Page 74 of A Lovely White Christmastide
“I do. That is why I am so late. It took me a week to track it down. But the family who purchased the item was more than happy to return the piece to me.”
“And the innkeeper?” Daniel asked.
“In gaol, but not by my hand. It seems the gentleman that bought the necklace also found several of his wife’s items missing after staying at the establishment.”
“I cannot say I am unhappy with the outcome.” Julianna bent to pick up the candle holder, scooping up the candle with her other hand. “The man has probably stolen dozens of things before, but what made him think we’d not notice something as big as a coach?”
The leather creaked as Bingham shifted toward the light coming in through the glass. “Apparently, when people would come searching for their possessions, the innkeeper would tell them they were taken to another inn. The village had several. After the owners of the possessions made the rounds between them all, they’d be so confused as to where their belongings had been taken, that they could not sensibly accuse anyone.”
“That’s despicable.”
The idea that someone routinely took advantage of unsuspecting travelers turned Julianna’s stomach. A flash in the moonlight caught her attention when Bingham pulled something out of his pocket.
“This is the necklace, is it not?”
Julianna moved closer to inspect it. The light from the window glinted off of the oval locket with vine-like scrolling around the edges. She undid the clasp, allowing the front to fall open on its tiny hinge, and there staring back at her was her mother.
Tenderly she ran a finger along the edge of the miniature. “This is it.” Julianna glanced up into Bingham’s relieved face.
He smiled and carefully took the piece back. “That is a relief. Having never seen your mother, I worried. But it resembled your description so completely that I relied on your words and prayed I’d interpreted them correctly.”
“Beth will be so pleased to have it back. She is sure to forgive you.”
Tucking the necklace back in his pocket, Bingham shook his head slowly. “Perhaps if I’d relied as heavily on Beth’s illustration of love as I did on your description of her necklace, there would be no need for forgiveness. But even if she does not have any room left in her heart for me, I am happy to have done this one last thing to bring her comfort.”
“It is not the very last thing. You still must sing with her.”
Daniel drew closer to Julianna, bringing with him the comfort of knowing he would support her.
“If she will let me.” Bingham sighed.
“She will,” Julianna insisted.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Carswell paced in his room. He’d come so late in the night and had been so tired that he’d slept all the way through breakfast. The musicale was in less than an hour with a short period after to ready themselves for the masquerade ball. Ladies and gentlemen were already arriving as evidenced by the frequency of conveyances below his bedroom window. And yet he could not bring himself to join everyone in the drawing room.
Memories of raucous laughter assaulted him. While he knew most of the laughter at the Richmonds’ ball had been directed at Kaye, it had still mortified him. How could he face all of that again?
He stopped before the mirror and straightened his snowy white cravat. Something was missing, but no matter how hard he stared at the mirror it did not yield any answers.
Slowly, he removed Beth’s necklace from his pocket. Light glinted off the silver and the flash jogged his memory. Glancing back at the mirror he confirmed what he’d suspected. He’d forgotten to place his ruby stick pin and matching ring.
He reached for the pin with his right hand, cursing when his clumsy thumb and pointer finger failed to grasp thejeweled piece. There were even more reasons to fear today's performance. At least at the Richmonds’ ball he’d been healthy and whole. Now, if his voice did not disappoint his shriveled hand would. Then again, Beth would be the one at the keys, not him, and she would play masterfully.
Thoughts of her warm gaze and tender hands as she’d helped him with his glove or massaged the cramp out of his hand filled his heart. It would not matter what sort of derision he drew from others if he could win back Beth’s love for himself. That was all that really mattered.
Gently he grasped the stickpin with his left hand and placed the beautiful piece precisely in the center of the folds of his cravat. Exactness had always brought comfort in times of upheaval, and today was no different.
A rap on the door startled him as he reached for the gold ring set with a similar ruby and he clumsily knocked the band of gold to the floor.
“Come in,” he called tersely as he bent to see where the ring had landed.
“Not the side of you I expected to see when I entered,” Kaye said, “but I suppose one must not be picky when invited into another gentleman’s room.”
Carswell shot up, casting his friend a glare. “Well, if you had not startled me and made me drop the end of my stick pin, you would not have gotten a front row view of my backside.”
Kaye chuckled as he stooped to pick up the errant ring. “Here, allow me.” With deft fingers he slipped the ring onto Carswell’s pinky finger.
