Rebel Enchantress (35 page)

“I don’t think I could live in England,” Delilah said.

“I won’t care where we live as long as you’re my wife.”

Delilah couldn’t answer. How could she be expected to do anything as commonplace as speak when the man she loved had just offered to give up everything he had for her?

“Nathan, listen to me,” Serena begged, but Nathan didn’t take his gaze off Delilah.

“Come on, Mother. Let’s go to bed.”

“I can’t leave now. He doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’ve got to make him understand.”

“He’s not listening. I don’t think he even knows we’re here.”

Chapter Nineteen

Delilah couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she dreamed something horrible was happening to Nathan. And all because Noah Hubbard had accused her of spying. She felt a few pangs of guilt over her earlier intention to spy on Nathan, but that was soon replaced by her real fear that someone at Maple Hill was gathering information for Shays. But who could it be?

She quickly discounted Jacob Pobodie and his men. They might sympathize with Shays, but they depended on Nathan for their living. Besides, they had no opportunity. If someone was spying, it had to be someone inside the house.

It couldn’t be any of the servants. Mrs. Stebbens never left the kitchen, Lester never left the dining room or pantry, and Tommy never went into the house if he could help it. Serena petrified the lad. One of them might overhear something once in a while, but none of them could be giving Shays a steady stream of information. Besides, as far as Delilah knew, no servant had received a visitor or had left Maple Hill since she’d arrived.

Obviously it wasn’t Nathan. It made no sense for him to be helping people determined to deprive him of his property.

That left Serena and Priscilla.

Serena would do anything she could to discredit Nathan, but Delilah couldn’t believe she would give information to the regulators. Daniel Shays was about the only human she disliked more than Nathan and Delilah. Besides, if the regulators won, Nathan would lose his money, and Serena feared poverty more than anything in the world.

That left Priscilla. If it hadn’t been for Priscilla’s frequent absences, Delilah would have dismissed her for the same reasons she had eliminated Serena. Where did she go, and what did she do? Delilah knew she didn’t visit Lucy Porter or Hope Prentiss, but why would Priscilla do anything to hurt herself and her family?

Delilah cursed silently. Was she imagining things? Maybe there wasn’t anyone at Maple Hill who wanted to hurt Nathan. Why should there be? After Ezra Buel, Nathan was a godsend.

And why should she credit anything Noah Hubbard said? He was a jealous, angry, hate-ridden man only too anxious to believe the worst of someone else, especially if he could gain by it.

But if Noah could be believed, the spy had been giving the regulators information on a steady basis. One of the men who’d come with Noah and Lucius could be the source but Delilah couldn’t get away from feeling the spy lived at Maple Hill.

But who?

There was no way to tell. She would have to select one person to watch. If that person proved innocent, she would have to observe the movements of a second. But where should she start?

Why not with Priscilla? At least it might be interesting to discover where she had been going.

“Someone tipped off the government militia,” Reuben told Delilah, rage burning in his eyes. They knew where the regulators were going, the route they traveled, when they were supposed to get there, and who was leading them. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was one of our own men who did it.”

“Did they try to close the court anyway?”

“They didn’t get a chance. The minute they learned the militia had government warrants for the leaders’ arrest, they scattered to their homes. But Governor Bowdoin wasn’t satisfied with running us off this time. He sent more than a hundred and sixty horsemen to comb the countryside for Adam Wheeler, Henry Gale, and Job Shattuck. Shattuck went to a friend’s house, but somebody tipped the cavalry off, and they found him. They had to cut the cartilage in his knee before they could take him. Now he’s rotting in a jail in Boston.”

“And the rest of them?”

“I don’t know where they went.” He turned on his sister. “I bet your Mr. Trent knew what was going to happen.”

“Boston is halfway across the state. Nobody here has any idea what goes on there. Certainly not Nathan. He’s too busy with his own concerns.”

“So it’s
Nathan
now?”

“We all call him Nathan when he’s not around. That’s beside the point.”

“Maybe it is the point,” Reuben insisted doggedly. “Maybe you’re so concerned about Nathan you forgot about your own family.”

