A Loving Spirit (25 page)

* * *

"Forgive me, my lord, but I must speak with you," a footman said in a breathless voice, as if he had just run a great distance.

Phillip and Cassie were talking to Lady Royce, but their conversation ceased at this quiet interruption.

"Of course," said Phillip. "Is there some sort of trouble?"

"Trouble?" Cassie echoed. The only "trouble" she could think of was Mr. Bates. Could he have returned to ruin the ball?

"I think—I fear a lady may have been abducted," the footman gasped. "I saw her being carried away from the ball, down the drive. She dropped this before the man put her in a carriage, and they drove away." He held up a shepherd's crook, trimmed in now-bedraggled blue and yellow ribbons.

"That is my crook!" Cassie cried.

Phillip looked down at her, puzzled. "Your crook, my dear?"

"The one that went with my other costume. The costume I thought I saw someone wearing earlier." She turned to the footman. "Was the lady wearing a blue-and-yellow shepherdess gown?"

He shrugged helplessly. "I fear it was too dark to be sure, Miss Richards. She
was
wearing a light-colored bonnet."

"And the man with her?" Phillip asked.

"He was wearing a sort of hooded cloak, my lord. But I think there may have been two men there."

"Two
men?" Cassie caught at Phillip's arm. "Mr. Bates and Mr. Morland, it has to be! They have come back."

"Why would you think that?" Phillip asked quietly. "Have you heard something from them?"

Cassie shook her head. "Not at all. But it sounds exactly like something they would do. Mr. Bates was not at all happy to be thwarted in the matter of my land. Oh, poor Louisa!"

"Louisa?" Aunt Chat said, coming up to their small group just in time to hear these last words. "Has something happened to Louisa?"

"I saw someone earlier, walking about dressed in my shepherdess costume," Cassie explained. "I am sure it was her. She left me this gown and took mine. Now Mr. Bates has snatched her, thinking it was me."

"How terrible!" Lady Royce said. "What if he does her harm?"

"Mother, Cassandra," said Phillip. "I do not wish to appear unconcerned about your friend, but how exactly can Mr. Bates hurt her? She is, er, no longer alive."

"I still do not like this," Cassie murmured.

"Let us go find them," said Phillip. "I'm not certain how long they have been gone, but they can't have gone far. I don't imagine Mr. Bates will care to keep traveling when he realizes his mistake! But I do not like the idea of Mr. Bates coming back to the castle to hurt you." His expression darkened. "I do not like it at all."

Cassie couldn't help a small shiver at the thought of being carried off by Mr. Bates. If Louisa had in fact taken her place, she owed her a great debt of gratitude. "Shall we go look for them, then?"

Phillip nodded. "Very well, but we will not go far. Mother, you and Lady Willowby stay here and make certain the ball goes on smoothly."

Lady Royce nodded. "What about your—important announcement?"

"We will make it when we return, with Louisa safely in tow."

So it was that Phillip, Cassie, and Antoinette set off down the drive, still clad in their costumes and armed only with torches and Antoinette's ankh-topped staff. But they did not have to go a great distance. A black, closed carriage, drawn by a coachman in clattering armor, turned in the gates just as they reached the end of the drive.

"Good eve to you!" Sir Belvedere cried, drawing up on the reins.

Louisa and Lady Lettice appeared at the window. "What are you all doing out here?" Lady Lettice said. "Is the ball over already?"

"Oh, it cannot be!" Louisa complained. "I have not had one dance yet."

"Are you all right, Louisa?" Cassie cried, running up to the carriage, her blue satin skirts held up above the gravel and dust. "Was it Mr. Bates who took you away?"

"Indeed it was," Louisa said. She opened the carriage door and stepped down onto the drive, shaking out her gown. "The cabbage-head. He tried to take some most indecent liberties." Then she laughed merrily. "Oh, but you should have seen his face when I revealed my identity! I do not think we will ever see him or his odious cousin again."

"Liberties?" Cassie said, dismayed. "Louisa! How terrible. I am so sorry."

Louisa gave her a puzzled look. "Why are
you
sorry, Cassie? You did not kidnap me."

"But I was the one he meant to take. If not for me, you would not have been put in such an unpleasant position."

Louisa shrugged. "What could he do to me? I am already dead! We were just happy there was something we could do for you, after all your kindness to us. Besides, it was vastly amusing."

Phillip stepped up to her and gave her a deep bow. "I can never thank you enough, my lady," he said softly, seriously. "I owe you a great debt of gratitude for saving the woman I love."

Louisa looked at him steadily. "I fear I always thought you were rather stuffy. Even as a child, you were so solitary, so intent on your purpose—like my husband. But now I know what a true and gallant heart you have. I am very sorry for all the silly tricks we have played on you over the years, like spilling your ink and disarranging your papers."

"And I, too, apologize, my lord," Sir Belvedere said, climbing down from the carriage box.

"I have nothing to apologize for," Lady Lettice said. "Do you, Angelo?"

"Not I!" Angelo's voice piped from the depths of the carriage.

"Then we should go back to the ball, before it is all over and done with," said Lady Lettice.

"I quite agree," answered Phillip. Then he put his arm around Cassie and smiled down at her. "We have a very important announcement to make."

