Jo Goodman (5 page)

Decker allowed everyone to see the contents of the box, but he didn't release it to Berkeley. Instead, he gave it to Colin. The Earl of Rosefield looked at the pair inside and after a long moment chose a single earring to give their guest. "I would be very interested to hear what this piece tells you about my brother," he said. Colin placed the earring in Berkeley's hand, and this time he folded her fingers around it, holding it in place.

Almost immediately Berkeley swayed on her feet. Colin felt a peculiar heat rising from her fist, and his first instinct was to release her. His grip had already loosened when he realized that she required his support. He tightened his fingers.

Anderson Shaw's hand slipped from Berkeley's back to her elbow. "I know what my wife needs now," he said stiffly. "You may let her go."

Colin had no clear idea why he was reluctant to remove his hand. Certainly he had no liking for the steady heat emanating from Berkeley's skin. He told himself his hesitation was because she held the earring and, therefore, all it represented. It was a connection to his past, his family's history, and his brother. Berkeley Shaw was a stranger, and it followed that she might have little respect for any part of what the earring meant to Colin and Decker Thorne.

Anderson Shaw, however, was insistent. When Berkeley swayed toward him he used the opportunity gently to wrest her from Colin's hold.

"Does she need to sit down?" Mercedes asked. "Colin, please push a chair behind her before she collapses."

"No," Anderson said. "No, it's quite all right. This will pass quickly." Even as he said the words he felt his wife steady herself. She blinked several times, her long lashes fluttering; then they lifted and fully erased the hint of shadow beneath her eyes. In contrast to the heat that ran just below the surface of her skin, her face was pale and her lips nearly colorless.

"I'm fine," she said. There was no particular insistence in her tone, so the others were surprised when Anderson let her go. "Thank you," she told her husband. "I do believe I'd like to sit down."

The immediacy with which she was offered a chair by all of them was almost laughable. Berkeley accepted the one Anderson arranged for her. Once she was seated Jonna and Mercedes followed suit, occupying the cream-brocade settee. Still holding the black-lacquered box, Colin hooked one hip on the high arm of the settee and settled for this half-standing, half-sitting posture beside his wife. Decker leaned against the green-veined marble mantelpiece, his trim, athletic frame seemingly without tension.

Anderson Shaw remained standing, taking a position slightly behind Berkeley's chair, with his hands resting on the polished cherry back rail. "Go on, my dear," he urged gently. "You've learned something, haven't you? Tell His Lordship what you can about this earring."

Berkeley swiveled on the chair. She sought out her husband's warmly colored eyes as if for reassurance. Her own eyes, impossibly large in her small heart-shaped face, implored him. Must she? she asked him without words. His reply was there in the faint nod of his head. Yes, she must.

Berkeley unfolded her fingers and stared at the earring. It was virtually identical to the previous one she held. It only
felt
different. "There are so many emotions here," she said on a thread of sound. "So much pain. I can't..." She turned the earring over carefully and held it in place with the fingertips of her other hand. "Yes, this is better. It's difficult to distinguish..." She looked up suddenly at Colin, and for once the implacability of his dark eyes had no impact on her. "I can hardly say with any certainty that you've handled this earring, yet I feel your presence strongly in it. You must have been very young when you surrendered it." She paused over her own word choice. "Yes, surrender. That has the right feel. You gave it willingly, I think, but you gave up something of yourself. You meant it to be a link that would identify its owner to you in later years."

Berkeley heard the sharp intake of breath that came from Mercedes Thorne. She closed her eyes briefly and calmed her thinking again. "The age of this piece makes it hard to know what is long past and what is recent past. I may confuse the two from time to time." She regarded Colin once more. "Your brother is very much alive. He held on to this piece for a long time, I would say. It was lucky for him, or at least he associated it with being lucky. Perhaps he regarded it as a talisman of sorts. I doubt it was ever out of his possession for long. He must feel now as if something has been torn from him." She hesitated, shaking her head. "No, that's not quite right. It would be more like not being able to draw a full breath."

