“Killed in the town house. The authorities decided it was thieves for a few things were missing.”
“How did ye find out that was nay true?”
“It was rather odd that the things stolen were ones that Albert had always openly coveted. I could get no help from the authorities because I was just a woman and what could I possibly find out that they had not.”
If he had not still been in such a state of shock, Iain knew he would have smiled at the note of irritation in her voice. “There was no one to protect you in England?”
“There were a few people we thought of but we kept running into the same problem. No one believed us when we said Albert killed my parents and wanted us dead as well. We were just grieving women who wanted to blame someone, see someone hang, for the deaths of our parents and had picked on Albert because it was well known in the family that we had never liked the man. If I had had more time, I think I could have convinced my grandfather but Albert had no intention of granting us that time.”
“And you thought coming here would be enough to keep you safe?”
“It is a huge country. Not many in England understand just how huge, I think. I thought we could lose ourselves in this country until we could, perhaps, get word to one of the family who might believe us. Unfortunately, even as we left the country we discovered three of those people had recently met a tragic fate and that was when we knew. We had to run, and hide, until we had the skill and strength to stop Albert. As I said, I believed this country big enough to hide in. And it probably would have been except that, as we now know, my sister wrote to a cousin and somehow Albert found out what was said in those letters.”
“Do you think he killed your cousin?” He could tell by the horror slowly dawning on her face that she had never considered the possibility.
“He may well have. Then again, Constance is a lovely woman but not especially bright so he may well have gotten ahold of one of the letters and she just did not notice. She may have even left it out without thinking and he peeked when she stepped out of the room. Who knows, but I am now certain he knows where we are and I should take Neddy and leave.”
“Nay. Ye would just give him an easier target. Think. Ye and a boy traveling alone would be seen, remembered. He just needs to poke around a bit and he can run right after you. Ye are safest here.”
He finished off his cider and stood up. “Nay. Ye will stay here. I admit I may nay have much love for the gentry but I would never toss a boy and a woman to the wolves because of it. My brothers and I can handle this.”
“You could all be hurt and it is not your fight.”
“Let me decide what to fight for.” He bent down, cupped her chin in his hand, and kissed her. “You stay.”
By the time he reached his room Iain was torn between anger and shock. He had known she was gentry but he had never guessed she was so high up. What he had told her was the truth, though. He would never throw her and Neddy out to face all this alone. What he needed to do was figure out if there was any way to get in touch with ones who might help. The killer already knew where she and Neddy were so writing to relatives who might help would make no difference, he decided as he undressed for bed.
He thought of little Neddy and his fury rose. It was unfathomable that anyone could consider killing the boy just to lay claim to some lands, titles, and money. That was one of the things he had always held against the gentry. They thought such things were worth far more than any life. Lady Vera had had the cottage set on fire even knowing that he and Geordie were still inside because she could not abide people she thought of as peasants blocking her plans.
He knew in his heart that Emily was not of that ilk but still wondered if he should stay as far away from her as he could. Then he thought of the kisses they had shared and decided he would never do so. He had to force his stubborn mind to adjust its thinking. She probably had as blue a bloodline as anyone he had ever met but he knew, deep down, she was not like Lady Vera and never could be.
Climbing into bed, he crossed his hands behind his head and wondered how long it would take to get Emily in his bed. Then he thought of how she had been cooking and serving his supper for days now and grinned. Emily had been forced to do things most gentry women never had to do and he had to marvel at how well she had managed. She had insisted on scrubbing their home as it had never been scrubbed before and she spent a lot of hours trying to drum the skill of reading into his head and those of his brothers. She was unlike any gentry lady he had ever seen.
Now he needed to get a few names and such from Emily so he could round up some allies. It would not be easy because he would not be able to meet with them face-to-face and judge their trustworthiness himself but it still needed to be done. There had to be someone in her family that would understand what was happening and come to her aid. He decided the duke she spoke of was probably the one to get in touch with. It was his title and lands Albert sought to grab. Once he got rid of Emily and Neddy what was to stop the man from killing the duke? It would not be easy but that had not stopped him from killing off the man’s son and his wife.
It was a sad mess, he decided, and he was glad they had none of these problems in his family. The MacEnroys had no land, no fortune, no power and never had. It had often angered him but he could find some reason to be grateful for it now. Everything he had he had built with his brothers, their safety always at the fore of his mind. They owned all they held and could only lose it through their own mistake, not just because someone decided cattle deserved grazing more than people deserved a place to live.
Emily had tried to do the same with her sister. She had struggled to get her sister to safety and keep her safe. He blinked as that thought wound through his mind and knew that it had settled deep in his heart when he was not looking. He knew he no longer had that surge of anger when he thought of her heritage. It was gone for good.
Now he needed to decide what he really wanted from Lady Emily Stanton. Iain grinned. He knew what he wanted to do. With his confused feelings finally sorted out he decided he could work on that. Whatever happened with all the lands, titles, and money, he planned to bed Miss Emily Stanton.
Chapter Ten
“Shut the gates behind us,” said Matthew.
“Aye, Mother,” Iain drawled as he lifted Neddy and placed him in the buggy next to Maeve.
Matthew just grunted. Mrs. O’Neal was headed to visit with her family who were staying at the boardinghouse in town. It had come as a total surprise to the woman and she had been a bundle of nerves since she got the news. The whole family was headed to California and she wanted to see them. Neddy was going because he wanted to and Mrs. O’Neal had happily included him. Once they were all settled, his brothers were going to patrol the area to see if any men were looking for Emily and Neddy.
After they had ridden off, Iain shut and barred the gates. Emily had wanted to keep Neddy with her. Still shaken by the men coming to the house where she had thought the two of them well hidden, she had been wary of letting the boy out of her sight ever since. A week later and it had still taken a lot of persuasion from him and Mrs. O’Neal to convince her the boy would be safe, would appear to be no more than yet another child in a large family.
Iain walked back into the house and paused to savor the quiet for a moment. He loved his brothers, even loved Mrs. O’Neal and her children, but there were times when the house felt entirely too crowded. To get some time to just think, he often had to go to his room or find the needed solitude outside. Now he had a few hours of an empty house and he had no intention of using the time alone to do anything but be with Emily.
He walked into the kitchen to find Emily kneading bread. The look of concentration on her face was intense. Obviously, he and Mrs. O’Neal had not fully calmed her nerves concerning Neddy leaving the safety of the house. Iain still found it hard to accept that anyone would hire men to kill off an entire family right down to a boy of three, but there was no denying the sad truth of the battle he had been drawn into.
“I think ye can overdo that if ye are nay careful,” he said quietly as he stepped up to the table.
Emily stopped and stared at the dough under her hands for a moment before putting it on a board and draping a cloth over it. She then carried it over to the counter and set it down next to the other three she had done. Her arms ached, she realized, and she sighed as she began to clean up the mess she had made, then cleaned off herself. All the time she did she was fully aware of the man silently watching her.
