City of Darkness

Chapter THREE

September 9

4:10 PM





When Leanna opened her eyes, Tom was staring down at her with a half-curious, half-worried expression. Behind him, Galloway was pacing. Leanna struggled to raise her head.

“You’re missing your cue,” Tom said. “You’re supposed to ask ‘Where am I?’”

“I know where I am,” Leanna said, pushing away the damp cloth someone had placed on her forehead. “Grandfather’s study. Where’s everyone else?”

“Mama and the big boys have retreated to the parlor to nurse their own shock,” said Tom, letting a small smile slip. “Tell the truth, did you fake that faint? It was an admirably efficient means of clearing the room.”

“Of course not,” Leanna said. “You know I don’t faint. At least I never have before, and I remember when Grandfather was trying to teach us how to dissect a rabbit that you were the one who…. How long was I unconscious?“

“Just a few minutes, but long enough to give me time to confer with Mr. Galloway. We have to talk fast. They’ll be beating on the door any minute.”

“It might be prudent,” Galloway said, “for you to leave Rosemoral for a few weeks. Take a holiday of sorts while your family has the chance to get used to the idea.”

“They’ll never get used to the idea,” Tom corrected him. “But at least until the paperwork is finalized.”

“A holiday? I’ve never been anywhere alone in my whole life. Mama doesn’t even let me ride into town without – “

“You wouldn’t be alone, Leanna. Galloway thinks you should go to London and stay with Aunt Geraldine. She’s settled in Mayfair and, more to the point, she knows the situation. Apparently she is the only one other than Galloway whom Grandfather included in his plan and she understands it, Leanna. All of it. She was the one who suggested you come to her home.”

“I hardly know her,” Leanna said, her mind jumping to a memory of a large, jolly woman with a booming voice and pockets full of candy.

“But I do,” Tom said. “The first month I was in school she sent me a message inviting me to dinner at her home in London and ever since… You’ll be happy there, Leanna.”

“I don’t follow any of this, Tom. Why didn’t you tell me Aunt Geraldine was back in London, or that you’d been to see her? It makes no sense. She didn’t even come to Grandfather’s funeral.”

“She was there,” Tom said firmly. “In the back. Apparently in disguise, and apparently a good one because I didn’t recognize her.”

Leanna looked questioningly at Galloway.

“Leonard knew he was dying,” Galloway said gently. “When he told Geraldine the terms of his will, they concocted this plan. Part of it is that your mother and the older boys shouldn’t be aware that Geraldine was even back in the country. Otherwise, her home in London wouldn’t be a very effective hiding place, would it? Tom knew of her presence but he was sworn to secrecy.”

“Yes,” said Tom. “But until today I didn’t know why.”

Leanna’s head was swimming at the thought of her grandfather, Aunt Geraldine, and Galloway all scheming together, three elderly people going to such trouble to shield her from what would undoubtedly be a very rough time. “But to stay in hiding at her own brother’s funeral…”

“Oh, I think she rather enjoyed that,” said Galloway and Tom laughed. “Your aunt loves a challenge, Miss Bainbridge, and I can’t think of anyone better suited to assist you through this rather unique social transition.”

Leanna shook her head, at last fully alert, as if she had broken through layers of water to reach the surface. She inhaled sharply. “So everyone thinks I should run, is that it?”

“Not run, Miss Bainbridge, but, if you can take refuge for a month or two –“

“I’ll be back in school in a few weeks,” Tom said. “And then I’ll come see you. In the meanwhile, Galloway can set up an account you can draw on by wire, so you’ll have funds.”

“Within the week,” Galloway promised.

“But how do I get to London and what do I do for money in the meantime?”

“Heavens, Leanna, don’t be such a dolt. You’ll take the train and you’ll be living with Aunt Gerry, who will hardly be charging you rent.”

“I’ve brought funds for just that purpose,” Galloway said, glancing at the door from which came the sounds of conversation, the low murmur of Gwynette’s voice, the shrill yelps of William’s indignation. Tom put a finger to his lips and slipped out the door to divert them.

“I can’t accept your money,” Leanna said.

“I expect my loan is secure,” Galloway said, with a smile, and it hit Leanna for the first time that she was a wealthy woman. That while she had been in her swoon it was as if she had been transported, carried to a new country with different customs and a language she had yet to learn. The implications were too much to deal with at the present, though, so she let her mind drift to trivial things.