“Damn you, Reuben,” Delilah cursed, tears of pain glistening in her eyes. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Nor would I stay, not with Jane needing me. If you don’t believe me, pay your confounded debt. I’ll be glad to go home.”

“I didn’t mean that,” Reuben said, the fight driven out of him by the unpalatable reminder that Delilah was working off an obligation he couldn’t pay. “It’s just my temper. And hate for Governor Bowdoin. They’re not doing anything for Shattuck. If he doesn’t die of gangrene, he’ll be crippled for life.”

“I’m sorry for Job Shattuck,” Delilah said, “but I won’t be held responsible for what happened to him. Nor will I let you hold Nathan responsible. His friends don’t trust him any more than you do. In fact, they’re certain someone at Maple Hill is spying for you. They accused me.”

“But you haven’t given us a single scrap of information.”

“Nathan even told them he made sure I didn’t have access to any details, but I doubt they believe him. In any event, they’re making their plans somewhere else now.”

“It’s just as well. If they thought you were spying, no telling what they might do.”

“They wouldn’t do anything. Nathan wouldn’t let them.” Delilah didn’t stop to think how that sounded until it was too late. Reuben frowned at her, suspicion in his eyes.

“Is that man making up to you?”

“I didn’t say it right,” Delilah said, trying to avoid answering the question. “Nathan is very protective of everyone at Maple Hill. Very lord of the manor. Maybe it’s his English background.”

But Reuben couldn’t be sidetracked so easily. “I didn’t ask you about what he learned in England. I want to know what he’s doing right now.”

“I guess you could say he’s protecting me.” Delilah said, then quickly added when Reuben started to swell with wrath, “His aunt is always trying to give me the worst jobs. If Nathan hadn’t stopped her, I’d be doing the laundry and oiling the floors in addition to cleaning the grates and helping in the kitchen and the dining room.”

“That’s too much for forty shillings. I think I’ll step inside and have a talk with Mr. Trent.”

“I’m
not
doing those things because Nathan already said it was too much. And he’s just as protective of Mrs. Stebbens and Tommy.”

If Reuben went up to see Nathan, there’d be a fight. Delilah knew her brother. And right then she knew if it came to a choice, she would protect Nathan before Reuben.

The realization shocked her profoundly. All her life she had been taught loyalty to her family before all else. She had always put them first. That was her reason for coming to Maple Hill. She had been taught to hold the needs of her community in next importance. Somewhere way down the list came duty to the government and respect for rich landlords.

Now, much to her shock, Nathan had leap-frogged all the way to the top of the list. For all she knew he had been firmly entrenched in first place for weeks now. In a way that thrilled her. Up until now, knowing Nathan loved her had been the most wonderful thing to happen to her. Now she had discovered that to be in love was even more wonderful. It was as though every weight had been removed from her soul. She still cared about the troubles of her people, but they no longer had the power to weigh her down with despair, to burden her with heartache. Love had given her a freedom such as she had never known.

She wanted to dance and sing with happiness.

But she didn’t. It was going to be difficult enough to explain things to Reuben when she moved back home. Right now it would be impossible.

“Are you sure you’re not covering for him?”

“You can go ask Mrs. Stebbens if you don’t believe me, though I wish you wouldn’t do it just now. She’s trying a recipe I taught her for steak and kidney pie. I doubt she’ll get it right if you take her mind off what she’s doing.”

“So he’s got you cooking, too,” Reuben said, firing up.

“No, he hasn’t. Mrs. Stebbens sews better than I do, and Nathan likes food cooked like it was in England, the way Granddad used to like it. I help her out and she does some of my sewing.”

“So you’re doing the sewing now, are you?”

Delilah had never realized how tiresome Reuben could be or how irritating his temper and his suspicions were.

“Serena gave me some material to make a dress. And if you say one word about my being too good to take handouts I’ll brain you, Reuben Stowbridge.” Her brother, intending to make just such a complaint, subsided at once. “Mrs. Stebbens offered to help cut it out,” Delilah continued more calmly. “It only seemed fair to help out with the cooking, especially since I’ve been preparing some of those dishes for years.”

“I still don’t like it.”

“Well, I’m satisfied, and I’m the one who has to work here, so we’ll say no more. Tell Jane I’m well and looking forward to being home at Christmas. Tell her to save the cooking until last.”

