“Not for the moment thank you Maisie,” Isobel replied after Dominic’s negative shake of his head. She was so busy swinging her legs down and smoothing down her skirt, she missed the smile of delight that suffused the young maid’s face that the lady had remembered her name, or the watchful Dominic taking in the scene thoughtfully.
“I need to talk to you about something,” Isobel began hesitantly, unsure how to raise the question.
“Go ahead,” Dominic propped his booted feet on the window seat next to Isobel’s hip effectually preventing her from leaving.
Isobel eyed his feet warily. “If a magistrate broke the law but for the right reasons, could he go to prison anyway?”
Dominic frowned and considered her question for a moment. Her features remained impassive, but he was certain she was tense as she waited for his answer. The pieces of the puzzle began to fit together and it took all of Dominic’s self control to remain perfectly still.
“Depends what you mean by ‘for the right reasons’ Isobel. Breaking the law is breaking the law, whoever does it. But if there is a reasonable explanation and a good enough motive for breaking the law, then matters might be seen in a more lenient light. It depends what the magistrate has done.”
Silence settled around them. Isobel felt sure he could hear her heart thumping.
“He helped tell a lie.” Isobel looked down at her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
“He led us to believe you were dead when he knew you were alive,” Dominic added blandly unsurprised when she didn’t argue. “Did he arrange for the death papers and the church entry to be forged?”
Isobel nodded slowly, waiting for his burst of anger.
“Someone needs to meet with him,” Dominic said thoughtfully, somewhat relieved she had finally revealed the truth.
Isobel couldn’t keep the astonishment from her face. Was he not angry? She suddenly wondered just how much he knew but wasn’t telling her.
Ruefully Dominic added, “It would have helped if Rupert had met with this Magistrate Williams first.”
“The fact Hubert had the necklace when he met you suggests they didn’t meet him, surely?” Isobel reasoned. The thought of Rupert and DeLisle being so close to finding her chilled her to the bone.
“Not necessarily.” Dominic shook his head regretfully. “The magistrate might not have handed it to Rupert or DeLisle like he did us. Peter just took it from him, and put it into his pocket knowing it was yours. The magistrate didn’t ask for it back.”
He was reluctant to add that the Magistrate undoubtedly understood how devastated both men were. Anger surged at the man’s heartless duplicity. He had known Peter was Isobel’s brother, yet had said nothing. Why? He knew he could badger Isobel with the questions that gnawed at him, but also knew that if there was anything else she had yet to tell him, he had to give her time.
“Thank you,” he said, drawing her attention towards him before adding softly. “For trusting me enough to take into your confidence about what really happened.” He didn’t add ‘at last’, but the sentiment hung in the air between them.
“He helped me Dominic. The only way he knew how. He wanted me to stay with him and his family, but I couldn’t take the risk that Rupert would appear. He did assure me that he was going to make inquiries of his own into Rupert and DeLisle’s activities,” Isobel added noticing the deep smudges beneath Dominic’s eyes, but given the excesses of the previous night, could find little sympathy for him.
“I can understand why he felt the need to tell us you were dead, but he had confirmation that Peter was your brother. He discussed arranging for you to be interred in the crypt at Willowbrook for God’s sake. Why didn’t he bring himself to tell us the bloody truth?” Dominic’s temper surged as the memories of those horrifying days mired in grief refused to be held at bay.
“He probably wasn’t sure,” Isobel said hesitantly, unsure herself.
Dominic huffed. “But he told us you were dead Isobel,” his voice rose. “Dead, for God’s sake. We grieved for you. We believed you were gone. Brutally murdered.” He ran an unsteady hand through his hair in frustration at the memory of the unnecessary pain and suffering both he and Peter had experienced. “He knew Peter was your brother. He knew the lies that had been established by Rupert - the situation Rupert had put you in - so why didn’t he tell us the truth himself?”
“I told him to tell everyone who came looking for me that I was dead. I think he took me at my word and told everyone, including you. Hubert isn’t the type of man who would deliberately lie to anyone unnecessarily. Something may have made him more cautious than usual.”
“Rupert,” Dominic’s voice turned wintry.
“Hubert became my father’s best friend, Dominic, after my father saved his life. He and his wife visited us often towards my father’s latter years. Peter was away at University and never met him. As my father lay dying, Hubert promised that should either Peter or I need anything, he would give us any help needed.” Isobel rose to her feet. “When I was alone, I found myself near to his house, having taken another wrong turn somewhere, I don’t know where. I knew that I was taking a risk that he could just hand me over to Rupert, but had to take the chance he wouldn’t and would honour his promises instead. Between us, we concocted the story of my murder. A woman loosely fitting my description had been found murdered in that village, and Hubert thought it best if we used that to confirm the story that it was me. If Rupert thought I was dead he would give up his chase, and I would be free enough to wend my own way for the few weeks, until I became five and twenty.”
“When you would be old enough not to need a guardian,” Dominic added with a reluctant nod of understanding.
“When I was old enough to come into the money, and property I inherit in my own right from my Grandmother, and become old enough not to need a guardian,” Isobel corrected, thinking of Gosport House, and the large fortune left to her from her mother’s side of the family.
“All Hubert had to do was buy you time,” Dominic said, somewhat mollified but not completely forgiving of the man’s duplicity. “But surely, knowing you were alive, when Peter and I turned up, he should have felt sufficiently reassured to tell us the truth? Why maintain the lie?” It would take some time before he could bring himself to forgive, much less forget one of the darkest moments of his life.
“Because he had never met Peter. All he had was your word and Peter’s word you were who you said you were. He was doing it to protect me Dominic. Please don’t be angry with him for that,” Isobel pleaded softly. She knew that if it wasn’t for Hubert, she would have p
robably been caught by Rupert at some point.
Isobel could sense Dominic’s darkening mood. “I am tired. I think I shall retire for a lie down.” She squeaked when she was suddenly swept upward, and held tight against Dominic’s chest.