CHAPTER 16

Bella lay in bed the next morning watching Edward getting dressed and feeling very glad she didn't have to get up as well. The weather outside was terrible. She could hear heavy rain drumming on the roof and blowing against the windows and she was quite happy to stay where she was, while Edward went off to get contracts exchanged on the flat.

Having emerged from his dressing room in jeans and a white t-shirt, Edward retrieved his sweater from the chair where he'd dropped it the previous night, smiling to himself as he put it on. Then after re-arranging his hair in the mirror, he looked around for his keys and his wallet, picked up his phone from the bedside table and sat on the bed for a moment to say good-bye.

They smiled at each other and Edward put his hand over Bella's where it lay on the counterpane, twining their fingers together and gently caressing the back of her hand with his thumb.

'I'm sorry I have to go, but it shouldn't take too long. Is there anything you want me to bring you back?'

'No, just you. I'm not sure I can even be bothered to get up, you're making me so lazy.'

She stretched and yawned and his eyes clung hungrily to the strip of bare skin which was revealed, before unsuspecting, she pulled the blankets back up to her chin.

'If you get bored, there's a pile of books over there that I'm sending down to Carlisle. One or two look quite interesting.'

She followed his gaze towards a stack of drab looking volumes on the floor in the corner, 'Ok, I'll bear that in mind.'

'See you in about an hour then.' He raised her hand to his lips, then stood and pushed his hair back from his forehead while he looked around and checked he had everything he needed. Then with a final smile in Bella's direction he left the room, and a few moments later she heard the front door open and close behind him.

-ooo-

Bella snuggled further under the covers, glad that she had somewhere warm and cosy to be. She felt too lazy to get up just yet and she reached out her hand and felt around for her phone on the bedside table thinking it would be a good time to ring Carlisle. She'd only briefly spoken to him yesterday to let him know she'd arrived safely, and he'd be really interested to hear what she'd found out about Lady Mary.

Carlisle sounded tired when he answered, but he was all enthusiasm when he heard Bella's voice. 'Good morning my dear, it's lovely to hear from you. I hope the weather's kinder where you are, there's a storm coming in here and Emmett's up on the roof checking for loose slates as we speak. One of these days half the house will end up in the sea and I'm sure Emmett will be concerned that we haven't got that chimney repaired yet, it would certainly ruin our evening if it came crashing through the roof over dinner.'

'Oh, are you expecting company?'

'James was already invited, but as the butcher delivered such a large joint of meat, Mrs Cope suggested asking Emmett and Rosalie too - as a thank you for spending half the day on the roof, especially on a Saturday.'

Bella suddenly felt anxious at the mention of James. The thought that he might have been alone in the house with Carlisle for the evening was actually quite unnerving. Thank goodness for Mrs Cope's suggestion to invite Emmett and Rosalie. They'd definitely make sure Carlisle was ok, Emmett was always the last to leave anywhere and she was sure Rosalie wouldn't allow Carlisle to get overtired again.

Trying not to worry, Bella started to tell Carlisle all her news about Lady Mary. But the longer the conversation went on, the more she realised how breathless it was making him. Soon he could barely speak without coughing, and anxious not to wear him out any further, she tried to end the call. But Carlisle couldn't seem to stop talking about Edward and how much he was looking forward to him joining them in Cornwall soon.

But eventually even Carlisle had to admit the phonecall had gone on for long enough, so promising to ring him again the next day and wishing him good luck with the weather and an enjoyable evening later, Bella ended the call.

It was funny to think how strained the atmosphere had been between Edward and Carlisle when she'd first arrived at the Lantern House. Despite their best efforts, Alice's death had cast such a long shadow. But it was heart-warming to see how quickly their relationship had improved once Edward had begun visiting more frequently and now he would at least get his wish to be there for Carlisle before it was too late.

