To Have and to Hold (42 page)

“And you are
certain you have never entered into marriage with this man?” Hubert murmured as
he studied the document closely.

“I am absolutely
positive.
 
You see,” Isobel hesitated, but
felt that if she was to ask for Hubert’s help, the least he deserved was the
absolute truth.
 
“I love Dominic.
 
I did then, and I do now, even more.”

“Dominic?”
 
Martha murmured softly from the chaise beside
her as she raised a querying brow towards her husband.

“Lord
Tavistock
, my dear.”
 
Knowing full well his wife would remember the tall, commanding man who
had appeared at his house several weeks ago requesting information on Isobel’s
uncle.

“My husband is
Lord Tavistock.”
 
Isobel murmured
explaining about the circumstances around their marriage and the condition of
her health upon her arrival at Tavistock.
 
“Dominic Carpenter is an associate of my brother’s.
 
They fought together in the war.
 
I met him some time ago when he called upon
Peter at Willowbrook.”
  
She paused and
turned towards Martha.
 
“He and Peter had
to undertake a special errand for the Prince Regent.
 
I don’t understand much about it, neither
have seen fit to inform me of the details, however while they were away Rupert
re-appeared.”
 
She continued to recount
the events, only briefly skimming upon the beatings Rupert had given her to
save Martha’s delicate sensibilities.
 
She knew Hubert was fully aware of how bad things were.
 

Carefully, she
explained of the previous day.
 

“Well, then we
must do everything possible to thwart this Rupert, mustn’t we?”
 
Martha announced with a brusque nod of her
head.

“Indeed we must,
my dear.” Hubert added while carefully rolling the scroll up before moving to
the wall beside the fireplace.
 
Moving a
picture to one side he placed the scroll into the small hidden box before
carefully moving the picture back into place.

“I know just the
person who can help us.”
 
Hubert
announced handing Isobel a small glass of Ratafia.
 
“He is the Magistrate of the next county and
the cousin of the Lord Chief Justice in London.
 
He, as do I, take a very dim view of people in authority who are willing
to be bought in such a fashion.
 
Make no
mistake my dear, to succeed in a scheme of this nature; one most definitely had
the assistance of a person in the highest authority.”
 

“I am sorry to
draw you into this.”
 
Isobel murmured
taking a sip of the sweet liquid.
 

“Nonsense!
 
I promised I would assist you when you needed
me, and I always keep my promises.
 
Your
father was after all my best friend, as well.
 
Besides, whomever did assist Rupert in his schemes is corrupt, and needs
to be stopped.
 
If he has taken a bribe
to support such lies, then heaven only knows what other corruption he is
involved in.”
 
He glanced at her sternly
over his spectacles.
 
“Your husband, Lord
Tavistock, knows you are here I take it?”
 
Briefly he glanced at her boyish attire knowing full well the man must
be thunderously angry by now.

Knowing there
was no purpose in lying, Isobel reluctantly shook her head.
 
“No, I am afraid not.
 
You see, he believed Rupert and the validity
of the document.
 
He and Peter would have
taken over the situation and I would have been expected to meekly go along with
their decision.”
 
She watched as Hubert’s
bushy white eyebrows rose skywards.
 
“I
could see it in Dominic’s face as he read the document, that he believed it to
be true.”
 
Her voice trembled with
suppressed emotion.
 
“I cannot take the
risk that he will hand me over to DeLisle.”

“It is a very
convincing document, my dear you cannot be surprised when faced with such solid
evidence.”
 
Martha’s voice held no
condescension.

“I know, but our
relationship seemed to mean nothing in the end.
 
He knew of Rupert’s treatment of me and the document they had created to
try to obtain my money, yet he had no hesitation in doubting my honesty.”
 
She couldn’t keep the tinge of bitterness
from her voice as she stared into the glowing embers in the fireplace.
 

“Well now my
dear there is no benefit in fretting about it now, what’s done is done.
 
Hubert will begin on this in the
morning.
 
Until then, all you can do is
wait.”
 
Martha patted Isobel’s hand
consolingly.
 
“I insist you remain here
until then and if you are ready will show you to the guest room.”

“Until we can
verify otherwise, Isobel,” Hubert announced warily, eying her clothing with a
frown of concern.
 
“We have a duty to
inform your husband as to your whereabouts.
 
I can begin my investigation at first light, and will dispatch a note to
Dominic informing him.
 
If he appears to
return you to Tavistock Hall, you must understand there is little I can do to
prevent you from going with him.”

Isobel nodded
slowly.
 
“I know.
 
I can only hope your investigation is
concluded before he gets here.”
 
Inwardly
though, she wasn’t sure Dominic would bother coming after her at all.
 
He would probably be glad to get her out of
the way for a while.
 
Turning towards
Hubert she offered him a reassuring smile.
 
“Do what you feel you must.”

“You need to
trust me on this one, Isobel.”
 
Hubert
added, unsure how to stop her leaving in the night if she chose.
 
“I shall ensure Rupert and DeLisle pose no
threat to you whilst you are under my roof, but you need to remain.”
 

Isobel paused
and considered that aside for a moment before nodding her acceptance.
 
While Hubert was gaining the evidence to
prove the forgery of the marriage certificate, she would remain under his
roof.
  

Within minutes
she found herself ensconced in the guest room in a borrowed night gown.
 
