The older woman blinked back tears. “My brother,” she said. “He is Arthur, my brother.”
Sifting through the papers, Natalie placed several of them atop a table near her. “There are others of him, Lady Eleanor. All of these! They are all portraits of your brother!”
Garrett peered over Natalie’s shoulder to get a better look at the drawings. They were all of a young man in several different settings, drawn from different angles.
“He was very handsome, Aunt,” Natalie said as she examined a few of them. And then she jerked back and hastily stuffed the rest of the pages into the bottom of the trunk. Lady Eleanor did not notice. She simply gazed at the first couple of pages, perhaps lost in her memories.
“My dear Arthur,” she said softly, touching the drawing as though she could caress the face of the man within it.
Garrett retrieved the stack Natalie had discarded. The portraits were of the gentleman in the nude. He smiled for the first time that day. No wonder she’d put them down so quickly.
“What happened to your brother, Lady Eleanor? Why would Lady Hawthorne make so many renderings of his likeness?” Natalie asked the questions before Garrett even considered them.
Lady Eleanor found the chair she’d uncovered earlier and sat heavily upon it. Looking at Garrett, she hesitated before speaking. “Before Lady Cordelia married Lord Hawthorne, she and my brother had formed an attachment.”
Natalie regarded one of the drawings with a perplexed frown marring her smooth forehead. “What happened, do you know?” Natalie prodded Lady Eleanor.
“Arthur was killed.” She stared at one of the drawings and brought one trembling hand to her mouth. “I have not seen his likeness for so many years. And it is such a wonderfully accurate likeness.”
Garrett stepped forward and crouched in front of the older lady. She was quite shaken by this discovery. He’d not realized that there had been such a connection between his mother and Lady Sheffield’s family. It made him feel closer to the elderly lady somehow. “Would you like to keep them?” He indicated the drawings. “They are of more value to you than to me.”
She reached out her hand to touch him on the cheek. “You are such a dear young man. Cordelia would have been so very proud of you.” And then, before he could feel awkward, she dropped her hand. “I would be grateful to keep a few.” She turned back to the drawings and pulled out three. “Just these, if you wouldn’t mind.”
“It is my pleasure to give them to you.” His sentiments were sincere. Lady Eleanor did not have a great deal of family left. He was glad to give her such a touching reminder of her brother.
Blinking, Natalie made a fuss of brushing the dust from the front of her dress. “I believe that is everything. Shall I send for some manservants to repack these?”
Garrett considered the room’s contents. “No, I’ll see to them myself.” In fact, he needed to spend time with the paintings alone. He reached out and grabbed Natalie’s wrist to keep her from hurrying away. “Thank you.” He wanted her to know he was glad she’d been with him today. He held her gaze and hoped she understood.
With a rueful smile, Natalie nodded slightly. “Thank you for sharing them with me, with us.” Lady Eleanor stood by the door. Natalie pointedly glanced at her wrist and, feeling reluctant, Garrett released it.
When she reached Lady Eleanor, Natalie took the older lady’s arm and then turned back to Garrett for a moment. “I will have somebody come after a while to see if you need any additional supplies.”
And with that, she took her leave.
After the door closed, Garrett sat on the chair vacated by Lady Eleanor. He looked around at the amazing artwork his mother had left to him and wished that instead he could have knownher. The paintings, though, made her seem more real to him than ever before. His father had ordered portraits made of her so Garrett knew what she’d looked like, but these paintings, they were a part of who she was. She’d poured herself into this work. She’d loved nature and the passionate wildness it possessed. She’d seen the world in a unique light, in unique colors.
Remembering something important, Garrett turned back and held up one of the gowns which Natalie had set aside. He unfolded it so that the hem fell to the ground. The dress consisted of ivory satin and lace, with tiny pearls decorating the neckline and bodice. Was this her wedding gown?
Garrett brought the garment to his face and inhaled deeply,again hoping to catch a lingering scent of the perfume she might have worn.
It smelled of mothballs and decay.
The lump in Garrett’s throat won. He sat down and allowed something to break inside him.
He wept.
GARRETT NEEDED TIME
Garrett needed time alone, and furthermore, Natalie was not ready yet to abandon Aunt Eleanor. What a shock it must have been to see the image of a brother who’d been dead for many years. How many years, she wondered.
With Aunt Eleanor leaning heavily upon her, Natalie escorted her to the chamber she always stayed in while visiting. As one of their more elaborate guestrooms, it boasted a small sitting area. Natalie assisted the suddenly frail woman to the comfortable settee. She then fetched a shawl from the dressing room, wrapped it about Aunt Eleanor’s shoulders, and finally reached for the bell pull. When one of the housemaids arrived, Natalie ordered tea and sandwiches. She did not think her godmother would be up to partaking nuncheon downstairs with company.
Content in each other’s silence, Lady Eleanor rested her eyes while Natalie drifted over to the window. Gazing out upon the landscaped gardens, she contemplated her own brothers and how she would grieve if something tragic were to befall any of them. And she’d been blessed with four of them!As much of a blight as they might be, they were each, every one of them, so very dear.
And in what was becoming a normal occurrence these last few days, her thoughts returned to Garrett. He had been very quiet examining the paintings. But, watching him, she’d known he was greatly affected. Each time they’d revealed another painting, she’d sensed a new wave of emotion sweep over him.
He’d never known his mother. She knew his mother had died in childbirth. Garrett Castleton had lived most of his life alone in this world.
