To Have and to Hold (37 page)

Isobel recounted
the night she had met
DeLisle’s
third wife at the
Marchington’s
Ball, her voice flat and monotone as someone
who was here in presence but mentally was miles away.
 
She described the devoid, emotionless
features of a woman who had given up all hope of absolution, who had been
beaten into submission.
 

“I didn’t care
what my chances of survival were, but I knew I had to take the risk.”
 
Isobel murmured.
 
“That is why no matter how hard it got living
on the streets, I bore it with everything I had within me.
 
If I was to die of cold or hunger, then it
would be a far less of an ordeal than the future Rupert had in store for
me.
 
I was colder than I ever thought
possible.
 
So hungry sometimes, that I
thought I should keel over.
 
The pains
were so bad.
 
I even stole a farmer’s
loaf of bread to eat so I could keep walking, and many apples.” Strangely she
felt no sense of relief by telling someone of her plunge into the criminal
world.
 
“At first I went to Hubert to
seek his assistance, but knew I couldn’t stay with his family.
 
There was still the question of
guardianship.
 
So having set up the
necessary arrangements to concoct my own death, I just knew I had to hide.
 
After Rupert’s piece of news about you, I
knew I couldn’t appear at your door.
 
Your wife would not have been happy in the least.
  
Kitty had told me to head to Coniston up in
the Lake District, but as I travelled the weather became colder and I knew it
was somewhere I didn’t want to go.
 
But
after several weeks of wandering aimlessly, trying to keep as inconspicuous as
possible, I knew that cold or hunger would take me.”

Isobel slowly
turned to gaze up to look at the solid form of her husband, standing so silent
and strong behind her.
 
She couldn’t tell
if he was angered or repulsed by her revelations.
 
He hadn’t moved since she had begun
talking.
 
Looking at him, her eyes met
and held his.
 
“I knew that I wouldn’t
survive the winter alone.
 
I also knew,
or thought, your door was closed to me.”
 
Isobel’s voice shook as she remembered those solitary nights she had lay
huddled in the cold.
 
Hungrier
than she had ever imagined possible.
 
Loneliness had been her constant companion.
 
“I needed to be near you.”
 

Isobel sucked in
a breath of cold night air, oblivious to the clenching of his fists beneath his
cloak as she turned and stared at the house.
 

“I would have
gladly curled upon your doorstep, and passed away there and then, just to have
my last few moments near you.”
 
She felt
acutely embarrassed by revealing the depth of her love for him, especially
given his anger with her.
 
After all she
had never revealed her emotions to anyone to such an extent before.
 
It should have been liberating, but Isobel
knew after tonight, she would most probably lose her husband after all.
 
Strangely though it was
somehow easier to reveal her thoughts to the stark warrior behind her, than to
the loving rogue she had become familiar with.

Dominic moved to
stand beside her. “I visited your grave.”
 
As silence settled between them, Dominic slowly took her small hand in
his, curling around it protectively.
 
“I
spent three years at war.
 
Saw much horror
and bloodshed, words cannot describe.
 
But nothing was like the moment I stood beside your brother, next to
your grave.
  
My world was swept out from
under me when Peter and I were told by Hubert you had died.”

“I’m
sorry.”
 
Isobel murmured.
 
“It was my fault, but in my defence it was
planned before I knew you were looking for me.
 
I did know Rupert and
DeLisle
would give chase
once they realised I had gone.
 
They
signed a document of betrothal and a contract between themselves that required
my signature.
 
Rupert also drew up a
document signing over all of my fortune to his control until I reached thirty
years.
 
Which, if I
married
DeLisle
, I would almost certainly never
reach.
 
My refusal to sign any
documents earned me another beating.
 
They wouldn’t have given up until they had my signature on those
papers.
 
So I know those papers exist,
and I know Rupert, having chased me thus far, still wants me to sign them.
 
He knows about my fortune and has known all
along.
 
Whether through
DeLisle
or by himself, he wants access to the money my
Grandmother left me.
 
If he has already
dated the unsigned document, them he can claim I signed the money over when I
was removed from
Willowbrook
.
 
Who would be able to claim otherwise?
 
We need the documented proof of his
intentions.”

Turning back
towards the house, Isobel nodded at the silent structure.
 
“Those papers are in there.
 
They would mean Rupert was claiming
guardianship, when he wasn’t legally entitled.
 
He was also planning to get hold of my private funds, and was happy to
resort to kidnap and beatings to get it.”

“It would be
enough to see him transported to the Colonies.”
 
Dominic murmured.

“I will never
forgive him for what he has done to us.
 
To the suffering he has caused everyone.
 
I can also never forget the sight of you lying upon the hall floor
covered in blood.”
 
Isobel shuddered as
the vivid picture of the black huddle of wet mass upon the pristine marble of
the main hall.
 
“One thing I cannot bear
to contemplate, is having a family with you, bearing your children, spending my
life with you only to find myself alone again and at Rupert’s mercy.
 
Given everything he has done to me
personally,
I
have to be the one who
does this.”
 
