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Thoughts of Uther Jago were quickly driven from my mind, however. With a hand that shook slightly, I reached for the other silver-framed picture. The woman it depicted was—without doubt—the woman I had seen on my balcony. It slipped from my uncertain hand and clattered back onto the table.
“What is it, Dita?” Lucy’s voice was full of concern as she scanned my face.
“Who is she?” I asked, pointing to the miniature with a hand that, despite my efforts, still refused to remain steady.
“Demelza Jago,” she replied. “Tynan’s aunt. She died in the fire that destroyed Tenebris on our wedding night. Why, my dear!” She reached out to clasp my hand. “You have gone quite dreadfully pale. Are you feeling unwell again? Can I get you something?”
I bit my lip. “I have seen her,” I said, and Lucy’s hand stole to the base of her throat in a gesture of horror. “Truly, I have. She has tried to get into my bedroom from the balcony. Oh, dear God, Lucy! Did I see a ghost?” She didn’t answer, and I continued, “She told me that I can’t have him, whoever ‘he’ may be, that he belongs to her. She carried a knife.”
“There is a great deal you don’t know about the Jago family, my dear,” Lucy said quietly, collecting herself. “Which is why it was unfair of Eddie to rush you into this engagement without warning you.”
“Warning me of what?” I asked. But I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know.
She tapped the picture with her fingernail. “Demelza loved her brother, Uther, to desperation. She would have done anything for him. She did anything he asked her—including murder. Uther killed Tynan’s parents. Then, between them, they tried to make it appear that Tynan was mad. Demelza administered poison to him to make it look that way.” She paused, taking in my stunned expression. “It is unbelievable, I know. But it’s true, Dita, I do assure you. They concocted a plot to bring me here and get me to marry Tynan so that there was an heir to the title before they had him locked away for good. Uther’s plan was then to kill Tynan and make it look as if, unable to live with his own madness, he had killed himself.”
“But that’s…” I searched around but could not find a word that was strong enough.
“Villainous? Evil? Unhinged?” she supplied for me. “Uther was all of those things. He was a beautiful, irresistible monster. He was also obsessed with me. I suppose he would have called it love in the same way that Arwen thought he loved the first Lucia. And, for a while, I was mesmerised by him.” The distant look drifted across her features again. Composing herself again, she continued. “When Demelza discovered his feelings for me, she killed him and set fire to the castle. That was how much she loved him.” She paused. “You see, they were brother and sister, but they were also lovers.” I stood up jerkily and went to the window to gaze out, with unseeing eyes, at the churning ocean. Her words had stirred something in me, an elusive, obscure fear that had been lying dormant. “There is darkness in the Jago past.” Hearing Lucy’s gentle tones speak of such horrors somehow made them sound worse. “I wish Eddie had told you of it before your betrothal, because there is more—much more—besides.”
My thoughts skittered wildly. Demelza had warned me to stay away from the man she considered to be hers. Surely, there was only one man she could believe was Uther. The man who now wore his face. Had Demelza come back from the grave to warn me to stay away from Cad? My mind fumbled wildly around on the edge of comprehension.
“Uther told me himself that murder is never far from the Jago hand. Over the years, it has worn armour, cassock, gown and lace. It has snarled and charmed, poisoned and slashed. Our family is tainted, Dita. It is the curse of Tenebris, our dark legacy. Passed down through generations,” Lucy continued relentlessly. “Tynan and I tried so hard to build a new home, one where the ghosts could do us no harm. Demelza’s only aim will be to be where Uther is. But if he has come back from the dead, his purpose here will be a sinister one.” She paused then, as Cad came into the room.