“I haven’t any clothes with me. I only brought that one bag -“

“There are plenty of shops in London, my dear.”

Leanna paused, thinking of the narrow-hipped jewel-colored dresses she’d seen in the pages of magazines, so different from the filmy pastel gowns her mother had made for her by the local seamstress. The idea of going shopping, alone, with her own money in her pocket…

The barrister laughed. “So I’ve finally hit on the argument that will sway you. The chance to buy new clothes in London is irresistible for any woman, even our stern little Leanna.”

“I haven’t been to London in years,” she said, looking up as Tom reentered the room. “And never alone.”

“Really, darling, try to focus,” Tom said. “You won’t be alone. I’ll wire Aunt Gerry from the train station so she’ll know to be there for you tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow?” Leanna protested.

“It’s the best way,“ Galloway said, as he pulled a pouch from his pocket and carefully began to count out pounds. “There’s a train which departs Leeds station at five-“

“Five in the morning?”

“Yes, Leanna, businessmen take it to London for the day. Grandfather was always going in for the libraries and museums, don’t you remember?”

“You’ve worked out every detail, haven’t you?”

“We’ll leave by carriage at four. They’ll all be dead asleep at that hour and for several hours beyond, judging by the way they’ve made a run for the decanter,” Tom said. “And they won’t be able to chase you, because they’ll think they have to stay here and fight for their interests. Galloway and I will see to that.”

Leanna sank back against the couch. “I feel so strange - part excited and part frightened to the core. When I give in to the fear, the joy comes rushing in but when I try to feel joyous that little tickle of fear is there to distract me. I wonder what it is.”

“Freedom.”

Leanna gave her brother a sidelong look of doubt.

“No really Leanna, that’s what freedom is like- a bit of excitement, a bit of fear. You’d better get used to the feeling.”





“This is final proof of what I’ve been saying for years,” William sputtered, setting an over-full wine glass on the mantle. “Grandfather was senile.”

“You never called him senile when you thought you were his heir,” Cecil drawled, swirling the brandy in his own glass. “And you’re being awfully careless with the claret given your concern that Rosemoral be kept in such pristine condition.”

“It’s Leanna’s estate now,” William said thickly. “Let her hire more maids. You’ve been notably silent, Mother. What are you thinking? Are we doomed to spend the rest of our days in Winter Garden?”

Gwynette looked up. “You could follow the counsel of the will and take up a profession, I suppose.”

“I can only assume that you’re joking. And what of Cecil’s marriage plans? We’ve all been left in the lurch by this appalling turn of events.”

“Not necessarily,” Cecil said. “We’ll go home tomorrow and I’ll call on Edmund Solmes. He must know a dozen barristers who could dance circles around Galloway.”

“I don’t know if you can afford to ask Solmes for any more favors,” William mumbled, ignoring Cecil’s warning glance as he clumsily reached for the wine bottle. “Especially now that your collateral is no longer in your possession.”

“What?” Gwynette asked, looking from one son to the other.

“Cecil has run up gambling debts.“

“He exaggerates, Mother. Edmund and I are friends. He doesn’t intend to press me.”

“What did you mean by collateral?”

“Leanna,” William said brusquely. “Solmes has his eye on her and Cecil agreed to press for the match. He came to me and said when I was officially head of the family - “

Gwynette stood, eyes blazing, and focused the full force of her fury on Cecil, who although he remained casually sprawled, visibly tensed under her scrutiny. “Let me see if I understand,” Gwynette said. “You intended to use your sister’s virginity to pay off your debts from the horses?”

“A callous turn of phrase, Mother. It isn’t as if Edmund wasn’t prepared to marry her.“

“Marry her? He’s four times her age! He would be too old for me!”

“Granted, Mother, but Leanna doesn’t have your fire -“

“Spare me your flattery. You’ve really gone too far this time, Cecil. Our family fortunes may have fallen, but I was not aware we were to the point you found it necessary to sell your sister. Especially not to that odious old man.”

“That odious old wealthy man, Mama,” added William, enjoying the rare sight of Cecil squirming.

“Wealthy indeed,” said Gwynette. “And so doddering he would probably drool on her. Just how severe are these debts?”

Cecil hesitated. “No more than three hundred pounds.”

Gwynette sighed. “If you’ll admit to three hundred, it’s more than likely twice that. You’re just like your father, Cecil, and it pains me to admit the fact.”

