To Have and to Hold (23 page)

“What about
DeLisle
?
 
Why is he
sticking so close to Rupert if he owes money? Surely, there is a risk to him
being associated.”
 
From where Isobel
rested her head against Dominic’s broad chest, she could hear the steady,
reassuring thump of his heartbeat.

“We can only
assume that DeLisle is owed money.”
 
Dominic began to run his fingers absently through her hair.
 
“Or something.”

“Me.”
 
Isobel murmured closing her eyes against the
prospect.
 

“We understand
from Kitty that you were supposedly betrothed to DeLisle, so we can only assume
there has been a monetary transaction between the two.”

“That makes
DeLisle
angry that he hasn’t got what he is owed.”
 
Isobel frowned and closed her eyes against
the memory of Rupert’s sheer brutality.

“Rupert is
desperate.”
 
Dominic added his voice
tinged with menace.
 
“Needless to say,
both men are dangerous.”
 

Dominic slid his
fingers through her hair and tugged her head upwards until she was leaning over
him.
 

“I need you to
be strong and face your demons.
 
To do so
will bring you peace, I promise you.”
 
Dominic’s steady green eyes locked with hers silently asking for her
trust.

“It isn’t
pleasant.”
 
Isobel murmured placing a
kiss upon his lips, wondering if he would still want to lie with her when he
realised what a weakling he had married.

“Rupert has to
be brought down darling.
 
Peter has
already set about plans in London and has men working on the matter; men who
worked with us on the smuggling operation.
 
We fought with them in the War.
 
They are the best in the business.”
 
Dominic needed her to feel reassured as he knew he had unsettled her by
telling her what he had.
 
“Rupert’s days
are definitely numbered.
 
DeLisle’s too
if we can find anything to stick on him.”
  
Dominic drew her down for a lingering kiss.
  
“By telling us
everything
,” he paused to make sure she understood his
meaning.
 
“You will be giving us vital
information that will help us to plan his downfall effectively.
 
We may also be able to pass information back
to those working to help us which could speed things up a bit.”
 

Isobel nodded
knowing that if everyone else was working on bringing Rupert and DeLisle to
justice, then it was down to her to do her bit too.
  
After all, it was because of her that all of
these people were now involved.

Rising from the
bed, she began to collect her belongings and select her clothing for the
day.
 
She was aware of Dominic watching
from the bed and was somewhat relieved when he made no move to follow her.
 
“What I don’t understand,” Isobel murmured
half to herself. “Is why me?”

“Pardon?”
 
Dominic drew himself onto his elbow, so he
could see her as she moved across the room.
 

“Why
me?
 
I mean I
can’t be the only woman he knows.”
 
Isobel froze as her Uncle’s snarled words trickled slowly into focus.

“What is
it?”
 
Dominic watched her closely.
 
She had gone desperately pale.
 
“Isobel?”

Snapping out of
her revere, Isobel felt flushed with urgency.
 
“We need to get dressed.”
 
She
murmured turning towards the retiring screen in the corner.
 
“I’ll tell you what I know.”
 

Later that
morning having been fed a hearty breakfast, Isobel sat beside the fire in the
Library.
 
Dominic brought around a second
high-backed chair and came to sit beside her. Sebastian, Dominic’s elder
brother sat in the matching chair opposite, which Edward stood next to the
fireplace.
  
Peter settled back against
the chaise with a sigh.
    

He was
astonished when Dominic came downstairs earlier and declared that Isobel was
ready to tell everything.
 
After all it
was only a couple of days ago she had reacted so badly to revealing the truth
about Rupert’s beatings.
 
He didn’t
understand the reason behind her sudden change of heart but was glad of
it.
 
He was just as desperate to know the
truth as Dominic.

“We need to
start at the very beginning darling.”
 
Dominic murmured softly, handing Isobel her tea cup.
 
“I know this is going to be difficult, but if
you feel you need to shout and get angry, do so.
 
But please don’t spare us.
 
We have however, all fought on the
battlefields and have seen man at the worst.
 
There is nothing you cannot tell any of us.”
 
He smiled softly at her knowing full well how
much she was dreading this.
 
Her hand
trembled as she took a careful sip of the warm brew before settling the cup on
her lap.

Silence settled
for several moments.
 
“Tell me Isobel,
how long were you with aunt Elspeth before Rupert arrived?”

“Two and a half
weeks.”
 
Isobel murmured remembering
those hideous moments.
 
“Aunt Elspeth was
her usual vacant self.
 
Twittering on
about something over tea, when Ellison answered the door.
 
Rupert thundered in ranting and raving about
being kept waiting before helping himself to tea.”
 
Isobel’s voice was monotone as she remembered
that fateful afternoon when her life altered so dramatically.
 
She could view the scene as though from a
far
distance.
 
“He
said he had come
to remove me as you had died, and he was now my guardian.
 
I was stunned and horrified.”
 
