Hidden Between The Lines

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Book excerpt

Chapter One

      Terror built in her as she ran.  Her breath came in rapid gasps.  The rain and mud were weighing down the hem of her dress making it difficult for her to run.  Someone was chasing her.  She glanced behind her. A dark, shadowy form of a man lunged for her.

     Rachel’s eyes flew open.  Her heart was pounding, and she felt out of breath.  Relief washed over her when she realized she was still in her own bedroom.  She rolled over on her side and looked toward the windows.

     The dusty rays of dawn crept through her window greedily stealing toward the dark hidden places in her room.  Familiar shapes and spaces covered by the black shadow of the night soon began their daily transformation.

     Excitement built in her as she flipped the quilt off and jumped out of bed.  The nightmare was quickly forgotten as she thought of meeting Lieutenant Phillip Prescott again in town today.  Phillip always told her he thought of her as his Lady Fair, and he was her brave Knight.  And, how he thought she was the fairest maiden he had ever seen, with her golden hair and big, blue eyes.  She had only known him three months, but knew he was the man she would love forever.

     Rachel dressed and hurried down the stairs to have her morning meal and wait for Edith to pick her up for the ride into town.

     She was surprised to see her father already sitting at the morning table having his meal.  “Good morning, Father,” she said respectfully.  “I am surprised to see you rise so early.  I usually eat alone in the morning.”

     “I wanted to talk to you about some good news,” he said smiling at her.  “But it was late when I got home last night, and you were already asleep.”

   “Oh?”  Rachel was confused.  Her father almost never talked to her, and never as nicely as he did now.

   “You have grown into a beautiful young woman.”  He reached over and patted her hand, smiling broadly at her, “And it has not gone unnoticed.”

   “Thank you, Father.  But I don’t understand,” she replied.     

      “In two weeks, Lord Symington is planning a lavish party that will be thrown in your honor on his vast estate.”  His face was aglow with his news.  “He will announce your engagement to him.”

     Rachel gasped in horror.  “Surely, you jest, Father.” 

   “No, I do not jest about such things,” he said briskly.  “You shall be married in two months’ time.”

   “Father, you cannot be serious.  Father, he is so old, and . . .”

     Lord Ramsford cut off her sentence.  “You are eighteen.”  He glared at her, “At your age; I am lucky any man would want you, let alone a very rich man,” he snapped.

     Rachel pushed away from the table and stood up facing him. “I will not marry him, Father.  I will not.  He is old and bent.”  She wrinkled her nose in distaste.  “He has foul breath and rotting black teeth.  Even his lips are blackened.  You cannot ask this of me.”

     “You will do as you are told.  He has given a very generous bride price for you.  All of my debts and those of your brother, Harold, will be paid with money to spare.”

     “Father, I know you have heard of the terrible things this man has done.  I would be his fourth wife.  Can you want this for me?”

     His lips curled in anger, “You will do as you are told, and that is the end of it.”

     Now Rachel’s anger mounted.  “How can you say such a thing?  His first wife died in childbirth along with the child.  This hideous man said it was of no consequence because the child was a girl.  His second wife ran off with one of his henchmen.”  Her voice pleaded with him to listen.  “They say he had them found and murdered.  And what of his last wife?  They found her body at the bottom of one of his towers.  No one knows if she jumped or was pushed.”

     “Enough,” he snapped.  “Yes, I have heard all of those rumors, and that is just what they are - rumors.  No one can prove any of it.  I believe the townspeople made up all of those things because they are jealous of his wealth and power.”

     Rachel turned and headed for the door followed closely by her father.  He grabbed her arm whirling her around.  His lips curled back, his teeth bared, and anger poured from his eyes as he snarled.   "You shall marry whomever I say.   You have no choice in the matter.”

     “No, I will not marry him.” She yelled.

     Rachel yanked her arm free just as his hand came up and slapped her hard across the face knocking her to the floor.

     “You will do as I say you ungrateful child.  Your brother and I will be able to live comfortably the rest of our lives.  You would be so selfish as to deny us this?”  He stood over her shaking his fist and screaming at her.  “I will not speak of this again.  I have accepted his generous offer, and you will be married in two months’ time.  The banns will be posted this week.” 