“Don’t start on that again, Mother,” William said. “I don’t see why Cecil and I should suffer because of Father’s sins and be cut out of what is rightfully ours. No one leaves that kind of money to a woman! No one!”

“Agreed,” Cecil said, relieved for the chance to change the subject. “Every wolf and fortune hunter in the countryside will be after her now.”

“I scarcely see how she could do any worse than what the two of you had planned for her,” Gwynette said. “And Cecil, for you to call anyone else a fortune hunter is quite unendurable.”

“They’re in there plotting, you know,” William said darkly. “Even as we speak, Tom and that corpse of a barrister are strategizing their next move.”

“Oh, I have no doubt what they’ll do,” Gwynette said. “There’s really only one logical option. They’ll hide her with your Aunt Geraldine in Mayfair.”

Her sons turned to her with puzzled faces.

“I thought I saw her at the funeral in a rather ridiculous disguise,” Gwynette said. “Now I suppose I understand why.”

“Given her eccentric nature I scarcely see how you could distinguish a disguise from her everyday clothing,” Cecil said. “Remember, William, she’s a huge ogre of a woman, spouting feathers on her head and indigestible political beliefs…”

“Which is precisely what happens when a woman doesn’t marry,” William said.

“Yes, without question, that’s their plan,” Gwynette went on, her brow creased in thought. “Leanna will be spirited away to London.”

Cecil rubbed his temples vigorously, but the headache from his hastily gulped brandy refused to be erased. “Then we must stop her.”

“I’m not sure we can,” Gwynette said. “And besides, it might be best for everyone if some time passes before Leanna takes up residence in Rosemoral.”

“As far as I’m concerned she can stay in London forever,” William muttered. “The longer I can go without facing the boys at the pub, the better.”

“Why you’re right, both of you,” Cecil said with some surprise, for he considered it his duty within the family to think of things first. “No one outside our small circle knows of this, do they? The assumption will naturally be that William is the heir and as long as our little sister is tucked away in Mayfair, we have a pocket of time, enough for me to…” Cecil sprang unsteadily to his feet, his spirits quite restored. “Yes, bravo to you both, that’s quite the plan. We will proceed to the Wentworth ball next week and no one will be rude enough to ask. They will see us there, laughing and gay, as if it has all gone precisely as expected.”

“When I first met Geraldine I was just a bride,” Gwynette murmured, gazing toward the open window and the blazing colors of Leonard’s autumnal garden. “And she seemed to me almost as if she’d come from a different species. I’d never known a woman who was free to marry as she pleased, and if she chose not to marry at all, I suppose there are worse fates. I can still recall the day my father summoned me to the library and told me I that I was going to be escorted to the dance that evening by a boy named Dale Bainbridge…”

“Perhaps I should even get something new for the ball, something brightly colored,” Cecil mused. “Gloves, do you think? Perhaps an ascot?”

William looked at Gwynette with a play of emotions on his face, something between a child’s indignation and a man’s sadness. “You surprise me, Mother. You’ve always claimed you and Father were a love match.”

“Oh we were, in a way, at least in the sense he was the youngest and most attractive of the options my father offered. But I was sixteen and hardly knew what I was doing. Then, years later, after you children were born, I saw I should have chosen a different sort of man. It’s the way Hannah will feel if you persuade her to marry you, Cecil. There will come the day, a normal seeming sort of day, and she will look across the breakfast table…”

“I won’t hear this,” Cecil said. “It’s almost as if you’re suggesting that a child like Leanna would know better what she needs than her own brothers. Solmes may be older than her but he is settled, prosperous…”

“Forget it, Cecil,” William said, pushing himself from the settee and walking toward the open window. “She isn’t ours anymore.”

“No, she isn’t, is she,” Gwynette said, her voice almost as low as a whisper. “Your grandfather hasn’t just handed her an estate, he’s cut her quite loose from the earth. I feel she’s up somewhere floating high above us, not bound by the same rules anymore. Someday you’ll both understand that this was the true purpose of Leonard’s will. Not to punish the two of you, but to allow Leanna to be a different sort of woman.”

“Like Aunt Geraldine?” William said. “If so, he’s cut her loose but I’m not sure it was a kindness.”

“Perhaps she was his last experiment,” Gwynette said tiredly. “The last species he attempted to evolve. The independent woman. But you’re right, I’m not sure it was a kindness.”