Chapter 25

Phillip stood in the center of a group of well-wishers, watching across the room as Cassie was enveloped and carried away by just another such group. Her cheeks were flushed and glowing from the excitement of the evening and the emotion of the announcement of their betrothal, and her eyes were shining like dark stars. She laughed at something Mr. Lewisham said to her, and the sweet sound seemed to hover over the chatter like a silvery cloud.

What a fortunate man he was, he thought, as all the crowd and noise seemed to fade away, leaving only her in his sight and senses. Only weeks before, he had been so solitary, concerned only with his work. Now a whole new life stretched out before him, beckoning him down a new road. A road of love and marriage, a place in a community, and, one day, a family. Children with Cassie's sparkling brown eyes and mischievous ways.

He was not certain he was exactly prepared for it, but he was looking forward to it. Very much.

"Congratulations, Lord Royce," someone beside him said. "You are so fortunate to have gained the hand of such a fine lady."

Peter looked over to see Sir Belvedere standing there in his armor. "Thank you," he said. "She is indeed a very fine lady."

"She rather reminds me of—of someone I knew once, long ago," Sir Belvedere said.

They both watched for a moment as Cassie moved through the crowd, with Antoinette on one side of her and Lady Lettice on the other. Angelo trailed behind them, holding a bowl of marzipan candies in his hands and smiling down at them blissfully.

"I also wanted to thank you again for your actions tonight," Phillip said. "You and Louisa and Lady Lettice. It was very brave of you."

If Sir Belvedere had had the capability, Phillip was certain he would have blushed. As it was, he shuffled a bit in his armor, causing a great racket. " 'Twas nothing at all, my lord. Why, what could such a knave as Mr. Bates do to us!" He lowered his voice and said confidentially, "We
are
already dead, y'know."

"I know. That does not make it any less brave. When Louisa allowed herself to be carried off in Cassandra's place, she saved her a great deal of fear and pain. I will always be grateful for that."

"I know Louisa did not mind doing it at all. Truth to tell, I think she found it rather exciting."

"I do wish you had let me know what was going to happen. I could have assisted you."

Sir Belvedere shook his head. "We did not want to trouble you, my lord. Especially on such an important night as this, with the announcement of your betrothal."

"Nevertheless..." Phillip was interrupted when his mother announced the last dance before supper, the "Sir Roger de Coverley," which Phillip was meant to lead off with his new fiancée. Sir Belvedere melted into the crowd, and Phillip went to claim Cassie for the dance.

She took his hand, and let him lead her into their places in line, giving him the most brilliant smile Phillip had ever seen.

* * *

How Louisa had missed dancing! Her feet tingled with joy at moving through the familiar patterns again, and she hummed beneath her breath along with the tune. Oh, it
was
delightful! Truly the finest night she had known since the end of her mortal life.

Her partner, a rather portly Harlequin, twirled her about, and she skipped back to her place in line to await her next partner. When she spun around to meet him, she found herself holding hands with the Cavalier she had glimpsed earlier.

"William!" she whispered, stumbling a bit in her surprise. It had been almost one hundred and thirty years since she had seen her husband, but he had not changed a bit. "It
was
you I saw."

"Hello, Louisa," he answered in his deep, serious voice. Then he spun her back into her place in line and went on to the next lady.

Louisa's feet automatically carried her through the patterns of the dance, but she scarcely even glanced at her new partner. She twisted her neck about, trying to keep William in her sight, but he was always lost in the swirl of dancers.

Perhaps she had not really seen him. Perhaps she had only imagined seeing him again, after all this time.

But then she shook her head. That had not been imagination! She had truly seen William again, touched his hand. And it had been as jolting, as exalting, as it was at the ball where she had first met him.

The dance did not bring them together again. As soon as the music ended, she made her way through the tangle of people pairing off for supper. She searched every face carefully, and found three men costumed as Cavaliers, but none were William.

At last, she felt a soft, feather-light touch on her shoulder and looked up to see him there.

"William!" she cried. She went up on tiptoe to put her arms around his shoulders, burying her face in the familiar curve of his neck. His long hair tickled her cheek, as it always had when they kissed. "It is you. I knew it!"

"Yes," he said, his own arms coming about her waist, pulling her closer into him. "It is me."

"Where have you been all these years? Why did you move on and leave me here? Why did I have to stay so long?"

"So many questions," he said, his voice full of laughter. "You are still the same Louisa."

She pulled back to frown at him. "Do not make fun of me!"

He looked back at her steadily. "I would not do that."

"Would you not?"

"Of course not. We have been apart far too long for that. And as for your questions..." He looked about the still-crowded ballroom. "Come with me."

He drew her into the dim, deserted library and shut the door behind them. Louisa went and perched herself on the edge of Lord Royce's desk, and her husband came to stand beside her.

"We are all sent to Earth to learn something," he said. "It just took you a bit longer than some."

Louisa was puzzled. "What sort of lesson do we have to learn?"

"It is different for every person. But yours and mine were very similar."

"What was it?" As usual, William tried her quicksilver patience. But she was so very happy to see him again that it almost did not matter.

Rather than answer her question directly, William smiled and said, "We were in love when we married, were we not, Louisa?"

She thought back to those golden days of their courtship and wedding. "Oh, yes."