Bella put her phone down on the bedside table and picked up the snuffbox which was lying beside it. The miniature painting of Lady Mary glowed like a hidden jewel inside and she imagined she caught a faint hint of perfume from the lock of hair behind it. It felt like holding a piece of home, as well as history, in her hand and despite Lady Mary's unhappy end, she realised how much Percy must have been comforted by this keepsake.

She was also beginning to understand why he'd never re-married. Like Carlisle who'd also lost the love of his life, she could imagine Percy quietly pottering around the house, spending his days enjoying the garden and the sunshine when he could, or sitting inside reading or just quietly remembering and letting the house and its memories wrap themselves around him.

But there was still so much Bella didn't know. It was true that she didn't believe in ghosts and she'd been half joking when she'd told Edward she thought she'd seen Lady Mary in the garden, but sometimes, however much she tried to deny it, someone or something seemed to be trying to communicate with her and it felt as if she wasn't entirely alone.

It didn't frighten her at all, apart from when she'd thought objects were being moved around, which had been rather scary. But if shadows lingered, she supposed there would always be some slightly more disturbing ones than others. She shivered when she thought about some of the dreams she'd had about drowning or watching other people drown, but they could just as easily be explained as expressions of her own feelings of being overwhelmed by life sometimes, or helplessly swept away by events.

Still it seemed odd that both Lady Mary and Alice, whom she hadn't really thought about much for ages, had drowned in slightly suspicious circumstances. Now there was also the question of James and she was beginning to think she'd been just as mistaken about him as she had about Edward, and that really was scary.

Looking back, Bella realised that both Mrs Cope and Emmett, and even Jessica, had tried to warn her not to trust him, but she'd been too blind and stubborn to take any notice. When James had arrived she'd been so depressed that she hadn't really cared what she was doing and too flattered by his attention to really question it. But if Edward was right about James, perhaps they'd all been in danger without realising it. And one thing was certain; when she delivered the watch, she wasn't going to leave until she had an explanation about why he'd been left it in the first place.

Just thinking about the watch made her angry all over again, too angry to just lie there wondering about James any more and she decided to get up and get herself a drink, then perhaps look through the pile of books Edward had pointed out.

-ooo-

Curious to try to guess which one or two books he'd thought might be worth reading, she'd wrapped herself in a blanket off the bed and gone through the whole lot. Most of them were dry volumes of history or politics, with a few biographies, travel diaries and collections of poetry thrown in, none of which would look out of place in a Victorian gentleman's library, or Carlisle's study.

At the bottom were a few 1950s novels, most of which she'd already read, and best of all a book about Cornwall, which was similar to the ones Carlisle already had in his library, although she didn't recognise this particular title, 'A History of the Great Families of Cornwall'. She looked inside and saw it was dated 1796, much earlier than the other books, which really made her sit up, because that was only 30 years after Lady Mary died and within a few years of Percy's death. Perhaps there would be some useful information inside?

Getting back into bed to keep warm, she took the book with her. But her hopes were dashed when she saw that there were only the usual two or three pages about the Cullen family and she was skimming through the second page when she heard Edward's key in the front door.

It had been raining the whole time and Edward was absolutely soaked when he appeared in the doorway. He waved at her before disappearing again to take off his coat, which was dripping all over the floor, and his shoes which were squelching, 'Sorry, back in a minute. I'd better leave these to dry in the kitchen.'

He came back smiling, but still very wet, 'Good news, the completion on the flat's been agreed for the eighteenth and considering the amount of holiday I'm owed, my boss has no problem with me leaving before the end of the month. So I'll be able to join you in less than two weeks.'

'Wow that's fantastic news!'

She squealed when he landed on the bed beside her, shaking his dripping hair and showering her in drops of cold water.

'You don't want to kiss me then? And I've missed you so much.'

She slapped his shoulder, 'Go and get some of the rain off first. I'm just trying to finish reading this a minute.

He peeped at the cover, 'I thought you'd like that one. Anything interesting in it?'

