Elizabeth

By Eleanor Jane

Seven year old Elizabeth is looking forward to her first piano recital in front of her new school, her dad and stepmother. Her time comes at the piano and as she steps on the stage, she notices her family isnt there. After the recital, when all of the other students and parents have left the auditorium, Elizabeth is still waiting for her parents to come for her. Little does the small girl know, but her parents were in an accident that would change her and her family dynamics for the rest of her life.
For years Elizabeth is sent from boarding school to boarding school, never allowed to come home, never getting any correspondence from her family, never really allowed to make any friends. About the time she was settled and doing well in school, someone would show up and again she was moved to a new school until she reaches college, where she is finally left to be on her own.
Two weeks before her college graduation, a man shows up again telling her he was there to take her to her father. In so many years, it was all she had every prayed for: to be returned to her family. She didnt know he had other plans making her someone elses responsibility.
Duncan had made the deal only available to advance his company: he is approached by someone who could help his struggling company but he would have to marry the mans only daughter. He needed the promised financing to get his American company off the ground. When she walked into the room dressed in ancient jeans and sweat shirt, Duncan was appalled but showed no signs of it. He would proceed with this farce then send the waif off to his Ireland estate until he could legally get rid of the woman.
Five years later, after Elizabeth had matured into a lovely young woman, her youngest brother comes looking for her. Sam was furious when he found out Elizabeth had been sold off to a loveless marriage. But what enraged him more was her banishment to an estate in Ireland.
In the next few months, many changes happened to Elizabeth, her unknown husband Duncan and the brother she hadnt seen in almost twenty years. Could her dreams of home and family finally be realized?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491809693

Eleanor Jane

Born and raised in Minnesota, Eleanor Jane resides with her husband, Jim, in central Minnesota. They have three daughters. Some of her favorite hobbies are gardening, reading and spending time with her family. After acquiring a lake home recently, she enjoys the natural beauty of the lake and the wildlife there. She loves nothing more than to watch the many varieties of migrant birds that come to her feeders, the wild turkeys, loons, swans and eagles, deer and the occasional bobcat and bear. She started writing for herself a few years ago during a short period between jobs. Once her family learned of it, they encouraged her to have her works published. She writes in her spare time as much as possible.

Book preview

Prologue

Today was supposed to be special as it was the day of my first piano recital. I was so excited. My teacher had said she was really proud of the progress I had made over the year. I had started lessons only last summer but I really liked it and spent a lot of time practicing. Mrs. Andrews said practice was important. But what did it matter if my family didn’t come to see it.

I had put on my prettiest dress. I would have liked to have worn the blue one but I knew my stepmother really liked pink so that was the one I chose. I wanted to please my stepmom; but it was hard because she really didn’t like me. This dress wasn’t bad; it was laced in tiers and had a soft satin sash that was really big. But who cares anyway, I thought as I sat there alone, the only one left in the auditorium.

My father and stepmother said they would be here. I wanted my brothers here but they said they didn’t think they would make it. Sam was the only one still at home. James and John were both in college, whatever that is. But when I went on stage before taking my turn at the piano, I looked around at all of the parents there but didn’t see my family. When I was done with my piece, took my bow, I looked again, but they lied since I couldn’t find them.

So there she sat, alone. All of the other students and their parents had left to go to the reception down the hall. Elizabeth would just sit here and wait for them to come. They would look for her here first; wouldn’t they? She sat and thought about the piece she had played. Her teacher wanted her to play something easier, but Elizabeth said she wanted to do the harder one to show everyone she did her work and practiced very hard. She was proud of herself because she didn’t make any mistakes and the audience clapped really loud when she was done. But her family wasn’t there to hear her. She thought it was really cool to play on the big piano and it sounded very nice. She would have asked for one just like it after they got home and papa said how well she had played. But that wouldn’t happen now because they hadn’t showed up to hear her play on the big piano.

Elizabeth sat there for a very long time. It had gotten really quiet out in the hall and someone had turned the lights off in the auditorium. She wasn’t afraid of the dark and her eyes had adjusted to the darkness. It really wasn’t that dark as there was some light coming in from the windows near the ceiling. Everyone else must have gone home. She couldn’t go home until someone came to get her because she was sure her bus had left a long time ago. She decided to go back up to the piano and practice some more. Practice was important and she loved to play. She didn’t even need her music because she had most of it in her head. Mrs. Andrews said the professional players had to keep the music in their heads so she would do it too.

