To Have and to Hold (16 page)

“No but his
henchman would.”
 
Dominic replied, his
eyes glacial as he stared into the fire.

“I can ensure
nobody gets to her during the night.
 
Indeed, the safest place for her is beside me.”
 
Dominic murmured before turning to stare at
his friend.
 
“But she is becoming more
active and less inclined to remain in bed.
 
She won’t tolerate me dogging her every footstep.”

“We can take it
in turns to keep her occupied and make sure there is a member of staff in the
vicinity should there be any problem.
 
With staff inside and out keeping watch, there is little chance of
anyone getting close to her.”
 
Peter
refilled their glasses as silence a thoughtful silence settled between them.

“Do you think we
should tell her?”

Dominic
immediately shook his head.
 
“No!”
 
He paused and took a deep breath at Peter’s
surprised look.
 
“She was in a state when
I found her Peter.”
 
Briefly, he
described her reaction when she had spied Rupert in the busy village
street.
 
“I don’t want her worrying
unnecessarily.
 
You and I both know that
Rupert will not get anywhere near her.”
 
Dominic’s voice dropped with deathly menace.
 
“There is no need to worry her unduly.”

“She won’t thank
us for keeping her in the dark.”
 
Peter
warned knowing his sister’s penchant for always being in the thick of
things.
 
“She is going to be a mite angry
when she finds out we have kept something so important from her.”

Dominic sighed,
knowing full well Peter was right.
 
“I
know but hopefully this will be done and finished with before she realises he
has been anywhere near.
 
I fully intend
to keep her well and truly occupied once Rupert has been removed from our lives
once and for all.”

Peter glanced at
his friend and knew the battle hardened stare well.
 
Nothing would get to his sister with Dominic
around.
 
He just hoped Isobel understood,
and appreciated, just how much affection Dominic had for her and Dominic was
brave enough to let her know.
  

As the clock
ticked steadily on the mantle, both men settled back in their seats and began
to plan.

Isobel awoke the
following morning alone.
 
Last night had
been the first night since her arrival at Tavistock Hall that he hadn’t joined
her in the master suite.
 
She wasn’t sure
if she preferred him there or not.
 
Certainly, there was nobody there to argue with her if she decided to
get up.

Shooting a
calculating look at the distance between the bed and the armoire along the far
wall, she guessed it was a distance she could manage by herself; she thought
ruefully considering the distance she had travelled over the past few
months.
 
Easing the sheets backwards, she
waited for the dizziness to pass before carefully seeing to her ablutions.
 
Luckily, Peter had brought a large selection
of her wardrobe with him, and these gave her ample selection to choose
from.
 

Moments later,
adorned in her favourite cornflower blue linen dress Isobel slowly closed the
bedroom door behind her.
 
A quick glance
to the right revealed a doorway leading to a set of stairs, clearly servant’s
stairs.
 
To the left was a longish
corridor leading to what Isobel could only assume was the main staircase.
 
Slowly, she took the left corridor pausing
when she reached the upper landing.
  

Her legs
trembled.
 
Her hands shook as she stood
looking down the long sweeping staircase leading down to the ornate entrance
hall.
 

“Ahem.”

Isobel jumped
with alarm as a footman appeared from behind her.
 

“Sorry
ma’am.”
 
He intoned politely with a deep
bow.
 
“Would you like me to escort you
down the stairs?”
 
He held out an elbow,
clearly waiting to assist her.
 

Isobel looked at
the long sweeping steps before turning back towards the footman.

She raised a
querying brow.

“Edwards,
Ma’am.”
 
The Footman intoned.

“Thank you,
Edwards.
 
That would be
appreciated.”
 
Isobel murmured taking the
pro-offered elbow gratefully.
 
“I hadn’t
realised how large this house was.”

“It is a rather
grand place ma’am.”
 
The young lad
intoned, carefully manoeuvring the stairs beside her.
 
Isobel was so intent on keeping her knees
from buckling beneath her and falling down the stairs, she missed the frantic
signal the man beside her gave to the upstairs maid who quickly scurried off
towards the servant’s stairs.
 

She had no
sooner got to the last few steps when Dominic appeared at the bottom.

“And where do
you think you are going?”
 
Dominic
murmured stunned at the vision before him.
 
Although thinner than she had been before, her hair had grown
significantly longer and curled tantalizingly around her delicate face.
 
Her slightly tanned skin held a slight flush
of good health.
 
Even though her dress
hung a little loosely on her, Dominic was pleased to note she had indeed put on
some of her original weight and looked far healthier than she had been.
 

One could almost
be fooled into thinking she was back to full health, if one ignored the rasping
breathing and deep cough.
 

“I have had
enough of being in bed.
 