She turned the page, 'Oh, it says here that Percy designed the gardens at the Lantern House. I found the plans in the archive, but they were unsigned and undated so I didn't realise. Apparently he started before Mary died, then finished the work later on, over several years, as a memorial to her. No wonder that's where she appears, she must feel closer to him there, in the special place he made for her. I bet the layout's more or less unchanged.'

'I wouldn't be surprised. The whole place feels a bit like a castle in a fairytale half the time, where everything's dilapidated and grown over, just waiting to be woken up.'

'Don't let Emmett hear you say that, he's always telling me how hard he works to keep things going.'

'He's right in a way – when you think of all the servants they would have had at one time. Still, none of that will be a problem once James knocks the whole thing down.'

They both looked sad, knowing that could very well happen in the next few months.

Edward broke the silence, 'Anything else in there that's new?'

Bella read the last couple of lines and put the book down, 'No, that's the end of the chapter about the Cullens and there's nothing else I didn't already know. But I wouldn't mind reading up on some of the other families. Do you mind if I borrow it to read on the train home on Monday?'

'No of course not, you can take anything you want. But does that mean you think you'll be fully occupied until then?'

'Maybe. But go and get a bloody towel first, you're making me just as wet and cold as you are.'

'Ok fine. I've brought back coffee and cakes from the deli for breakfast. Can I tempt you with those? But first of all I just need to check what's under here…' and she shrieked again when he swiped the blankets out of her hand and buried his face in her shoulder, before quickly moving downwards.

-ooo-

The journey home on Monday seemed never-ending as usual and Bella was glad she'd remembered to bring the book. She'd originally reserved a seat on a later train, but there was no point hanging around with only packing crates for company once Edward left for work and in any case she wanted to get back to Carlisle as soon as possible. So in the end they'd decided to leave the flat together and she'd grabbed the book at the last minute.

Even knowing they wouldn't be apart for much longer, it had been hard to leave, and despite her smile, there were tears in Bella's eyes when she leaned out of the train window to give Edward a last kiss, then watched him getting smaller and smaller on the platform, as the train picked up speed and left the city behind.

She'd tried her best to catch up on some sleep for the first couple of hours, but every time she closed her eyes, pictures of Edward's face swam into her vision, making her smile at the memories and then feel totally bereft.

She checked the watch was still safe in her bag, after all the trouble it had caused she was determined to get rid of it as soon as possible. And after she'd rung Carlisle to let him know she'd be arriving earlier than expected, she'd also rung Emmett to ask him to drop her at the Sailor's Rest instead of taking her straight home. James wasn't answering his phone as usual, but if he wasn't there, she decided she'd just give the watch to Jessica to put in the safe.

She couldn't stop wondering how James had got hold of the watch though and as the train trundled further towards Cornwall, she began to feel apprehensive about seeing him again. The person she thought she'd known felt almost like an impostor now and she was scared of what she'd find if she looked more closely. She was also still uneasy at the thought of James being alone in the house with Carlisle, so it was a relief when he'd mentioned that James hadn't even turned up for dinner on Saturday night, having cancelled at the last minute.

Feeling a bit more awake by now, she went to buy some coffee and sandwiches from the buffet then settled down with her book. First of all she turned to the list of chapters in the front, to see which other families apart from the Cullens were included. She knew a few of the names already and she was wondering which one to start with when she noticed Lady Mary's family, the Trevears.

That was definitely a good place to start and she wondered why she'd never looked them up before. Carlisle had checked the basics for her, but apart from her one visit to their ancestral home, she'd got so fixated on the end of Lady Mary's story that she'd completely ignored the beginning.

The chapter was three times longer than the one about the Cullens, because of course the Trevears had a title and were therefore considered to be much more important. Although the whole family had completely died out more than a century ago.

Leaving the earlier stuff for later, Bella skipped through, looking for the one mention of Lady Mary Trevear in the index. Her mouth fell open in complete surprise when she found it though - Lady Mary had jilted her cousin James Trevear and run away with Perceval Cullen.

