She blinked down at him, a picture of innocence. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about.’
‘Liar! I had over nineteen thousand pounds in notes.’
‘Then this might be a good time to remind you that Father’s will also states that I am to receive twenty thousand. Not just two, as you told me.’ She smiled. ‘If I had found that much, I would simply take it and perhaps the set of jade figurines on the library mantlepiece. I have always been fond of them and I’m sure they are worth almost a thousand.’ Then, she laughed.
Her mirth went on for a while and had a slightly hysterical tinge to it. Thomas frowned in concern, but recent events had been stressful. He could not really blame her for being somewhat overwrought. Just when he was about to release Skeffington and go to her side, she took a deep breath and pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve, wiping her eyes.
‘You, of all people, should be able to recognise lies when you hear them. You have told enough of them. But I have no time for you, any more. If you will both excuse me, I am going to sit in the garden. I will have to send someone to get Webb back so he can begin building the wall.’
She drifted down the stairs and past them, never flinching as her grandfather tried to snatch at the papers in her hands. She walked down the hall towards the garden doors without another word.
Before she went outside, Louisa stopped in the library. She did not honestly think her grandfather was likely to burn down the house. Arson would require effort. In all the time she’d spent with him, she had never seen him do anything for himself. But just in case he tried to destroy the will, she hid it in the family bible. He was even less likely to look in that book than he was to begin tending to his own needs.
But he might be angry enough to smash the pair of jade horses, simply because she’d said she liked them. She took them down from the mantlepiece and slipped them behind the cushions of the sofa and fluffed the pillows back into place.
She went out through the French doors and down the path to sit on the bench overlooking the standing stones. It was even more peaceful than it had been before, now that she did not have to worry about her future. She was still not quite sure what was to come next. But since her grandfather would not be a part of it, it would be happier than she’d ever expected.
After a half an hour or so, Thomas came to sit by her side. ‘The constable is watching your grandfather,’ he said. ‘I have sent to the village for Percy. If he is master here, he has many decisions to make. I told him to bring Webb.’
She was already smiling, but this made her even happier. It would probably be inappropriate to throw her arms around him without some discussion, but it was the first thing that came to mind.
‘Thank you,’ she said, at last.
It seemed inadequate, but he did not look disappointed.
‘I assume you have the money your grandfather spoke of, earlier.’
‘I do,’ she said. ‘But I will admit, the satisfaction of seeing him angry and unable to do anything about it was worth far more to me than twenty thousand pounds.’
He laughed. ‘I thought you might like that.’
‘There were bank records as well. Unsurprisingly, Grandfather also lied about our father dying with debts. With luck, we shall be able to untangle the money we were meant to have from whatever funds he began with. There will also be compounded interest and whatnot.’ She sighed. ‘Percy might not enjoy working it all out, but I am sure the end result will make him a very rich man.’
‘I did not come out here to talk about Percy,’ he replied. His smile now was not so carefree as it usually was. It was gentle and held an edge of doubt. ‘How much of my conversation with your grandfather did you hear?’
‘Very little,’ she admitted.
‘I told him who I was. I told him there was no Smith and that it was my idea to pretend to be him.’
It didn’t really matter now, but she was glad he’d told the truth, just the same.
‘It was stupid of me,’ he went on. ‘But I wanted to help you. And I thought, at the time, that if I could do so without bringing the Bonham title into it, I could prove something to myself.’
‘I thought, perhaps, you were ashamed to be seen with me.’ She had the old, familiar desire to look down at her feet but ignored it to look into his eyes.
‘Ashamed of myself, perhaps.’ He shrugged before continuing. ‘I’ve never thought Thomas Carew was good for much. I thought I might prove myself wrong with this little game we played. That I ended up making such a muddle of it only confirmed the truth. It is better for all of us if I remain Bonham.’
‘Do not be silly,’ she said and took his hand. ‘I wouldn’t have been brave enough to do half the things I did this week if it were not for Tom Smith urging me on. I could not have stood up to my grandfather the way I did. I didn’t have the nerve to be so outspoken with the Duke of Bonham. I was even wary of Thomas Carew. Then I met Tom Smith and everything changed.’
He raised her hand to his lips. ‘Smith was only a fantasy.’
‘The name was made up,’ she agreed. ‘But you were right before. The man himself was never anyone but you.’ It was terribly forward of her but she put her arms around him, just as she’d wished to, earlier. Then she kissed him. It was long and sweet. When it was through she had not fallen off the bench or done anything that rendered the moment less than perfect.
When he spoke, he was as breathless as she felt. ‘You liked Tom Smith?’
‘He said he loved me,’ she replied simply.
‘And how do you feel about the Duke of Bonham?’