That was where Mrs. Tate found her. The principal had been working late and was on her way out when she heard the music coming from the auditorium. There shouldn’t have been anyone left in the school. It was after six p.m. and the janitors would be leaving soon too. She detoured toward the sounds coming from down the hall. She was a little surprised; there in the dark sat Elizabeth McNamara. She was playing music that no seven-year old should be playing. She had only been taking lessons for a year but Mrs. Andrews had told her Elizabeth was the most gifted child she had ever taught. The audience was blessed and appreciative of the piece she played so expertly. But why was she still here?

Walking carefully not to scare the child, Mrs. Tate approached the stage. Elizabeth, darling is that you?

The playing stopped and Elizabeth turned toward the voice. Yes ma’am. Are my parents here now?

Honey, didn’t they come to the recital? Mrs. Tate was really getting concerned now.

No ma’am.

Let’s go up to my office and give them a call. I am sure they are just running a little late. No sense in upsetting the child. It had been almost two hours since the last of the parents had left and three since the end of the recital. It was very puzzling now, that a child had been forgotten.

Elizabeth put her shoes on, picked up her sweater and walked to the stairs at the left of the stage, descending she moved cautiously in the direction of the principal. She liked all of the teachers here at this school. They were so much better than the ones at her old school. This school was special, she was told by her father. She had not talked to Mrs. Tate before but knew she was the head of the school and did a really good job here.

As Elizabeth got close, Mrs. Tate held out her hand. Together they walked through the dark auditorium and out into the hall. It was really quiet now. Elizabeth could tell by the light coming in the windows, it was starting to get dark outside. Once they got to her office, Mrs. Tate turned on the lights and could then tell this beautiful child had been crying. And rightfully so; how could she have been forgotten?

In her office, she motioned for Elizabeth to sit in a chair while she made the phone call to her parents. She went to the file cabinet to get out the paper file holding all of the emergency numbers for each student. It was all on the computer, but she didn’t want to take the time for it to boot up. She looked at the home number, dialed quickly and waited for an answer. When that didn’t happen, she dialed the secondary number which was the work number for Mr. McNamara. That too went unanswered. There was also cell phone numbers listed for both Mr. and Mrs. McNamara, so she started to dial them. It was very strange that none of the phones were answered. Leaving a message at the cell numbers, she wrote down the address for Elizabeth’s home.

She made the decision to take her home and make sure all was well before she left. Smiling at the pretty girl, Tate put the file back and turned, picked up her purse and again held her hand for Elizabeth to take. She then had a bad feeling, but she couldn’t call the police with the child sitting here in her office.

I guess you get to ride in my car. Would you like that Elizabeth?

Yes ma’am. She answered very meekly.

Turning off the lights and relocking the door, they headed out of the office, down the short hallway to the closest exit and to the only car left in the parking lot. Mrs. Tate unlocked the doors, opened the rear door for Elizabeth to get in. She waited for her to buckle up before going to the driver’s door. She got in, buckled herself and took a look in the rear view mirror. It was not hard to miss this special little girl was heartbroken because her family hadn’t come to the recital and forgotten her altogether.

With the radio on quietly to a classical station, Tate decided small talk was out of the question. How do you brighten up a situation like this? She just hoped there would be someone at the house by the time they got there so that someone could take care of the little girl.

Tate pulled up to the door and saw there were many lights on in the lower level of the house and wondered why no one answered the phone call that she made. They got out of the car, walked to the front door and Tate rang the bell. The door was answered by the housekeeper.

Hello, I am Mrs. Tate, the principal at Elizabeth’s school. No one came to pick her up from her piano recital this afternoon. Are her parents home?

The housekeeper looked down at the girl with a disgusted look, like she would have preferred she hadn’t been brought home. Mr. McNamara is home but he is unavailable. I will take care of her. Thank you for bringing her home.

With that, she stepped back so that Elizabeth could walk in to the house. Tate got a very cold feeling from the housekeeper; well from the house in general.

Tate walked back to her car. She would make sure to keep an eye open for Elizabeth on Monday. She didn’t think the child was being abused but she wanted to make sure all the same.

