Rebellious Bride (35 page)

“So if I had died without remarrying and without an heir, my property in England would have reverted to Cedric,” Rolfe verified.

“What are you two getting at?” Sam asked, confused.

Evan explained. “By marrying Lil, Rolfe solidified his claim on the Morrehaven estate. No one but Lil or his heir can lay claim to it—that is, if you amended your will, which I assume you did.” Evan looked to his brother for affirmation.

“The day I married Lil I had all the pertinent documents changed.”

Sam grinned. “You did? Even though you were forced to marry her?”

“Forced marriage or not, she is my wife, and I take care of what is mine. If something happened to me, I wanted to make certain Lil would be taken care of. The papers were signed, copied, and sent to my solicitors in England.”

“Cedric would have received a copy, informing him of the change,” Evan said with a shake of his head.

“Let me get this straight,” Sam said. “You two think that Cedric is responsible for Lil’s accidents.”

“Think about it,” Rolfe suggested. “Lillian would inherit everything upon my death. Cedric would be entitled to nothing.”

“But you would still be alive,” Sam argued.

“Probably not for long,” Evan said. “Remember, Cedric had visited Little before and was familiar with the people and the area.”

“Little wasn’t the only town his hunting party visited,” Sam informed them. “He could have met all kinds of characters.”

“Damn,” Rolfe said and gave his head a rough shake.

“He suggested most of the craftsmen and workers for my house. He laughingly informed me that he could hire just about anyone for any task in and around Little.”

“Then he would have had no trouble hiring someone to murder Lil,” Sam said, his voice angry. “But I don’t understand why the accidents stopped. Why didn’t the attempts on her life continue?”

“They stopped with Cedric’s arrival in town,” Rolfe said and shot both men a furious glare. “The rotten bastard probably expected to arrive in time to attend Lillian’s funeral.”

“So once he got here he changed his mind?” Sam queried.

Evan answered. “Cedric was always sly. He probably wanted to probe a little deeper into Rolfe’s business dealings. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is revising his plan to do away with both Lil and Rolfe in an attempt to gain a portion of Rolfe’s land here in Little in addition to the estate in England.”

“I can’t believe his hand stretched across an ocean and put Lillian’s life in danger,” Rolfe said incredulously.

“What I can’t believe,” Sam added, “is that I don’t have enough substantial evidence to lock him in jail.”

“We need to find the man behind those accidents,” Evan said. “That man might give us the connection to Cedric.”

Rolfe frowned. “You know, Cedric talked of enjoying the girls here at Susie’s. He even commented on a favorite girl, Gigi.”

“Susie never had a Gigi working here,” Sam corrected.

“I didn’t think so,” Rolfe said. “I think Cedric prevented himself from saying Bibi, but I caught the slip he made. I didn’t give it much thought at the time. Perhaps if we spoke to Bibi we might learn something.”

Sam’s eyes widened as though he had seen a ghost. “Holly!”

Rolfe and Evan turned to see Holly standing outside the doors of the saloon signaling them with a wave. All three men hurried outside.

“What are you doing here?” Sam snapped. “You were supposed to stay with Lil until Rolfe got back.”

“I had to come to town on a short errand,” she explained. “I’m heading back there now. I left Billy to keep her company.”

“Was Cedric there when you left?” Rolfe asked anxiously.

Holly shook her head. “No. Billy was the only one with Lil. Everything was quiet. I’ll get right back there.”

“That isn’t necessary,” Rolfe said. “Evan and I are returning home now. We have something to discuss with Cedric.”

“Are you two going to take care of this yourselves?” Sam asked.

“I feel that western justice would be most appropriate in dealing with this matter,” Rolfe said and added, “Any objections?”

Sam smiled. “None at all. But I’ll still talk to Bibi.”

Holly’s mouth dropped open for a second, and then she yelled, “Billy!”

The young boy stopped in his tracks across the street, looked over at Holly, waved, and ran toward the startled group.

“I told you to stay with Lil,” Holly said as the boy came to an abrupt halt in front of her.

Billy shrugged. “I couldn’t. She left.”

