Chapter 13 #4
When Henry returned to the room, he cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Hawk, er…”
“Ah, there was another matter you wished to discuss,” Hawk said.
“Yes,” Henry murmured.
Men. They seemed to have a private way of communicating without words, Skylar thought somewhat resentfully. Her husband was instantly upon his feet. “Let me see that my wife is comfortably settled over a meal, and I will return to discuss this matter with you.”
“I’m really quite all right,” Skylar said. She smiled sweetly. “It would distress me so, milord husband, to dine without you.”
“Indeed?” Hawk countered dryly. “I’m afraid it would distress me to think of your being bored and taxed by matters that are not your concern. Come, my dear.”
The words were politely spoken, but his grip upon her arm to help her rise was so determined that she nearly cried out. “You can thank Henry now for his speed and competence in wiring the money. Few men can attend to such matters with such swift discretion.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Henry.”
“My absolute pleasure,” he assured her.
“Come, my love,” Hawk urged.
The inn was directly across the road from Henry’s office. Despite her curiosity and unease regarding what matter might have Henry seeking to speak with Hawk alone, Skylar was impressed to see that the inn was a place so handsomely furnished that she could easily imagine she was back east.
Hawk deposited her at a table, ordered her meal despite her assurances that she was quite capable of doing so herself, and then left her. Quickly.
Skylar was starving by the time her dinner arrived, but unease continued to plague her. Just what might Henry be telling Hawk?
Henry was waiting for Hawk when he returned, but before Henry could explain his business, Hawk said, “While we’re at this, Henry, I want some inquiries made.”
“Regarding?”
“My wife.”
“Ah, yes, of course. I’ll see that I have a full dossier on Lady Douglas as soon as possible. If she, er, is—Lady Douglas.”
Hawk’s brow shot up. “You mean we’re not married? Aren’t you the one who assured me the lady is my wife?”
Henry nodded his head strenuously. “You’re legally married, no matter what.
Your marriage license very definitely states your name, and it is your signature and agreement upon proxy.
” He inhaled and exhaled. “Yesterday, I was visited by a very strange young man. He was a rugged fellow with an ungodly accent. He insisted upon seeing me, then demanded that I understand him completely before so much as contemplating repeating his words.” Henry paused, then added, “I very nearly threw him out of here.”
“Henry, what are you trying to say?”
Henry reached into his pocket, then offered a gold and ruby ring to Hawk.
Hawk felt a strange sensation of cold ripping into him. He knew the ring very well. It was an insignia ring. It had been in the Douglas family for centuries.
His brother had worn it. Always. It should have been buried with his remains.
“I was to give you the ring, then tell you that your complete discretion was absolutely necessary.”
“My discretion?” Hawk whispered. “My brother died an agonizing death! What is this cruel joke?”
“I was begged to ask that you use discretion—”
“It is his ring,” Hawk murmured. “I saw him buried. There was an inquest. I nearly throttled half a town, determined to know the truth.” He rolled the ring in his fingers.
It was the Douglas ring David had always worn.
He stared at Henry. “What if…if my brother might be alive…how can I not search for him with all my strength and effort—”
Henry was shaking his head. “Your brother most probably is not alive. I’d say the factors here indicate a hoax.
But if it isn’t a hoax, if any of this is true, Hawk, David was apparently set up.
And I would assume there are a few discoveries he is anxious to make on his own before he lets it be known that he is not long dead and buried.
Anyway Hawk, this strange fellow suggested to me that David—if he is alive—is well aware of your concerns and the difficulties here.
He would not have you jeopardize negotiations with your people on his behalf. But…”
“But what?” Hawk demanded. “Sweet Jesus, what, Henry?”
Henry shrugged. “This strange little man said if there is any way possible—and here is where things become stranger and stranger—the man who demanded the ring be given to you would like to meet you ‘on the night of the Moon Maiden at the Druid Stone.’”
Hawk felt as if the blood had been drained from his body. It seemed that for long moments, he could not breathe.
“This can’t be a hoax,” Hawk said.
“This means something to you?” Henry asked.
Hawk nodded. The Druid Stone stood on a cliff by Greyfriar Castle, the stronghold of their particular branch of the Douglas family.
The night of the Moon Maiden fell upon the first full moon after All Hallows’ Eve, this year, in the middle of November.
Curious timing—he would have weeks in which to carry his messages to Crazy Horse and enough time left to take a train east and board a ship for Scotland and reach his father’s ancestral homes in plenty of time for the date required.
If David was alive, he would have planned so carefully and courteously.
He didn’t dare hope. He was still coming to terms with the pain of his father’s death.
Henry cleared his throat. “You realize, if David is alive, he inherits—”
“I would gladly give anything and everything I own for my brother’s life,” Hawk said simply.
Henry smiled. “Well, nothing so dire as that would be the case. Your father’s previous will would fall back into effect, with David inheriting all Scottish lands and titles while the American properties remain yours.”
“You’re sure the wife remains mine?”
Henry nodded emphatically. “Oh, quite sure. Unless you annul the marriage. Then, if by some miracle David is alive, David would retain the title, but your young lady would take your lands. It does get rather complex. And again, Hawk, the chances of your brother actually being alive are so slim!”
“I’ll have to find out though, Henry, won’t I?”
“Think carefully,” Henry warned him. “Others from your Scottish hills and cliffs and vales may well know what words to use to trick you. If David and you both perish, there are numerous distant relatives waiting to take over not only your Scottish lands and titles—but now all your American wealth as well. This may be a malicious trick.”
“Again, I’ll most certainly have to find out, won’t I?”
