Page 88 of Return to Satterthwaite Court

“I had to. It was the only way to do right by you and to keep my name out of it. My loyalties are such that were I to come forward—” She stopped herself. “But all I’ve done is confuse the matter, haven’t I?”

Abruptly, she rose from her chair.

Charles moved to stand.

She waved him back to his seat with a diamond-encrusted hand. “It’s delicate,” she said as she came around the table. “They’re my family and I do care for them. But one can’t remain silent. The injustice is simply too great.”

Pulling out a carved mahogany chair, she sank down beside him.

“At the end of my father’s life, he had little left of value except for Satterthwaite Court. He was determined that, on his death, the estate would come to Elizabeth’s son, Elias. Father spent much time with Elias when he was a boy, instructing him in all he knew of the financial world and, I fear, instilling him with a hearty sense of grievance over the events that had transpired with your mother.”

“In other words,” Charles said, “Catmull has been raised to despise the Heywood family.”

“To resent you, certainly. My father made Elias his heir. I held my tongue at the time. So long as the estate remained in the family, I could live with what my father had done. But now…Elias must raise money for his canal project. I entreated Darly to give him a loan, but my husband refuses to bestow any more money on Elizabeth or her son. Elias has been obliged to resort to other methods to raise the necessary funds.”

“And this is what’s prompted him to sell Satterthwaite Court?”

“Nothing but desperation could have compelled him to do so.”

So much for Sir Lawrence’s insistence that Catmull’s scheme was guaranteed to make a fortune. It began to sound like the venture was riskier than the investors realized.

Abigail leaned forward in her chair. “I thought, if you could purchase the estate for yourself, all could be made right without creating a scandal. It’s why I sent you to Mr. Arbogast. I knew Elias would be announcing the sale and I wanted you to be the first to know of it.” She smiled hopefully. “I expect you’ve accumulated your own fortune during your time at sea. Sailors often come back to England rich as Croesus. And if you were to buy Satterthwaite Court—”

“Your nephew refuses to sell it to me,” Charles said.

Her face fell. “You’ve made him an offer?”

“A generous one. Catmull rejected it out of hand.” Given that Charles’s last name was Heywood, he was beginning to comprehend why.

“But he can’t refuse you,” Lady Darly said. “The estate should be yours. Indeed, had things gone differently, it would be yours.”

Charles stilled. “What is it you’re implying?”

She bit her lip. “I can’t. I’ve already said too much.”

“You’ve said nothing at all.”

Her shoulders slumped. “There’s no point in it. If Elias won’t sell you the estate, there’s nothing that can be done.” She moved to rise.

Charles caught hold of her hand, gently restraining her. “My lady, if you’re in possession of information about a wrong done to my mother, I beg you would tell me the truth of it.”

The anguish of indecision was evident in Lady Darly’s eyes. “I can’t tell you. It would bring disgrace on my family.”

“Was my mother not your family, too?”

Her ladyship’s mouth wobbled. “You will blame me for having kept the secret. I shouldn’t have done. I know that now. But I was never able to stand up to my sister.”

It had been Elizabeth, then. She was the one responsible for the injustice alluded to in Abigail’s anonymous letter.

“Has she threatened you?” he asked. “Or is it her son whom you fear?”

In her letter, Abigail had claimed she wrote at risk to her own safety. Charles could believe it. Unless he was mistaken, Catmull had gone so far as to take a shot at him. A cowardly maneuver. But then, in Charles experience, a coward was often the most dangerous breed of villain.

“Elias would be furious to know I’d revealed our family’s secrets,” she said. “He can be spiteful. Cruel. I despair of him finding out.”

“Surely your husband—”

“Yes, Darly would protect me. He’d also demand to know the why of it.” Her eyes pooled with sudden tears. “When I think of the disappointment he’ll feel when he learns the truth of my weak character… It doesn’t seem right to cause him such pain. And what difference can it make now? If Elias won’t sell you the house—”