The Lightkeeper's Ball Page 5

  Glass shattered and timbers creaked. They exited into driving rain. The wind nearly knocked Olivia over as she struggled to see through the downpour that instantly drenched her. A huge crash sounded behind them, and she whirled to see the lighthouse collapsing. Every window in the house had been blown out. The tower toppled to the ground.

  SIX

  WIND AND RAIN lashed Harrison’s motorcar as his driver navigated the flooded road from Ferndale to Mercy Falls. It was a wonder the driver could see, though this Cadillac model had a windshield. Still, sheets of rain came in all around the canvas top. Harrison couldn’t even see the beacon from the lighthouse in the storm. They were on the outskirts of town. He had responded to a call to help transport a family driven from their home by a flash flood to a relative in Ferndale.

  Thurman braked abruptly, and Harrison leaned forward. “What’s wrong?”

  “Look, sir.” The driver indicated a bedraggled column of people out in the storm.

  “Good heavens, it’s the Jespersons,” Harrison said when he saw the man’s face. He got out into the drenching rain. “Get in!” he shouted above the din of the storm.

  He ushered them into the backseat, then realized there were three adults plus Jennie. Lady Devonworth was with them. He climbed into the front beside his driver. He put his arm on the seat back and turned around to stare at his passengers. Lady Devonworth wore only a nightgown. She shivered in the soaked garment.

  “This isn’t any drier, but it might warm you,” he said as he shrugged off his wet jacket. He handed it back to her, and she murmured her thanks as she slid her arms into it.

  Even with dripping hair, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Those gypsy black eyes were exotic and compelling, even with her lashes dripping wet and water running down her cheeks.

  “What’s happened?” he asked.

  “The storm blew down the lighthouse,” Will said. “I knew it had some weak areas, but I hadn’t been able to get money from the Bureau of Lighthouses for repairs.”

  “Totally gone?” Harrison asked. Will nodded. “No wonder I couldn’t see the beacon. I thought it was because the storm was so bad.”

  “I just pray no ships were grounded out there without it. I think the Lucy had already gone past.”

  “Thank God you were all uninjured. You were in the building when it came down?”

  Will nodded. “I was in the tower and barely escaped. I got the women out, and the next gust caved in the roof. It’s totally destroyed.”

  “You’re all unhurt. That’s the important thing.” Harrison glanced at Thurman. “Let’s get everyone to my house.”

  His driver nodded. “We’ll be home in five minutes.”

  “Turn up the heat,” Harrison told Will. “The gas burner is by your feet.”

  Will complied, and the burner sputtered. The rain blew in on everyone in the backseat. He tucked his coat around his daughter, then slipped his arm around his wife. “I’ve never seen a storm like this. The wind speeds topped a hundred miles an hour.”

  “You’re welcome to spend the night at my house,” Harrison said. “You too, Lady Devonworth. Unless you’d rather I have my driver take you to the Stewart manor?”

  She hesitated. A wary expression crossed her face, then she shook her head. “I don’t want to rouse the household at this hour. Thank you for your kind offer. I shall take you up on it.”

  The car reached his home, and Thurman braked at the sidewalk. “I have an umbrella, sir,” he said.

  “I think we’re all too wet for it to matter,” Harrison said. “Don’t trouble yourself. The rain is slowing. Ready to make a run for it?” he asked his guests.

  When they nodded, he got out, then helped Lady Devonworth out while Will lifted Katie and Jennie from the motorcar. They all ran for the front door. Harrison held on to Lady Devonworth’s elbow and hurried her toward the haven inside. They burst into the warmth of the foyer and shook water all over the floor.

  He saw Lady Devonworth take in the opulent hall and the curving staircase to the second floor. “It’s more grand than I need,” he said. “But my father insists on the best of everything.”

  Mrs. Lindrum rushed toward them with towels. “Oh goodness, Mr. Harrison, you’re all going to catch your death of cold. Come in by the fire.” His housekeeper motioned to the ladies to follow her.