       “No, no,” she sobbed uncontrollably.

     Lord Ramsford raised his hand to strike her again, but stopped.  “You had better not try to undo what has been done,” he snapped. He walked away leaving her to cry on the floor.

     Rachel had no idea how long she lay there crying when she heard her cousin, Edith, bursting through the door.

     “Oh, my dear, Rachel,” she scooped Rachel up into her arms rocking her gently.  “I heard you crying. What has happened?”  She pulled away from Rachel and spoke to her in a soothing, gentle tone. “Now stop crying and tell me what has happened.”

     When Rachel had finished, Edith’s small, gray eyes narrowed.  “You shall not marry that foul old man.  I believe all the evil things they say about him.”  She released Rachel from her embrace and stood up holding her hands out for Rachel to grab.  “You are too small and lovely a thing to marry such a hideous creature.”  She threw back her head and laughed.  “That horrid man would not want me as his wife.  I am quite a bit taller and heavier than him, and if he gave me any trouble I would just sit on him.”

     Rachel laughed in spite of the situation and grabbed Edith’s hands as she was pulled to her feet.  “But what can I do?”

      “We’ll go to my father’s house and think of something.”  She leaned in and whispered in Rachel’s ear.  “We are meeting your lieutenant today, maybe he can think of something.”

       Later that afternoon they met up with Phillip, who paced back and forth in anger.

      “Married?”  The tall, handsome lieutenant shouted.  “No!”  He said firmly.  “No man shall have you but me.”

     “But he is very rich and powerful,” Rachel dabbed a handkerchief to her wet eyes.

     “My father is very rich and powerful, too. He is a very influential barrister in London.  I will appeal to him for help.”

     “How can he help us?  Do what?”  Rachel sniffled.

     “I may be his second eldest son, but I am his favorite son.  He will do whatever I ask.”

     “What will you ask?”  Edith inquired as confused as Rachel.

     “He can get us a license to marry,” Phillip moved quickly to his horse tied to the branch of a tree.  “Let my father work this out,” he stopped and walked back to Rachel.  “He will have to get permission for me to wed, and a special license.  He will know what has to be done.”  He grabbed Rachel into his arms and kissed her hard on the mouth.  “No man shall have you but me, my fairest of maidens.”

     “Married?”  Rachel was still whirling from his words.

     “Of course,” he kissed her again quickly.

     “But I . . .” Rachel stammered.

     “I know that a regiment has just left for Nova Scotia.  I could possibly join them as an attaché or something.  It would mean a couple of years there.  Let me have my father deal with this.  Now, I must get to London and have him procure our future.  I will get word to you through Edith with the plans.”  He nodded respectfully to the two stunned women and rode off.

     “Well, that was a very quick solution to your problem.  He didn’t even ask if you would marry him, although I am sure he already knew the answer to that.” Edith placed an arm around Rachel’s waist.  “Not a very proper proposal, but a very good idea.”

     “I hope his father thinks so as well,” Rachel grimaced.

     “He will love you as father, and I do,” Edith untied the reins to their buggy from the low-hanging tree branch.

     “Whatever shall I do without you Edith?  You are more like a sister to me than a cousin.  I do love you dearly.”  Her head dropped as tears rolled down her face.

     “You are only going to be gone for a couple of years to Nova Scotia, and by that time that hideous old Lord Symington will have either forgotten about you or be dead.”  Edith motioned for Rachel to get into the buggy, and spoke to her in a very comforting voice.   "All will turn out well. You will see.”

     Rachel dabbed at her eyes again and climbed into the buggy.  “I look at the portrait of my mother, and wish with all my heart she had lived.  She would never have let father try to marry me off to the likes of Lord Symington.”

     “They say she was quite a beauty,” Edith looked over at Rachel, “just like her daughter.”

     “Why is it that your mother died in birthing you and your father still loves you dearly?  And my father, well, they are so different?”

     “I do not know, Rachel.  One cannot figure out what makes people be who they are, well, at least not me.”

     “Nor I,” Rachel sighed.  “In one of father’s drunken fits, he told me that I was a terrible exchange for losing his wife.”

     “Oh, my dearest, that is a horrible thing for him to say,” Edith shook her head.  “That angers me greatly.”

