Excerpt: The Girl From Nowhere

Prologue: The Wedding at Thornburgh Manor

I stood before the mirror and revolved slowly. The wedding dress was a breathtaking creation of silk and lace, cascading to the floor in a filmy white cloud.

“Grace, dear?”

I turned around. My fiancé's mother, Lady Thornburgh, stood in the doorway, holding a jewelry box. "I have something to give you.”

“Lady Thornburgh, there’s really no need to—”

“Please, dear, let’s have no more of this ‘Lady Thornburgh’ business. You’re about to become my daughter. I won’t mind if you call me Alice.” She opened the box. “And I want you to wear these.”

I leaned closer and peered into the box. Inside was a matched set of exquisite sapphire jewelry: a necklace, a pair of earrings, a tiara, and a brooch in the shape of a heart. I reached out and touched the necklace, ever so delicately. “Oh, Lady Thorn—Alice, they’re beautiful, but really, I couldn’t. What if I should lose them?”

“Nonsense. Of course you must wear them. They’ve been in the family for over a century, and every Thornburgh bride in that time has worn them at her wedding.” She set the box on a table, took the necklace out, and fastened it around my neck. “There, you see? It might have been made for you.”

I turned and looked in the mirror again. She was right. The pendant at the center of the necklace settled perfectly in the hollow of my throat, and the clear, glinting blue of the sapphires brought out the blue of my eyes. “I don’t know what to say, except... thank you. I’ll take good care of them.”

“Of course you will. Who knows, your own daughter may wear them at her wedding someday.” Lady Thornburgh fastened the brooch to the bodice of the dress, and I put the earrings on while she set the tiara on my head. Together, the effect was stunning. I hardly recognized my own reflection.

“How long until the ceremony?” I asked. “There’s no clock in here, and I keep wanting to check the time every other minute.”

“Patience, dear. They can’t hold the wedding without you, you know.” Lady Thornburgh chuckled at her own joke; I smiled politely.

“How is Hugo? He won’t change his mind, will he?”

“Never fear. I hope I raised him to have better sense than that. And your brother is with him. If Hugo tries to run off, I’m certain Matthew will track him down and drag him back.”

I giggled nervously. “I hope not. It would be an inauspicious beginning to the marriage for the groom to be dragged up the aisle by the best man.”

“Perhaps so. I’d best go and make sure Hugo is not entertaining any thoughts of running off, then. You’ll be all right by yourself, dear?”

“What, you don’t fear that I’ll run away, do you?” I teased.

Lady Thornburgh smiled. “No, certainly not. I’ll come and get you before the ceremony, then.” I nodded, and she left, the door swinging shut behind her.

There was no time to lose. I threw the bouquet to the floor, then nearly ripped the wedding dress off in my haste to remove it. In the closet, I had hidden a carpetbag containing a plain dress and kerchief. I changed clothes, using the kerchief to cover my flaxen hair, and packed my wedding attire into the bag, taking especial care with the Thornburgh wedding sapphires.

From the pocket of my dress, I drew a folded piece of paper, which I set on top of the jewelry box where it was sure to be noticed. Then I left, without a single look backwards.

Within the hour, someone, probably Lady Thornburgh, would come to bring me downstairs for the ceremony. When they did, they would discover the note I had left on the table:

For now, your charming bride is unharmed. If you wish her
to remain in that state, you will not contact the authorities.
You will hear from me again soon with further instructions.

There would of course be an uproar, and the house would be searched from top to bottom. A manhunt would be launched for the imaginary abductor.

Frankly, I didn’t much care whether the Thornburghs obeyed my directive not to contact the authorities. They would never hear from the “kidnapper” with demands for money or anything else. The note was nothing but a smokescreen. With luck, it would never occur to anyone that when Hugo Thornburgh’s bride had disappeared, the Thornburgh wedding sapphires had disappeared with her.