Bella was sure that story wasn't included in any of the books Carlisle had researched for her, otherwise he would have told her. Somehow this earlier account must have been forgotten and all the later historians had taken their information from another source.

Bella re-read the sentence several times, it was stupid, but just seeing the name 'James' had really alarmed her and her brain was refusing to take anything else in. She tried to calm down, after all James was a very common name and it was just a co-incidence, but still she felt almost frightened for Lady Mary.

What if the man Lady Mary may have been arguing with was James not Percy? Had she been trying to get away from him? Had she deliberately thrown herself into the river? Perhaps he'd pushed her? No that was stupid, James couldn't have got away with murdering someone in broad daylight and why would he want to, so long after the event? And although it was still a mystery why Percy had sent Lady Mary all the way to London, Bella was sure now that he would never have put her in harm's way.

She was letting her imagination get away with her just because of a name. James Trevear had probably settled down with another eligible young lady in no time and had a whole brood of children. Bella looked further down the page for any further mention of James - oh shit, that was not what she wanted to find.

James Trevear was a gambler and a wastrel. He'd never married and after running through the sizeable fortune he'd inherited from his father, he'd left the country soon after Lady Mary's death and died in poverty.

Those few facts were bad enough, but there was plenty more on the internet, including any number of scandals and high profile affairs. Eighteenth century James had had a reputation as the worst type of libertine and rake and had possibly been a member of Sir Francis Dashwood's notorious Hellfire Club, with all the rumours of Satanism and worse which that entailed. After squeezing the family coffers dry, he'd finally been forced to leave the country in a hurry, after fleecing one of the King's closest friends in a rigged card game, then failing to avoid killing him in a duel.

It was a great find as far as her project was concerned and Bella excitedly copied the relevant passage out of the book and sent all the internet links to Carlisle and Edward, knowing they'd be as interested as she was. But still, at the back of her mind a growing feeling of unease remained, which she couldn't seem to get rid of.

-ooo-

It was already quite late in the afternoon by the time Emmett dropped Bella off at the Sailor's Rest. Luckily he wanted to pop into the bank anyway, so they arranged to meet back at the pub in fifteen minutes, to save Bella having to walk the rest of the way home.

This time Jessica was behind the bar and Bella made a beeline straight for her.

'Hi Jess, is James around? He asked me to pick something up for him in London and I've just got back with it.'

To Bella's surprise Jessica looked around furtively, before coming round to her side of the bar.

She looked around again before speaking and lowered her voice as if she was worried about being overheard, 'Um, James and his friends left yesterday morning.'

'What?'

'Shhhh, I'm supposed to keep it quiet, but there's no harm in telling you, you're almost like James's family.'

Whatever it was that James had told her not to talk about, Bella could see that Jessica was dying to tell someone and it was probably a good idea it was her, or everything would be all round the village in no time as usual.

Jessica nearly deafened her when she suddenly turned her head and shouted to the barman, 'Hey Tom, look after things for a minute, I just need to have a quick word with Bella, in private,' and before she knew it, Bella was being hustled out of the bar and down the corridor towards the room where she'd last seen James.

Jessica had gone back to whispering again, 'Sorry about that, but I promised not to say a word and you never know who's listening.'

'You don't have to tell me if you promised not to Jess, but I'm really curious now. Hold on though I just need to give you something to put in your safe. I presume James left you instructions about what to do with this watch, or some sort of contact details?'

'Oh yes, he did mention something about a watch,' Jessica took it out of Bella's hand and put it in her pocket. 'Come in here a minute and I'll tell you what's happened.' Jessica almost pushed her into the room in her excitement and then shut the door behind them.

'Right, no-one's supposed to know this ok? Felix was very clear about that.'

'Felix? What the hell? You mean the guy that goes around with Aro everywhere and doesn't speak a word of English?'

'Yeah, I know. I was really surprised too. Maria says he's Aro's fixer. Aro sent him over to deal with everything and get James and his friends out before they attracted any more attention. Apparently Aro's big on not attracting attention.'