Isobel wished he could
understand.

“Then let’s do
this together.”
 
Dominic murmured giving
her hand a quick squeeze.
 
“Really?”
  
Isobel was
unable to believe her warrior would relent so easily.
 

“Really.
 
I have already stood beside your grave.
 
There is nothing that would allow me to
subject you to the same grief; children or no.”
  

“I can’t imagine
you getting through the small window next to the kitchen door.”
 
Isobel teased, needing to lighten the gloomy
atmosphere.
 

Peering through
the darkness, Dominic spied the small, partially open window offering a clear
route into the lower floor of the house before shooting her a dour look.
 

“What’s wrong
with the door?”
 
He murmured, smiling
slightly at her look of astonishment.

“Surely it is
too obvious?”
 
Isobel couldn’t believe he
meant it.
 
Surely he didn’t expect to
just waltz in without being noticed.

“Not if we are
very quiet.”
 
Dominic replied carefully
taking note of upper windows.

“What about the
watch?”
 
Isobel murmured with a quirked
brow.

“What
watch?”
 
Dominic whispered frowning at
her.
 

Isobel sighed
before pointing out the window at the end of the upper floor furthest away from
them.
 
Even at this distance one could
see the faint flickering glow of the candle light in the upper window.

“It moves across
the upper hall and then presumably down the stairs and will appear in the lower
corner over there.”
 
Isobel pointed to
the black windows of the corner room to the left of the front door.
 
“Then it circles around the house this way
until it reaches the kitchen.
 
It stays
in the kitchen for some time, before leaving going across the ground floor over
there.”
 
Slowly pointing towards the
farthest bank of windows facing the gardens, she turned to look at her husband,
catching his astonished look with a smirk.
 

“If we time it
right we might be able to get in if the watch is on the opposite side of the
house.
 
They won’t be able to hear
us.”
 

Dominic nodded,
clearly impressed with her cool logic and observance.
 
“We could have done with you in the
Army.”
 
Dominic muttered, shaking his
head ruefully as he watched the candlelight take the exact route she had
pointed out.
 
As the candle paused in the
kitchens, Dominic and Isobel settled back against the large bulk of a tree
trunk to wait the next round, quietly planning which rooms to search.

“Promise me one
thing.”
 
Dominic turned the determined
point of her chin around to face him.
 
Placing a soft kiss upon her lips, he gave himself up to her soft warmth
for several moments before releasing her with a sigh.
 
“If anyone does come back, you leave.
 
Run hard and fast, straight for home.
 
Don’t try and hide anywhere, and don’t wait
for me to catch you up.
 
I will be right
behind you, but whatever you do you must promise me that you won’t take any
chances.
 
Everybody is at
Tavistock
, waiting.
 
Your aim is to get to them and fast.
 
Do you promise?”

Concern was
clearly etched in his voice, and Isobel was left in no doubt as to the dangers
of what they were about to do.
 
Without
hesitation, she nodded her head.
 
“I
promise.
  
Home it is.”
 
Still she needed a few reassurances of her own.
 
“Promise
me
though, that you won’t play the hero and stay behind to fight.
 
Promise you will leave with me.”

Dominic looked
down at her.
 
“Darling, I will be right
behind you,
believe
me.
 
But you must not stop.
 
I can run faster than you, and no doubt am
far fitter due to the lifestyle I have led.”
 
She would probably smack him if he said because he was a man, but still
couldn’t suppress a small smile at result of encountering her wayward temper
earlier.
 
When riled she had reminded him
of a spitting kitten.
 
One would
definitely get scratched should they continue to push when warned.
 
Now, having experienced the fiery side of his
wife’s nature, she reminded him of a sensual goddess his warrior’s soul was
eager and impatient to conquer.
 
He loved
it.

Isobel looked at
him haughtily.
 
“I will out-run you, my
dear man.”
 
She murmured with a
confidence that was ruined by a cheeky smile that lit her face.
 
“Just make sure you can keep up.”
 
She pointedly ignored his guffaw.

Isobel shook her
head astounded at their strange situation.
 
Here they were sitting in the middle of some woods, in the darkest hour
of the night, staring at the home of one of the vilest men in England, teasing
each other.
 

She was about to
remark upon the fact, when the candle in the kitchen began to move through the
established route.
 
Nudging her husband
in the ribs, she nodded quietly to the house and moved away.
 

“Are you sure we
should go through the door?”
 
Isobel
still wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but found comfort in Dominic’s
confidence.
 

Nodding quietly
he pointed out the route they would take through the shrubbery, keeping to the
shadows as much as possible.
 
Without
further discourse they melted into the shadows of the hedgerow.
 

Several minutes
later, heart thumping, Isobel stood at Dominic’s back trying desperately not to
stop and think about what they were doing.
  
Her knees were already trembling and they weren’t even in the house
yet.
 
She listened to a faint squeak as
Dominic jiggled the latch, and winced at the loud click that seemed to explode
in the night like gunfire.
 
Surely
someone would hear that and come running.
 
They paused for a few moments and waited.
 
Nothing stirred.