CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Her heart in her throat, Julia stared up at the lean, handsome face with eyes so soft and sparkling they took her breath away. His lips, full and delicate, were curved in a most inviting smile. He was clean-shaven, with dark hair silvered at the temples. He towered over her. Looking up, Julia never remembered ever seeing a mature man as handsome as this. She found she could not speak.

“They call you Julia, I understand,” he said in his deep, lush, resonant tone. He raised his arms and opened them wide. “Haven’t you a kiss for the father who lived only for this day?”

Julia felt the stinging behind her eyes. She swayed forward and found herself collapsing in her father’s strong, comforting embrace. The house, the room, the atmosphere were all swept magically into oblivion as she gave herself up to her tears of happiness. She pressed hard against him, welcoming his protective strength. He smoothed her hair and pressed his lips to her temples and hugged her tight.

“My daughter, my daughter,” he breathed.

“Oh, Father,” she sobbed, and then her voice faltered again.

“You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment,” her father said. “I searched and searched but without success, as well you know. Oh, my dearest little girl, how wonderful for you to have found me. I had all but given you up.”

“I always knew I’d find you someday,” she said. “It was as if some invisible force was leading me to you ever since they discharged me from the orphanage.”

“Orphanage? Ah, I see. No wonder we could find no trace of you. All we learned was that they spirited you away. Everyone said you had died with your mother, but I refused to believe that.” Again he hugged her. “But all that is in the past now. We must try to forget our loneliness. We have each other at last. Nothing will take you away from me again. Come, let us have Matilda prepare us some lunch. We have a lot to say to one another.” He pulled the bell cord and when the old woman appeared, he told her to fix lunch for two. When they were again alone, he kissed Julia’s forehead and led her to a large divan that faced a dead fireplace. He reached for her hand as they settled themselves.

“Now,” he started, “I want to know all about you...where you’ve been, how you’ve lived...and especially how you came to find me after all these years. You know, Julia, you are very much like your mother. Perhaps even more beautiful. I am very proud indeed to be your father.”

“And I your daughter,” Julia said softly. She gave a little laugh. “You would not believe the things I was thinking earlier. I was certain you would not want to see a daughter you scarcely knew. I was sure you’d reject me and order me out of your house.”

“My dear child,” he said, patting her hand. “I would never reject you. I have lived for this day. I spent a long time searching for you, but as the years passed the trail grew too cold to follow. I knew, though, that we would find each other someday.” He paused and looked deep into Julia’s face. “Tell me how you did come to find me when my search for you proved so fruitless.”

“Oh, it’s a long story. But I suppose it was destiny or fate that brought me here. Strange, now that I think of it, I suppose I too always knew we’d find each other. I never really believed them when they told me I had neither father nor mother. They said that my parents were dead, but I never accepted that. I had the strangest feeling that someone was always behind me, leading me to you. Then, when I was discharged from the orphanage at eighteen, I went to New York. I suppose it was fate again that led me there because I made friends with three girls from my office. I really shouldn’t say I made friends with them, though, because we were never all that friendly toward each other. But oddly enough, I found myself on vacation with them one week. It was as if some strange, magnetic force was pulling me closer and closer to you. It was one of the girls who suggested the crystal-ball gazer.”

“The crystal-ball gazer?” Her father laughed.

Julia flushed slightly and grinned. “Yes. Believe it or not, a fortune teller was the one who started me on the path to finding you here in Belham.”

“A fortune teller. How wonderful.”

“She really wasn’t all that wonderful. She said some awful things about me and I had a terrible experience with her, but in the end she proved responsible for my being here.”

“Well, pay no attention to whatever she said to upset you. We owe her a vote of thanks.”

“Strange,” she said, “but I just had the oddest feeling that we’ve met before somewhere.”

“It was your subconscious dictating to you. Away back in your infancy you most likely harbored a vision of me of which you were not conscious. The mind is a very complicated and intriguing piece of machinery that begins operating the moment we take our first breath of life—and some say even before that. The mind is capable of much more than we can imagine.” Smoothing back her hair, he kissed her forehead again. “Try not to think of anything that might disturb you, my pet. Forget the past. We have a whole new future waiting before us.”

Julia smiled.

“What name do you go by?” her father asked.

“Julia Carson.”

