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Before bidding her goodbye, Raven placed several gold coins in Mary’s hand. “I’m sure John would want you to buy yourself something to remember him by, a gold locket perhaps?”
“Oh yes,” Mary agreed as she clutched the money tightly. “I’ll buy one, but I’ll never forget John, not for as long as I live I won’t. Here, you’ll be needing your handkerchief.”
“Keep it. Tie the coins in a corner so you don’t lose them,” Raven suggested. “I think it would be a good idea if you didn’t mention any of this to Molly. It would hurt her feelings to know John wasn’t thinking of her after all.”
“I understand. It will be our secret.” Mary placed the coins in the soggy handkerchief, then gave both Raven and Eden a kiss on the cheek before hurrying back to the Fife and Drum. As she took his arm, Eden paid her husband a sincere compliment. “I think that was the kindest thing I have ever seen anyone do.”
While Raven had been grateful Eden had not disputed his word in front of Mary, he was nevertheless surprised she would condone a lie. “John was a nice fellow. I didn’t think he’d mind my telling Mary he loved her since Molly didn’t even recall who he was.”
“Regardless of your reasons, that was a wonderfully sweet thing to do.”
When Eden gave his arm a loving squeeze, Raven covered her hand with his. No one had ever accused him of being sweet, but if he had pleased her, he considered the trip to the Fife and Drum an afternoon well spent. That he had again scraped all the skin off his knuckles was a small price to pay.
The next afternoon, Raven took Eden to meet Alex’s attorney, Alistair Nash. This time he had hired a carriage, and told the driver to make his way to Nash’s office by the most scenic route possible. That took them up King Street, where the most elegant shops were located, and around Victoria Park. After the previous afternoon’s tour of the docks, Raven was glad for the opportunity to show Eden some of Kingston’s better neighborhoods.
“The original settlement, Port Royal, was east of here, but it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692. Everything you see today dates from after that time.”
While Eden found Raven to be an entertaining tour guide, she was so worried about visiting the attorney she simply smiled and nodded rather than ask questions as she might have on a less stressful day. He had not cautioned her to be silent, but he had not encouraged her to speak freely with the attorney either. Rather than bring up the subject herself when she feared it would spoil his congenial mood, she was left to fret about it unhappily.
Raven was too perceptive a man not to notice Eden’s distress, and wanting to avoid a scene in the attorney’s office if at all possible, he encouraged her to speak. “Is it merely having to listen to the reading of Alex’s will that has upset you, or is it something else? If it’s a legal question, I’d appreciate hearing it before you consult Alistair.”
It had been after Raven had flogged Max and Samuel that Eden had decided to ask Alex’s attorney to explain the inheritance laws to her. That now seemed like years, rather than merely a few weeks, ago. With Raven’s prompting, she realized how badly he would misconstrue her intentions if she failed to explain them first. “We discussed this once before, but I still don’t really understand,” she began hesitantly.
As always, Eden’s expression looked deceptively innocent, but Raven was positive her question wouldn’t be. “Tell me what it is, and if I can’t provide you with a satisfactory answer this time either, then maybe Alistair can.”
“It’s merely a point of curiosity, Raven.”
That Eden was looking down at her tightly clenched hands rather than at him gave Raven a clear warning, and expecting the worst, he braced himself. “We’re almost there. Tell me what’s bothering you.”
Eden did look toward him then, her golden eyes lit with a compelling light rather than scorn. “I gave you my promise I’d stay married to you. You know that I mean to keep it.”
“Yes,” Raven replied impatiently, already confident that she would. “Well, if we hadn’t married, who would be the one to inherit Alex’s title? Would it be my babe, or you?”
“But we are married, Eden,” Raven reminded her firmly, now recalling their earlier conversation. “There’s absolutely no point in confusing the issue with hypothetical questions.”
“Perhaps not, but the answer’s important to me.”
“Why?”
“It just is!”
Raven exhaled slowly. “Alex had no other male kin. He named me his heir in his will and he spent nearly twenty years grooming me to take his place. The possibility he might remarry never entered his mind. Did he ever tell you he hoped you would give him a son?” Raven held his breath, knowing Eden could say whatever she pleased, but praying she would tell the truth.
“No, we never discussed having children. We were far too busy enjoying the moment to consider what the future might bring.”
“Then it ought to be obvious to you that Alex was confident that I wouldn’t disgrace the Clairbourne name.”
“Raven, please. That isn’t really the issue here. I just want to know who is legally entitled to be Alex’s heir. I’d rather not ask Mr. Nash that question because it will look as though I’m accusing you of doing something underhanded and that
’s not my intention. I just want to know which of you is the rightful heir.”
“Did your father put you up to this?”
Sorry that possibility had even occurred to him, Eden glanced away for a moment. “He questioned the speed with which we married and indeed it does look suspicious, but that’s only because I dared not explain our reasons.”
“So you allowed him to think I’d rushed you into marriage for some devious purpose of my own rather than describe how willingly you’d shared my bed?”
Eden recoiled as though he had struck her. “No! I lied to protect you, not to make you look like a scoundrel.”