     She looked over at Edith and shrugged. “I have to accept that which is.”  Tears began to form in Rachel’s eyes. “I am really going to leave you.  What shall I do without you?”

     “You will live happily with Phillip and return to me in a couple of years; that is what you shall do.”  Edith straightened her shoulders.  “Now, let us not think of this right now, or I truly shall burst into tears.”   She quickly changed the subject.  “I think you better start bringing over what you want to take with you.  We will start storing your things in a trunk I have in my room.”

     “Yes,” Rachel laughed.  “I have dresses and pelisses that I wouldn’t have had if it weren’t for you.  It took me a while to figure out that when you were making an outfit for yourself, you always ordered extra material, so I would also have an outfit.”

     “I did no such thing,” Edith said.  “I am just very bad at figuring out how much material I would need.”

     “I shall miss you more than you will ever know,” Rachel started to cry again.

     “Now, stop that.” Edith tried to keep from crying, but it was to no avail as the tears began to slide down her face. 

        A week passed since Rachel, Edith and Phillip had solidified their plan of escape.

       Rachel moved restlessly on the bed.  She had hardly slept all night and when she did her reoccurring nightmare of a dark shadow chasing her would appear.  She pushed it aside as she always did, especially today.  The excitement and anticipation of her elopement were almost too much for her to bear. “Today is the happiest day of my life.  Nothing matters now except our being together.” She said softly as she stretched her body and smiled.

     She pulled back the feather quilt from her bed and raced to the window.  Her bare feet flew across the room barely touching the cold wooden floors.  She plopped down on the window seat, and shivered.  She was not sure if it was from the excitement or the cool morning air as she pulled the neatly folded crocheted blanket up around her.

     This would be the last time she would ever sit in this window and stare out at the beautiful landscape that circled her father’s manor. However, it held little importance to her because there were no fond memories attached to it.  All Rachel could think about was escaping from here for good. 

     She sighed happily.  She was going to be with the one she loved for the rest of her life.  They were going to live happily ever after, of that she was certain.

     However, for now, everything had to be a secret.  Her life … and his depended upon it.  She pulled her knees up tightly against her chest.  Her head fell back gently to rest on the window frame. 

     “This has been the longest night of my life.”  Rachel said thinking of Phillip.  “Did you sleep fitfully, my dearest?  Are you just as excited and nervous, my love?  Once we’re married and on the ship, we will be free to love each other forever.”

     Today, she would cheat the foul Lord Symington of the pleasure of her company.  “Today,” she sighed aloud.  “My love - my life - forever.”  She grinned and brought her chin down upon her knees.  “Phillip,” she whispered softly, lovingly, and hugged her knees even tighter to her chest. 

     A mourning dove flew past her window.  She reached up and opened the window letting the cool morning air stream in.

     A small breeze tugged at her hair as it fell in complete disarray around her face.  Her eyes followed the flight of the dove until it disappeared around the side of the manor.  She got to her knees and pushed the window open further.  Rachel breathed in deeply.  This would be the last morning of English air that she would breathe for a long time.

     Suddenly, Rachel realized that she had better stop thinking about such things and start getting ready.  She reached over and shut the window, snapping the closure tightly.  She went to her wardrobe and carefully dressed. 

     She had to leave some dresses behind so that no one would know she had left for good.  Although she knew her father did not know what was in her wardrobe, because if it were not for Edith, she would probably only have one or two dresses.  Her father felt a dress should be able to last for years if properly cared for.  

     Rachel crept quietly down to the breakfast table, and was startled to see her father at breakfast so early in the morning - again.  Her stomach began to churn, because the last time that happened, he had unpleasant news for her.

     “I have good news for you about picking your trousseau,” he reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a wad of money.  He peeled off a few bills placing them firmly on the table and quickly pocketed the rest.  “Lord Symington sent over some money for you to choose your bridal clothes.  That is all you need for now.  He wants it bought before the wedding, of course.”

     “Thank you, Father.”  Rachel picked up the money and carefully put it in the pocket of her dress.  She knew they would need all the money they could get, because she was sure, a Lieutenant’s pay was not very much.  Even though his father was very rich, Phillip’s older brother would inherit everything.  But she didn’t care about that:  They had their love to get them through everything.