Almost Heaven (Sequels 3)

Elizabeth leaned back in his arms, surprised by the unwarranted force of his declaration, and continued to tease. "You're quite certain?"

"Positive."

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" she asked in a tone of mock severity.

"I would never lie to you," Ian said gravely, but then he realized that by withholding the truth from her, he was, in effect, deceiving her, which in turn, amounted to little less than lying outright.

Elizabeth knew something was bothering him, and that as time passed, it was bothering him with increasing frequency, but she never dreamed she was even remotely the cause of his silences or preoccupation. She thought of Robert often, but not since the day of her marriage had she permitted herself to think of Mr. Wordsworth's accusations, not even for an instant. In the first place, she couldn't bear it; in the second, she no longer believed there was the slightest possibility he was right"

"I have to go to Havenhurst tomorrow," she said reluctantly when Ian finally let her go. "The masons have started on the house and bridge, and the irrigation work has begun. If I spend the night, though, I shouldn't have to go back for at least a fortnight."

"I'll miss you," he said quietly, but there was no trace of resentment in his voice, nor did he attempt to persuade her to postpone the trip. He was keeping to his bargain with the integrity that Elizabeth particularly admired in him.

"Not," she whispered, kissing the side of his mouth, ??as much as I'll miss you."

Chapter 32

Her mind on the list of provisions she was reading, Elizabeth walked slowly along the path from Havenhurst's storage buildings toward the main house. A tall hedge on her right shielded the utilitarian buildings from view of the main house where the masons were working. A footstep sounded behind her, and before she could turn or react, she was grabbed round the waist and dragged backward, a male hand clamped over her mouth, stifling her scream of frightened protest".

"Hush, Elizabeth, it's me," an achingly familiar voice said urgently. "Don't scream, all right?"

Elizabeth nodded, the hand loosened, and she whirled around into Robert's waiting arms. "Where have you been?" she demanded, laughing and crying and hugging him fiercely. "Why did you leave without telling me where you were going? I could kill you for worrying me so-"

His hands gripped her shoulders, moving her away, and there was urgency on his gaunt face. "There isn't time for explanations. Meet me in the arbor at dusk, and for God's sake don't tell anyone you've seen me."

"Not even Bentner-" "No one! I have to get out of here before one of the servants sees me. I'll be in the arbor near your favorite cherry tree at dusk."

He left her there, moving stealthily down the path, then vanishing into the arbor beside it after quickly glancing in both directions to ensure he hadn't been seen.

Elizabeth felt as if she'd imagined the whole brief encounter. The sense of unreality stayed with her as she paced across the drawing room, watching the sun set with nerve wracking slowness, while she tried to imagine why Robert would fear being seen by their loyal old butler. Obviously he was in some sort of trouble, perhaps with the authorities. If so, she would ask Ian for advice and help. Robert was her brother, and she loved him despite his faults; Ian would understand that. In time, perhaps both men would come to treat one another as relatives, for her sake. She stole out of her own house, feeling like a thief.

Robert was sitting with his back against the old cherry tree, moodily contemplating his scuffed boots when Elizabeth first saw him, and he stood up quickly. "You didn't happen to bring food, did you?"

She'd been right, she realized; he was half-starved. "Yes, but only some bread and cheese," she explained, taking it out from behind her skirts. ?"I couldn't think of a way to carry more out here without causing someone to wonder whom I was feeding in the arbor. Robert," she burst out, no longer diverted by such commonplace needs as food, "where have you been, why did you leave me like that, and what-"

"I didn't leave you," he bit out furiously. "Your husband had me kidnapped the week after our duel and tossed onto one of his ships. I was supposed to die-"

Pain and disbelief streaked through Elizabeth. "Don't say that to me," she cried, wildly shaking her head. "Don't-he wouldn't-"

Robert's jaw clamped down, and he yanked his shirt out of his waistband, jerked it up, and turned around. "This is a souvenir of one of his attempts."

A scream rose up in Elizabeth's throat, and she pressed her knuckles against her mouth, trying to stop it. Even then she felt as if she was going to vomit. "Oh, my God," she panted, looking at the vicious scan that crisscrossed almost every inch of Robert's thin back. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God."

"Don't faint," Robert said, clutching her arm to steady her. "You have to be strong. or he'll finish the deed."

Elizabeth sank to the ground and put her head against her knees, her arms clutched around her stomach. rocking helplessly to and fro. "Oh, my God." she kept saying over and over at the thought of his tom, battered flesh. "Oh, my God."

Forcing herself to take long. steadying breaths, she finally brought herself under control. All the doubts, the warnings. the hints, crystallized in her mind. focusing on the proof of Robert's battered back and an icy cold stole through her, numbing her to everything. even the pain. Ian had been her love and her lover; she had lain in the arms of a man who knew what he had done to her brother.

Leaning a hand against the tree, she stood up unsteadily. "Tell me," she said hoarsely.

"Tell you why he did this? Or tell you about the months I've spent rotting in a mine, dragging coal out of it? Or tell you about the beating I got the last time I tried to escape and come back to you?"

Elizabeth rubbed her arms; they felt cold and numb. "Tell me why," she said.

"How in hell do you expect me to explain the motives of a madman?" Robert hissed, and then with a sublime effort he got himself under control. "I've had two years to think about it, to try to understand, and when I heard he'd married you, it all came clear as glass. He tried to kill me on Marblemarle Road the week of our duel, did you know that?"

"I've hired investigators to try to find you," she said. nodding that she knew part of it, unaware that Robert had gone more pale than before. "But they thought you tried to kill him."

"That's garbage!"

"It was-conjecture," she admitted. "But why would Ian want to kill you?"