Isobel trembled so much she couldn’t hold her
tea cup and placed it carefully on the table before her.
 
“I tried to ask him what had happened, but he
said he didn’t have the facts but the Magistrate, a man called Worthing had
informed him of your demise, making him my legal guardian.
 
I was to pack forthwith as I was
leaving.”
 
She glanced towards
Peter.
 
“When I tried to argue with him
that I should remain at Willowbrook, he began ranting that Aunt Elspeth was
unstable and should be sent to an asylum.
 
She became so distressed in the end I left with him with a promise that
he wouldn’t have her sent away.
 
She
could remain at Willowbrook.
  
He agreed
but only gave me a short time in which to pack.”
 

“Did he tell you
where you were going?”
 
Peter queried
beside her.

Isobel shook her
head.
 
“By the time I had packed a few
meagre belongings, he had summoned the coach and was leaving.
 
I was ushered out, and into the carriage
before I knew it.
 
I insisted on Kitty
coming with me.
 
At first, he wouldn’t
agree but when I said I needed a lady’s maid with me and refused to leave
without her, he agreed.”

“Can you
remember how long you were in the carriage?”
 
Peter knew Rupert had lodgings in Town that could be reached within a
day.

“We travelled
most of the night.
 
It was still dark
when we arrived at Grampton Hall.

“It was
Grampton
Hall?”
 
Peter’s voice was incredulous.
 
He
had completely forgotten about the place.

“What’s
Grampton
Hall?”
 
Dominic asked making Isobel jump.
 

“
Grampton
Hall is a small hunting lodge on the outskirts of
Northampton.
 
A small house, very remote
but easily accessible.
 
Dad inherited it
when Grandmama passed on some years ago.
 
It was handed directly to Isobel when Papa died and we hadn’t done anything
with it with Isobel being so young, then Mama dying and everything.
 
Well you know I just completely forgot about
it.
 
Especially given it is
Isobel’s.”
 
Peter replied.
 
“We used to go there a lot when we were children.
It was a sort of second home for us.
 
We
stopped going there when Mama died; Papa couldn’t bear being there.
 
It is also closer to Leicestershire and
Tavistock Hall but not too close.”
  
Isobel saw the steady look that passed between the two men and raised a
brow at her husband.

Dominic
noticed.
 
“I suggested to Peter that
Rupert could well have taken you to his house on the other side of town.
 
It would appeal to his warped sense of humour
knowing we were trying to find you.
 
He
would enjoy the fact that you were so close to us, but we couldn’t see you.”

“You were
searching for me?”
 
Isobel’s voice was
incredulous.

“Of course we
were searching for you.”
 
Dominic looked
askance that she considered they might not have bothered. “We returned as soon
as the smugglers were behind bars.
 
When
we arrived at Willowbrook Elspeth was in a state and the house staff in total
disarray.
 
By that time, you had been
gone six, nearly seven weeks.
 
The trail
had gone cold long before.
 
We had to
start from scratch in our search to find you.”
 
Dominic’s voice turned husky with emotion as he remembered those fraught
weeks.

“Did you reside
the entire time at Grampton Hall?”
 
Peter
asked knowing they had at some point moved.
  

“Yes.
 
Because we didn’t move it gave me the
opportunity to get away.”
 
She also
remarked that it gave her some small measure of comfort to be somewhere she was
familiar with.
 
She smiled at Peter.
 
“I also remembered your way of visiting the
ladies, erm Taverns, in the village.”
 
Her lips twisted as she fought the urge to tease him, glad for the brief
respite from the stark memories.

Peter scrunched
his nose up and smiled ruefully, “The rose trellis!”
 

Isobel nodded,
her smile fading slowly, “The rose trellis.”

“You climbed a
rose trellis?”
 
Dominic raised a brow and
eyed Isobel’s skirts warily.
 

“I climbed down
the rose trellis to get away.”
 
Isobel
explained Peter’s escape route and regular journeys to town.

Enlightened,
Dominic nodded.
 
“That explains your
attire.”

“What
attire?”
 
Sebastian interjected, growing
more curious by the second.

“I survived
recapture by Rupert by being dressed as a boy.”
 
Isobel explained.
 

“Disguised, and
staying on the run.”
 
Peter added
thinking of the random trail they followed up the country.

“Tell me,”
Dominic needed to get back to the matter at hand.
 
“When you first arrived at Grampton Hall,
what happened?”

Isobel paused knowing
what he was asking.
 
She waited for
several moments in an attempt to gather her thoughts.
 
“He summoned me downstairs.
 
I don’t know what I was expecting.
 
At Willowbrook, he was polite.
 
Not altogether friendly but not nasty
either.
 
As soon as we reached Grampton,
he took to the Library, and in particular the bottles it contained.
 
I was summoned downstairs to see him.
 
He had already eaten and was drunk.”
 
The stark memories didn’t sit well with her,
and Isobel needed to move.
 
Quickly she
rose and moved to stand before the fire staring down absently at the flames.