“It is done all the time in high society, to secure inheritances, and to gain more wealth. Roderick should have realized that. The problem is, the old man chose the wrong wife for him.”
“Tell me more about this ill-fated marriage,” Emily coaxed.
“Roderick would have my hide if he knew I told you.”
“It is a sure thing he will never tell me. How will I ever learn the truth?”
“He will say I lied.”
“Will you?”
“I can only tell it from my point of view.”
“I will keep that in mind. I am about to go mad if I do not learn what has affected Roderick so much that he would do anything to marry me, and yet never allow himself to love me!”
“I don’t see how he couldn’t fall in love with you. Had I run across you first, I would have snapped you up, and to hell with a rich wife or an inheritance. In fact, if Roderick does not marry, I will have to find myself a wife to get the inheritance, and then bring forth an heir to boot!”
“Yes…the heir. I’ve a good mind to refuse to give him one unless he changes his attitude about all this.”
“No heir? This is sounding better all the time!”
“Don’t be so cocky about it. I haven’t even decided if I shall marry Roderick until I discover the truth about this past marriage of his.”
“If I knew it would keep you from marrying him, I would refuse to tell you, but consider me your friend. I am at your service.”
“Then tell me!” Emily begged.
“It wouldn’t have been so bad, had Roderick’s father chosen a better wife for the poor boy. He was fresh back from Europe and had his life before him, but his father had other plans. When he arrived, the old man presented Abigail to him and explained that she would be Roderick’s future wife. He balked, but my uncle informed him that he would disown Roderick, have me marry the girl, and give Roderick’s inheritance to me. You can imagine how angry Roderick became. He jumped on his horse and rode off, and we did not hear from him for a week.
“I guess he took that week to think over his prospects, and when he returned, he agreed to marry the girl. What choice did he have? He was a mere 19-year-old lad, and she was 18 at the time. She was against marrying Roderick, as much as he was against marrying her, but their parents were both pushing for it, and there was nothing either could do about it.
“Abigail was a lovely young thing. Any man in his right mind would be half dead not to like her just a little, if not fall madly in love with her. Roderick resigned himself to try to learn to love her, so it seemed. He was still peeved that the marriage was forced.
“Later, she confided in me. Of course, I was delighted to hear her story, because I was the last one to want to see Roderick happily married. The old envy, you know. He got everything and the girl too! How could I not help her?”
He paused as he remembered the events.
“Help her do what?” Emily prodded.
“The silly girl was in love with someone else. She determined not to fall in love with Roderick, despite his charms, not to mention his money, and she begged me to help her meet secretly with her lover. Not that it could get her out of a loveless marriage, but while men can have mistresses, a wife must remain faithful to her husband, and cannot take lovers, without out facing dire consequences.
“It seemed so simple. I would help her meet the lover, Roderick would discover it, and he would then divorce her for adultery. No more wife, no more inheritance, I would get married, and the money would revert to me. Then I would hand it all back to Roderick. We would make up. The family would live happily ever after, sharing in the wealth, and appreciating each other’s good character.”
“That is outrageous! You would have to be a demon in order to prove you were a saint. I don’t believe that was your motivation!”
“It was the rivalry! From the moment I went to live with my cousin and uncle, I needed to prove myself to my uncle, and live up to my cousin’s own abilities. I had to either be the accomplished person he was or surpass him in some way. How better to do it than to show my loyalty to him after his father threatened to disown him, and leave the money to me?”
“But you were trying to keep him from gaining his inheritance.”
“I did not want him to know that. It had to follow a natural course. Let it fall into my lap, and then be given back to him. Otherwise, I would always appear to be this envious cousin who wanted everything Roderick had. I just wanted to be his equal, and not have him think I was below him, is all. It was my uncle who started it all by offering me the inheritance if Roderick did not marry.”
“What made you think Roderick thought you were below him?”
“Oh, who knows? His superior attitude. The smug smiles he gave me when he got his way. The fact that my father had lost his inheritance and his father hadn’t. It all added up over the years.”
“So what happened, about his wife?” Emily steered him back to the story.
“Everything all went horribly wrong! I helped her meet the lover, poor James Stewart, who to my mind was a simpering young sop, who’s only assets was his huge bank account. He was lousy at everything else he did, and the crazy girl was in love with him! I had a good mind to not help her, and let her fall in love with Roderick, which would have been much better for her. Then the old envy stepped in and convinced me otherwise. How was I to know that Roderick was already falling in love with her, and wanted to make a go of the marriage?
“So I did my part, helped her meet the man, and then I did what I had planned. I let it slip that she was meeting James on the sly, expecting Roderick to put her away faster than she could snap her fingers. But not so! Roderick demanded James leave these parts, or he would challenge James to a duel, to save his wife’s honor, along with his. Everyone knew that James was a terrible shot! But James was up against the wall, and wouldn’t back down. He was a fool, but he was crazy in love with Abigail. Roderick, by the way, like everything else, was a perfect shot!”
