Chapter Four

John stared at her for a moment, and then let out a laugh. “You’re joking,” he said.

Alana touched her napkin to her lips. “No, Mr. Winston. I only wish I were.”

“A ghost? You can’t seriously expect me to believe it.” He stared at her as she continued eating, as calmly as if she had said nothing unusual. “You are serious.”

“Yes.”

He laughed again. “Then, Miss Sterling, you must have windmills in your head. Ghosts don’t exist.”

Alana took a bite of ham. “I assure you, sir, I am not insane. And, before you accuse me of being foxed, let me also assure you that I never touch spirits.” A smile tilted her lips. “At least, not spirits of the liquid variety.”

“Miss Sterling-”

“I am no more sure than you of what happened,” she went on. “I do know I was not dreaming, but other than that, I cannot say for certain that I really saw anything.” She paused. “Except that he certainly seemed real.”

“I am real, madam,” a voice said behind her, and she started, turning, to see Sir Gabriel.

“Heavens!” Her hand flew to her heart. “You startled me.”

“What are you talking about?” John asked.

“Tell him I am here,” Sir Gabriel commanded.

“Heavens.” Alana turned back. “Sir Gabriel is here.”

“What? Where?”

“Standing behind me.”

John peered past her. “I don’t see anything.”

“I assure you, he is there.” She turned. “Will you show yourself to Mr. Winston?”

“That Jack-a-dandy? No.

“Then do please go away, sir. I cannot talk with you hanging over my shoulder.”

“Oh, very well,” Sir Gabriel grumbled, and faded.

Alana turned to see John regarding her with a strange look on his face. “If he had to do that, I wish he had appeared to you as well.”

“You really believe you see him.”

“Indeed, sir, I do. Oh, I know it sounds absurd!” She set her fork down. “If I were you, I wouldn’t believe it, either. It’s a ridiculous story.”

“So it is.” He stared at her. Miss Sterling baffled him. Yesterday she had given him a severe setdown, and yet today she had actively sought him out. “Assume for a moment that what you are saying is true. What do you expect me to do about it?”

“His story intrigued me. I thought if anyone could tell me about it, it would be you. After all, you are the family historian.”

“Of one day’s standing. You’d do better to ask Lady Honoria.”

She shook her head. “Not when I’m trying to gain her confidence. She’d be convinced I’m as henwitted as her last companion.” John gave her a look, which she appeared to ignore. “And I suppose I wanted to talk to someone about it, though why I chose you—do you think you could verify his story?”

“Actually, I came across something about him this morning. He was thrown from his horse on Valentine’s Day.”

“Yes!” She leaned forward. “Was there any mention of a crystal heart?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“A crystal heart,” she repeated, and went on to tell him the remainder of the story, leaving out no detail. When she was finished, John was staring at her with both eyebrows lowered in a frown.

“So you are to find some Follett descendant and make him see the error of his ways? How do you plan to do that?”

“I don’t know! I only thought, if perhaps you came across some mention of the family, or the heart, you would tell me.”

He looked down at his tray for a moment without seeing it, and then pushed it away. “I could do that. Sounds more interesting than listing the various Hart and Valentine marriages. Yes, Miss Sterling.” He smiled at her. “I’ll see what I can find.”

“Oh, thank you. I must admit, I’m curious about this.”

“Mm.” He continued to gaze at her, and, to his amusement, she looked away. “Though you really didn’t need such a ruse, you know.”

That made her look at him. “I beg your pardon.”

“Come, Miss Sterling—what is your given name?”

“Alana,” she said, and then frowned. “What has that to say to anything?”

“Alana.” He tested it on his tongue. “Unusual. I like it.”

“How nice for you. If you’ll excuse me, sir, I’ve taken up enough of your time—”

“Alana.” He reached out and caught her wrist. “Come, don’t leave like this. I know we got off to a bad start, but we needn’t be at daggers drawn, do we?”

Alana looked down at his hand, and he suddenly felt impertinent for having dared to touch her. Yet her skin was soft, silky, under his fingers, and he could feel her pulse race. “Please let me go,” she said, in a voice that was meant to sound commanding, but which cracked.

“Are you sure that is what you want?”

