking.

His performance had the desired effect.
Mrs. Sutherland screamed as Dr. Rutledge bellowed at the orderlies to get him
off the girl. As he was wrenched back, Tanner glanced at Laura in glazed
surprise.

“What the devil is going on here?” bellowed
Rutledge. “Mr.
Caine
! You are a fraudster, sir—what
do you mean by interfering with my patient?”

Tanner shook free of the orderly who restrained
him. “I have a claim to Miss Mayhew that her father has cruelly ignored! We
were engaged to be married when Laura was seventeen-years-old, over Sir Mayhew’s
objections. We kept the engagement secret until I could make my fortune. When I
returned last week, I was informed her father had committed her to Gateshead. I
had to see her for myself, to know that she was all right. I swear that’s all I
intended when I came here.” Tanner’s eyes found Laura’s. “But something came
over me—Miss Mayhew is not to blame. She is as beautiful as I remember. I’ve fallen
in love with her.”

He turned to the doctor, decisively. “We
want to be married.
Now.
Today.”

“And not a moment too soon, I should
think,” huffed Matron, wringing her hands. “I never thought I would see such a
thing from a lady of your class, Miss Laura. With or without her father’s
consent, we cannot allow the girl to be ruined, Doctor.”

Rutledge was not so easily persuaded.
“Laura, you have never spoken to me about a secret engagement. Is what Mr.
Caine
saying true? You must not be afraid to tell me.”

Tanner resisted the urge to look at her.
The moment hung between them.

“Laura, are you or are you not secretly
engaged to this man?”

She blushed crimson and would not meet
Tanner’s eyes. “I thought he had forgotten me. I did not like to think of him
or—or to talk about him. I’m sorry, I did not tell you, Dr. Rutledge.
 
It is true, we are engaged.”

DOCTOR RUTLEDGE glared at Mrs. Sutherland
as though it was her fault. Mrs. Sutherland began to cry.

“This will be a black mark on this
institution—a black mark,” he said severely. “One of our female inmates caught
in a sexual embrace with a male visitor! All right then, put your clothes on.
Do not stand there risking further damage to your reputation.
A daughter of a peer of the realm.
A cousin to Queen
Victoria—oh God, it doesn’t bear thinking about.” He rubbed his face. “We are
already under scrutiny by those fools who don’t understand what we are trying
to accomplish here.”

“Her father is the real culprit if you ask
me,” sniffed Matron. “He ought to have informed us his daughter had a fiancé. Even
if he objected to the match, her doctor should have been informed. Patient
history is vital to treatment.”

“Yes, all right, but it appears we must get
these young people married straightaway.”

Tanner stepped forward. “Sir, with your
permission, I’ll take Miss Mayhew to Dorset and we will be married in her
family’s parish.”

“No sir, no you will not. I’m afraid that
will never do. Miss Mayhew leaves Gateshead your wife or she does not leave
Gateshead at all. Mrs. Sutherland, notify the curate his services are
required.”

Tanner felt Laura grip his arm. He quietly
took her hand and crushed it in his to stifle her protest. “I am trying to
think of something,” he muttered under his breath. “Do not panic. Now, Miss
Mayhew, if you don’t mind, put these clothes on and quickly.”

He helped her into the grey bodice of the
nursing uniform and while she fastened the hooks, he reached for the skirt.
Laura stepped into it and Tanner hooked it at the back.

Laura restored the ribbon to her beautiful
hair. “Why am I wearing this?”

“Because we’re caught now and there’s no
way to put it back without arousing suspicion. Besides it is new and in better
condition than the dress you were wearing. It looks well with your hair.”

“My appearance on my wedding day would only
be a matter of concern,” she whispered nervously, “if I intended to marry at
all.”

“Come. If you are ready, we must go.”

He disposed of her institutional dress in a
gap in the hedge. Hand-in-hand, they followed the others out of the maze.

When they reached the entrance, Tanner
turned on his heel and marched toward the gate. Laura hurried after him. “Where
are you going?” she hissed.

“Slowly,
Slowly
,”
he ordered in a low voice. “Take your time. They are still watching us. Nod
your head in my direction as though I’ve said something. Good. That’s good.
Wait until they go inside and then we’ll make a run for it. We are almost
there. There is my horse.”

