She stopped her wail and looked to him. “What do you mean?”
“We are done. I shall not tell anyone of what happened here.”
“Or what we did...?”
“I wanted the truth,” Beck said. “I have the truth. It is not of importance to anyone else. Besides, would you support me if I tell it?”
“No.”
“Then it is your word against mine. And the world believes I am dead.”
“You can accept that?”
He thought of Gwendolyn, who would be waiting for him. He thought of Ellisfield, who had been raised for this life. Colemore was not Beck’s home. It never would be. But the time had come to find a place to call home. He knew that would be with Gwendolyn. “I accept it.”
“What do we say then?” she asked. She didn’t seem to think it strange that she would expect him to make up the story.
“You and your lord wished to go for a walk. Will the butler support your story? He and another fellow are tied up waiting for me to release them.”
“They both will.”
“Then there you have it. You saw the fire. Middlebury collapsed.”
Another gasp of grief escaped her. “He was a good man.”
Beck didn’t agree, but he was done with it all.
Ellisfield and his trio of companions burst from the woods. They were followed by servants with buckets. Ellisfield saw his mother standing next to Beck... and his father on the ground.
His step slowed. He approached them. “What happened?” he demanded.
Beck helped Lady Middlebury stand. She wobbled a moment but regained mastery over her emotions. “He had a fit,” she said, nodding to her husband on the ground. “We came down here to look at the cottage.”
“At night?”
“It was a lovely night,” she murmured. “You know how your father enjoyed exploring the grounds.”
Ellisfield knelt beside his father. He placed a hand on his father’s chest. He was silent a moment but then came to his feet, his expression troubled. “And you, Curran? We heard you and Miss Lanscarr had eloped.”
There were close to sixty guests at the house party. Who would know what other guests were doing at any given moment? “Obviously not,” he said to Ellisfield. “I have no idea where Miss Lanscarr is. Up at the house, I suppose.”
“And you were here because?”
Beck smiled to himself. His cousin was no fool. Someday he might learn the truth, but not this night. “I was riding back from the village.”
Ellisfield’s brother joined them. The sons turned their attention to their father. Their mother joined them, and there was weeping. Beck watched a moment, and then he walked away.
True to his word, he freed the butler and the other servant. He warned them to keep their mouths shut about the goings on this night. They were not fools.
Then, Beck made his way to the main house. For a moment, he stood in the grand entry hall, drinking in the feel of the place.
This could never have been a haven for him. It had also not been one for his mother. She would not have built the cottage if it were.
He took the stairs two at a time. Lady Orpington met him at the third floor, where the library was located. She held Magpie in her arms. Mrs. Newsome stood close behind her.
In a whisper of indignation, Lady Orpington said, “Mr. Steele, what do you have to say for yourself? Where is my coach? And what have you done with the woman who was supposed to be my whist partner?”
“I don’t know where your coach is, but Mrs. Newsome may have an idea.”
