'Til Death Do Us Part (30 page)

“I
T
WAS
YOU
all along, wasn't it?” Calista said.

A strange, eerie sense of detachment settled on her. She was amazed by her own unnaturally calm voice. But she knew she needed to maintain that cool, controlled edge because she and Eudora were dealing with a madwoman. The smallest spark might ignite Anna's fevered brain.

“Yes, of course it was me,” Anna said.

“You were the one who hunted all of us—the three governesses and me. How many other women did you torment with your little game?”

“There were only the four of you this past year,” Anna said. Her voice abruptly tightened with rage. “
And it wasn't a game
. I punished my husband's whores because they seduced him and turned him away from me. He loved me back at the start, you see. He thought I was beautiful. He
wanted
me. But after our honeymoon he took up with that first governess.”

“Elizabeth Dunsforth,” Eudora said.

“She was nothing,” Anna said. “
Nothing
. Just a governess. But she made Nestor desire her. I had to teach her a lesson.”

“You sent her the memento mori gifts from Mrs. Fulton's shop and when you finished terrifying her you sent someone to murder her,” Calista said. “Then you paid for a very fine safety coffin.”

Anna snickered. “I knew she would never ring the bell. None of them ever rang the bell. It was a little joke, you see.”

“You controlled the household accounts,” Eudora said. “You made all of the purchases from Mrs. Fulton's shop.”

“The money is mine.” Anna got very fierce for a moment. “Papa left it to me. But as it happens, Nestor was content to let me deal with the household accounts. He didn't want to be bothered with the details of managing a fortune. As long as he had everything he wanted, he was happy.”

“So you paid all his bills,” Calista said. “And you began to realize that some of the money you gave Nestor was being spent on other women.”

“Really, I don't know how he expected to hide that from me. But that was the thing, you see. He didn't even care enough about my feelings to conceal his affairs. He flaunted them.”

“I noticed that you gave yourself a rather generous allowance,” Eudora said.

Anna frowned. “How did you know about that? Well, I don't suppose it matters. Yes, I gave myself an allowance.”

“Why not just pay your own bills?” Eudora asked. “You just said that Nestor never questioned the household accounts.”

Anna giggled. “I was afraid that if he ever did examine the records he would become suspicious of some of my expenses. I did not want to have to explain them so I simply paid them out of my allowance.”

“But not the house in Frampton Street,” Calista said. “You bought that outright, didn't you?”

Anna looked startled. “You know about that, too? Yes, the house
was a major purchase. I couldn't cover it out of my allowance. But Nestor never even noticed. He was obsessed with his other women.”

“He was
obsessed
with them?” Calista repeated.

“Yes, I'm afraid Nestor was cursed with an obsessive personality. I tried to cure him.”

“By destroying the objects of his obsessions,” Eudora said, “the other women.”

Anna gave her an approving smile. “Precisely. Sooner or later Nestor always tired of his whores—usually sooner. When he was done with them I sent them the memento mori gifts. They thought the presents were coming from Nestor, you see. They became quite unnerved.”

“And finally you sent your hired killer to murder each of the women,” Calista said. “But I rejected Nestor. Why hunt me?”

“Because he wanted you before he married me,”
Anna said, the rage seething again in her voice. “And then, a few weeks ago, he wanted you
again
. He sent you
flowers
—flowers purchased with my money. He never wanted me the way he wanted you. All he cared about was my inheritance.”

The atmosphere in the kitchen was charged with an ominous tension. Calista struggled to find some means of distracting Anna. She knew Eudora was also searching for a way to buy some time—time for Trent and Andrew to return.

“You seem to know a great deal about obsessions and how to cure them,” Calista said. “How did that come about?”

“I have studied the science of psychology since I was a girl of twelve, Miss Langley. Indeed, I am an expert.”

“An unusual subject for a lady,” Eudora said.

“I had an excellent teacher.” Anna smiled. “Dr. Morris Ashwell.”

“Who is he?” Calista asked.

“The doctor who tried to cure me of my obsession with death. I tried
to explain to dear Papa that the emotions associated with the great transition from this world to the next are the strongest of all the passions. Papa did not understand. When I turned thirteen he sent me to Dr. Ashwell.”

“Evidently Ashwell was unable to rid you of your fixation,” Calista said.

“Quite the opposite.” Anna chuckled. “He became obsessed with me, you see. Amusing when you think about it—the doctor developing a great passion for his patient. I was just thirteen at the time but quite pretty, if I do say so.”

“How old was Dr. Ashwell?” Eudora asked.

Anna grimaced. “Old enough to be my grandfather. Not at all pleasant to look upon, I must say. I hated the feel of his beard and his thick body disgusted me.”

Eudora took a sharp, shocked breath.

Calista was stunned. “He assaulted you? You were just a girl.”

Anna gave her a serene smile. “No need to feel sorry for me, Miss Langley. I assure you, I soon realized that his obsession with me gave me a great deal of power over him. And in the end I used that power to escape.”

“From where?” Eudora said.

“Brightstone Manor,” Anna said impatiently. “I hated that place. I was locked up every night. We all were.”

“Dr. Ashwell ran a private asylum,” Calista said, comprehending at last. “Your father had you committed.”

“For nearly three years,”
Anna shrieked. “That bastard, Ashwell, conducted experiments on us. He told Papa that it was necessary to keep me in Brightstone Manor because I was a danger to myself and others. But every night Ashwell came to my room. Every night I pretended that I was dead. I got rather good at it.”

“How did you escape?” Eudora asked.