Bella was totally confused. 'Who's Maria? And… Oh, can you just start at the beginning? And don't leave anything out.'

'Ok, well it started with Mr Simpson on Saturday morning.'

'Who's…?'

'Just listen Bella. He was another guest who was staying and because, as you know, we only have a few rooms, Mike had to put him in the one next to Alec on Friday night. Then next morning he came down ranting and raving that he was going straight to the police about the way those poor girls were being held against their will and mistreated.'

Remembering the girl who looked as if she'd had a black eye, Bella thought she knew what Jessica must be talking about, 'You mean Alec's girlfriend?'

Jessica snorted, 'Not just Alec's girlfriend, both of them. And I sort of got the idea they were being shared anyway.'

Bella recoiled, 'You mean by James as well?'

'Apparently. Maria, the dark haired one, could actually speak quite good English and she went into quite a bit of detail. I had to look after them while the police did the other interviews.'

'So the police actually came round?'

'Yep. I'd gone up to warn James that Mr Simpson was on the warpath, but as luck would have it he'd bumped into Sam the local bobby just outside and I couldn't stop him coming in and having a look round. Apart from one of the girls not having the right papers, there turned out to be some problem with a possible illegal betting ring.'

'Oh, that doesn't sound good.'

'James tried to smooth things over of course and Aro must have spoken to Sam on the phone, but they both ended up calling in reinforcements and by the afternoon, Felix had turned up, by private plane I think, and a couple of plain clothes policemen had arrived to carry out what they said were 'informal' interviews.'

'So they weren't taken to the police station for questioning or anything?'

'No, but the police were here for hours and from what I heard it was mostly down to Felix that everyone was allowed to leave in the end. Which they did, first thing on Sunday morning.' Jessica giggled, 'And we thought Felix didn't understand a word we were saying at Carlisle's dinner party.'

Bella shivered at the thought of Felix spying on everyone like that for the whole evening. She tried to recall what they'd talked about in front of him, but all she could remember was that Jessica had been really indiscrete about Mike's sexual habits. Maybe that was the type of information Aro found useful though and it reminded her about the original cause of the police attention – the two girls.

'So you were saying that the police asked you to look after the girls when they'd finished questioning them?'

'Yeah, I took them into our part of the building and got them something to eat. One of them was really moody and would hardly speak, but when I was in the kitchen with the other one, Maria, we had a bit of a chat.'

'Were they really there against their will?'

'No, Mr Simpson misunderstood what was going on. It was all consensual but rough and when he went to complain about the noise, Alec made the mistake of asking him if he wanted to join in.- Maria said he was high.'

'So it was all a mistake and they were quite happy?'

'Well, after they told the police everything was fine, the missing visa was the main problem and Felix must have sorted that out as well as the gambling thing. But I don't know, although Maria seemed to believe what she was saying, it was a bit like she'd been brainwashed and some of the things she told me about were really horrible and degrading and I felt really sorry for her. You know like maybe she wouldn't have made those choices if she'd had any other options.'

'And you think James had a hand in that?'

'Yeah, definitely. Maria said he was the worst… Apparently he's got quite a reputation and even the people Aro does business with are scared of him. Oh, and she also said he's engaged. Has been for a couple of years apparently. And now her family are really pissed off because she's five months pregnant.'

For at least the second time that day Bella felt totally stunned. She knew how clever James was at not giving anything away and he'd certainly fooled her completely. But if the truth was as bad as it seemed, surely someone must have had an inkling? Probably not Carlisle, who took it for granted that everyone lived by his own high standards and was unlikely to give any credence at all to unsubstantiated rumours.

But that certainly wasn't the case with Edward. She was convinced his dislike of James went a long way back and now she was absolutely determined to get the whole story out of him. She looked at her watch - unfortunately he was in a client meeting for at least another hour or two, so she couldn't speak to him just yet. But whatever Edward knew about James, sure as hell Emmett knew too…