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Christoper silently spoke a prayer for Lilith and her family.
"Dear Father, I lie Lilith in your arms of love and pray for her soul. I pour out my anxious heart to you. I give over to you my struggles, fears, and hardships. I ask you to send your angels to embrace the family in your solace. To give them the resilience to endure the things they think they cannot face. Father, I let my tears fall, for I know you will capture everyone and never let anyone of us descend from your grace. Amen," He raised his head to look at the family.
Then an extraordinary thing happened the whole graveyard had the sweet scent of white flowers, lilies, jasmine, roses, violets, and honey. The Odor of Sanctity was a fragrance said to be saints and angels looking after the dead, signifying their souls going to heaven in God's care. It was a calming scent that immediately stopped Mrs. Thomas from crying. "Do you smell that?" Said Lily. Her family nodded, and some smiled as they saw their mother regain her composure. Christopher sighed in relief that the woman had ceased wailing.
***
The internment ended, and friends and family began to say farewells and goodbyes. Christopher stood quietly, shook hands, and exchanged hugs with the mourners, thanking them for coming to Lilith's funeral. Jackson came to stand next to Christopher. The man was the closest person he had to family. They were like brothers. "Nice of you to comfort them. It was good to see the Lady stop crying. I thought she would mourn to death in front of us." Said Jackson as he took his gloved hand and rubbed the tension out of the back of his neck.
"It's understandable Lilith was the prized one of her children and her namesake. It will be a long time for her to get over her daughter's death, if ever. Luckily she has a good husband and family who will stand by to support her. Fortunately, they are no longer my worry." Christopher's remarks were cold as he spoke, and Jackson could tell The Lord needed to rest.
Something abruptly caught Christopher's attention. His adrenaline rushed, and his heart rate spiked. There was a being in the necropolis, and it was not a human entity. He looked all about but saw no one strange that stood out from those gathered around. Jackson also sensed it and came to stand closer to the man. "Do you feel that?" asked The Lord. Jackson nodded his head. "We will come back later. There is nothing we can do right now. I don't need Lilith's family involved." expressed Christopher.
***
After the funeral, the family returned to the manor and prepared to depart.
"Christopher, may I have a word before we go?" asked Lilith's father.
"Of course, Sir Thomas. What would you like to speak about?" replied Christopher as he looked down at the man that stood before him.
"I know the other night got pretty heated, and I wanted to apologize for my words and poor behavior. It was insensitive of me, and I failed to realize you were grieving the loss of Lilith, your wife," Sir Thomas expressed to Christopher. He was nervously fumbling with a coin in his pocket. It was the first pound he made as a railroad man.
"Let's chalk this up to overactive emotions and move on. What do you say?" Lord Thorn smiled at Henry, but the smile didn't touch his eyes. He could tell that Henry was worried that he may have angered him and that Christopher would no longer want to do business with his railroad.
"That sounds like a good idea. I also wanted to assure you I'm not pushing you out of the railway. I know I said and did some foolish things in the heat of the moment. Please understand you have my utmost confidence in this matter." Sir Thomas held out his hand to Lord Thorn.
Christopher shook the man's hand even though he would have preferred to break it and beat him with it. Right now, he was playing nice. "As I said, it's over, and we can move forward. Have a safe travel back home, and take care of Lady Lily. I can see she is having difficulty accepting the death of her daughter. Be patient with her and give her time. She will come around. Your wife needs you and her family right now." Sir Thomas nodded his head in agreement.
"Take care, Lord Thorn." Henry turned and left the parlor.
***
Christopher watched out his study window as the last guests loaded up into the carriages and left in the late afternoon. "Thank heaven. This funeral is over." He breathed out a sigh of relief as quiet fell on the estate. He then rang the bell for the butler.
"Milord, You called?" Duncan stood at the door of the study.
"Have dinner brought to my study. Jackson will be joining me this evening. Please get someone to inform him. He should be down by the stables. We will be leaving for the evening after we finish our meal. Also, I need to speak with Cedrick; send him immediately, " Christopher finished giving Duncan his instructions.
"Yes, Milord. Is there anything else? Asked the butler.
"There is." Christopher poured a scotch for himself and lit a cigar as he spoke with Duncan. "Please take down all the holiday and mourning decor. Only leave the laurel wreath with black ribbon on the front door."
"Lord Thorn, are you sure you want to do this? The mourning decor usually stays in place for three months. People might talk." The butler was nervous about broaching the subject, but his duty was also to point out etiquette details so embarrassment would not befall the Thorn name. In the end, he would do whatever the master of the house ordered.
"Let them talk. I need my life to return to its normal routine. This is my way of dealing with grief." He said to the servant while puffing on the cigar.
A voice came out of nowhere. It was Jackson. "In other words, Duncan, our Lord here, will bury his head in the sand and pretend nothing is wrong." Jackson chuckled as he said the words.
"You know me so well, my friend. Have a seat. I was about to send for you anyway." Christopher smiled and pointed to a chair for Jackson to take.
Lord Thorn turned to Duncan. "You have your orders. Now get to it."
"Yes, Milord. As you wish," the butler bowed and headed out to complete his tasks.
"So, Lord Thorn, I sense we are about to embark on a night mission to the graveyard. Am I correct in my assumption?" Jackson grinned with myrth.
"Yes, you are correct. We don't need any trouble hanging about. I want to know what is haunting the cemetery and take care of it. If you get my meaning," said Christopher, his brow furrowed as he sipped his scotch.
A knock from the door of the study interrupted the conversation. Christopher called out to the person at the door. "Enter! That must be Cedrick," Christopher said to Jackson with a devilish smile.
"Good evening, Lord Thorn. Y-You requested my p-presence?" The older man was short and stocky with a slight potbelly. He looked nervously inside the room.
"I need you to tighten up the security around the estate for a bit. I don't want any visitors unless I clear it. Especially strangers. If you see anything unusual, and I mean anything, I need to be the first to know about it. Is that understood?" Christopher was direct and stern with his expectations from the senior guard.
"I understand the orders, and my men will follow it to the letter, Milord." Replied Cedrick fidgeting with the keys on his belt.
"That will do. Thank you, Cedrick; You're dismissed. The Captin of the guard hurried away to give out his orders.
"You have no shame." Jackson shook his head and chuckled. "Poor Cedrick, you torment that old man to no end. If you said boo, he'd probably jump out of his skin."
Christopher raised his brows and grinned mischievously. "An occasional dose of fear is good. It keeps people honest and on their toes."
Jackson rolled his eyes and laughed at Christopher's remark. "On a more serious note, I saw Sir Thomas stopped and talked to you today." Is everything still in place for you to use the railways?
Christopher hummed in response. "Mhmm... It is. The man is despicable and has no scruples. I told you Henry Thomas knows which way the money flows, and he's not about to risk losing everything he has. He was more worried about finances than his daughter's death. He came to grovel and get reassurances from me that I was not backing out over the knockdown we had the other night," said The Lord as he threw his head back with his mouth on the tumbler and finished the scotch.
Christopher was looking around for a clock to see the time. All the chronographs in the house had been stopped when Lilith passed away. He recalled the pocket watch. He pulled it out of his vest and opened the cover. "Dinner should be arriving soon." He said to Jackson.
"Is that the watch Lilith had made for you?" asked his friend.
"Yes, how did you know about it?" inquired Christopher.