“Mr.
Caine
,
this way if you please!
Dr. Rutledge is waiting
for you and the young lady in the chapel. Come now, children. I know you are
frightened but you must be strong. You are making the right decision, I promise
you. Now, do come along and do not keep the vicar waiting!”

Laura had been walking beside Tanner with
her head down and her hands folded in front of her. At the sound of Matron’s
voice, she stopped and turned, realizing the impossibility of getting away.

“This is madness. I cannot marry you, Mr.
Caine
,” she whispered fiercely.

He nodded and waved to Mrs. Sutherland,
then took Laura’s arm and guided her up the steps to the front door of the
asylum. His face was tense but his eye was fixed as they walked down the hall
to the chapel.

“We are not being given a choice, madam.
This is the only method to get you out. As my wife, I can have you released
today without repercussion.” He glanced down at her and forced a smile to his
lips. He looked like a wolf baring his teeth. “Do you want to help Princess
Louise? Do you regard this sacrifice too great compared to hers in sending me
to you?”

One of the nurses rushed forward and kindly
pressed a small bouquet of flowers into Laura’s hands. “You look lovely, Miss
Laura. Best wishes for your happiness.”

Stunned, Laura held the flowers and allowed
Tanner to walk her down the aisle toward the altar. Her mind circled over the
consequences of calling a halt to the ceremony. She could not marry a man she
didn’t know, but she could not endure the dreams of Louise’s baby without doing
something and soon.

The vicar intoned the recitation of the
vows. The final step was upon them and Tanner was doing nothing to stop
it.
 
He seemed as out of his depth as she
was. Laura glanced wildly at the assembly and then heard her voice saying “I
will.”

Tanner kissed her, a chaste dry peck on the
lips.

He took her arm and led her out of the
chapel at a rapid pace.

His bride.

She was leaving Gateshead the wife of a
complete stranger!

Panic held her fast. Her heart was skipping
violently. She could not breathe. Tanner’s arm tightened around his waist,
holding her up. “Hold on a little longer. Do not say anything. Unless you want
to live out the rest of your days here, you will see this through,” he hissed
savagely.

He showed her his left side, pulled and
misshapen. A shiver of intuition brushed through her mind like a shadow.

Tanner
Caine
was hiding something.

§

HAWTHORNE HALL was a small manor house,
formally the hunting lodge of a great estate that had been pulled down long
ago, and the field and forest reclaimed by thorny brambles and wildlife. It was
a moody, disturbing wilderness to Laura who was accustomed to cultivated
gardens and perfectly groomed landscapes.

“This is your home?” she asked doubtfully.

The house itself had a rustic charm and she
could see the appeal of the Tudor-style lodging for a single man who loved
sport and spent most of his time out-of-doors. But there were few chimneys, and
the Elizabethan windows of lead-pane diamond shapes were depressing. How could
a young man so full of life prefer this old house over smart, new apartments in
London?

“It is like something out of a fairy tale,”
she said without thinking. “I expect to see pixies living here or perhaps a family
of trolls.”

Tanner twisted in the saddle. “I could
always return you to Gateshead if Hawthorne will not suit.”

The journey through Bracknell Forest had
been undertaken at a breakneck pace. After leaving the front gates of the
asylum, Tanner had vaulted astride his horse, and with a mighty heave, he pulled
Laura up behind him.

She had not been prepared for the rapid
response of the animal and came close to falling off when the horse jolted to
life. “Hold to me—tighter!” Tanner instructed as they charged off into the
forest.

He was not leaving their escape to chance
and he was right. Laura could feel Mrs. Sutherland’s eyes boring a hole into
the back of her head. She sensed the moment was coming when she would be
ordered back to the asylum.

But they were not detained; there were no
papers to sign or permissions to receive, nothing at all to prevent them from
leaving. Tanner
Caine
was Laura Mayhew’s husband and
he could walk out of the asylum with her on his arm and there was nothing
anyone could do about it.

Laura had marvelled at the boldness of his
plan. It could have so easily backfired, but she suspected Tanner
Caine
was a man with whom few people would dare to
interfere.

She had to include herself in that group. For
her freedom from Gateshead had come at a price by entering into marriage with a
man she knew nothing about. Laura had been relying on her gift of second sight
to protect her from potential evil. But on the journey through Bracknell
Forest, Laura discovered the one person whose thoughts she could not read was
the stranger she had vowed to love, honour and obey.

