Days of Gold (Edilean 2)

Edilean grinned. “Also charged to my account. James’s name but mine under it as cosigner for his debt.”

They laughed again, and she turned back to the trunk to see what else was in it. “Oh, my,” she said when she got to the bottom. “Look at this.” She opened a large, thin, dark blue box and held it out to him. “It’s a parure.”

“A paw-roo?” he asked, saying the word with the French pronunciation she gave it. “What’s that?” He took the box from her and looked at the contents. Inside, neatly arranged on satin, was a matching set of diamond jewelry. There was a necklace with two strands, the bottom one making scallops on the edge, and three bracelets. The earrings had hanging diamonds, and a large brooch had a gem that was as big as his thumb.

“What is it?” he asked. “Other than jewelry, but is it something special?”

“James’s new wife was an earl’s daughter, wasn’t she? It’s my guess that this was her mother’s and hers before her, and I’d be willing to bet that James knew nothing about it. If he had, I think he would have pawned it. Let me see it,” she said, taking it from him, then she removed an earring and used her nails to unlatch a tiny hook. “See? They can be worn as drops or as a cluster.” She put the earring back in its place. “I would imagine that all the pieces are like that. The brooch can probably be worn as it is or as two clips or as one smaller piece, and the necklace can probably be changed from one strand to two. Jewelers are such clever people.” She handed the box back to him.

“What do I do with it? You can wear these to dinner tonight.”

She was looking in the trunk. “I’d rather shave my head than wear any of those.”

Angus carefully put the box on the floor beside her.

“You must keep them,” she said.

“Me? What would I do with them?”

She gave him a look of astonishment. “Don’t you know that wearing diamond earrings is the latest fashion for men in London? I’m sure the captain will have on his tonight.”

Angus blinked a couple of times, then smiled. “Oh, lass, you almost had me that time. These things are for a woman and you should wear them.”

Edilean sat back on the floor. “But I won’t wear them. They belong to another woman and I won’t have them on me.”

He picked up the jewel case and started to put it back into her trunk. “Then we’ll send them back to her.”

“They don’t belong to her that much!” Edilean said. “For all I know, she and James were working together. I want you to take those jewels. If you won’t take gold from me, then take those. Do what you want with them. Sell them and buy some land, some cows, pigs, whatever you want.”

“Or give them to my wife?” he asked softly.

“It’s my observation that your taste in women runs to ones who are too fat to get them around their necks,” Edilean said, giving him a false smile.

He laughed. “I don’t think—”

“Don’t you dare tell me you can’t keep them! You’ve done a lot and risked a great deal. You can’t be so proud as to make yourself end up in a new country without a penny to your name. What will you do? Sell yourself as a bound man? It would be seven years before you’re free. But then, perhaps your employer will be kind and not beat you too often, and maybe he’ll give you a pound or two when you leave his employment.”

“You have a sharp tongue on you.”

“It’s been sharpened by men who look at me and see only gold.”

Angus didn’t say anything for a moment but looked at her with soft eyes. Her hair was falling down about her face and he couldn’t resist pushing it back behind her ear. “I see gold but not what you find in a bank. This is worth more than gold.”

“Dignitas praeter aurum,” Edilean said, translating what he’d said into Latin. For a moment they looked at each other in silence, then Edilean remembered all that he’d said to her just minutes ago about keeping her distance. She broke eye contact, looked at the dress on her lap, and held it up between them. “This woman is as big as you are. How will I ever make the dresses fit me?”

Angus put his hand on hers and made her lower the dress. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll take the jewelry. It is more than generous of you to give me this.”

To hide her blushes, she leaned over so her face was inside the trunk. “You gave up a great deal more for me than just a pile of ugly old jewelry.”

“So that’s it, is it? The lot of them are out of fashion?”

“Horribly so. My grandmother—if I had one—wouldn’t wear those things.” The lightness was back between them, and she was relieved. As she pulled the last gown out of the trunk, she said, “What will you do when you get to America?”

“I haven’t had time to think about it.” He stood up, stretching, towering over her. “I guess I’d like to buy a piece of land.” He

glanced at the jewel case on the floor by his feet. “I’ve thought that I might ask my sister to come to America to be with me.”

“And Tam,” Edilean said.