“Yes. Yes!” She twisted free, snatching her arm back and cradling it in her other one, as if it were injured. “How dare you, sir?”

John rose and grinned at her, unrepentant. “I dare because I believe it is what you wanted, as well.”

“What I—! You have a high opinion of yourself, sir.”

“Yes.”

That seemed to stop her. She stared at him, mouth agape. “Well, it is not an opinion I share!” she exclaimed, and spun around.

“Alana,” he said, as she reached the door, and her shoulders stiffened. “This isn’t finished, you know.”

“It most certainly is, sir!” And, with that, she flounced out of the library, leaving John still grinning. These next six months promised to be far more interesting than he had ever expected.

Alana stormed into her room, pulling her cap from her head and throwing it down onto her dressing table. “Of all the arrogant, insolent—it was something I wanted. I wanted? Only a man would dare say something like that—ooh! If I could get my hands on him-”

“Dear lady, what has happened to upset you so?”

Alana spun around at the unexpected voice, her hand to her heart, to see Sir Gabriel standing there, his hat held before him and a concerned frown upon his face. “Must you continue to sneak up upon me, sir?”

For the first time, something approaching a smile appeared on his face. “Would you rather I knocked? I am sorry, dear lady. Quite an impossibility.”

“Oh.” This last was too much. Suddenly tired from her encounter with the odious Mr.Winston, she sank down onto her chair. “Why are you bothering me? And why did you come to the library? You made me look quite the fool.”

“Dear lady, I am sorry.” He stood before her, looking impossibly solid. Yet, if she reached out to touch him, would she feel anything? “If there were any other way, I would leave you in peace.”

“I know.” She rubbed at her temples. “At least, I think so. Oh, I don’t know what to believe anymore! Yesterday my life was quite sane, and now, between you and Mr. Winston-”

“I do not trust that man.” Sir Gabriel frowned as he prowled the room. “Looks like a lightweight to me.”

“He’s no such thing!” Alana exclaimed, wondering at the same time why she was bothering to defend the man. “He is working for his bread, rather than battening on his family.”

“Mm. Nevertheless, I do wish you had asked someone else for help.”

“You stayed?”

“Little goes on in this house that escapes my notice.”

“Oh.” Not for the first time, Alana wondered at the nature of this man’s existence, if such it could be called. “What must it be like for you.”

He shot her a look. “Pray do not worry about me. I am more concerned for you, consorting with that ruffian in the library.”

“He is not a ruffian. Merely rather taken with himself. Heaven knows I met many such during my season.”

Sir Gabriel stopped pacing and fixed her with a look. “You had a season?”

“No, I merely meant, when I was in London during the season, with my last employer-”

“You had a season,” he repeated. “You were a success. You received, ah, five offers, I believe.”

Alana stared at him. “How in the world do you know that?”

“It is one of the few benefits of my position. I see things.”

“You see things.” Alana crossed her arms and turned away. “This is absurd. Here I sit, discussing second sight with a ghost. A ghost!”

“I am real, madam. Or do you wish me to demonstrate-”

“No! Please do not fade on me again. Oh, fustian.” Resting her head on her hands, she gazed into her mirror. Only her own image was reflected there. “I had hoped I had imagined you, from being tired. You have vastly complicated my life, sir.”

“I am sorry. But it is your own fault, you know. At your age, a woman should be married.”

A smile curved Alana’s lips. “You make me sound quite ancient, sir.”

“No, dear lady, I do not mean-”

“Not one of those five offers came from the heart. All they could see was my position.”

He shrugged. “That is the way of the world.”

“Is it?” She turned to face him. “When you have existed as you have for so long, because of love?”

Sir Gabriel glanced away. “Point taken. But, by the lord Harry, it is different for a man! Why did not your father make you accept one of those offers?”

“My father is dead.”

“My sympathies,” he said, after a moment. “And your mother, as well. What of your grandfather? No, ‘tis not the sight this time. You mentioned him last evening.”

“So I did.” Alana set her cap on her head and rose, bending to check her appearance in the mirror one last time. “I must go, sir. Lady Honoria will be expecting me.”

“He doesn’t approve of what you are doing.”