Delilah breathed a sigh of relief as she watched Reuben head back down the road. As much as she loved her brother, it was nearly impossible to keep him from flying into a rage over one thing or another. She had more sympathy for Jane than ever.

She sighed again, this time a little sadly. She hated lying to Reuben. She wasn’t looking forward to going home for Christmas because it meant she wouldn’t be with Nathan. Already she’d found herself looking for ways to remain at Maple Hill. But she knew Reuben. If he suspected the truth, he might never welcome her into his home again.

No, as much as she hated it, it would be best to go home, tell Reuben and Jane after Christmas, and give them a short time to get used to the idea before she and Nathan were married. Maybe the insurrection would be over by then. If so, it would make Reuben’s acceptance of her marriage a lot easier.

But anger over Shattuck’s ill treatment was liable to make things worse before they got better.

The news that Nathan had ridden out while she’d talked to Reuben irked Delilah. She was bursting to share the happiness of knowing she loved him. She wanted to tell him right now that she would marry him, and even though his absence thwarted her, she went about looking so much like the cat who swallowed the canary that Mrs. Stebbens taxed her more than once about keeping secrets.

“It’s not a kind thing when a body is as curious as I am,” Mrs. Stebbens protested. “And there’s no use saying there’s naught the matter with you. I can see it in the way you walk, like your feet don’t hardly touch the ground.”

“I really can’t tell you.”

“So I figured, but I’m so eaten up with curiosity I’m tempted to squeeze it out of you.”

Lester refused to exhibit curiosity, but he managed to be present whenever Delilah and Mrs. Stebbens were together.

Tommy showed no interest in anything but his dinner and getting out of as many chores as possible. It had rained heavily all afternoon, and all outside work had come to a halt.

“I must have forgotten to tell you Nathan said he would be away until late tonight,” Serena said when she and Priscilla sat down to dinner. She directed her words to Lester, but her eyes were on Delilah. “It’s a shame Mrs. Stebbens went to the trouble of cooking this pie for him. Neither Priscilla nor I will touch it.”

Delilah felt sorely tempted to dump it over Serena’s head. The irksome woman knew Delilah had taught Mrs. Stebbens to make the dish, and she had
forgotten
Nathan’s message for that very reason. But Delilah was so happy that not even Serena’s barbs could destroy her mood. Nathan loved her, and she loved him. Nothing else mattered.

Nine o’clock found Delilah in her room, reading one of the books she’d borrowed from Nathan’s library, waiting for him to come home. The rain had stopped hours earlier. The moon shone so brightly she could watch for him out her window.

Sometime after ten, she finished her book. Rather than go to sleep just yet, she decided to get another one. She didn’t bother to take a candle. Enough light poured in the windows for her to find her way and the candle Nathan kept in the library would serve to look for her book.

But when Delilah reached the library, the mesmerizing view of garden and river caused her to forget about candle and book. The moonlight turned the river to liquid silver, and trees, bare of their leaves, cast crooked limbs against that silver backdrop, looking like cracks in a smooth surface. The scene was profoundly peaceful, and Delilah delighted in knowing that for the rest of her life she could enjoy this spectacular view at any time she wanted.

With a sigh, she turned back for the candle, but just then she heard a board in one of the stairs creak. Without stopping to think why she did it, Delilah crossed the room and crouched down behind the high-backed settle against the far wall.

Seconds later she heard the door handle turn ever so slowly. Then someone entered the library with whisperlike footsteps and closed the door. Whoever it was crossed the room, and Delilah heard a key turn in a lock.

Nathan’s desk! It was the only thing in the room that was locked. Taking infinite care to avoid making even the slightest sound, Delilah leaned forward until she could see around the end of the settle. A woman’s back was to Delilah, but it was easy to identify Priscilla Noyes.

What did she want from Nathan’s desk? The light was barely strong enough for Delilah to see Priscilla take a paper from one of the small drawers, close the drawer, and lock the desk. She had known what she was looking for and where to find it. Delilah drew back in her hiding place before Priscilla could turn around, and Priscilla hurried away, closing the door behind her.