They rounded a corner, and he saw a small crowd gathered outside of a particularly dilapidated door. The boy pointed to it. “She lives in there.”
“Thank you,” Thomas said, but he did not hand over the coins. Instead, he asked one of the crowd. “Is this the home of Jacqueline Watts?”
The man nodded. Thomas slipped the coins to the urchin, tucked his coin purse away, and opened the rickety door. In front of him was a flight of narrow and creaking steps. With each foot he placed on the floor, he feared he might fall through. It was with gargantuan effort that he managed not to leap every step.
He heard a cough, and his heart soared. She was still alive. He reached the landing and walked into the room. Several peopleopened their mouths as though to object, but he quelled them with a look.
Before him stood a woman ashen as the grave. Her face was riddled with marks, and her breath came out in horrible gargles.
“Jacqueline Watts?” he stepped toward her.
She turned in his direction, blinking slowly.
Relief flooded through him. “You may not know who I am, but I have been searching for you for some time. Your ancestor put a curse on my ancestor, and I am here to beg you to lift it.”
She raised a hand toward him, pointing her finger at him. “Curse?”
Her voice gurgled in a way that set every hair on his body on end. “Yes, a curse. Please. I need you to lift it.”
“I…” She drew in another gargling breath, the sound rattling around the room. “I…”
He took another step forward. “Yes?”
“I do not know… of any… curse.” She swayed, her eyelids flickered. “I do not… know you…”
“Your ancestor, your grandmother I think, she cursed mine. The men in my family, they all die young, ever since then.” Thomas tried to keep the panic from his voice.
Jacqueline’s eyes were glassy and she shook her head. “There is… no curse… Grandmother was not… a witch…”
Thomas felt the people stir uneasily around him. “I am not accusing you, I am just repeating what I know. What my father and grandfather believed. I will not tell another soul, I only wish for what was done to be undone. Surely we have paid for our sins?”
Is she lying to me?He knew that to be accused of witchcraft was a death sentence. The curse was the only explanation for his symptoms. He would die if it was not lifted.
“I cannot help… you.” Jacqueline’s breath rattled. “There is no… curse.”
A part of him wanted to trust her, to believe her, but he could not let him. He had to be sure. He could not risk the curse being true. Even if there was no curse, what if it was something else? What if there was some weakness in his family – some thing that made them all die young?
Her hand dropped. The rattling sound stopped. Thomas fell to his knees and cried out. “No! Please! You cannot be dead!”
Unblinking, unseeing eyes stared back at him. He had been too late. The curse would never be lifted. His heart shattered, and he fled from the room, unsure if the screams were his own or the mourners’.
I have failed.
Chapter Twenty-One
“No, that centerpiece belongs on table seventeen. This is the one for table seven.” Vivian ran a hand through her hair in frustration as several servants leaped into action at her command.
They were standing in the large ballroom of the estate that she had rented for her fundraiser. Endsley Palace was more stunning than she had ever imagined. She had spent all week organizing everything, ensuring that she and her helpers, Andrea and Cecily, all had somewhere to change ahead of the ball. All around them were ornate tables, with place settings and name cards.
Vivian stood in the center of the tables, holding her sheet of papers and looking around. Everywhere she looked, people were bustling to and fro.
“Vivian, what on earth are you doing? You are not even dressed!” Cecily exclaimed as she burst into the room.
She wore a stunning red dress with beadwork that glittered in the chandeliers’ light. Her hair was done in an elegant bun, and the pearl necklace around her neck shone in the light.
“I have plenty of time.” Vivian waved Cecily away. “I need to make sure everything is perfect; nothing can go wrong. This is far too important.”
“Vivian, you have checked everything more than three times.” Cecily tugged on her arm.