The bed seemed huge and very empty without
Dominic’s masculine bulk beside her.
 
Glancing towards the large swathe of unruffled sheets, Isobel realised
she had instinctively moved to the side of the bed she usually occupied in her
marriage bed.
 
Despite the fact she knew
Dominic wouldn’t be joining her, she loathed to move across and use the
additional space for herself.
 
Heaving a
huge sigh, she blew out the candle and settled down for a long and very
restless night.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Two weeks later Isobel
watched the countryside roll by, this time comfortably sitting upon the plush,
highly padded swabs of the Sir Hubert’s carriage.
 
He, himself sat opposite staring thoughtfully
outside of the window.
 
She was glad for
Matha’s calming presence beside her.
 
Her
stomach roiled in knots as she thought about the upcoming confrontation.

A note had been
dispatched to Dominic the following morning informing him of her whereabouts,
after which she had heard nothing.
 
He
had made no attempt to visit her, or indeed communicate with her in any
way.
 
The only contact she had with
anyone from Tavistock, was a brief missive from Peter enquiring as to her
health and informing her that the end of the saga was near.
 
There had been no mention of Dominic, or the
whereabouts of Rupert or DeLisle.
 
Isobel
knew in that moment, that her marriage was over.

The arrangements
for today had been carefully planned, and all involved had gone through the
details several times to ensure they would be in the right place at the right time.
 
Isobel caught a brief glimpse of the large
number of outriders riding just a little way behind the carriage.
 
A regal procession indeed, she mused
listening to the thumping of hoof beats clearly heard over the rumbling of the
carriage wheels beneath them.

Following her
unannounced arrival at Hubert’s house, Isobel had spent considerable time with
Martha who had quickly become a very dear and trusted friend.
 
Whether it was because she was a woman and no
relation, or whether it was Martha’s unflappable demeanour Isobel wasn’t sure,
but found herself revealing far more of her ordeal at Rupert’s hands than she
had revealed even to Dominic.
 
As a
result she had been able to resolve a lot of personal trauma remaining from her
ordeal.
 

She was
indisputably a considerably stronger in person than she had ever been.
 
She had no doubt some of the strength was
borne by the cold determination and reassuring presence of Hubert.
 
His confirmation that the Vicar involved in
the scandal, had revealed all and signed a confession leading them to the many
illegal activities Rupert and DeLisle were involved in, went a long way to
reassuring her that their presence in her life was indeed, coming to an
end.
 

There was also a
comfort drawn from the knowledge that Dominic would know for certain that she
had been truthful in entering into marriage with him.
 
Whether that would mean anything now, she
wasn’t sure.
 
After all, despite her love
for him, if she was honest, she couldn’t forgive him for his lack of faith in
her.

A tight knot of
tension settled low in her belly as she saw the familiar houses of the main
street of Melton roll past.
 
It seemed a
lifetime ago she had first walked these cobbles in search of food.
 
Half starved, and facing certain death,
Isobel’s life had been tossed on its head.

Within minutes
they swept through the commanding stone pillars at the entrance of Tavistock
Hall.
 
Isobel eagerly leant sideways in
her seat to catch her first glimpse of Tavistock Hall in two weeks, and felt a
pang of longing.
 

Her heart
thumped heavily in her chest, and she fought desperately to keep her demeanour
calm and controlled.
 
With hands that
shook, she waited patiently for the carriage to be pulled to a jarring halt in
front of the sweep of stone steps leading up to the ornate front door.
 
From the depths of the carriage Isobel
watched as the front door swept open to reveal Manvers’ and two footmen, ready
and waiting for their arrival.
 
Hubert
had sent word of their arrival several days ago, a reply to which had been received
at astonishing speed.
 

She jumped
nervously when Martha placed a calming hand upon her nervously clasped
ones.
 
With a brief smile of thanks to
her new friend, Isobel slowly descended the carriage into a blaze of afternoon
sunlight.
 
Despite the brightness, the
air was cool as the early winter evening drew closer.
 
Isobel shuddered as she glanced at the
shadowed entrance to the house, wondering if he would come out to greet them,
or was awaiting them in the Library.

“My
Lady!”
 
Manvers’ usually severe demeanour softened
considerably as he saw the Lady of the house.

“Hello
Manvers
, it’s wonderful to see you again.”
 
Isobel murmured softly with a fond smile, “Is
my Lord in the study?”
 

“Yes ma’am, he
is awaiting the arrival of, of –, “clearly he didn’t want to say, “
his
wife” but that was clearly what he was thinking, “the
party ma’am.”

“It’s alright
Manvers
, go ahead and announce our arrival.
 
We’ll wait in the hall.”
 
She watched as Manvers disappeared to carry
out his new orders.
 
Silence settled about
the waiting party for the briefest of moments before Dominic himself strode
into the hall.
 

His eyes quickly
ran over the occupants of the cavernous room before landing squarely upon
Isobel.
 
A muscle ticked steadily in his
jaw and Isobel felt her heart clench.
 
Defiantly she remained silent and unmoving as her gaze met and held
his.
 
Clearly, a warm welcome from her
husband wasn’t on the cards.

“Please Sir,
forgive our intrusion.”
 
Hubert broke the
stilted silence and walked towards Dominic with his hand outstretched.