Val nodded agreement. “I might. Ellen would frown on that. It gets worse.”
Darius passed the bottle back to Val. “What could be worse than stealing from your cousin’s widow, forcing her to grub in the dirt for necessities and live out here like a social leper?”
“The rents should consist of the amounts due from the six tenant farms,” Val said. “But for the past five years, there have been seven individual deposits from seven different sources. Freddy has been charging Ellen rent on her own damned land.”
“You going to kill him?” Nick asked. “I know all manner of ways to end a life, Valentine.”
“Nick…” Darius chided, “don’t put ideas in Val’s head he’ll come to regret.”
“I am not going to kill him,” Val said taking another hefty swig. “I might, though, make him wish he were dead.”
Nick accepted the bottle from Val. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’m going to invite him here as my very first guest, to show him what a gift he passed to me when he lost that hand of cards. I’m going to keep my friends close and my enemies closer.”
“Never should have let you spend that time in Italy.” Nick shook his head and passed Darius the whiskey. “Citing Machiavelli, plotting dark deeds when a simple cudgel to the back of the idiot’s head would do the job.”
Val smiled thinly. “It may come to that. For now, I want to refine my plans, post a note to His Grace, finish my house, and wash the filth of this day from my person.”
“We know.” Darius waggled the bottle resignedly. “Don’t wait up for you.”
“Did you lock the door?” Ellen murmured, cuddling closer to the man who’d just joined her in her bed. She’d left only the sheet over her body, and in the evening breeze, she’d taken a slight chill. Val gave off heat like a toasted brick, and reassurance and warmth that had nothing to do with the physical.
“I did.” He kissed her cheek. “Rest. We’ll talk in the morning.”
“Val?”
“Beloved?”
Beloved? Oh, ye gods and little fishes, that was more than adored, desired…
“You shouldn’t say such things, but I want you to know something,” Ellen said, glad for the darkness.
“It can wait until morning.”
“I’ll lose my nerve.” Her voice broke as she wrapped an arm around his lean waist. “And you’ll hate me.”
“I’ll never hate you,” Val said, tucking her face to his shoulder. “Talk to me.”
“It’s Freddy. All the attempts to sabotage your work here. It’s him.”
“I won’t ask how you know, but I agree with you. It’s Freddy.”
“So what will you do?” Ellen let her grip on him slacken.
“Don’t run off.” Val gathered her back against him. “For now, I’m going to hold you and rest and consider options. You are not to worry about this, Ellen.”
“I do worry. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“Arson? Destruction of property, attempted murder?”
“He must have known I was from home,” Ellen said, though Freddy was absolutely capable of taking a life—of taking three lives or even four. “Freddy is an opportunist. He probably stopped by to plague you or see how your progress was coming and realized the storm had left him a way to further torment me.”
“He’s been tormenting you for a while now, hasn’t he?”
“Since the accursed day I met him.” She couldn’t keep the bitterness from her tone. “You’ll be careful?”
“With you?” Val kissed her temple. “Very. With him, even more so. Now sleep, and let me do the fretting.”
As she dropped off, Val lay beside her, staring at the ceiling and then at Ellen’s face in the moonlight pouring through the curtains. She slept, finally, lulled by his caresses and his warmth. She’d offered him something, at least, and he was encouraged by that but also wary: Why would she offer only part of the story, unless she intended to take the rest of it with her when she left?
Twelve
“What a bloody perishing mess,” Nick observed, looking up at the roof of the hay barn. “And the damned thing would be half full.”
“We have more hay,” Val said. “It’s stored elsewhere, under tarpaulins, in sheds, and so forth. The good news is it looks like we’re in for a stretch of decent weather, and the supplies are on hand. Tell the men to bring in the rest of the hay now, and we’ll shift them to the roof this afternoon. If they work quickly we’ll have the hay here and the roof on by week’s end.”
“That’s ambitious,” Darius cautioned.
“But not impossible. The first hay crop is off the fields; the foals and calves and lambs are on the ground; the vegetable plots are producing. This is the lull in midsummer, when the rest of the corn is ripening and there’s no land to be worked daily. I’ll get the word to my tenants. You manage the crews.”
“And I?” Nick arched an eyebrow. “I’m to scamper back to Kent and take your dear Ellen with me?”
“Not yet,” Val said, not sure why he was hesitating. “You and Dare know more about estate management than I, and if you can spare another few days, I’d appreciate it.”
“I can stay.” Nick went back to studying the roof. “As you say, the land is quiet this time of year, and it’s easy to travel. Besides, I like seeing what you’re up to.”
Val’s smile was sardonic. “So you can report it to my family.”
“Speaking of which.” Darius pulled an envelope from his pocket. “Devlin gave this to the boys to give to you after he’d left. They were too busy yesterday, and last night…”
“Right. I told you not to wait up for me.”
Val took the missive with him back through the trees, reading while he walked. Nick was silent at his side, while Darius departed for the Bragdolls’ farmstead to start rounding up the labor needed to move the rest of the hay crop to the barn.
“What does he say?” Nick inquired as they reached the pond.
Val stopped and looked out across the water. “He says it took him two years to sleep through the night after Waterloo, and I’ve given my hand only a couple months. I am not to… despair.”
“Your hand?” Nick peered at Val’s right hand, which was holding the letter.
“This one.” Val held up his left hand.
“It appears to have all its parts.” Nick took Val’s hand in his and examined it. “Unfashionably tan, maybe a little callused, but quite functional.”
Val looked at his hand in surprise then flexed it. “It was sore. It’s been so sore I couldn’t play.”
Nick dropped his hand. “It doesn’t look sore, but not all hurts are visible.”
“No.” Val stared at his hand. “They aren’t. But this one was, quite visible, and now it’s… not.”
“Does it feel better?” Nick asked, puzzlement in his expression.
“It does,” Val said softly. “It finally does. I’ve still got twinges, and it will hurt worse by day’s end, but the mending seems to be progressing.”
“Country life agrees with a man.” Nick slung an arm around Val’s shoulders. “So does a certain aspect of nature best enjoyed on blankets by the side of streams.”
“What?” Val stopped and glared at his friend.
“St. Just and Axel both saw you on Saturday, enjoying the shade with your Ellen,” Nick said, grinning. “What a lusty little beast you are, Val. I am pleased to think I’ve set a good example for you.”
“Blazing hell.” Val dropped his eyes, a reluctant smile blooming. “I suppose I ought to be grateful they didn’t come running over the hill, bellowing for the watch.”
“Suppose you should, but really, I think there’s a lot to be said for the healing power of some friendly, uncomplicated swiving.”