“Hmmmm. The name we gave you was that of your mother, Bridget Bishop.” He grinned. “I suppose it would be rather nonsensical to call you Bridget when you’ve grown so accustomed to Julia.”

“No. I really wouldn’t mind at all,” she said. “Bridget is such a beautiful name.”

“Nevertheless,” he said, “I insist you keep Julia.” He paused and added, “But the Carson must go. You must have your own true name.”

“Julia Bishop?” Julia said.

Her father chuckled again. “I hate to confuse you totally, but actually your name is not Bishop either. That was the name which I was known by when your mother and I married. Since then I have reverted back to using my original family name. Cagliostro. I, your father, am the direct descendant of the infamous Count Cagliostro. “

“Cagliostro?”

“Dr. Lucius Cagliostro, at your service,” he said with a flourish. “And you are my only daughter, Julia Cagliostro. You’ve heard of Count Cagliostro, I presume?”

Julia shook her head. “No,” she said simply.

He laughed again. “Then you must read all about him. He was quite a scoundrel.” His eyes twinkled merrily. “He was my great-great-grandfather...or was he my great-great-great-grandfather? Anyway, you’ll find him a fascinating old tyrant, and most disreputable.”

He leaned back against the couch cushions and regarded Julia for a moment. “You see, when my parents brought me to this country, the name Cagliostro had a very bad reputation. My father decided to change our name from Cagliostro to something else. On the boat over, the first man he spoke to was a Bishop, so my father—being a rather simple man—chose the name Bishop as our family name. They were afraid of the evil gossip which always seemed to follow the name Cagliostro around. My ancestors were always subjected to troublesome gossip whenever people spoke of them.”

“Evil gossip?” Julia felt a sudden chill. Daughter of evil, she thought.

“Oh, it is really nothing. All legend and fantasy and silly superstition. It was just that the old count did not enjoy the best reputation among his vassals, and they concocted a lot of terrible tales that were handed down from generation to generation. But being a modem-thinking individual, when I found myself without wife or child, I decided I would adopt my true family name. People around here have accepted the change, and I am happy being who I was intended to be.”

Julia found herself nodding. “Yes, I can readily understand the desire to own your rightful name, regardless of what it may be,” she said.

“But in your case, you were christened Bridget Bishop. If you wish to retain title name Bishop, it is all right with me, although I would, of course, prefer you adopt your father’s true name, Cagliostro. It would please me very much.”

“Julia Cagliostro,” she said with a grin. “I’ll have to learn to spell it, but it does have a lovely sound to it.”

“Good, then it is settled. The lovely Julia is reinstated with her father, and the Cagliostro name will be carried on to future generations.” He gave her a sidelong look. “I was afraid the name might end with me.”

Julia’s face went red. “I hadn’t given any thought to marrying. The prospects in Belham must be rather slim.” She suddenly remembered the handsome young rider on the white horse who had appeared beneath her window during the night.

“You need not worry about finding a husband,” he told her. “One as beautiful as you will have no trouble. If you find no one to suit you here in Belham, we are free to travel. Of course, we must always keep this as our home.”

Julia frowned, remembering the strange secret room she had discovered earlier.

“What is it, child? Is it that you do not wish to make this your home?”

Julia shook her head. “No, it isn’t that.” She hesitated. “I like Belham well enough, it’s just....” Unconsciously her eyes wandered around the room and came to rest on the weird statue tucked away in the corner.

Her father saw where she looked and laughed. “If anything in the house displeases you, we will have it changed. I have lived alone for too many years with my collection and only Matilda to worry about. I suppose this room, this house, is a bit grim in the eyes of a young, lovely girl such as you. Do what you wish to change it to suit you, but I must ask that you do respect some of my priceless possessions, such as that piece of sculpture which made you frown.”

Her father rose and crossed to the hideous thing that stood in its corner. “I collect old and unusual idols, such as this,” he said. “This is a very important Egyptian god. His name is Anubis,” he announced with obvious pride. “Anubis, the jackal god, aids the pharaohs who died in the underworld. He holds a divine scepter and guards the sacred underworld from all unworthy intruders.”

Julia felt a tinge of guilt knowing that she ranked as an intruder, if indeed the room beyond was her father’s so-called underworld. “Then you are an archaeologist?” she said, trying to hide her guilt.