“What about your business here with your mother’s people?”
“I have time,” Hawk said quietly. He stood. “Not a great deal of it, but I do have time.”
“Don’t get your hopes up, Hawk. It’s so incredibly unlikely that David could be alive. You saw him buried. I suspect some impostor means to get his hands on Douglas land through you. Don’t be tricked. You have too much business here—and a new wife.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Henry. I intend to see to my business here—and, of course, to my new wife. But I do believe that I will meet this man, impostor or no, on the night of the Moon Maiden at the Druid Stone.”
Skylar had long finished eating when Hawk returned.
To her relief, he didn’t seem to have learned any damning information about her.
He sat opposite her, appearing preoccupied, then looked at his pocket watch while he drained the shot of whiskey that he’d ordered the minute he had sat down.
“Let’s go,” he told her curtly. “I’ve a few more words for Henry. ”
Skylar didn’t realize just how late it had become until they walked back across the street to Henry’s office.
Hawk told Henry very briefly that they were heading west over the hills for an indeterminate time and that Hawk would inform him when they returned.
If Sabrina Connor should arrive before they made it back, Henry should see to her overnight accommodations at the inn and then her ride out to Mayfair.
“It will be my pleasure,” Henry assured them.
Minutes later they were out on the street again. Hawk walked quickly ahead of her. He waited impatiently at the horses, ready to boost her into her saddle.
Skylar refused to mount so quickly. “What took you so long at Henry’s?” she asked.
“Nothing that concerns you. Ah! Is that a sigh of relief I’m hearing?”
“You’re hearing nothing that concerns you,” she replied sweetly.
“But you do concern me. Henry has assured me that we are most legally bound together. It’s so curious. Did you marry for the title or the money?”
She longed to hit him. His voice was so strange, so taunting. “Neither,” she informed him. “But you’ve no desire to see anything other than what you’ve chosen, so you can take your title and your money and go to hell. Except—”
“Except?”
He never would understand. She’d married to escape. And now, no matter how hateful he was being, she owed him.
She lifted her chin. “Thank you,” she said, her tone cool, controlled, as distant and dignified as she could possibly make it.
He made a sound of impatience, apparently no longer interested in the fight. “A man is obligated to help his wife’s kin.”
“But you didn’t want a wife, much less her kin. Although you may actually find you like your sister-in-law better than your wife.”
“Skylar, I don’t dislike you.”
“You don’t even trust me alone in your house.”
“I don’t trust you—that doesn’t mean I dislike you.”
“Well, you can’t possibly like someone you don’t trust.”
He put his hands on his hips and looked straight in her eyes. “Well, you can’t possibly trust someone who doesn’t tell the truth!”
She was suddenly sorry that she had started this—so much for a simple thank-you to this man. His mood was foul. She’d leave him to it.
“I haven’t lied to you.”
“You haven’t told me anything.”
She lifted her own hands in a gesture of impatience. “There’s nothing to tell you—”
“I imagine there is.”
“Look, I was trying to say thank you—”
“The truth would be a nice thank-you.”
“I told you—”
“Tell me what you told my father that made him choose you for this marriage.”
What was he accusing her of now? “Go to hell,” she told him evenly. “I’m sorry that you don’t like anything about this.” She started walking by him. She could mount a horse by herself.
Except that he wouldn’t let her. Even as she passed him, he caught hold of her around the waist, lifting her with ease, and setting her firmly upon Nutmeg. His hands lingered upon her as he looked up at her.
“I like the nights,” he drawled.
She felt herself blushing. “What a pity, then, that we couldn’t stay home. That we’re now on a trail into Sioux country with one full-blooded Oglala, another mixed race, and ten cows! And we just won’t be able to have a half second alone.”
He started to laugh, mounting up on Tor beside her.
“Lady Douglas, surely, you’ve heard! Where there is a will, there is a way. My dear, just where do you think little Indians come from?”
“You’re impossible. You can’t begin to think that we’ll have a moment’s privacy—”
“I imagine we’ll have quite a bit of privacy, actually,” he assured her. “There is no more beautiful country than that which surrounds the Black Hills, and I’d be greatly remiss if I did not see to it that you enjoyed the absolute glory of nature all around us.”
“What an incredible man! You’re ever so good to me!” she exclaimed sarcastically.
He walked Tor around her roan, facing her. “Well, Lady Douglas, I didn’t want a wife, but I acquired one. And once something is in my possession…well, I do my best.”
“Thank the Lord. In your possession, I just know that I’ll be completely safe.”
“Thank the Lord, indeed. I can promise you safety, my love, because I’d kill any man, red or white, who tries to take what is mine.”
The intensity of his words sent a shiver of unease shooting within her. He wasn’t a man to be crossed.
Well, she didn’t intend to cross him.
“Aren’t you in a hurry to get moving?” she demanded.
He shook his head slowly, a satyr’s smile curving into his lips. “Not anymore.”
“What?” she demanded.
“Not anymore.”
“You’ve been as impatient as a prowling cat all day and now—”
He pointed to the sky. “The sun will be setting soon. We’ll have to catch up with Willow and Sloan tomorrow.”
“But—but—they’ll be waiting. They’ll be worried. They’ll be expecting us, they’ll—”
“I told Sloan that if we ran into darkness, we’d catch up with him tomorrow. They’ll wait.”
“But then—”
“We’ll take a room at the inn.”
“Tonight?”
His smile deepened. “Obviously, my dear.”
“But—”
“Imagine! All that privacy!” he drawled with relish. “Hmm. Privacy and a wife who should be damned grateful at the moment. Oh, I should really, really like this night!”