Rolfe felt his blood run cold. “Left for where?”

“Doc sent an urgent message for her to meet him at the Barton place.”

Sam grabbed Rolfe’s arm. “That’s impossible. Doc was called out to the Darrein place early this morning. He’s not expected back until late tonight.”

Rolfe looked at Billy. “Did any of the cowhands go with Lil?”

Billy shook his head. “Nope. She went on her own.”

The cool air whipped around Lil, sending a shiver through her as she drove the buckboard along a narrow road that was partially overgrown by wild foliage. A distant rumble caused Lil to cast an anxious glance upward. Gray clouds darted like scurrying birds in quick flight across the darkening sky.

If luck stayed with her she would make it to the Bartons’ place before the storm hit. She estimated it would take her thirty more minutes. Darkness was creeping up behind her, but if she kept her sure and steady pace, she was confident she could outrun the rain, if only by seconds.

She hoped Dave Barton was faring well. She had hastily packed the wagon with all the items she assumed would be needed. Doc’s message had urged her to move with haste, but he hadn’t gone into detail about the accident Dave had suffered, except to say that her skill with a needle was required without delay. The injury had to be severe for Doc to have requested her help. During her last visit to him he had insisted that she take it easy, especially after that scare with the false labor pains several weeks ago.

“Move with haste. Your help is required without delay.”

The words flitted through her mind. Doc normally told her to move her butt or to hightail it when he wanted her someplace fast. Had she reacted too hastily to his summons? Considering the information Billy had given to her, should she have been more cautious?

The wagon moved along, the heavy wheels mowing down the overgrown weeds and lumbering over rocks. The thunder continued to follow at a discreet distance.

“Damn!” Lil said. She couldn’t shake the sudden feeling of foreboding that washed over her. She had been so intent on rushing off to help a wounded man that she hadn’t given the situation enough thought. Billy had spoken at length and in his usual direct manner about how Rolfe and Sam were concerned about her safety and the attempts on her life. And how with help from Holly and Jonathan they were keeping an eye on her at all times. What confused Rolfe and Sam was that the accidents had stopped upon Evan’s arrival.

Lil shook her head, dismissing Billy’s suggestion that Evan was after his brother’s fortune. That was completely out of the question. One would have had to be blind not to see how close Rolfe and Evan were. She had even voiced her opinion that the mishaps were nothing more than just plain accidents. Billy had cleared that up when he told her about the log purposely jammed in front of the shed door and how the fire had been started intentionally.

Then a stranger had knocked on the door and in an excited and breathless voice informed Lil that Doc needed her immediately. His message, she now realized, had been delivered as if he had memorized it.

One of the two horses grew skittish, and Lil concentrated on keeping control of the team. She slowed the wagon down, her mind a turmoil of mixed emotions. Not for the briefest second had she suspected that Rolfe was responsible for her accidents, though many would point a finger his way. A forced wedding to a woman he most certainly never considered a good marriage prospect would put him at the top of the list of suspects. But Lil knew better.

Rolfe cared for her more than he would admit, as she did for him, and when she returned home she intended to see that they expressed their undeclared feelings once and for all.

Either he loved her or he didn’t, and she planned to make damn sure she found out. Enough was enough!

She spotted a clearing, though small, a few feet ahead. She could manage—she was sure—to turn the wagon around and head home, into the storm and into her husband’s waiting arms.

Lil guided the horses to a stop in the area, which looked to have been cleared for a campsite. She tossed her long braid over her shoulder, tucked her shawl more tightly around her, and prepared to turn the buckboard around.

“You are more intelligent than I anticipated.”

Lil froze for a moment. Hearing Cedric’s whining voice made all the pieces of the puzzle fall instantly into place. She shifted in the wagon seat to look at him. “I don’t appreciate childish games.”

Cedric dismounted his mare with more skill than Lil had expected. He tethered her reins to a tree and walked over to the wagon. “I don’t play childish games.”

His English hunting attire set her on edge. Obviously he was out for a hunt, his nostrils flaring with excitement and the scent of his prey.

