To Have and to Hold (25 page)

“Not until I met
Dominic that day in the village.”
 
She
murmured glad to be able to turn the conversation away from Dominic.
 
She watched as he placed his tea cup down
upon the table before her carefully and quickly averted her gaze.
  
She just couldn’t look at it.
 
It reminded her so much of what she had not
told them.

Suddenly, she
yawned loudly.
 
“Oh please excuse
me.
 
That was so rude of me.”
 
The room began to swirl around her as
exhaustion settled around her shoulders once more.
 
“I suddenly feel so very tired.”
 
         

“You must be
exhausted.”
 
Dominic replied eyeing her
pale complexion.
 
“It is the longest you
have been up since you arrived!”
 
He
smiled at her reassuringly and stood up.

“I do feel tired
but also livelier than I have felt for a long time.
 
It feels good to be up and about.”
 
Isobel murmured as she was swept high into
his arms.
 
Bidding a quick good-bye to
the amused men watching the proceedings with interest, she turned her gaze to
the assorted paintings of family pass by as he carried her to the master
bedroom.
 

“You know you
will have to allow me to walk the stairs by myself at some time.
 
At the rate I am putting on weight, you will
be lucky if you can get me off the ground, let alone up a flight of steps.”

“Well, manners
dictate that I shouldn’t mention it but now that you have ...” Dominic shot her
a teasing smile as he nudged the door open with his foot before placing her
carefully beside the bed.
 
“I am sure I
can manage a few more pounds before I need to call a Footman to assist
me.”
 

Isobel thwacked
his arm and shot him a mock glare.
 
Dominic’s soft green gaze caressed her moistened lips.
 
Briefly, his eyes touched hers in mute appeal
as he breathed her name across her lips before gently placing a ghost of a kiss
across her lips.

 
“Dominic,” Isobel murmured softly as his hands
encircled her waist, pulling her tighter into his embrace.
   

It was all the
permission Dominic needed as he drew her even closer until there wasn’t a
breath of air between them before slowly devouring her mouth with his.
 
His hand snaked into the soft curls of her
hair holding her still as his lips plundered hers ruthlessly.
 
Teasing and tasting her; demanding her total
compliance and accepting nothing less than her absolute surrender.
 

Gasping for
breath, Isobel found her mouth suddenly released only for hot molten kisses to
be trailed down her neck.
 
Tipping her
head backwards, she shivered with delight as his tongue dipped into the hollow
at the base of her neck before trailing back upwards to nip at her ear.
  
     

“I know your
secret.”
 
He whispered softly, causing
Isobel to freeze.
 

“Pardon?”
 
She willed herself not to look guilty.
 

“You need to
trust me Isobel.”
 
Dominic murmured
staring into her eyes meaningfully before casually releasing his hold on
her.
 
It was almost painful to tear
himself away from her lush bounty but he carefully kept his face bland as he
turned to sit on the side of the bed, staring into the fire as he willed his body
to cool.
 
“Think on it.
 
If our marriage is to be a happy one, there
has to be trust.”
 
He knew she understood
and bit back a curse of frustration when she stoically remained silent.
 
Who was she protecting?

Isobel watched
as his gaze hardened, and a muscle ticked steadily in his jaw.
 
He was angry at her.
 
Very angry.
 
Defiantly she raised her chin and met his stare with a bland look of query.
 

Knowing she
wasn’t going to take him into her confidence just yet, Dominic heaved a sigh
and stood. “I need to discuss matters with Peter and my brothers and shall be a
while.
 
Sleep well.”
 
He murmured closing the
door with a firm
click behind him.
 
He wouldn’t return
that night, whatever the personal cost to his libido.
 
She needed to decide if she would trust him
implicitly or not.
 
A surge of anger
swept through him as he wondered just who she was protecting, and what hold
they had over her that she was prepared to go against the protection of her
brother and husband to protect his identity.
 
For one thing was certain.
 
Dominic was sure it was a man.

CHAPTER NINE

Isobel watched
the polished wood panelling close behind him in horrified silence.
   
Tears pooled her eyes.
 
She didn’t think he knew she had seen the
bitter regret on his face as he left the room.
 
She frowned thoughtfully as she considered the possible ramifications
revealing the identity of him would have on numerous people.
 
Could Hubert go to prison for assisting her
the way he had?
 
She wasn’t certain, and
she wasn’t sure she wanted to take that particular risk.
 
After all if he hadn’t helped her, Rupert
would have found her way before Dominic did.
 
And that would have meant the grave Dominic and Peter visited, would
really have had her remains in. Of that she was certain.

Dominic stood
outside the bedroom door, his head tipped back against the walnut panelling as
he contemplated the wall candles. His heart clenched as he listened to her
muffled sobs through the thick wood.
 
Everything
within him wanted to go back into the room, sweep her into his arms and give
her the comfort she needed.
 
