No.
Yes.
Maybe.
The doubt crept in, nagging at her mind, despite her attempts to push it away.
Miles’ voice broke through her thoughts. “I can see youare thinking it over, but just know that I would never lie to you.”
“Yet you are asking me to believe that my uncle is lying to me- a man that I have known my entire life,” she challenged.
“Is it not worth looking into?” Miles asked.
Edwina felt torn, unsure of who to believe or who to trust. She had a choice to make. Did she continue blindly trusting her uncle or did she trust a man that she only just met? A man who was already stirring inconvenient feelings in her heart.
Brockhall Manor loomed ahead of them as they approached and Edwina suddenly had a thought. What if she didn’t have to ask her uncle to see her father’s will? Then he would never know that she thought he might be lying to her.
In a determined voice, Edwina asked, “What if I snuck into my uncle’s study and read the will when he was away?”
“And what if you don’t like what it says?” Miles asked.
Despite the uncertainty that churned within her, Edwina put on a brave face. “I will deal with that when, and if, it becomes an issue,” she declared, trying to convince herself as much as Miles.
“All right, I shall help you.”
She hesitated, torn between wanting his help and wanting to prove herself capable on her own. “I never asked for your help. Besides, I couldn’t ask you to do such a thing.”
A smug smirk spread across his lips. “No, but you will need it.”
“And why is that?” she challenged.
He came to a stop on the path and turned to face her. “Have you ever broken into a study before?”
Edwina’s confidence faltered as she admitted truthfully, “No, but surely it can’t be too difficult.”
His smirk softened, as did his words. “Trust me, Edwina.”
The way he said her name, with such tenderness, she knew- in her heart- that she could trust him. “Very well,” she agreed.
Miles looked pleased by her words before he turned his attention back towards Brockhall Manor. “Let us make haste before Bennett comes looking for us.”
As Miles escorted Edwina into the dining room, he couldn’t help but notice Bennett’s disapproving glare from his seat at the long table.
Miles pulled out Edwina’s chair and took a seat beside her, bracing himself for Bennett’s inevitable interrogation.
“What, pray tell, caused you and Edwina to arrive at the same time?” Bennett asked with a hint of censure in his voice as he addressed Miles.
Miles calmly explained, “I accompanied Lady Edwina to the Warrens’ cottage after my morning ride.”
Edwina spoke up. “Lord Hilgrove graciously chopped wood for the Warrens,” she praised.
Bennett’s brow lifted in surprise. “You didn’t, did you?” His tone was incredulous as he turned to Miles.
With a slight shrug, Miles replied, “There was a need and I filled it. There is no reason to make a big ado out of it.”
“Why didn’t you send a servant?” Bennett pressed.
“For what purpose?” Miles asked. “I am more than capable of chopping some wood. And besides, it reminded me of a much simpler time when John and I would go to our hunting lodge. We attempted to live off the land but we were spectacularly bad at it.”