Elizabeth was taken quickly to the kitchen where she was given supper. When she was done, she was escorted to her room again by the new housekeeper. She was told to stay in her room, to be very quiet. In the morning, a breakfast tray was brought to her room and again told to be very quiet. She wanted to see her father but knew by the look she was given by the housekeeper, she shouldn’t ask. Someone she didn’t know brought a lunch tray that afternoon and stayed to make sure that Elizabeth stayed in her room and was quiet. The girl said her name was Melody and she would stay so Elizabeth wasn’t lonely.

After it got dark, Melody took her by the hand and they walked down the back stairs to the kitchen where they had a very quiet dinner. The house was very quiet. Again, Elizabeth wanted to see her parents, but knew she wasn’t to ask. After they ate, she was taken back to her room for the rest of the night. Sunday went by in about the same manner as Saturday. Elizabeth was glad when the day was over because tomorrow she could go back to school. Maybe something she had done had made her parents mad and it would get better after school.

The next few weeks that had followed were much the same. She would go to school, come home to a very quiet house. Have a private supper in the kitchen; spend the rest of the night in her room. Weekends were much like that first weekend when she was brought home by Mrs. Tate.

Mrs. Tate was concerned about Elizabeth when she had heard the following morning that there had been a terrible accident involving the McNamara’s. Mrs. McNamara had died several hours later in the hospital and Mr. McNamara had sustained injuries but nothing life threatening. She then heard the funeral was planned for the following Friday. She was a little surprised to see the little girl in school on Monday as well as every day there after; even Friday the day of the funeral. But it wasn’t her concern. She did watch though to make sure Elizabeth was taken care of. The school year was almost over so maybe the summer break would be a good one for the child.

Chapter 1

Almost fifteen years later at a college library

As Elizabeth finished reading the pages in the last book in her research for the paper that she was writing, she let out a sigh of relief. This was the last paper she would be completing. She was only weeks away from graduation. She would finish with double major degrees: one in business management and one in marketing. Her minor wasn’t anything to sneeze at either although most people would see a minor in linguistics as frivolous compared to her majors. She had learned five different languages, being fluent in all enough to get a certificate for translator. She had already done a lot of translating for the dean of the college and was recommended to several businesses in the community.

She was happy with all of the hard work she’d accomplished in her college career. She would be completing her education, taking a job and getting out from under her father’s rule. As she looked back at her life and at the solitude she had endured, she wondered what it would be like to actually be on her own and depend on no one but herself.

From the time she was in the second grade, she had been shut out of her family. After finishing only one year at the Providence School, she was then sent to a boarding school. Her father didn’t even wait for the fall semester to begin. She was sent as soon as possible for summer schooling. Elizabeth liked the new school, but she didn’t like the fact she had to live there too. She didn’t spend too much time there before being sent to another, then another and still another. It was like she lived out of her suit case. As soon as she got settled in, found a friend or two or teacher she liked, she was moved to a different school. When she finished high school, with hopes to attend a specific college, she received a letter from her father telling her which college was already expecting her, her first semester of classes scheduled and room accommodations arranged. At least he had let her stay in the same college for four years. She was actually allowed to pick her own classes after the first semester, which was a complete shock to her. Her father had always managed her life, so to be given a freedom was puzzling to her. It had been over fifteen years since she had seen a single member of her family. She would only get notifications from her father, actually his secretary as her life would be changing yet again.

Well, when finals were over in a few weeks, she would just disappear and start a life that wasn’t controlled by him. She had spoken discreetly with someone about her past. Someone who understood her need for independence and was willing to help her change her name and get her new credentials so she could do just that.

She wasn’t sure what she had done to change the dynamic state of her relationship with her family. It all started the day of her recital when they didn’t show up. It was weeks before she had learned her step mother was dead. But for her to hear it from a careless member of the household staff was wrong. They didn’t know she was at the top of the back stairs listening to the happenings going on in the kitchen. She had just wanted to have someone to talk too, as it seemed she had been forgotten. She had tried to see Sam and ask him but he too had seemed to hate her. Elizabeth still wasn’t sure where he was. She assumed James and John joined her father in his company but there again was unsure. She had decided, during a cold Christmas all alone at the first boarding schools, she would pretend she was an orphan. It would be easy; she never received mail, packages, phone calls or visits from anyone. Who would doubt her?