“He killed him?” Emily gasped before Willard could finish the story. “Then the story is true about Windridge Hall, where the Lord killed his wife’s lover, and her as well!”
“It is all rumor. Only it has kept Roderick from finding a new wife, which I was rooting for until you came along. The duel took place. James got off the first shot, and hit Roderick in the arm, which actually surprised me, Roderick shot true and hit James in the heart.”
“He killed him in cold blood after James had no more bullets left?”
“That is the way duels are fought, my dear. I think Roderick let him have the first shot because he knew what a lousy shot he was! Or maybe he just wanted James to kill him. Who knows?”
“That is horrible! I cannot marry a cold-blooded murder!”
“You are not considered a murder if the death took place in a duel. It was legal and James could have just as well killed Roderick, had he been a better shot!”
“So what happened to Abigail? Roderick did not really kill her too, did he?”
“Who knows? He was devastated when he discovered he had fallen in love with her, and all the time she was going to her lover in secret! When he learned my hand in all of it, he threw me out of the manor, which I cannot blame him for. It was a despicable thing to do! When Abigail learned that James was killed, she did not come back to the house that evening, and they found her washed up on the shore, the next day. No one knows how she ended up in the ocean. Only that she was dead. I am telling you, though, I saw the pain in Roderick’s eyes when I told him about Abigail meeting James. I regretted it, the moment the words came out of my mouth, but then it was too late!”
“Oh, this changes everything!” Emily wailed.
“I just hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you insisted I tell you.”
“Roderick must never find out I know about it,” she breathed. “There must be something I can do. I can’t believe Roderick would deliberately kill a man, even if it was to save his wife’s honor.”
“I think he would do the same for you,” Willard said softly.
“Oh…I hadn’t thought of that!”
“Enough. I am through meddling. I have caused enough damage as it is. My silly plan to gain face in Roderick’s eyes will never work, and I am just destined to remain his enemy for life.”
“You could go to him and tell him the truth.”
“He would never believe me. Too much has gone between us. I shouldn’t even be here right now. One of my horses threw a shoe, and I had Tanner re-shoe him before I left. Then I saw you rushing out to the garden, and couldn’t help but satisfy my curiosity.
“I came here originally because I felt it was only right you knew the truth about Roderick’s past marriage before you consented to marry him. I thought I would goad him into telling you if he did not allow me to do it, which I knew he wouldn’t. And if you decided not to marry him, then the estate would fall to me. The truth is, I didn’t care one way or the other. All the past damage is almost impossible to repair.”
“I am glad you told me the truth. I know Roderick does not trust you, so if he knew you told me, he would accuse you of twisting the story somehow. The only way I will know the complete truth, is to discover Roderick’s side of the story.”
“That will be like pulling horses teeth! He will never tell you. I think the pain of it is too much for him.”
“But if I don’t learn the truth from him, he will never learn to love me either, and how can I love a man who would shoot someone in cold blood?”
“It was a duel!” Willard reminded her.
“He is still dead,” was all she said
CHAPTER SEVEN
Emily returned to her room, more confused than she was when she first went there. The story Willard had told her, kept replaying in her mind. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. There was a tap on her door, and Roderick put his head in. He then pushed the door open when he saw that she was standing in the room, and not resting like he thought she might be doing.
At first, Emily could not meet his gaze, not after what she had heard him tell Della, and then the story she had heard from Willard. Surely he would read her mind and know she knew something. She forced herself to meet his eyes, and then gave him a shadow of a smile.
“Were you able to rest any?” he asked in a pleasant voice.
She knew he was trying to smooth things over concerning his altercation with his cousin, and what he was forced to tell her about Abigail.
“Yes, a little,” she lied.
He stepped forward.
“You have been crying!”
He just noticed her puffy eyes.
“You have to admit that I have had quite a setback,” she told him. “You tell me of your wife dying, but nothing that led up to it. How am I to piece the story together?”
“I told you, it did not concern us. That was something that happened in my youth. It is nothing to cry about. It was a mistake all the way round, and now, Willard is trying to dredge it all up again.”
“Maybe Willard, like myself, believes a future wife should know important things about the man she is about to marry,” she offered.
“Willard just wants to cause trouble, and he had the nerve to present himself for dinner tonight. He has apologized to me and promises he will not cause any more trouble between you and me. So I hope that puts an end to it. I don’t believe him, but I am willing to give him the opportunity to prove himself, just to keep the peace between us, so he doesn’t try to do something behind my back.”
“Why can’t you heal the rift between your cousin and yourself,” Emily demanded.
“It has been a long time growing, and he is next in line to steal my inheritance if I do not marry and produce an heir. You can see that it would be impossible to come to terms with him. We will merely try to be civil to each other, I am afraid.”
“I suppose that will help.”