She had clutched him tightly about the
middle, ducking her head to avoid being decapitated by a low hanging branch,
and pressed her cheek against his broad back. Her thighs were pushed against
his hips so that not even a slip of paper could have come between them. It was
impossible to be unaffected by
Caine’s
lithe muscular
strength, or ignore his scent, which was clean and smelled of the sea, though,
surely, he did not live near the sea.

“Where are we going?”

“My house in Bracknell
Forest, Hawthorne Hall.
It is a two-hour ride
from here. If they haven’t already sent a messenger to Sir Mayhew’s office in
London to inform him of your departure, they will soon. Your father will be
looking for us. It’s only a matter of time before they come to Hawthorne. We
have a couple of days at best.”

Tanner
Caine
had bent
over the horse, urging it to a gallop. She rounded over his broad back as
though she were cradling him. The beast picked up speed and Laura gripped him
tighter to keep her balance. She was deeply aware of him physically, and yet
she could not
read the man himself
.

Laura had never experienced that before, of
being unable to tap into a person’s inner workings. In the beginning, when she
was younger it didn’t come so easily, but now it was usually just a matter of
going quiet within and listening.

Tanner’s deformed half-face had turned in
her direction. His black brows beetled together when he saw her expression.
“What is it?” he demanded.

Heat prickled her scalp and she looked away,
deeply embarrassed. “Nothing, it is nothing. I’m only grateful to be away from
that place. I believe I shall enjoy the first good night’s sleep I’ve had in
eighteen months.”

AND NOW here they were, arrived at
Hawthorne Hall, and for the first time Laura understood the scope of the
sacrifice he’d made for her sake.

“Marriage,” she murmured, “is not an easy
thing to work free of. You said such kind things to Dr. Rutledge about me that
I am not surprised he was taken in. You did not intend for it to go this far,
did you?”

“No, but it is done now
and we will say no more about it.”
He led the
horse to the stables. Tanner first helped Laura down, and then dismounted. “We’ll
rest here tonight and then plan what to do next in the morning. Do you think
you can be content sleeping in a house that looks made for a family of trolls?”

“I did not mean to offend you, Mr.
Caine
. I am sure the house suits your needs perfectly,
though it would not do for me.”

“It shall have to do for you,
Mrs
.
Caine
. We
could be stuck together for some time.”

She touched her hair and glanced away,
feeling awkward and ill-at-ease with him. “What made you think of a secret
engagement? Such a story would never have crossed my mind. It is too
daring,
and too wicked as well. We took vows before God!”

Tanner
Caine
removed his hat and tucked it under his arm. He wore his wavy black hair loose,
chin length, and scraped behind his ears. He turned to present his good side to
her. Laura felt certain Mr.
Caine
frequently did so
in the company of strangers, adjusting his position to hide his malformation
from view.

“You were in your slip, half-naked and
alone with a man. A secret engagement was the lesser of two evils. As for the
vows before God, this will not be the first time I’ve broken faith with the
Almighty. If you are concerned about your soul, consider that you did it for a
good cause and trust you will be forgiven.”

He strode away to the house and Laura
hurried after him. “Have you been married before?”

Tanner grinned over his shoulder. “Why, yes,
several times, in fact. The ladies cannot resist such a handsome, well bred
man.” He threw back his head and laughed.

“You are making fun of me.”

“It was impossible to resist. I am
twenty-nine-years-old and I have never been married. You are the first, and
most assuredly the last, Mrs.
Caine
.”

Tanner
Caine
turned
his back on her and swung open the heavy front door that appeared to be made of
ancient oak, all in one piece and fastened to the sill on great iron hinges,
and then entered the hall like he was being chased by the hounds of hell.

Laura marched in after him and then halted
in the ancient entry way.

As she had guessed, the diamond-paned windows
were insufficient to penetrate the gloomy interior. The ceiling was low and
criss-crossed with beams that were black with soot. A heavy wooden bench
constructed of dark walnut ran along the wall below a row of sturdy pegs. The
house was built as a hunting lodge, and by all appearances, had managed to
resist refinement for over four hundred years.

Laura closed her eyes. She took in a deep
breath and then slowly exhaled. The vibrations were strong in Hawthorne Hall of
past lives, but its present owner was in shadow.