Well, enough slacking off and thinking about things she couldn’t change and on to things she could. Elizabeth closed the book, set it aside and opened a new document on her computer. The library was very quiet. She saw no better place than this to start compiling all of the information she had into her paper. She still had plenty of time in which to complete it. She had learned it was better to get it done right away than to wait until the last minute. She worked for a few more hours before heading over to the music wing where she would find a piano practice room; where she could unwind spending some time doing something she still loved.

One of the professors in the music department had heard her once and asked why she wasn’t pursuing a career in music. Elizabeth had thought about it a lot but knew it could take a long time to become a professional musician; she would rather just keep her music to herself. She played now strictly for herself. She told the Prof she didn’t like to perform for others and that her business degrees would take her further in the long run. He didn’t like her pessimistic attitude on the subject but left it at that.

She had learned a long time ago, the gratification of playing for your friends and family wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Her family had never heard her play in any of her recitals. She didn’t see the point in doing them, but all of her teachers had encouraged all of their students to perform. As a matter of fact, her family had never been to any of her school events. Not the recitals, the plays, the spelling bees or any of the sporting events. They didn’t even show up for her high school graduation. So she wasn’t even going to her own college graduation for the same reason. She knew they wouldn’t be there for one of the most important events of her adult life, so why bother herself.

Elizabeth was about three pages into her paper when a shadow fell over her. She looked up to see a man dressed in a black suit and a dour expression. She instinctively knew he had to be one of her father’s employees. With the first words out of his mouth, she knew this to be fact.

Ms. Elizabeth McNamara?

Yes.

My name is Martin. I am to drive you per your father’s instructions. He was very professional looking and speaking.

May I ask why? She really didn’t care but was sure she wasn’t going to like it. She hadn’t been home in a very, very long time. She was sure she wouldn’t even recognize it.

I am not sure, I was just instructed to come here, pick you up with no delays and bring you to your father.

I see. Well, I would like to stop at my apartment and change into something more appropriate.

That won’t be necessary miss. I am not to delay in conveying you to your father.

I can’t even go home to change my clothes? What is going on? She had a mind to tell the man to shove it and just walk away.

Martin bent over, picked up her backpack and handed it to her. Elizabeth looked sternly at him but saved her document, shut down the computer and started to pack up her books, tablets and other paraphernalia. When the computer shut down she stored it in the special pouch of her back pack. Coiling the power cord and mouse and she stored them in their pockets.

Can you tell me if I will be back in time for my finals? Most are next week and without them I won’t graduate.

Martin looked a little sympathetic, I am not sure Miss. I was only instructed to be your driver today. Is this ready? He had pointed to the now full backpack. With her nod, he picked it up and stepped back so she may precede him out of the library.

There was a black sedan waiting at the curb of the library. Martin opened the rear passenger door, stepped aside so Elizabeth may enter the car. He handed her the bag and closed the door. The drive to the town her father was in took several hours so she was able to complete her paper. She read a book for pleasure and even started some notes for one of the finals. After a while, she laid her head back to rest.

Chapter 2

She was awakened when the car came to a stop and Martin opened the door. It took a few seconds for Elizabeth to realize they weren’t actually at the house. She slid across the seat, dragging the bag with her and stepped out of the car. Martin took the bag and motioned for her toward the door of the mysterious building. It was a square building with three floors. Made of a stone facing, it looked like a very professional building. She wondered if it was her father’s office building but didn’t see any sign that said as much. As she approached, the door opened. Martin led the way down a hallway and to an open door. Elizabeth paused, looked at Martin who nodded to her. She entered the room and saw three men and one woman. She barely recognized her father and the other three people were complete strangers. There weren’t any introductions, her father didn’t say anything to her or look at her for that matter. It was very cold in the room.

One of the men stepped forward and said, May we begin now?

Her father nodded, but still didn’t make a move toward her. Martin motioned for her to step forward and one of the other strange men stepped up beside her. He was a lot younger than the others, a handsome, large man with a stern face.

To her disbelief, the first man said, We are gathered here today to unite Duncan Douglas to Elizabeth McNamara in the holy state of matrimony.

From there Elizabeth was numb. She must still be sleeping because there was no way that this could be happening! She didn’t answer the questions asked by the man conducting the ceremony but it didn’t seem to matter. Within minutes, the deed was done and congratulations said. Martin again escorted her to another room where a meal was already prepared and waiting for them. She sat down with her new husband to her left and her father across the table. The other strangers also took seats. Martin and the man that opened the outer door stood along the wall, very stoically. The