Days of Gold (Edilean 2)

“I know, but he had marriage papers with your name on them. He told me that he was going to a lawyer to make a case that you and he were married in England, but you’d used his name and his gold to run off with your lover to America.”

“He couldn’t have got away with it,” Edilean said.

“He also had a sworn statement from the captain of the ship you two sailed on that you traveled as Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt. You still used the name Harcourt.”

“But—” Edilean began.

“He had your uncle’s backing,” Prudence said. “I didn’t see it, but I was told that there was a letter from your uncle certifying that you were the wife of James Harcourt.”

Edilean fell back against the cushioned seat. She couldn’t comprehend such outright lies.

Angus took her hand in his and held it. “And what about you?” he asked Prudence. “What happened to you after that night you and I uh... met?”

“I went back to my father’s house, and I’m glad to say that he was happy to see me. Without me there, the few servants we had were running the place, and my father couldn’t even get a decent meal out of them. I put it all back in order and we never spoke of my husband or what happened.”

Angus looked at Harriet. “And you paid James off.”

“It was the only thing I could think to do.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Edilean asked. “I could have handled James.”

“You were so unhappy about whatever had happened that night.” Harriet cut her eyes at Angus. “I couldn’t bear to add to your misery. And you were overwhelmed with the business you were just starting. I couldn’t put more burdens onto you.”

“So you paid him off instead,” Edilean said. “How did you do it?”

Angus squeezed Edilean’s hand, but she didn’t stop looking at Harriet.

“I made a few adjustments in the accounting books. It wasn’t so difficult to do.”

“How much did you give him?” Edilean asked. “Whatever it was, it wouldn’t be enough for James, since he thought he was entitled to all of it.”

“We can talk about numbers later,” Angus said as he looked at Prudence. “What I want to know is how you got back into this and how my family became involved.”

“James killed me,” Prudence said.

Both Angus and Edilean stared at her.

Harriet’s eyes filled with tears as she held Prudence’s hand with both of hers. “It was all my fault.” She looked at Edilean. “You’re right about the money. James kept wanting more and more. I... you paid the rent on a town house in New York and you bought him clothes. You paid his liquor bills. You—”

“For how long?” Edilean asked.

“Until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Three years.”

“I don’t even want to think about how much it totaled,” Edilean said. “Is James the reason our profits were down in the third year of the business?”

“Yes,” Harriet said as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Edilean, I’m so sorry. You trusted me completely, but I betrayed that trust. I—”

“You saved her,” Angus said impatiently. “How did James—?”

He looked at Prudence and softened his voice. “How did he ‘kill’ you? And why? If you were in England, what harm did you do him?”

“When I stopped paying James,” Harriet said, “as you can imagine, he went wild with anger. We had a terrible fight and he swore that he would get me back. He said he was going to go to Edilean’s uncle and get him to help. Remember that Edilean was still under her uncle’s guardianship when she ran off with you.”

“Did he go?” Angus asked.

“Yes,” Prudence said. “I don’t know the full details of that meeting, but I think Lawler laughed at him.”

“That sounds like the man,” Angus said.