didn’t offer a perfect transition, but it was close enough for her to try. “Actually, I was browsing the graveyard yesterday…”
His eyes brightened with barely contained amusement. “Browsing? Like a library?”
She snorted. “Okay, that came out wrong. I was exploring the graveyard. Better?”
“Much.”
“I found one name that sounded familiar: Emma Carthage. I’m sure I’ve heard it before. You don’t know who she was, do you?” She instantly felt guilty about the lie as Mason’s expression lit up.
“Really? Recalling names is a very good sign. Can you try to feel around it and pick up on any emotions or memories attached to it?”
“Uh—” She hoped she wasn’t turning red from the shame. “I mean, it’s not like a memory or anything—it just seemed a bit familiar. I was wondering if I might have heard it somewhere. Maybe in town…”
His head tilted to one side as she backpedaled. She was learning to associate the gesture with curiosity and knew he didn’t fully believe her excuses. To her surprise, though, all he said was, “Emma Carthage is a bit of a local legend. It was before my time, but I can tell you what I know if you like? It’s somewhat of a long story.”
“I’ve got all the time in the world.”
Chapter Twelve
Mason closed the lid on his kit and set it beside his feet. He leaned back in the chair and tapped on his lip, apparently absorbed in thought. “I’ve heard the story a few times, but mostly when I was a child, so the details are muddy.”
“Take your time.” Keira pulled her sweater back on over the bug-eyed cat shirt and settled in for the tale.
“I think I need to give you some context first. Blighty was founded by a gentleman called Mortimer Crispin. He built a wool mill and bought the farmland surrounding it, then tempted people to settle in the area with lucrative job offers. It turned out to be a profitable idea, and his already considerable wealth increased substantially before his death.
“The company was eventually closed, and the mill abandoned. Because Blighty had relied heavily on the Crispins’ business, most people expected it to become a ghost town within a few years. But for one reason or another, a large section of the population decided to stay. Some commute to the cities, others set up their own small or home businesses, and Blighty is… Well, thriving is a bit of a strong word, but surviving sounds too dire. It’s existing, I guess, pretty much the same as it has for several generations.”
Keira kicked off her boots and pulled her feet up underneath herself as she leaned forward. “Do the Crispins still live here?”
“Only one: Dane Crispin. He still lives in Mortimer’s old house near the abandoned mill. He doesn’t work, and there are rumors that the Crispin fortune has run low. Dane’s sold several parcels of the family’s land over the last decade.”
Licking its lips, the black cat appeared beside Mason’s chair. It arched its back, then leaped into his lap. Mason waited for the cat to settle before continuing. “In the seventies and early eighties, the family consisted of a gentleman named George and his three adult children. I never met him, but people have described George as arrogant. He seemed to truly believe his family was superior to those in the town simply because they had money. Out of his three children, he favored the eldest, Frank.
“From all accounts, Frank was a hardworking and kind person. If people ever talked about his faults, it was that he was too easily swayed by his father’s iron will. George expected his son to marry into one of the larger cities’ tycoon banking families, but his plans were scuttled when Frank fell in love with one of the local girls.”
It was easy to see where this story was heading. “Emma Carthage.”
“Bingo. She was beautiful, but George was livid when he found out. The Carthages were a poor family, descended from a worker in Mortimer’s mill. To George, tying the families together would be a humiliating debasement, and he did everything possible to prevent it, including threatening to disown his son and promising to ruin the Carthage family.
“When Frank and Emma realized George would never relent, they planned a secret wedding. George discovered the plans and locked his son in the house on the day they were supposed to elope. He then went to see the Carthage family with an offer: he would give them a small fortune if they