“He doesn’t know.” Alana looked at Sir Gabriel, standing in the middle of the floor and looking as solid as she. “You are not going to let me go until I tell you, are you?”

“You are troubled. You behave as if you are not, but you are. You miss your grandfather.”

“That cantankerous, overbearing old man—yes.” She passed a hand over her brow. “I do miss him. Oh, very well.” She sat again. “You may as well know. My grandfather is the Duke of Grafton.”

“A duke! By thunder, girl, what are you doing working as a paid companion?”

Alana’s jaw jutted out. “‘Tis my own wish. He is a stubborn old man who will not see sense-”

“Exactly like you, you mean.”

Alana stared at him, and then let out a laugh. “Yes, I suppose I am a lot like him, and that is why we quarrel so much. We never have agreed on much.”

“But this, girl. Working for someone else, when you could have anything you wanted. I do not understand.”

“Mm.” Alana gazed at her reflection without seeing it. “I wasn’t raised that way. I was raised to believe in other values besides fortune and position. My father was a vicar, you see. My grandfather never forgave my mother for marrying him.”

“And quite right, too. He was quite beneath her.”

“My father was beneath no man! He was good, and strong, and brave, and he taught me always to look beyond the surface in a person. He and Mama were so happy together.” She sighed. “It was a true love match.”

“What happened to them, madam?”

“There was a fever in the village, and both succumbed. I escaped. I was in London at the time.” Her voice took on a bitter tinge. “Grandfather never forgave my mother, but he did unbend enough to offer to pay for a season for me. Mama thought it was a wonderful opportunity. I was young enough that I thought so, too. I soon learned.” She paused. “Once it became known who I was, the offers came pouring in. Not for me, you understand, but because of who I was, and my dowry. ‘Tis quite substantial.”

“Your grandfather should have seen to it that you married.”

“He tried. Oh, he tried, but I fought him on every one. Especially—well, never mind. Then, when I had the news of my parents-” She broke off, and there was silence for a moment. “I went to live with Grandfather, but it was difficult. I couldn’t be what he wanted me to be. I couldn’t be my mother.”

“My dear lady-”

“So I left. I went to London, managed to procure a post as a companion, and here I am. To my knowledge, Grandfather does not know where I am, and I prefer to keep it that way. I do not want him ordering my life.”

“But surely marriage would be better than this.”

“Would it?” Her smile was sad. “After seeing my parents’ marriage, how could I settle for anything less? Surely you, of all people, understand that.”

“I do,” Sir Gabriel said, after a moment. “Very well, then, dear lady. I will not tease you about this anymore. But I do wonder what is wrong with the men nowadays. Have they not eyes?”

Alana looked up at that to see him gazing at her, a definite twinkle in his eye. She could feel her face growing pink. Heavens! He was a most flirtatious ghost. “Fustian,” she said, crisply. “You must excuse me now, sir. Lady Honoria will be waiting for me.”

“Of course, dear lady.” Sir Gabriel bent low in a bow, sweeping his hat before him, and straightened only when she had left the room. Today’s men must indeed be blind, he mused, because Miss Sterling was a most attractive young woman. If he were alive, she was just the type he would have—well, it were better perhaps that she didn’t know that. She would be devilishly difficult to deal with, much like his Madeleine. He couldn’t afford to offend her. She was his only hope of fulfilling his vow.

And he could help her. His position had advantages that he usually took for granted. He had lost the ability to touch things; he could no longer enjoy a good meal or a fine brandy, and the real pleasure of his life, the company of women, was forever lost to him. Food no longer mattered, however; nor did the fleeting pleasures of the flesh. Too late, he had learned what was really important, something Alana already knew. ‘Twould be a pity if she kept herself shut away from life forever, and thus lost her chance at true happiness. Perhaps he, with his heightened powers of perception, could help her. ‘Twould be criminal if a woman such as she remained unwed.

His energy was flagging. It took great concentration for him to reveal himself like this, a force of will he could not maintain for long. He was fading, fading, and there was little he could do about it. His resolution remained, however. Before he faded completely away, he smiled, a smile that would have made Alana most suspicious. God willing, she would find her match. He would have to see what he could do.