Emily was hoping that this would lead to Roderick learning to forgive his cousin. If things went well, maybe Willard would find a way to prove to Roderick that he no longer wanted to interfere in their marriage, the way he did in the past. Of course, she did not have any secret lovers, so what could Willard do to try and stop the marriage? Had he told her about the duel to try to sway her from marrying Roderick?
“I will look forward to having a civil conversation, as well, with your cousin,” Emily assured him.
“Just don’t be taken in by Willard’s suave manners. He can charm the wart off of a witch’s nose if he chooses to. It turns out his horse threw a shoe, and he has been here all along getting it fixed. While he was waiting, he seemed to have a change of heart and came to beg my pardon for his rude behavior. He says he supports my marriage to you and hopes we will be happy. That is quite a turnaround for someone who has wanted my fortune from the day he moved in with us, so I find it hard to trust him.”
“Are you sure that Willard did not learn his suave manners from you? It seems you have your share of them.”
Emily looked up through her lashes at him.
“Only I try not to deceive people with them,” he told her.
“I should hope not. I would be helpless in your company if it was otherwise.”
She looked straight at him, and he seemed to cringe a little.
“You can trust me, Emily. I have your best interest at heart.”
“Let us hope that is correct,” she said firmly.
“It is! Now I will leave you to change for dinner. If you like, I will send Della up to help you. I know how you feel about her, but until I can hire you a personal maid, she is the only one capable of accomplishing the task of helping you dress. Dinner will be served in about a half hour.”
He turned and left the room, and Emily released a sigh. Whatever was going to become of all this, she wondered?
A few minutes later, Della came to the door and knocked before entering. She did not wait to be asked in, but assuming her duties were wanted, she came into the room to discover Emily busily getting dressed on her own. Della helped Emily with as little conversation as was necessary, and Emily was glad that she did not have to suffer through any discussions that she knew would have been forced on her part. When she was dressed, Della left her, but before she had a chance to leave her room, Roderick came through the door.
“You look lovely,” he told her, “and not a button left undone, to my regret,” he laughed.
Any other time, Emily would have felt flattered by his intimate innuendoes, but now she only gave him a brief smile and extended her hand. Roderick took it and tucked it under his elbow. Della glared at both of them when they entered the hall and then she went on down the hall before them.
“I felt I should escort you to dinner,” he explained his presences at her door.
“Protecting me from your cousin?”
“Perhaps. I would not want him to woo you away from me. Not this far into the game.”
“Is it a game?” she asked quickly.
“Only a figure of speech, my dear. I meant nothing by it.”
“This all seems so unreal. I don’t know where reality ends and fiction begins,” she said honestly.
“Believe me, Emily, this is all a reality, and I hope that soon you will be my wife which I am escorting down to dinner.”
“You seem so sure of it, that I am persuaded to think there is no doubt in your mind. I was told once, never to underestimate what the future might put in our way,”
She looked directly up at him, and he gave a quizzical look in return.
“I hope nothing will be put in our way,” he responded and placed a kiss on her forehead before he led her into the dining room.
Willard was coming forward.
“I must apologize for my rude behavior earlier today,” he said as he extended his hand to her.
His fair hair was falling on his forehead, as he bent to kiss the hand she proffered him.
“This is such a pleasure, after all these years, it looks as though we a
re all going to be friends after all!”
He smiled deeply down into Emily’s eyes, and Roderick frowned at him but said nothing.
“I envy you already Rod, my boy. Emily is more beautiful than she was the night we first laid eyes on her.”
“You have always envied me, Willard. That is nothing new,” Roderick responded dryly.
“Well, this is double envy!”
He took Emily from Roderick’s arm and ushered her to her chair, pulling it out for her. Roderick shrugged. He knew Willard would play his charms, but he was the one who would marry Emily in the end.
When Roderick and Emily were seated, Willard cleared his throat.
“I must admit that we have never been on the best of terms for several years, dear cousin,” Willard began, as he took his seat, “but let us put all that behind us. I do not begrudge you your manor or your fortune. Your father left me enough funds to live quite comfortably, so I can only congratulate you on your future marriage,”
“Such a change of heart is hard to swallow,” Roderick responded.
“I know. I don’t expect you to believe my change of heart. However, all this quibbling over your rightful inheritance is beginning to wear on my nerves, not to mention making my chin sore,” he smiled as he rubbed his chin.
“A punishment you well-deserved,” Roderick pointed out.
“Yes, you do have a way of always putting me in my place, cousin. Perhaps that is why we have always been on edge with each other over the years.”
“Among other things…” Roderick murmured
“Enough of this banter,” Emily interrupted. “It is time you two became friends and put whatever has been causing this mistrust aside.”
“Easier said than done,” Roderick mumbled.
“Perhaps the two of you should discuss it in private sometime soon, and resolve it all,” she suggested.
“Would do little good,” Willard informed her. “Roderick will never listen to reason. Let’s at least bury the hatchet, even if we can’t resolve the cause of our indifference to each other,” he offered to Roderick.
A Bride For Windridge Hall Page 9