Jonna could not help the wide-eyed look she shot her husband. Decker did not return her gaze though. His full attention was riveted on Berkeley Shaw.

At the periphery of her vision Berkeley was aware of Jonna's darting glance, the surprise in her violet-colored eyes. Berkeley's own features remained schooled, as if nothing untoward had happened. "I believe your brother is a careful man," she continued. "He certainly was with this piece, but there is something else in his nature. It is harder to describe accurately. A certain recklessness, I think. A carelessness that he uses as a shield when he cares very deeply." Her pale lips formed an apologetic smile. "I don't know if that makes any sense..." She shrugged. "It's what I
feel."

"It makes sense," Jonna said dryly, with a touch of irony. She had stopped looking at Decker and was now eyeing Colin with something akin to disapproval. "Please, tell us what else you can."

"I'm afraid this has me confused," Berkeley said. "One of you may know what it means. I think this earring may have been part of a larger collection at one time. I don't mean as part of the queen's jewels. It wasn't that long ago. The other jewelry in the collection kept changing. Yes, I'm certain of that. Only this remained as a constant." She frowned as an explanation occurred to her, and her finely arched brows came together. Berkeley drew in her lower lip, worrying it gently as she considered how she might put it forth.

Anderson touched his wife's shoulder lightly. "It does no good to hold it back, dearest. Say what's on your mind. Leave it to them to sort out. No one has asked you only to tell them pleasantries."

Berkeley nodded. Anderson was right, of course, and if she wasn't mistaken, the Earl of Rosefield, though he remained silent and impassive, seemed to be willing her to offer up her explanation. "I'm very much afraid, Your Lordship, that your brother may have been a thief." Berkeley sat back suddenly as Jonna Thorne leaped to her feet.

Jonna advanced on her husband, who was no longer leaning so casually against the mantel. "You knew Colin was going to give Mrs. Shaw
your
earring, didn't you?"

Decker didn't deny it. "We had to be sure, Jonna."

"Well, I hope this has satisfied you," she said flatly. Her violet eyes blazed for a moment, then she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I know you and Colin have doubts. Do you think I didn't share them? I thoroughly researched the Shaws' successes before I ever wrote to Mercedes about them. And I made inquiries through friends before I ever invited the Shaws to Boston. I didn't arrange this on a whim, Decker. I would have hoped that you and Colin could have trusted me more."

"I have every trust in you," Decker told her. He searched her upturned face before his eyes came to rest steadily on hers. "Colin and I believe you did all that was in your power to do. It never occurred to us that you would be anything less than meticulous in your research. But what my brother and I arranged here had to be done. We had to be certain they weren't frauds."

Jonna said nothing for a moment; then she nodded faintly. "Yes, of course, you're right. You had to be certain." Her hand touched his forearm, and her slender fingers tightened briefly. There was assurance in the gesture, encouragement and support. Jonna let her hand fall. She turned to Colin and pointed to the box. "May I?" she asked.

He held it out to her. His hand was shaking.

Jonna did not miss the stricken look in Colin's eyes. That he had let his guard drop in front of the Shaws for even a moment spoke to the powerful effect of Berkeley's revelations. Jonna brushed his hand with hers as she took the box. She lowered her eyes to the place she had vacated beside Mercedes and indicated that Colin should sit there. He required no further urging.

Jonna went to stand in front of Berkeley Shaw. She lifted the lid on the box and revealed the identical twin of the earring Colin had given Berkeley. Removing it, she held it in her hand until Berkeley put back the one in her possession. "No more trickery, Mrs. Shaw. This is the earring that Graham Denison left behind five years ago. The other that caused you so much discomfort belongs to my husband. Everything you sensed about it—and him—was true. I didn't anticipate their plan because Colin gave you the earring. It is Decker's sleight of hand that bears watching. Not only was Captain Thorne a thief, he was an exceptional one."

