Evermore (Emily Chambers Spirit Medium Trilogy #3)(63)

"Em. Emily!" He turned around. "Where is she?"

"Here." I hung back, but he beckoned me, so I stepped forward. "How do you feel?"

"Tired. Sore." He grinned. "I've never been grateful to feel so exhausted before. Feeling it means I'm alive."

I laughed and began to cry at the same time.

"Ah, Em. Come here." He leaned a shoulder against the coach for support and folded me into his arms. His heart beat strong and a little fast. His breath warmed the top of my head. He was alive. "Don't cry, sweetheart. My Emily. My savior." He buried his face in my neck and heaved a shuddering sigh. His body trembled and I tightened my hold around his waist, letting my tears soak into his shirt.

"Jacob," his mother whispered. "You're not a spirit anymore. People can see you. The servants..."

"Come, son," Lord Preston said. "You need to go home and rest."

"It doesn't matter who sees," Jacob mumbled. But he allowed his parents to draw him away. Lord Preston threw a coat around his son's shoulders and helped him into the carriage.

I was led to the Culvert coach by Celia, George, and Louis. Numbly, I watched the buildings fly past and waved farewell to George from my front door when we reached our house. Inside, it was quiet; Cara and Lucy slept. Celia took me up to my room and helped me undress.

"I'll fetch you a warm cup of milk," she said, tucking the bedcovers around me.

***

I didn't see the cup of milk until the next day when I woke up. It had gone cold on my dressing table. I put a shawl on over my nightgown and went downstairs. Cara was the first to greet me. She threw herself into my arms, laughing with abandon the way a child of her age should. I had never seen her so happy.

"Celia told me what happened," she said. "So he's alive? Mr. Beaufort is really alive?"

"He is." I could hardly believe it myself. It seemed too amazing. For the first time, I realized how Lord Preston must have felt listening to me spouting about spirits and the Otherworld. Believing the unbelievable feels a little like exploring a foreign country without either map or guide.

"Can we visit him now?" Cara asked. "Please, Emily. I want to meet him properly."

"Of course. Let me get dressed and eat my breakfast."

"Breakfast is finished. It's past luncheon."

I'd slept that late? "I'll see what Lucy has in the kitchen."

I found Celia in the kitchen too. Lucy hugged me and passed me a bowl of soup. "I'm glad you're awake," my sister said. "You'll be having a visitor soon."

"Who?"

"Mr. Moreau. Louis."

"I suppose he'll be leaving for the colonies now."

"Yes. Finish your soup then I'll help you dress."

Celia hummed as she tightened my corset, which I thought was rather sadistic. Indeed, I had to order her to loosen it so I could breathe. She arranged my hair and helped me into my best green day dress, the one that hugged my hips and sported a neat bustle at the back.

"Only you could get away with that color," she said, admiring her handiwork. "First, let's go downstairs to see Louis. Then it's off to see Mr. Beaufort for you." She kissed my cheek and smiled.

For once I didn't mind that she was playing matchmaker.

Louis waited for us in the drawing room. He took my hands and made me sit on the sofa. Celia sat on my other side. I felt like a book squeezed between two bookends.

"Emily, there's something we need to tell you," he said. "Actually, it's something Celia needs to tell you. I'm just here for support."

"Oh?" I looked from one to the other. My sister didn't meet my gaze.

"Celia," Louis prompted, his voice stern.

"I'm not sure how to begin," she mumbled into her chest.

"Start at the beginning," I said.

"Very well." She blew out a breath and met my gaze. "I am your mother."

"What!" I spluttered.

"That was not the beginning," Louis scolded.

I stared at her. Then at him. Then back at her. "I...I don't...oh. Yes. I do." My chest constricted. My vision blurred. I couldn't breathe. "You tied my corset too tight." And you're my mother!

She placed her hand to the back of my neck. "Calm down, Emily, this is no time for hysterics."

"I am not being hysterical. I have just discovered that my sister is my mother and my mother is my grandmother. I'm so confused. Are you still my father, Louis?"

He kissed the top of my head. "I am. Your mother...Celia and I fell in love when she was only sixteen."

"So it was love?" I asked. "Between the two of you?"

"Of course." He looked at her. I switched my gaze to Celia too and watched her struggle to contain a blush and fail.

"Yes," she said quietly. "It was. I never loved another like I loved Louis. He changed my entire world, made me see things differently, made me feel special. And then he went away, just as I discovered I was with child."

"Bad timing," Louis said, heavily. "The worst."

"Mama decided she would bring you up as her daughter. She didn't want my prospects ruined, or have me suffer the scandal. Unfortunately she suffered through the whispers and stares that were meant for me, but she was strong. So much stronger than me."