“It has a tendency to ache—I must ask Goody for a salve. So, you no longer feel the need to run away from me, I trust?”
“Not as yet.” She chuckled, then sobered. She’d have to leave eventually, though, would she not?
“I’m glad of it. For if you did, I should be forced to saddle up and bring you back. The stakes for which Pike has been playing are higher than I expected.”
“Indeed?” She leaned forward. “How is that?”
“I’ve spoken to Master Bradshaw. You’re not merely an independent woman of means, with her own house and accompanying goods and chattels—you are an heiress.”
She gaped, looking for the jest in Will’s expression, but the blue eyes were guileless.
“I? An heiress?” Her breath came in odd little bursts. This was incredible.
“You have the house and garden plot, naturally, as well as any funds—though I cannot guarantee Pike has not already sequestered those. But you also have a legacy from your aunt. No, not Hubert’s mother, but another sister, Jane, who died before you were born. She left a substantial legacy to Edward, which will now come to you if the terms of her will are followed. Or will go to your husband, should you marry. You have the right to pass the legacy on to another in your lifetime, should you have no need or want of it.”
It was too much to take in. “Why did Edward never speak of this legacy to me?”
“He ought to have told you, especially when he decided to seek adventure and preferment as a soldier. Lest anything happen to him, I mean.”
“I should not speak ill of the dead, but he should have, yes.” It meant there was enough money to give her a decent dowry and improve her marriage prospects.
Will took her hand and fiddled with the seal ring. She loved the touch of his warm fingers on her skin, though she knew his efforts would be fruitless. She’d already tried butter and goose grease to remove it, to no avail. If only he had worn a ring large enough to wear on his middle finger, all would have been well.
“I cannot answer for Edward’s actions any more than you can. However, let us assume it was this sum in particular that Pike was after. I don’t know if he meant to marry you for it, or if he deemed your entire fortune would fall to him on your demise—as he’s your closest living relative.”
“I’m surprised Hubert didn’t caper around the room when you told him Edward was dead. For he stood to gain everything, then.” A shiver ran down her spine. Pike had planned her murder, she was sure.
Will must have seen her quake, for he stopped toying with the ring and grasped her hand. “Be not affrighted, my dove—that danger is now over and done with. Have I not given my word he’ll never harm you again?”
She tried to collect her thoughts, which had scattered the moment Will held her hand. She shook her head. “I wonder if my Aunt Jane had any idea of where her generous thought might lead? She must be revolving in her winding-sheet.”
“I’d like to see Pike in a winding-sheet, too.” Will’s face looked as hard as marble. “But, alas, I don’t wish to attract attention to myself, particularly not in light of Mathieson’s threat. We must gather our evidence with subtlety, and ensure Justice is on our side.”
Isobel shifted on the bench—her thigh was too close to his. She could feel his heat through the layers of both petticoat and skirt. Their discussion was deadly serious, but her thoughts kept wandering to Will himself, rather than what he was telling her.
Why had she poured icy water on his suggestion of marriage? It would solve all their problems. Her fortune would be his, so it mattered not if he was unable to find favor at court. With him as her husband, she would be protected from the machinations of Pike or any other fortune hunters who knew of her legacy.
But there should be more to wedlock than its practical advantages. At least, she hoped there was.
She curtailed her rambling thoughts. “If Hubert was trying to poison me, how did he think he’d get away with it when Edward returned home? He could not have known my brother would die on the battlefield.”
“Mayhap he hoped to remain in residence, and convince your brother of your madness. It would not have been impossible to fool Edward… even I was convinced initially, but then, I had never met you before. Once your madness was made known, Pike might have played the part of concerned friend, and offered selflessly to marry you, or get one of his cronies to do the deed, thus sparing Edward any embarrassment.”
“My brother would never have agreed to that. He would simply have found a nurse for me, then thrown Hubert from the house.”
“Don’t forget Pike had dismissed all the servants who knew you. His campaign was well-planned. Even the gardener, who seemed a decent man, would have sworn to your madness, not having known anything else. You gnashed your teeth at me, you know. Gently bred young ladies don’t normally do that.”
“And gentlemen don’t normally bind young ladies.”
He kissed her hand. “The ones that bite, they do.”
It felt so delightful to be in good accord with one another. She smiled up at him and caught a twinkle in his eye. It did unpardonable things to her insides.
Looking quickly away, she asked, “How are we to bring that vile man down?”
“Not ‘we’, Isobel—me. You must leave it in my hands for now. I want to be sure you are fully recovered and ready to be restored to the world before you take up cudgels against your cousin. In the meantime, trust me. I’ll move heaven and earth to see you take your rightful place as head of the Marston household.”
“But you have difficulties of your own to resolve. The Mathiesons—”
“Are not as important as taking care of you. Don’t trouble your head with it.”
She looked into the intensely blue eyes that gazed into her own. A lump came to her throat, and it took an effort to find her voice. “I thank you, sir, from the bottom of my heart, for your selfless efforts on my part. I shall owe you a debt of gratitude until the day I die.”
A broad grin lit Will’s face, easing the tension between them.
“So, no more biting then, nor kicking? And please never tell me you’ll hate and despise me as long as you live, and that I’m no gentleman. I was deeply wounded.”
He looked so handsome, so appealing, she wanted to fling her arms around him and hold him forever. Perchance she was still mad, a little. He’d made up his mind to help her before they’d even met, had acted from duty only. And it was still duty, his loyalty to her dead brother, that motivated him. It would be folly to hope for anything else.
And did she even know what she wanted, or how she felt? She was in danger from Hubert. If she continued to lean on Will, she’d endanger him, too, and that was unforgivable.
She pulled her hand from his grasp and stood. “I must away to the housekeeper’s room, or there’ll be talk. And I don’t want to ruin the marmalade. Pray, excuse me.”
A shadow crossed his face, but she ignored it and fled the room.
And berated herself for cowardice every step of the way up to her chamber, where she threw herself on the bed, and gave in to silent tears.
Chapter Fifteen