Inwardly
though, he knew he wouldn’t be able to spend the night in her bed and keep his
hands to himself and at that moment he was so disappointed in her inability to
trust.
 

He could only
hope that one day she would hold some affectionate regard for him.
 
He didn’t expect her to love him as much as
he adored her, but if she could trust him and achieve some semblance of
happiness with him, then he would do everything within his power to give her
everything she could possibly want.

Frustrated
beyond words he shot a long, regretful glance towards the closed door as he
passed and with a heavy heart, slowly returned to the Library to help Peter and
his brothers empty his brandy bottle.
 
It
was going to be a very long night.

It didn’t come
as any great surprise to Isobel when she awoke the following morning to find
herself alone.
 
           
 

“Well I hope he
has a sore head,” Isobel muttered darkly as she threw back the covers.
 
Despite yesterday’s exertions she felt more
alive and practically bursting with energy than she had for some considerable
time, and it did much to leave her feeling brighter about life.
 

After all, it
wasn’t as though he had asked to be saddled with her wife. Isobel wondered if
he knew then what he knew now, if he would have indeed pretended not to
recognise her in Town on that fateful day.
 
Isobel quickly broke off her thoughts as they turned towards Rupert’s
whereabouts.
 
Although Polly had brought
her a tray with her normal bread, jams and chocolate, Isobel eschewed the
tempting delights in lieu of venturing downstairs to partake of breakfast.

Several weeks of
fending for herself had taught her well and within minutes she had seen to her
morning ablutions and brushed her curled hair until it gleamed.
 
Valiantly ignoring the quivering in her legs,
she manoeuvred her way down the hall only to pause on the large upper landing
with a frown.
 
She was contemplating just
how strong she really felt when Edwards appeared mysteriously beside her.

“Good morning,
Edwards.”
 
Isobel murmured taking the
pro-offered arm with a smile.
 

“Morning,
ma’am.”
 
Edwards
replied.
 
“Where are we headed to this
morning?”
 
Isobel was certain he had been
instructed to wait for her.
 

“I should like
to try the Library this morning Edwards please.
 
I should like to read for a while.”
 
Within minutes she found herself safely ensconced within the Library.
 
A large tray piled high with assorted
breakfast foods and a pot of chocolate lay before her temptingly.
  

         
Isobel looked carefully around the
austere room.
 
Wall to wall shelving,
ceiling high covered three walls of the large room, were crammed with
books.
 
Along the back wall was a somewhat
rickety looking set of steps reaching towards the high shelves.
 
Isobel longed to pore through the various
tomes, some obviously many, many years old.
 

“Oh my, what a
wonderful room”, Isobel was unable to keep the awe from her voice as she
stared, delighted at the highly polished walnut tables and chairs artfully
scattered about the room.

“Lady Muriel
Tavistock
, the Master’s grandmother loved books and
commissioned the furnishing of the Library herself ma’am.”
 
Manvers offered as he removed the now empty
dishes.
 

“Would ma’am like
me to bring anything else?”
 

“Ah no, thank
you Manvers.”
 
Isobel replied ruefully
eyeing the empty dishes.
 
“I do believe I
have had quite sufficient this morning.”
 
As soon as he was gone she rose and lost herself in the difficult task
of choosing her first book to read.
 
Sometime later, a small pile of books beside her, she relaxed onto the
window seat with a sigh.
  
Earlier, a
maid had quietly entered with further soft cushions and pillows, artfully
padding the seat to sheer luxury.
 
It was
there sometime later when Mrs Holcombe found her.

Silence settled
within the Library once more as Isobel took up her book with a sigh.
   
She was lost in the intricacies of a rather
intricate tale of when there was another knock on the door.
 
With a deep sigh, Isobel once again closed
her book as the door was opened cautiously by a rather rotund grey haired lady
Isobel immediately liked on the spot.
 
Rosy cheeked, her fleshy jowls wobbled as she crossed the room and
curtseyed politely before Isobel and announced herself as Mrs Hubert, the Cook

Sometime later,
as silence descended upon the Library once more Isobel decided the staff, were
all part of some sort of conspiracy to keep a watchful eye upon her.
 
Whether they had taken it upon themselves, or
had been instructed by Dominic she wasn’t sure but made a mental note to ask
him about it when he finally surfaced from his drunken stupor.
 
Leaning back against the soft cushions
propped carefully behind her, Isobel stared out across the immaculate gardens
of Tavistock Hall.
 

Sometime during
the night she had decided that she needed to tell Dominic everything.
 
She wasn’t sure what he would make of it, but
considered that he might be able to use any information her associate could
give and as he had taken it as a personal quest to bring Rupert and DeLisle to
justice, then it was down to Isobel to ensure they were as well informed as
possible to enable them to succeed. First though, she had to make sure she
wouldn’t be landing poor Hubert in jail.