He withdrew from inside her, rolling her back against him. He pressed a kiss upon her bare shoulder. “I need to return to London.”
“Why?”
“I want to speak with Carstairs again, about the tattoo and the shipment.” He slid his palm over the soft skin of her body. “And I want you and the children to remain here, so you’re safe.”
She didn’t like the thought of him going off to fight an unseen enemy while she remained alone with the children. Thoughts of the solicitor’s visit preyed upon her mind, and she rolled over to face him. “What about my Uncle Nigel?”
“What about him?”
“What if he tries to take the children from me while you are gone? Mr. Robinson said I had to bring them to his estate.” She couldn’t imagine doing such a thing.
“We will decide what to do when we see the will. And as I said, I’ll go and speak to him. Perhaps I can convince him to wait.”
“And what if I have to give them up?” The thought of losing the children broke her heart.
His arms tightened around her. “We have to be careful because of the law.”
She drew back and turned to face him, unable to believe what he’d just said. “You’ll just hand them over without fighting for them?”
His expression remained stoic. “Do you honestly believe I would give the children into a stranger’s care?”
“I don’t know.” Emily sat up, folding her arms around her waist. A brittle pain laced across her heart as she reached for her fallen nightgown.
“You don’t believe I’ll protect them.” His visage darkened with resentment.
“I’m afraid.” Raw images seared into her memory, of her laughing brother now gone, a cold corpse buried in the ground. “I don’t want anyone to be hurt.” Not the children. And especially not her husband. But the words wouldn’t come forth.
“Trust in me,” he demanded. “The children are safer here than in London. You know it as well as I.”
“No, I don’t know that. I was attacked here,” she argued. “We should stay together.”
Stephen set his hands upon her shoulders, pulling her back into his embrace. “They wantmedead, Emily. Not the children.”
She couldn’t allow herself to think about him facing danger in London. Flipping back the coverlet, she reached for her wrapper, but he stopped her.
“Let me look into the matter,” he insisted. “I’ll do what I can to make sure the children stay with us.”
“I won’t give them up,” she insisted, her eyes brimming up. “They’re my children. Not my uncle’s.” Though she had not given birth to them, Royce and Victoria were the only family she had left. A storm of emotions tangled within her heart. “I don’t care what the law says.”
“I will find out what I can.”
But she was terrified that he would not be able to keep their family together.
Chapter Sixteen
Themid-morningsuncuta blade of light through the drapes. In the solitude of his study, Stephen occupied himself with household ledgers. Despite the night they had shared, Emily had grown cold as if he intended to abandon the children, which wasn’t at all true. If the will granted guardianship of the children to Nigel Barrow, then the law protected those rights. He would have to talk to Nigel, to find out whether the man actually wanted to care for them.
A knock sounded upon the door, and Stephen rose. Instead of his wife, Farnsworth stood at the entrance. “Forgive me, my lord. These were sent to you by the solicitor, Mr. Robinson.” The butler handed him a sheaf of papers.
“Thank you, Farnsworth.”
After the butler left, Stephen studied the sealed document. He found it strange that papers could wreak such havoc in their lives. He withdrew a pair of spectacles from inside his pocket. Resting them on the bridge of his nose, he opened the will. Though he did not know for certain whether the document was legal, it did appear in order. Nigel Barrow was indeed named the guardian of Royce and Victoria, as Emily had feared.
Stephen read the will twice more but could find nothing out of the ordinary. With no other recourse, he penned a note to his own solicitor. The only way to argue the law was with an expert. In the meantime, he would obey the dictates, but only with the greatest of caution.
Emily’s uneasiness, that the will had been found only upon Nigel’s return, resonated with him as well. It was possible that the document was a forgery.
Nigel had invited them to stay, with the intention of leaving the children behind. It might be best to visit the man. Only then would he know whether or not he was trustworthy.
