Page 49 of A Stolen Heart

Rhea, who had turned away to put the locket in the little box, swung around, her face contorted with fury. Without warning, she reached out and slapped Alexandra. “How dare you? How dare you?”

Alexandra drew a sharp breath at the blow. Nancy let out a cry and rushed to Rhea, but Rhea was already turning away, cuddling the box.

“Miss Alexandra, I’m ever so sorry,” Nancy said, worried. “I don’t know what’s gotten into her.”

“I disturbed her. I—I hardly know what to do anymore.”

“Alexandra!” Aunt Hortense bustled into the room. “Where have you been? Why did you go rushing off like that? Did you take something out of Rhea’s box? She’s been in a state ever since she woke up.”

“Yes. I just gave it back to her,” Alexandra admitted wearily. “She slapped me for it.”

“Slapped you! Rhea?” Aunt Hortense goggled at her niece, then turned to look at her sister-in-law, huddled in a chair, the box clutched to her chest. “I’ve never known her to hurt a flea. What is going on?”

“There is a picture in the locket—two pictures, actually. They are the same people whose portraits I saw in the Countess’s house.”

“What?” Aunt Hortense turned pale. “Oh, my.”

“Yes. Oh, my. There is a letter A on it, for Alexandra. I took it to the Countess to see if she could identify it. She said that she gave that locket and another just like it, with the letter M, to her granddaughters the year before they were killed.”

“Oh, my,” Aunt Hortense repeated weakly and sank into the nearest chair.

“Mother, why do you have that locket?” Alexandra asked in the gentlest voice she could muster, going to her mother. “Who was she to you? Who was she to me?”

“Go away,” Rhea spat, bending over the box protectively. “You stole it! Nan, make her go away. I don’t want her here.”

“Why won’t you tell me!” Alexandra exclaimed, frustrated. “I just want to know who I am!”

“No! No!” Rhea shrieked and turned away from Alexandra.

“You won’t get anything out of her like this,” Aunt Hortense said sensibly. “Come with me, Alexandra. You can talk to her tomorrow when both of you are calmer. Nan, see if you can soothe Rhea.”

Alexandra strode out of the room. “I don’t mean to upset her!” she exclaimed as soon as the door shut behind her and her aunt. “But why won’t she tell me?”

“I don’t know, dear. Perhaps she no longer even knows why she can’t tell you. It’s aggravating. But you know she only gets worse if you get angry with her.”

“I’m not angry with her,” Alexandra protested. Then she sighed. “All right. I am angry with her. What has she kept hidden from me all this time? It’s horrible to know that she holds the secret, the key to all this, and she won’t tell me.”

“I know, dear. You would need the patience of Job to deal with your mother the way she’s been lately. I get terribly impatient with her, too, and she’s not even withholding something from me.” Aunt Hortense linked her arm with Alexandra’s and walked with her to her room. “I wish I could help you. I wish I knew what was going on. This must be horrible for you.”

“I don’t know if she’s really my mother,” Alexandra told her. “The Countess is convinced that I am her granddaughter, but…you are my family, you and Mother and Cousin Nathan and everyone at home. The Countess is a wonderful woman, but I scarcely know her!”

“Darling, no matter what, we will always be your family. You remember that. I don’t care if you’re the granddaughter of that crazy King himself, you will always be my beloved niece.”

Tears sprang into Alexandra’s eyes at her aunt’s words, and she bent to give the other woman a hug. “Thank you, Aunt Hortense. I love you.”

“Good. Then that’s settled. Now I suggest you come along, and we’ll get you a nice cup of tea. That’s one thing I agree with the English on. Nothing fixes you up like a spot of tea.”

ALEXANDRA OPENED HER EYES. It was dark, and she was in bed. It took her a moment to orient herself. She had eaten supper and passed the evening with Aunt Hortense in a boring round of cards, then had taken herself off to bed. What had awakened her?

Something hit the other side of her wall. Alexandra leaped out of bed and ran out of her room, not even pausing to put on a robe or slippers. That wall connected to her mother’s room.

The key was in the lock. Her aunt had followed up on her intention to lock Rhea in. Alexandra turned the key and flung open the door. She stopped, frozen in shock. A huge, dark figure had his hands around her mother’s throat, and she was flopping and jerking, clawing at his hands. Nancy lay on the floor.

Alexandra let out a scream, and the large man whirled, his hands loosening. Alexandra grabbed the closest thing at hand, a candlestick, and ran at the man, bringing it down as hard as she could on his right arm. He let out a bellow and released Rhea, who fell to the floor. The man lashed out, knocking the candlestick from Alexandra’s hand. She leaped at him, kicking and swinging her fists. He planted a big hand in the middle of her chest and shoved.

She staggered backward and tripped over Nancy’s inert form, falling to the floor. Her head cracked against the hard wood floor, and everything went black.

The intruder took a step toward Alexandra and looked at her. His eyes traveled over her face and down her form to the shapely legs revealed by her rucked-up nightgown. He cast a glance at Rhea and started toward her.