10. Getting the Message
Mary was sitting alone on the drawing room sofa when Aiden entered. She set her embroidery aside and stood on her toes to kiss him.
"Where is our host this evening?" He asked. His hands stroked over her back and shoulders.
"On the phone with a client." Mary said. She bit back a little giggle when he picked her up. Her legs wrapped easily around his waist, her arms around his neck. His kisses became more passionate and Mary's body responded instantly. She pressed against him and felt his growing need. Mary knew that in a few more minutes there would be no resisting him. She broke the kiss and squirmed a little. "He won't be on the line that long." She laughed.
"He knows you are my mate, he will understand that there are times when a male requires the comfort of his mate." His mouth found hers again. As soon as they returned to the house, Mary had told him about the the horseback riding and her revelation. She also made sure he knew about Robbie's reaction. Even though everything was out in the open now, and his kisses were exciting her as they always did, the thought of disappearing for awhile and then coming back made Mary blush. She pulled away from him again.
"We can't. It would be rude." She squirmed a little. He growled softly next to her ear. "Besides, we have all night." He sighed.
"I am beginning to dislike visiting." He kissed her softly and set her on her feet again. Mary kissed the spot over his heart and sat down again. Her head was still spinning and she began searching for excuses to go to bed early. He sat next to her in his chair and she held his hand, resting her head against his muscular forearm.
"Aiden," She started. "Have you noticed anything odd about our rooms?"
"Odd?" He looked at her curiously. "In what way, child?"
"I don't know, there's something about the painting, and this morning when I was looking at it the door to my room opened and slammed shut again. It sounds silly to say it out loud." She looked away from him.
"Old houses have drafts, dear one." He said gently.
"I know that. Beeson Hall has drafty rooms too, but I haven't ever felt uncomfortable being in any of them." She sighed softly.
"You were nervous last night as you were falling asleep, were you able to rest after I took you to the other bed?"
"Not really. I guess my imagination was just overactive at that hour." Mary wasn't entirely convinced of that, but she wasn't certain how to put her feelings into words either.
"So sorry." Robbie said as he came back into the room. Mary sat up a little straighter, but held onto Aiden's hand. "I should have known better than to give him this number. You rested well, and found a satisfactory meal, Aiden?"
"Yes, thank you." He smiled.
"Good. Would you like to join us for dinner tomorrow evening? I'm certain I can make arrangements for your food preferences and I know everyone will be curious to meet you." He poured himself a drink at the sideboard. "Would anyone else like one?"
"No thanks." Mary said.
"No," Aiden answered. "And thank you for the kind invitation, but watching my kind eat can be disturbing to the squeamish. I would like to join you after the meal." Aiden answered.
"As you like." Robbie sat down with his drink in hand. "Something's been playing on my mind since we got back. Have you ever tried simply WILLING Esme back to the waking world?"
"I've tried, but it hasn't worked." Mary said, remembering her frustration of the several times she tried. "It was like pushing against the side of mountain."
"I should have known that you tried already." Robbie sighed. "We've tried too, but the rest of us need the words. We've all tried different combinations of focal words, different times of day. Just about anything you can vary we've varied it and it's just as you said, immovable resistance."
"Maybe that's what all those notes were." Mary mused.
"Notes?" Robbie looked curious.
"Yes, when I first moved in to Beeson Hall I started exploring and found all these scraps of paper with words written out in different combinations. Some of the notes mentioned the need to find the right words."
"That makes sense." Robbie said after thinking a moment. "Ambrose became a man obsessed. I always thought it was one of the reasons he withdrew from life."
"We're not going to be attempting anything like that tomorrow night, are we? I mean, I don't have anything he wrote with me." Mary didn't feel like she had enough of a grip on how her ability worked on its own, much less how to add it to others. She began to feel uncertain about the whole thing.
"No, not this time. I look at this as a meeting to introduce you and Aiden and to discuss how to go forward. Have any of the others contacted you?" He sipped some of the amber liquid in the cut glass tumbler.
"I got "looking forward to meeting you" messages from Veronica Trumbull, Ron Norman, Stuart Dinsmore and Alex Innes." Mary answered.
"Veronica is an old dear. She's ninety at least, but you won't find anyone more together. The other three are half convinced that you're some kind of fraud. That's Andy's influence I'm afraid." Robbie looked slightly embarrassed.
"But he's met Aiden." Mary was confused.
"He doesn't doubt that Aiden is who he claims to be." Robbie looked uncomfortable. "He claims to doubt your abilities. He's clearly jealous, unfortunately the others don't have the perspective on the situation that I do. I'm certain that once they meet you, he'll have less influence. The rest will probably reserve judgment until they meet you."
"This is going to be a difficult evening, isn't it?" Mary's heart was beating faster. Aiden gripped her hand softly.
