Redemption (26 page)

She
clung to the lapels of his jacket and returned his caresses with
equal fervour.

“Lizzie,” he growled, slightly shocked but inwardly
blissfully happy.

Before
she could reply there was a discrete knock on the door. Ben sucked
in a deep breath and reluctantly released her at the same time that
Lizzie poked at her hair and put some more decorous distance
between them.

“Sugden,
this is Miss Pinner, our guest,” Ben said when the butler appeared
in the doorway. “Her aunt is upstairs in the pink room.”

Lizzie
nodded and took the seat on the chaise Ben offered her while the
butler served the tea from the tray he was carrying.

As soon
as they were alone again, Ben took a seat beside her, picked her
hand up and kissed her fingers before he settled their entwined
hands on his knee. They remained silent for several moments while
they savoured simply being together.

“You
look pensive,” Ben murmured studying the frown on her
face.

“I am
just a little worried, that’s all.”

“You can
tell me anything, you know.”

Lizzie
looked at him and smiled. “It is just that when I arrived in
Derbyshire, my aunt was wonderfully polite and welcoming. She knew
immediately who I was apparently because I resemble my mother so
much, or so she said. She was so gracious and hospitable that she
made me feel at home as soon as I stepped through the
door.”

“Is that
a problem?” Ben asked in confusion.

“No,
please don’t misunderstand me. I am extremely grateful for
everything she has done for me. It was wonderful of her to take me
in. The house was all right, just showing signs of age that’s all.
It was warm and dry, and more than I could ever have expected from
a relative who was almost a total stranger. You know, it looked as
though it belonged to an elderly woman who had lived by herself
many years, and had merely been cleaned rather than properly
maintained. The furniture was worn and incredibly old, and the
décor hadn’t been refreshed in years but that didn’t matter. It was
still a home; Patty’s home. She welcomed me into it without a
blink. It was only when I had been there for a few days that I
realised something was seriously amiss.”

“With
the house?” Ben was hooked.

“No,
with Aunt Patty,” Lizzie replied.

When she
lapsed into thoughtful silence, he allowed her to take a sip of her
tea before he settled back against the chaise and drew her into his
arms. When he couldn’t stand the silence a moment longer, he
prompted her to continue.

“Well,
she was rather difficult to live with. Not in any nasty sense, but
she was - odd.” She told him about the cake incident, and the wool
and ribbons on the washing line. “It got worse over time. She put
things in odd places, left the fire guard next to the table rather
than in front of the fire, put groceries in the coal scuttle, that
sort of thing. She was incredibly absent minded. Her only outing,
apart from shopping for food, was to the local sewing circle but
whenever she went she took her knitting.”

Ben
snorted with laughter. “Well, she is elderly. She didn’t harm you
and seems a nice old dear.”

“Oh, she
is. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had Patty to
turn to,” Lizzie hastened to assure him.

“So
what’s the problem?” He asked with a frown. “The staff are
perfectly able to cope with her peculiarities, darling, so you have
no worries there.”

“No, it
isn’t that. It is just that since our arrival in London, she has
been perfectly fine; incredibly lucid in fact. To the point that if
I hadn’t lived with her in Derbyshire, I wouldn’t believe there was
anything wrong with her.”

Ben
frowned and studied her. “Nothing? Not a slight misplacement of
anything at all? No forgetfulness?” He stared into the fire when
Lizzie continued to shake her head. “Well, that’s good, isn’t
it?”

“Yes,
but I cannot help but feel that she hasn’t been exactly honest with
me,” Lizzie protested weakly. “I still don’t know if there is
anything wrong with her or not.”

“Well,
how was she on the journey here?” Ben asked, trying to ignore the
lush feel of her soft, feminine curves nestled so tantalisingly
close.

“She was
fine. Although the house in Derbyshire caught fire because she put
the guard in front of the table rather than the fire again she
claims through absent mindedness. Absent mindedness that hasn’t
appeared at all since she left Derbyshire. I just cannot help but
feel that there is something I am missing.”

“I shall
have a word with Sugden, and ask him to make sure that someone
checks the fire in her room often. She should be all right here,
even if she forgets such things, but it won’t hurt for the staff to
keep an eye on her.” Ben placed a kiss on Lizzie’s temple and
soothed the frown off her brow with a gentle finger. “Don’t worry
so,” he whispered. “Everything will work out all right. If she is
getting better, that can only be a good thing, can’t
it?”

“Well,
yes I suppose so,” she asked, her eyes silently pleading with him
to say something to reassure her of that fact.

“A lot
has happened in a short space of time. I am sure that once she
settles in here then her true character will come out. If she
starts to show signs of eccentricity again, we can decide what to
do about it. You know, we can decide whether she needs a doctor, or
a nurse companion or something. Until then, let’s see how she
goes.”

“Thank
you,” she whispered, feeling immensely relieved at his ready
help.

Ben
kissed her briefly and leaned back to look at her when he sensed
there was more she wanted to say. He lifted his brows and
waited.

“What
happened at the jail? What did Julian tell you?”

“The
solicitor is due to go to get Julian to sign the papers.” Ben
sighed and carefully recounted everything Julian had told him,
including the part about Samson’s demise. It was then that he
realised that he had overlooked one very important source of
information: Lizzie. He studied her for a moment and knew she was
thinking over what he had just told her.

“Do you
think this Joshua Samson was in debt? Were any rumours circulating
about him?” He wondered why he hadn’t thought to ask her
before.