It is time I got
up. “Isobel raised her chin defiantly before slowly descending the last few
steps to stand before Dominic.
 
“I was
going to-.”
 
She paused and looked
enquiringly at the man beside her.

“The Library, my
Lady.”
 
Edwards intoned politely not
knowing if he had overstepped the mark at the suggestion, but it was the only
room he could think of with a lit fire and he,
like the rest of the
house staff, felt sympathetic toward the young woman on his arm and were
willing to help her in her plight in any way they could.

“Yes, I was just
going to the Library.”
 
Isobel murmured
skirting around Dominic, head held high in regal condescension.

“Then that is
where you shall go to, my dear Lady.”
 
Dominic murmured and without further ado swept her off her feet.
 

“I can walk,”
Isobel grumbled as she found herself carefully placed among the plush cushions
upon the chaise lounge.

Dominic blithely
ignored that.
 
“Have you had
breakfast?”
 
Although the hour was long
past the breakfast hour, Dominic knew Cook would be happy to make anything
Isobel desired.
 
Indeed, most of his
house staff seemed to have taken it upon themselves to oversee Isobel’s
recovery themselves.

“I am not very
hungry.”
 
Isobel murmured and paused when
she sensed Dominic’s discontent.
 
“I
shall order some tea and cakes, if Cook has any later.”
 
Ignoring his towering presence, Isobel began
to arrange her skirts carefully around her knees only to find a thick rug
draped casually over her knees.
 
“Thank
you.”
 
She murmured with a nod and a
smile, feeling a tad ungrateful for his consideration.

“I shall ring
for a maid.
 
I am sure Cook can come up
with something to whet your appetite.”
 
Dominic murmured doing just that.
 
He had noted the slight trembling in Isobel’s hands as she had arranged
her skirts.
 
“How are you feeling this
morning Isobel?
 
Did you sleep
well?”
 
Dominic’s low murmur was
interrupted by the arrival of Peter.

 
“Peter!”
 
Isobel was unable to hide her delight as her brother swept across the
room towards her.
 
Immediately, she was
enveloped in a bear hug.
 
Taking a deep
breath she was assailed with the same scent that had permeated the clothes she
had taken out of his hidden drawer all of those months ago and the sudden
memory of that night flooded her.
 
Tears
sprang in to her eyes as she tightened her hold on him.

“Careful,
my dear!”
 
Peter laughed roughly, his tone husky as he
gently eased to sit beside her.
 

“I’m
sorry.”
 
Isobel sniffed, wiping tears
from her eyes.
 
“It is just your
scent.”
 
Her throat closed again, and she
fought to contain the roiling emotions as memories flooded back.

“My
scent?
 
My dear I do hope I don’t smell so much as to
bring tears to your eyes!”
 
He teased
gently with a slight frown.
 

Isobel laughed
softly.
 
“Oh, you!”
 
She swatted at his shoulder with a watery
hiccup.
 
“It is just-“She paused unsure
how to explain.
 
“It doesn’t
matter.”
 
She murmured softly with a
sigh.
      

“Of course it
matters if it upsets you so.”
 
Peter
replied aware that Dominic had moved to sit upon the chair beside them.

“The clothes I
used the night I ran from Rupert’s were yours. “
 
She began quietly.
 
“They smelt of you.”
 
She amended softly.
 
“It gave me the strength to do what I needed
to do to get away from him.”
 

Peter hated to
see the haunted look in his sister’s eyes. “Then I can only be glad that I do
smell.”
 
Peter replied with a gentle
smile.
 
“Although, your running did give
us all cause for significant worry.
 
It
did, however, save your life.”
 

Isobel nodded as
tears pooled again.

“Can you tell us
more?”
 
Dominic murmured quietly,
watching the maid deposit a tray of tea pots and pastries on the small table
beside them.

Isobel shook her
head.
 
“I shall one day.
 
But not today.”
 
Her voice trembled with suppressed emotion.

“It would help
if you could confide in us my dear.
 
We
need to know exactly what Rupert said to you through the time you were with
him.”
 
Peter replied, hating to push her
when she was so clearly unwell, but knowing if they were to seal Rupert’s fate
once and for all, they had to get as much detail as possible.
 
And that unfortunately meant Isobel had to
remember.
 
And tell them.

“Please, not
right now.”
 
Isobel replied in a stronger
voice.
 
Shaking off the melancholy
thoughts with a shrug of her shoulders, she wiped at the remaining moisture on
her cheeks.
 
“Now about that tea, is
anybody going to pour?”
 

“I shall.”
 
Dominic murmured, rising to do just
that.
 
“We do need to speak to you.
 
Peter and I have been making plans and they
involve you.”