  His collie, Nealy, bounded to meet him. He rubbed his dog’s head, and Nealy whined, then went to greet the women. Lady Devonworth jumped back when she saw the dog. Her eyes went wide.

  She darted behind Will. “Get him away!”

  “Nealy won’t hurt you,” Harrison assured her.

  Her face went even more pale. “I was bitten when I was a child,” she said softly. “Dogs terrify me.”

  He clucked his tongue. “Nealy, come.” The dog came to his side and lay down by his feet.

  Katie and Lady Devonworth left the wet towels on the floor and disappeared through the parlor door. Harrison toweled off his hair, then followed with Will, who still had Jennie in his arms. She lay quietly with her head on his shoulder and her eyes wide as the thunder roared outside.

  “Want some cookies and milk, honey?” Harrison asked her. She nodded and reached for him. He took her and held her close. “You’re cold. I’ll get you a blanket.” He carried her into the parlor with the women and asked Mrs. Lindrum to fetch refreshments. An afghan was on the sofa, and he wrapped it around the little girl.

  When she snuggled her head against him, he saw Lady Devonworth’s attention fixed on them. “She likes me,” he said.

  “Obviously,” she said.

  There was a note in her voice he didn’t quite understand. Surprise or disquiet? She seemed wary around him too, and he’d given her no reason to distrust him. He couldn’t figure her out.

  The hot chocolate warmed Olivia’s insides and her teeth finally quit chattering. Mrs. Lindrum had found clothing for the ladies to change into. The dressing gowns could have covered her and Katie twice over. They were darned and worn, obviously the housekeeper’s, but at least they were dry and clean.

  Olivia pushed aside one of the blankets Mrs. Lindrum had wrapped around her, then glanced around the guest room. It had been newly redecorated. Had Eleanor ever stayed here? Olivia could have gone to Stewart Hall, but she couldn’t resist this opportunity to learn more about Harrison, to explore his house for clues.

  She put down her mug and went to the door. Putting her ear to the wood, she listened. Nothing. Hopefully everyone was in bed. It was after ten. She eased open the door and stepped into the hall. Darkness cloaked the space. She didn’t know the house so it was going to be hard to find her way to the staircase. Inching along with her hand on the wall, she felt her way to the end of the hallway. The wall under her fingers ended, and the staircase opened in front of her. Pale light shone from below. Her feet made no sound as she tiptoed down the runner covering the polished wood steps.

  Once she reached the foyer, she paused and looked both directions. She’d already been to the left, so this time she turned right and found a doorway opening into a library. Not even knowing what she was looking for, she stepped in and shut the door behind her.

  The room was dark, but she’d seen electric lights in the parlor, so she ran her hand beside the door and twisted the knob she found. The room flooded with light. She glanced at the shelves. It was not the typical library for a man. The glass shelves held a mishmash of popular titles. Dog-eared and worn, they weren’t the leather-bound copies that were only for show. The desk wasn’t the ornate object so often chosen for its imposing size. It was austere, but more of the Arts and Crafts movement. Papers littered the battered top. Harrison actually used this desk. He didn’t bring people in here to impress them with his furnishings.

  She moved deeper into the room and glanced at the titles. A complete collection of Mark Twain filled a shelf, and Jack London novels crowded another. The next shelf held Doyle novels. She raised her brows at the collection of Austen no
vels, and a smile lifted her lips. The man had a romantic side? He seemed all business.

  The door creaked behind her, and she whirled to see Harrison standing in the doorway. He was in his dressing gown, and his hair stood on end like a boy’s.

  He stopped and stared. “Lady Devonworth? Is something wrong?”

  She stepped away from the shelves. “Not at all. I . . . I couldn’t sleep.”

  “Ah, I am in the same predicament. I see your solution is the same as mine.” He gestured to the shelves. “Find a good book to read.”

  “I’m sorry if I am intruding.”

  “Feel free to choose what you like.”

  “You have read all these books?”

  “Most of them.” He moved to the shelves and pulled down The Call of the Wild.