Lizzie
shrugged. “There were rumours going around about you and Melissa
Bradwort,” she warned him with a smile. “But I didn’t hear anything
about Joshua Samson, but then I don’t really know him. Have you not
heard anything?”

Ben
snorted and shook his head. “I have been a little pre-occupied with
looking for you.”

“Well,
you found me,” she smiled and to his immense pleasure kissed him
gently on the chin.

“Haven’t
I just,” he murmured kissing her back for several long moments.
Eventually, the chiming of the clock on the mantle warned them that
it would soon be time for luncheon, so Ben eased back and turned
his attention to more mundane matters. “What do you know about
Julian and Samson’s friendship?”

“I
didn’t realise they were friends. Not close friends in any case,”
she shrugged.

Ben
turned to look at her. “They aren’t close then?” He felt his
suspicions start to build. “Didn’t Samson come to Pendlebury House
at all?”

“Not as
far as I am aware. Of course, Julian always went out to entertain.
He wouldn’t want to do something as frivolous as spend his money on
someone else’s enjoyment by purchasing refreshments and the like.
He always went to other people’s engagements. As far as I am aware,
he may have known Samson but they certainly weren’t all that close.
Of course, you should really ask around amongst some of your
friends for more detail in that regard.”

“I
intend to. I do suspect that Julian has manipulated the bank, and
the gossips, to get his hands on his half of Pendlebury House
knowing the other half was yours, which he also tried to cheat you
out of.”

“Is
there any crime in that?”

Ben
frowned into the fire. He wanted to say that there was, but in all
conscience didn’t really want to get involved in whatever lies
Julian had told his bank to get his hands on money.

“I don’t
really give a damn to be honest with you. As long as he hasn’t
involved you in his schemes, I really don’t want to know. What does
concern me is that he signs all of the papers the solicitor puts
before him so you are free to do whatever you want with
Bristledown. You can then sell Pendlebury House without fear of
reprisals from either Julian, or his seemingly sordid connections,
or indeed the bank.”

“I
know,” she agreed with a sigh. “It would be wonderful to be able to
put all of this behind me so I can move on with my
life.”

The
wistfulness in her voice made him turn to look at her. When she
continued to gaze into the fire, he turned her to face
him.

“Move
on?”

“Leave
Julian and his problems behind,” she corrected, feeling the tension
in him suddenly wane.

“It is
nearly over. Julian told me that this Trent person moved his sister
in to Pendlebury House most probably to ensure that Julian paid the
debt he owed, but I cannot help but feel that I have missed
something.”

“That’s
where the clothes came from? Trent’s sister?”

Ben
nodded. “It looks like it.”

“What
debt?”

“I am
not sure,” Ben sighed. “Julian claims that Trent set him up and is
trying to get him to repay money he doesn’t owe.”

“You
think he is lying.”

“I think
that we need to speak to Trent and get some information, and proof,
off him that these debts actually do exist before we believe
anything that Julian has to tell us. After all, he has a history of
being a pathological liar. If he lies to a bank he will have no
qualms about lying to us.”

“You
need to be careful, Ben. One man has already turned up dead.” The
thought of anything happening to him made her feel slightly
panic-stricken.

Touched
at the sincerity on her face, Ben kissed her. “You sound worried
about me,” he murmured gently when he released her. “Am I to take
it that you have some affection toward me?”

She
could see no reason to lie to him and nodded jerkily. “Of course I
do,” she assured him. “How could I not? You have been the exact
opposite of any man I have ever met. You have been kind, generous,
protective, gentle, and gone to such lengths to help me that I
don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

“I don’t
want your gratitude,” Ben growled.

“Well
you have it anyway,” she remarked pertly. “That, and my love,” she
added somewhat shyly.

Ben
froze and turned to look at her, his eyes shining with delight.
“Say that again.”

Lizzie
felt her stomach dip at the look in his eye and struggled to
contain her nerves as she looked him squarely in the
eye.

“I love
you, Benjamin McArthur.”

“Excellent,” Ben grinned. He was reeling and took a moment to
savour the wonderful declaration. “Thank Heaven for that,” he
growled.

“For
what?” she murmured, resting her head on his chest while she gazed
into the fire and waited for her heartbeat to settle.

“I love
you too,” he whispered tipping her chin up to seal the declaration
with a very thorough kiss.

Lizzie’s
mind went blank. This was the last thing she had expected to hear
from him, and was as thrilled as she was slightly worried by it.
Still, she struggled to think about anything other than how
masterful his kisses were, and how little she wanted to ever be
parted from him.

“Together, Lizzie,” Ben promised when he finally lifted his
head. “We will deal with everything together and then
we
can move on with our
lives – together.”

“It’s a
promise,” she whispered, too choked to say anything else. She had
no idea what she had done in life to ever deserve such a wonderful
man like Ben, but she wasn’t going to question his presence in her
life. All she could do was bless each and every day she had with
him, and look forward to whatever the future had in store for
them.

Ben
eased away from her slightly when his body began to respond to her
closeness, and the passion shimmered between them with predictable
ferocity he struggled to contain. Determined to allow matters to
progress at a more sedate pace, he knew it would be foolish to push
for more while there were so many problems surrounding them. With
that in mind he turned his attention to one of the problems they
needed to be rid of before they could settle down to a happy
future: Julian Pendlebury.

“First
things first, let’s deal with Julian and get him on his way. He has
said that once he is free he intends to vanish from London and stay
away for several years.”

“Where
is he going?” Lizzie asked, not sorry to see the back of
him.

“I don’t
think he knows. I suspect he may leave the country. I have told him
not to consider Bristledown a sanctuary. He could go
anywhere.”