An artificial calm settled on Anna. She smiled her angelic smile. “My brave knight in shining armor slew the monster and rescued me. And then we burned Brightstone Manor to the ground.”

“The man with the knife who tried to murder Mr. Hastings and me that night in Mrs. Fulton's coffin display room,” Calista said. “He's your knight, isn't he?”

“Oliver is devoted to me. He is obsessed with me also, but not like Ashwell. Oliver lives a strict, celibate life. He is purifying himself by serving his lady.”

“You,” Calista said.

“Yes. I saved him. He had been locked away in Dr. Ashwell's asylum for years. Oliver was born a gentleman and educated as one but his family signed commitment papers when he was seventeen years old.”

“Given his habit of slitting throats, that is not terribly surprising,” Calista said. “So he murdered Dr. Ashwell for you, the pair of you escaped, and you burned down the asylum.”

“Yes.”

“What about the other inmates in the asylum?” Eudora ventured. “There must have been some besides you and Oliver.”

“A dozen, perhaps. I've forgotten. Why?”

“You didn't rescue the other inmates, did you?” Calista asked. “You left them to die in the inferno.”

“They were all quite mad. I'm sure their families were relieved not to have to pay Ashwell's fees any longer.”

“You shot Nestor, didn't you?” Calista said.

“Yes. I waited for him in his dressing room. He never saw me until I put the gun to his head. And by then it was too late, of course.”

“And then you had Oliver carry his body into that locked chamber,” Eudora concluded.

“I hadn't planned to get rid of Nestor that evening,” Anna said. “I wanted a more suitable death for him. But I was forced to take action.”

“What constitutes a more suitable death?” Calista asked.

“I wanted him to die much more slowly.” Anna's eyes heated with a dangerous fire. “I wanted to watch Oliver slit Nestor's throat. I wanted to see the blood flow slowly but surely from the wound. I wanted Nestor to know that I was watching him die. But I had just discovered that he intended to try to have me committed again. I had to move quickly.”

“Having you committed would have violated the terms of your father's will,” Eudora said.

“Nestor conspired with his friend Dolan Birch. They were going to make it appear that I had gone away for an extended stay in the country and that I had put Nestor in charge of my financial affairs. No one would have questioned the papers. Everyone is accustomed to the notion of the husband dealing with such matters.”

“They planned to send you to an asylum that disguises itself as a hotel and spa outside a village named Seacliff,” Calista said.

“You know everything, don't you? I don't understand, but I suppose it doesn't matter now.”

“How did you discover that Nestor was conspiring to have you locked up again?” Eudora asked.

“That was a matter of sheer luck,” Anna said. She shuddered. The blade of the meat cleaver dipped lower toward Mrs. Sykes's neck. “Oliver followed Nestor everywhere, but Nestor never paid any attention to him. Recently Oliver overheard Nestor and Birch discussing the plan to get rid of me. They were quarreling. Evidently Nestor had not yet fulfilled his part of the bargain. It seemed he still owed Birch.”

“What did he owe him?” Calista asked. But she was quite certain she knew the answer.

Anna laughed. “Nestor claimed that he could deliver access to your client files to Birch. Amusing, isn't it? Just think, if it hadn't been for you, I might have been locked away in another asylum by now.”

“Why did your father marry you off to a fortune hunter?” Calista asked.

“I
chose
Nestor.” Anna's voice rose again, this time on a thin, fragile note. “I met him while he was visiting at a nearby country estate. There was a party and all of the local gentry were invited. Nestor danced with me and I thought him the handsomest man in the world. I fell in love with him that night. He told me that he loved me and I believed him.”

“He lied to you.”

“At the start he truly did love me,” Anna insisted. “He was quite passionate. But partway through our honeymoon he developed a profound disgust for my person. He said that making love to me was like making love to a corpse. I didn't understand. Dr. Ashwell liked it when I pretended to be dead.”

“Why have you come here tonight?” Calista asked. “You are safe now. Nestor can no longer hurt you. What's more, you have full control of your money.”

“I came here to punish you, just as I did his other whores,” Anna said. “You were the one he wanted most of all.”

“I told you, I rejected him,” Calista said. “I did nothing to encourage him.”

“That doesn't change anything,” Anna wailed. “He didn't want me but he desired you, a woman who is operating a business that is only one step above a brothel.”

It would take very little now to shatter whatever weak forces were holding Anna together.

“You say you came here to punish me,” Calista said. She took a step forward, one hand outstretched. “I understand. But please leave my housekeeper and my butler out of this. They had nothing to do with any of it.”

“Stop or I'll kill the housekeeper right now,” Anna warned.

Calista stopped but Anna was trembling with rage.

“I am curious about why you waited so long to murder Nestor,” Eudora said in a conversational tone. “Why wait until you found out he was planning to have you committed?”

“Until that point I was sure that if I could rid Nestor of his obsessions he would realize how beautiful I am. I was sure he would come to love me again. But when I discovered his plans I had to face reality.”

That last comment would have been almost amusing in other circumstances, Calista thought. It was highly unlikely that Anna had ever grasped the concept of reality in her life.

“Before you do whatever you intend to do this evening, I have a message for you from your father,” Calista said.

Anna stared at her. “Papa? But that's impossible. Papa is dead.”

“He is in the spirit world. Florence Tapp, the medium, was able to summon him so that I could speak to him.”

“You're lying. Florence Tapp is a fraud. I sent Oliver to her house to kill her because she tried to deceive me.”

“She was not a fraud,” Calista said. “I saw your father. He was wearing a dark suit, a white shirt with a turndown collar, and a necktie.”