Days of Gold (Edilean 2)

“What I do know,” Prudence said, looking at Edilean, “is that your uncle told James that there was nothing he could do because he was married to me.”

“Show them,” Harriet said, looking at Prudence.

After a slight hesitation, she untied the scarf at her bodice and pulled it away. Edilean gasped at the sight of the scar on her throat. It was deep and red and seemed to encircle her entire neck.

“I had just been to the home farm that day,” Prudence said, “as we had a new calf born during the night. I was walking back and two men on horseback came thundering along the road. I stepped to the side, out of their way, but they came so close that I fell backward onto the verge. When I heard one of them dismount, I shouted at him to watch where he was going.”

Harriet held Prudence’s hand tighter.

“The man was large, bigger even than my Shamus.”

At the endearment, Angus tightened his grip on Edilean’s hand but gave no outward sign that he’d heard.

“He... He...” Prudence stopped talking and turned her head away.

“The man put a knotted garrote around her neck and proceeded to strangle her,” Harriet said. “He twisted and pulled until Pru passed out and he thought she was dead.” Harriet took a breath. “While my brother sat on his horse and watched.”

Edilean gasped. “I’m so sorry,” she said to Prudence. “This is all my fault. I was fascinated with James because he wasn’t like the others. He was the only man who didn’t pursue me. If I hadn’t—”

“I’m not going to let you blame yourself,” Harriet said. “Even as a child, my brother was horribly spoiled. Our mother used him against our father.” She waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“You recovered,” Angus said to Prudence.

“I did, but only by accident. I’d forgotten the cake the farmer’s wife had baked for my father, and she came hurrying down the road in her little pony trap, trying to catch me. I think she’s why James and his hired killer didn’t stay to make sure I was dead. They must have heard her because by the time she saw me lying by the road, they were gone.” She took a breath. “For three months afterward I could drink only liquids. Everything had to be mashed up for me, and it was nearly a year before I had full use of my voice.”

Harriet looked at Angus. “The strain of it all caused her father’s heart to give out.”

“After he died,” Prudence said, “I had to sell everything to pay off the debts. The house, the home farm, all of it was sold. It’s where my family had lived for four hundred years, but it’s gone now.”

“So you came to America to find James,” Angus said.

“No. First, I went to your uncle,” she said to Edilean.

“But why? You couldn’t have thought that he’d help you. He wasn’t a man who believed in justice.”

When Prudence didn’t answer the question, Angus asked, “How did you know of him?”

“That day,” Prudence said, shaking her head. “That day when everything changed.” She glanced at Angus with a look that almost made him smile, but Edilean was watching him intently, so he didn’t. Prudence meant the day when Angus and Edilean had foiled James in his attempt to escape to America with the gold. “I slept all that day and only woke when James came into the room. He was staggering about from the drug, but he was lucid enough to be in a rage. He had on only his underclothes.” Prudence put her hand to her mouth, as though to stifle a giggle. “The only clothes he had were what he had on; the rest of them were on the ship—and on you.”

Prudence looked at Angus’s waistcoat. “I believe that one was James’s favorite.”

“Was it?” Edilean said. “I like it the best too. But then, I always did like James’s taste.”

“He charged everything to you,” Prudence said.

“I know, I saw the bills. But I didn’t have to pay them,” she said, smiling.

“What did he do after he found out the ship had sailed?” Angus asked.

“Went insane with rage. He’d planned it all so carefully.”

“He told you about what he’d done?” Angus asked.

“Not straight out, not as though he was talking to me.” Prudence tightened her mouth so that what lips she had couldn’t be seen, and her pointed chin almost came up to touch the tip of her nose. “He raged about how he’d married something like me to get the gold of the beautiful one, but that you”—she glanced at Angus—“you stole everything. James said I was—”

“I think we can all guess what James said,” Edilean said loudly. “Did you leave him that day?”

“Yes,” Prudence said. “I took the public coach to my father’s house, and I didn’t see or hear from James again until three years later when I was being strangled—and he was sitting on a horse looking down at me and smiling.”