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Was? The gatekeeper had mentioned the other prisoner had been tried and punished.
Mac swallowed. “So you expect me to believe this man became your friend and paid your debts?”
His father lifted his hands as if to say, I am here, aren’t I? “He did not just pay my debts, Liam. He left me his fortune.”
“If he had a fortune, why was he…” Mac could not wrap his mind around his father’s explanation. “You mean to say that this Jimmy Poole left you enough money to pay your debts and…and you still have money?”
“Not very much, but enough to be independent,” his father said. “Your mother and I plan to find a small house nearby. We don’t wish to leave your aunt.”
“What…” He turned to his mother. “You do not wish to return with me? To come and live in Devon again?”
Mother crossed the floor and Mac noticed something about her bearing that was different. She no longer appeared content in her situation—she appeared happy with it. A weight lifted from Mac’s shoulders. He stood straighter, taller, and nodded to his mother.
Resting her hand on his wrist, she looked up into his face. “I cannot return to Devon, Liam. It holds too many difficult memories. Surely you understand that. But your father and I will be happy here. Truly.”
“Will you promise me one thing, Mother?” he asked, though he was unsure whether or not he had the right. “You will send for me if you need to? If you find yourself in trouble, I wish to be the person you turn to.”
“Of course, Liam.”
He swallowed, accepting her promise. He hoped six years in the Marshalsea was enough to cure his father of any compulsions to gamble, but there was no guarantee.
“You will stay, Son, won’t you?” Father asked, hopeful, and the look in his eyes pierced Mac’s heart.
Mac had spent so long being angry at this imperfect man. But Mac was imperfect too—his history with Mabel proved that—and he’d begged forgiveness from her. Could he not grant his father the same thing?
He tried to smile but paused. He was free. He could go to Camden Court this very moment and purchase the estate, take his prospects and lay them at Mabel’s feet, try to convince her he was worth marrying.
But his mother’s gaze was pleading, hopeful, and he could not let her down, not when his father had done that so much in their life. No, he could wait a few days.
He gave his father a nod. “I can stay for a few days.”
