“Your Grace…” Vicar Norleigh looked aghast at Alistair. “That is too much.”
“Is it?” Alistair said simply.
“You do not… your generosity is beyond anything that I might have expected. Truly, I cannot accept.”
“Are you implying that I have made a mistake?”
Vicar Norleigh’s eyes widened. “What? No! Of course not.”
“Then the number is accurate,” Alistair said without inflection. “And as for my supposed generosity? Let us just say that I know who my friends are, just as I know how to keep them happy.” He raised a knowing eyebrow at the Vicar.
“Your friends…” Slowly, the meaning dawned. “Oh! Yes, yes, of course. Although, you must know, that I would never… regardless of your generosity, I am still very much your friend.”
“As you will continue to be, I am sure.”
Alistair sat with Vicar Norleigh in his office, the door was closed, and the secrecy of this meeting was thus confirmed. It was not meant to be this way, but Alistair had made it seem as if he had a reason for wanting to see the Vicar today, and urgently, so he was determined to keep the ruse going.
This had given him a good reason to leave Miss Norleigh somewhere in the house, which he had not wanted to do, as he had rather enjoyed their short ride from his manor.
A little too much, truth be told…
“I thank you again,” the Vicar said with a broad smile. He looked tired and worn through, but he always did. “And if there is anything else that you need…”
“There is one more thing.”
“Oh?”
“Not something that concerns me,” Alistair said, shifting on his seat with a sense of discomfort brought from the topic. “But something that I feel we must… confirm.”
“Whatever it is,” the Vicar hurried to assure him. “I am yours.”
The excuse that Alistair made for having to see the Vicar was the need to offer the man and his church a donation. He already donated to the church every month, of course, as most of his tenants attended this parish. But today, his donation was especially generous, and there was a good reason for it.
As he said… he needed to make sure that his friends stayed as such.
“It concerns Hugh.” Alistair leveled a serious glare on the Vicar, so that he would know the seriousness of this conversation. “And the secrecy surrounding his birth.”
“Oh.” The Vicar blinked. “Are you suggesting that I have told –”
“I know you never would,” Alistair cut him off. “But that does not mean I do not wish to confirm the fact. And now that your daughter is working with me…”
“At your suggestion,” the Vicar pointed out. “To keep an eye on me, you said.”
Alistair grimaced at the wording. Indeed, he had been the one to suggest that Miss Norleigh worked with Hugh so that the Vicar would be more willing to keep his mouth shut. At the time, it had sounded like a good idea, but now that he knew her better, it felt suspiciously like blackmail.
Worse, too, if she were to ever find out…
Alistair shifted with discomfort. “My meaning is, I know that you and your daughter are close. And I want it confirmed that if she were to ask how you knew Hugh so well…”
“I will tell her that it is not her business,” he said rightly. “You have my word.”
“Good. I would hope so.”
A pang of guilt stabbed further at Alistair’s insides, which he hated. He had no reason to feel guilty. In fact, he was doing the right thing! Everything he did for Hugh was done for the boy’s benefit, and he would not be made to feel as if he was in the wrong.
The guilt, he suspected, pertained to Miss Norleigh and the lies he told her. Alistair wanted to believe that she had no right to know the truth, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe it fully. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth, as if her blessing would somehow make him feel justified in what he was doing.
Why did he even care? Again…I need to work through my feelings for Miss Norleigh before they become the death of me. Before she becomes the death of me.