  She couldn’t help the smile that curved her lips. “Even Jane Austen?” She touched the spine of Pride and Prejudice. “This looks well read.” He chuckled, and she found her smile widening. The man was much too charming. She pulled the book down. “Afraid to answer me?”

  He nodded. “I can see it now—you’ll announce it at a party some time. My reputation will be ruined.”

  She laughed. “Seriously, you’ve read Austen?”

  “Of course. I undertook a study of your fair sex some years ago. Women are most bewildering.”

  “Did the books help?”

  He shook his head. “I still find women indecipherable.”

  Her smile stilled, but the question on her lips sprang out. “Do you agree that a man with a fortune is in need of a wife?”

  His smile vanished. “So might say women who are only interested in a man’s wallet.” He stepped to the door. “I’ll bid you good night and leave you to choose your own reading material.”

  She warned herself not to be taken in by him, as her sister had been. He was not the man he presented to the world. She just had to prove it.

  SEVEN

  THE BREEZE LIFTED the hair on the back of Harrison’s neck as he bent over the aeroplane’s engine. He tightened a bolt, then closed the hatch. Perfect afternoon for flying. And it would wash away the last of the bad taste left in his mouth from that woman’s nosiness. What was she doing in his library last night? He doubted it had been to look for a book.

  “Let’s get in the air!” Jerry Bagley yelled from the open-air cockpit of the biplane. “Sundown will be here too soon. And Mama will be after your hide if I’m late.”

  Harrison nodded and cranked the propeller over. Mrs. Bagley thought he was going to get her son killed, and she worried whenever Jerry was away from the house. Harrison cranked the propeller again until it caught and began to whirl.

  He ducked under the wing and climbed in front of the young footman. He waved at his mother, who sat in her wheelchair at the edge of the field. She waved back, and he prayed he’d make her proud today. Her attendant, Mary Grace, maneuvered the chair into a better position and adjusted the black blanket around his mother’s knees. The ribbons on his mother’s straw hat fluttered in the breeze, and she wore a bright smile.

  Jerry slapped him on the back and gave him a thumbs-up. Harrison opened the throttle as far as he dared, and the aeroplane began to roll over the uneven ground of the meadow. It picked up momentum as it went. The wind nearly snatched his leather hat from his head, and he hunkered down and watched the trees coming much too fast. He’d have to brake if he didn’t get lift soon.

  He leaned forward. “Come on, come on,” he whispered. The wheels on the flying machine bounced, then didn’t touch ground. He guided the nose up. Just like that, they were in the air. Five feet above the ground, then ten, then twenty. Moments later the machine was soaring over the tops of the trees. His grin nearly split his face, and he shrieked his elation into the howling wind as he pumped his fist in the air. He grinned back at Jerry, whose eyes were huge in his freckled face.

  He waggled the biplane’s wings at the speck far below that was his mother. His chest was near to bursting. It was the highest he’d ever successfully lifted a flying machine into the air. He guided the plane over the ocean’s whitecaps, then down to land on the field. The wheels bumped and the plane went aloft again before settling down. Once the machine slowed and stopped, he leaped from the seat and clambered down.

  His mother’s face shone with pride and she waved to him. Mary Grace rolled her chair toward the plane.

  Harrison rushed to meet them. “We made it over the trees, Mother!”

  Esther Bennett had been in the wheelchair for ten years—ever since she was struck by a carriage—but Harrison had never heard her complain once. Though she didn’t understand his passion for flight, to her credit, she’d given up trying to talk him out of working with the plane.

  “You’re a real birdman, Harrison,” she said when he reached her. “I’m so proud of you. I’ll telephone your father tonight.”

  His grin faded. “I’d rather you didn’t. When he comes to visit, I’ll have to endure one of his lectures about not wasting my time.”

  She gripped his hands. “He only wants what’s best for you, Harrison. He’s very proud.”

  “He has a strange way of showing it,” he said. “All I ever hear is how much time and money I waste on my ‘little hobby,’ as he calls it.”

  “Everything your father has, he fought for. He wants you to have all the advantages he never had. I’m sure he will be quite proud of you when he hears this news.”