“Oh, no. Ancient cultures are a hobby of mine, no more. I’m interested in all the people of the world.” He came back and sat down beside her again. “This house is crammed full with my collection of idols, icons, tapestries, paintings, sculptures from almost every culture that ever existed.”

Julia thought again of the secret room and was going to speak of it but glanced at the statue of Anubis and remembered her father’s words: “...guards...from all unworthy intruders.” She decided to say nothing of her having found the hidden room.

So it was all a hobby, as she had suspected. She felt much better about living here. She would brighten up the place with Matilda’s help. It wouldn’t be all that bad after she’d had a chance to bring in some freshness.

“I promise not to depose any of your gods or goddesses,” she told her father. “And I know I’ll be very happy living here with you.” She snuggled close to him. “I’ve never had a real home before. Now that I have, I don’t want to leave it.”

“We are together now and there is nothing on this earth that can separate us. The Cagliostros were always a noble, proud, and determined family. We will not dishonor the name by being otherwise. If it is your wish to remain here in Belham, then so be it; however, we must travel and broaden your education and knowledge of things. The world is a wide and wonderful and strange place. I want you to know it well.” He turned his head and studied her for a moment. “Your age, child? I believe you must be near twenty-one. I’m afraid I lost count. It has been a long time.”

“I’ll be twenty-one on the first of September according to the records at the orphanage.”

“Ah, but that is not correct. You were born in August. It was very hot, I remember. Your poor mother was so uncomfortable. I asked for a cool breeze to comfort her and the powers that be heard my plea.” He knit his brows. “The thirteenth of August. Yes, I’m positive it was the thirteenth of August. Your birth certificate is somewhere in my papers. I’ll search it out and confirm my memory. The orphanage most likely got you on the first of September and adopted that as your birthday. Your mother and you disappeared very shortly after you were born...only a few weeks. You were such a tiny little thing...and so very pretty.”

“I never did feel much like a Virgo,” Julia said with a smile.

“No, child. You are a Leo child—strong and powerful and determined.”

“My mother,” Julia said after a pause. “Aunt Rose told me she died in the Weaver jail.”

“Your Aunt Rose is a fool,” her father snapped, growing suddenly irritable. “Your mother died in Weaver, true enough, but not in their jail.”

Julia frowned. “I don’t understand. Why would she tell me such a terrible thing if it were not true?”

Her father gave her a kindly look. “The truth is, Julia, that your mother was running away from me. She died near Weaver. Somehow you were taken away from her, and no one knew who took you or where you were taken. After you were born, your mother grew very ill. She suffered fits of delirium. She did not know she was running from me, or that she was carrying you with her.”

He shook his head. “It was a very sad day for me when they returned her body here to Belham and we found you were gone. Very sad indeed,” he said. Then he brightened. “But let us not talk of your mother and such sad things now. You are here. All that is in the past. Everything is fine again. You have been returned to me, and from now on we will only laugh and think of wonderful, pleasant things.” He paused again, as though disturbed by a sudden thought. “You are staying at the inn?”

“Yes. Aunt Rose took me in last night, although I had to pretend to faint before she did so. She’s made me most comfortable.”

“But you will not stay there. I will have your things brought here. This is your home. I will have you living nowhere else. We can send for whatever you left behind in New York. This is your home from now on.”

“I’d like that,” Julia found herself saying, despite all the misgivings she had had about the gloomy old house and the strange, black secret room. All she wanted was to be with her father. That was all she cared about now.

“That is settled then. Come, we will have our lunch and get you settled in immediately thereafter. Your aunt is a wonderful, kind woman, but she is prone to be a bit of a gossip and a troublemaker. I would prefer you do not place much importance on anything she says. She tends to be overly dramatic at times.”

They got up from the couch and started toward where Julia imagined the dining room was located. “Incidentally,” she said as they crossed the large, dismal foyer with its horseshoe staircase, “I had a visit from a man on horseback during the night. I believe he was sent by you. Was he?”

Her father put back his head and laughed. “If it was who I think it was, he lost no time in reaching you. In the middle of the night, you say?”

“Yes, it was about three in the morning. I woke up and heard the sound of hoofbeats on the street outside. And there he was under my window, sitting astride a white horse.”

“How like him,” he said. “How very much like him, the young devil.” He laughed again and slid open the big double doors leading to the dining room. “Shall we eat, child? I’m famished.”