Berkeley Shaw had not expected Jonna Thorne to admit her husband's criminal past, certainly not with this odd mixture of exasperation and pride. "Then it is perfectly understandable that the captain would be suspicious of us," Berkeley said. "He knows better than any of you how important it is to gain the confidence of the victims. From his point of view it may look like that's what Mr. Shaw and I are doing."

Jonna was visibly taken back by that statement. "What do you mean?"

"Mrs. Thorne," Berkeley said patiently. "My husband and I are not the first people one usually calls for in a case such as this. I imagine a lot of effort, time, and expense has gone into looking for Graham Denison. And yet you have nothing. No one has been able to find him. Not only that, but I am aware that none of you is certain that Mr. Denison is really the missing brother. He was merely last in possession of the earring, isn't that so?"

"That's right," Jonna said.

"Well, then, I take that as proof that the four of you have exhausted every other resource for finding Mr. Denison. That makes you desperate, and that, Mrs. Thorne, makes you vulnerable. I'm not terribly insulted by the attempts to test me. At least not as insulted as my husband is on my behalf. Truly, I would have been more surprised if nothing had been done to make me prove my mettle. My particular talent is not at all the usual thing and lies outside the experience of most people."

Anderson stroked Berkeley's shoulder. She was generally not so outspoken. This speech and her quiet vehemence surprised him. They hadn't discussed this beforehand and any deviation from their normal interviews caused him concern. "Perhaps you should take the earring," he prodded gently. "As you said, these people want to know what you can tell them."

Berkeley took the earring from Jonna's hand. She did not know what to expect when she held it. She was even less sure what they expected. Her fingers made a fist, and she secured the gold and pearl earring against her heart.

Almost immediately her ears roared with the rush of blood. Berkeley knew she gasped although the sound was lost to her. She laid her free hand over her fist to keep from throwing the earring across the room. The words came without any conscious thought on her part:
They came for the baby first.
Had she said them aloud? Had anyone heard her? Yes, Colin Thorne must have. The Earl of Rosefield was staring directly at her, and for once there was no shield to hide his stunned expression.

"They came for the baby first," Berkeley repeated. "He's very small. Still in arms. Of course they would want him. It's a terrible place they're taking him from. Not evil. But terrible just the same. There is fear here. And hurt. It's dangerous and hard."

Mercedes had moved to the very edge of the settee. Her hands had tightened in her lap. As if she still wasn't close enough, she leaned forward, her gray eyes hinting of both anxiety and awe. "She's talking about Cunnington's Workhouse," she whispered. "How can she know about it?"

Similarly amazed by Berkeley Shaw's revelations, no one answered Mercedes. No one had an answer.

Words continued to rush out of Berkeley. Her attention remained focused on Colin. "You want the baby gone from this place but you're sad as well. They don't want Decker. They don't want you. The couple takes your infant brother, and you know you may never see him again. The earring, you think. You will place this family heirloom in his blankets. You will find this brother later, when you are older, and you will know him because of the earring. You will never forget what it looks like. Its image is graven in your mind."

Berkeley closed her eyes a moment. The roar in her ears was steady, but softer now. She could almost hear her own voice. Had she shouted? She tried to loosen her grip on the earring, but her white-knuckled fingers wouldn't open. The gold post on the pearl dug into the very center of her palm. "I can't make out what happened then. There are so few clues... I think the earring must have been found and put away. No one touches it for a long time... years... and then he finds it and..." Berkeley's voice trailed off. "So much anger. Betrayal. He thinks of revenge often. He thinks of hurting people." There was panic in her voice now, and her eyes clouded. "There is danger again. Great risks. He is not as he seems. There is someone else. Please, take it. I cannot... please..."

Jonna started to reach for Berkeley's hand, but Decker stopped her. "Let her finish—if she can."

Anderson Shaw nodded. "Your husband's right. She won't pick it up again if you take it now. Let her finish."

Jonna had no liking for their decision, but she let it rest. "If she asks again..." She didn't have to complete her thought. Her intention was clear.