  Harrison nodded but said nothing more. This was a topic they would never come to agreement on. “Did you hear the lighthouse blew down last night?” he asked. “The Jespersons and their guest spent the night with me.”

  His mother gasped. “Are they all right?”

  “Yes. They escaped the structure before it fell, and I found them standing in the downpour. They were all having breakfast when I left this morning.”

  His mother adjusted her hat. “A guest was with them, you say? Who is it?”

  “A Lady Devonworth from New York.”

  She pursed her lips. “I thought I knew all the peerage who resided in the city. I’ve never heard of her.”

  “She was staying with the Jespersons temporarily but is going to reside at Stewart Hall. I believe she plans to take up residence today. She appears to be a close friend of theirs.”

  “It’s quite odd she would be staying there with none of the Stewarts in town. Especially considering the circumstances. Was she a friend of Eleanor’s?”

  “I don’t believe so.” Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure of that at all. She’d offered her condolences but said nothing about her relationship to the young woman. Lady Devonworth said very little about herself, in fact.

  “What is she like?”

  He shrugged. “Typical for that set. Interested in balls and parties.” He stared back at the aeroplane. The comet was coming soon, and he planned to make history. He’d be soaring above the treetops when that star grew bright, and if the colors of the tail flashed in the sky as he hoped, flying into it would be the ultimate test for him, proof that he was more than his father’s mouthpiece. He’d be proud of himself even if his father rolled his eyes at his accomplishments.

  Debris littered the sand and rocks. Olivia grabbed a tattered dress that the wind had draped across a tree limb. Tears rolled down Katie’s cheeks as she stared at the wreckage. Jennie didn’t seem to notice her mother’s distress. She scampered through the mess, retrieving toys.

  Will shouted and waved his arms. “Farther out!” he shrieked at the ship offshore. The boat veered closer to the dangerous rocks. He ran to the edge of the cliff, but the vessel seemed to pay no attention.

  A grinding noise split the air. Will groaned. “They’re grounded. I’d better get help.” He jogged down the slope and off toward the pier.

  Katie stooped to pick up a battered pot. “What are we going to do?” she asked. “Will called the Bureau of Lighthouses. There is no money to rebuild right now. We have to wait until they can ask Congress for money.” />
  “B-But where will you live? Do they know it’s completely uninhabitable?”

  She nodded. “They know. We could stay with Addie and John, but they have guests right now. I suppose we’ll have to find a place to rent.”

  “You can stay with me,” Olivia said. “There’s plenty of room at Stewart Hall, and I’d like the company.” When she saw she had Katie’s attention, she smiled. “I need protection too, remember? You’d be doing me a favor. With Will in the house, an attacker would be less likely to strike again.”

  “You’re sure?” Katie asked. “It might be several months.”

  “You can stay until the lighthouse is rebuilt, even if it’s a year or two.” Her gaze swept the destruction. “The whole thing is gone.”

  Katie’s gaze was on the grounded ship. “Men will die while we wait.”

  Olivia had come close to dying in that water. Shuddering, she stared at the waves rolling to shore. “What about raising the money yourself?”

  Katie scooped up her daughter. “An ice-cream social isn’t going to raise the kind of funds we need.”

  Olivia stared at the Fresnel lens shattered on the ground. “I have an idea,” she said slowly. “I’ll host a ball at the manor house! A masquerade. We’ll call it the Lightkeeper’s Ball. I’ll invite all my friends from New York. It will be a huge event and a way for them to see the Wild West. My friends will love it!”

  “Why would your friends travel three thousand miles to attend a ball?” Katie asked, her brow furrowed.

  “You don’t know how bored my set gets. The summer season is coming, and they are always looking for something new to do or try. Anything that is remotely different or adventurous will have them rushing to join in.”

  The more she thought about the idea, the more she knew it would work. The bored New York set was always up for the unexpected. Instead of going to Newport for the summer, she would talk them into coming here for a May ball, then a summer on the Pacific shore.