“Why are you doing this?” Lil asked simply.

Cedric smiled, his pale cheeks twitching nervously. “I must say you are far more intelligent than I ever thought possible for a woman. You are a worthy adversary.”

Lil didn’t respond. She remained still, her hand firm on the reins.

“It pays to know your foe, Lady Sherborn. I had assumed, and correctly, that you would question the summons you received, when given sufficient time. Then of course you would change course and return home to your husband’s loving arms.”

“You followed me,” Lil said. “Hoping I would travel far enough away from home before realizing I was on a false errand of mercy.”

“Your astuteness astounds me. I had hoped you would not uncover my ploy for a few miles yet, providing me with more time and distance to seal your fate.”

“You planned everything?”

Cedric’s smile spread clear across his face. Gone was the nervous twitch, replaced by an expression of sheer satisfaction.

“It was pure joy to arrange for your disposal while I was still on English soil. Though, I must say, you Americans are sloppy in your skills. If I had hired an Englishman to remove someone, it would have been done without a problem. Yet I arrive here to find you alive and well—and after three attempts on your life. That was simply intolerable. And when the men I had hired informed me of their inept attempts...” Cedric shook his head in disgust.

“How could they think that a staged gunfight and a purposely misdirected bullet would succeed? And then the fools rigged a wagon wheel so that it would fall off! And their last plan, which they considered their best, was to lock you in a shed and set a nearby bush on fire—not the shed itself but the bloody bush! Completely incompetent. I had no choice but to do away with the bungling men. Of course, that was my intention anyway, but their being such fools made the task much more pleasurable.”

Lil remained outwardly calm. Inwardly, however, fear gripped her. She had met men like Cedric who had no regard for life. Her father had locked many such men behind the bars of his jail and kept them there until the territorial sheriff came to collect them. Most were hanged, but some escaped and continued to murder at will.

Cedric inched closer to the wagon. “It is a shame, the serious accident you will suffer—hurrying off to tend to an injured man, only to have your wagon veer out of control and topple, killing you and your unborn child. Rolfe will be beside himself and in a fit of sorrow take his own life.”

“Leaving you to reclaim the Morrehaven estate in England.”

Cedric executed an elegant bow. “Correct, Lady Sherborn. And if my plan succeeds, which I have no doubt it will, I will also claim part of Rolfe’s wealth and his land here in Little.”

The thought that she would die was outrageous in itself, but the idea that her unborn baby would never have a chance to take its first breath and that Rolfe’s life would be snatched away from him frightened her into a furious anger.

“Not likely!”

Another quick step brought Cedric up to the wagon. He reached out and snatched the reins from Lil. “The matter is out of your hands, madam.”

“You are either a fool or an utter ass—I have yet to decide which,” Lil said, her green eyes bright and ready for battle.

Cedric looked as though she had struck him in the face, so shocked was he by her response. “Your tongue is sharp for one who is about to die.”

“If you think I am going to sit here and cry and beg for mercy, you have sadly misjudged me.” Lil’s words were delivered with strength, though her hands, clenched into the folds of her skirt, shook. She prayed Rolfe had discovered her absence and started out after her. She needed more time.

Cedric appeared confused. His eyes blinked rapidly. “A woman obeys a man.”

“You don’t know the women of the West.”

“I don’t wish to know them,” Cedric said and cast her a contemptuous look. “English ladies are more to my taste. I can’t abide American women. They refuse to recognize their duty.”

“Which is?”

With an impatient shake of his head, Cedric educated her with a curt answer. “To obey.”

“In everything without question?”

“Precisely. Beatrice was the perfect example of a dutiful woman.”

“She didn’t know any better.”

“She knew!” Cedric shouted, his eyes wide and glassy. “She knew that she had to obey or suffer the consequences. Rolfe should have taught you to be like Beatrice.”

That did it. Lil couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “You’re an ass!”

Cedric grew bright red in the face, sputtered, then jumped up into the wagon and lunged for Lil.

Her round belly almost prevented her from turning quickly enough to throw her hands up protectively. Cedric climbed over the buckboard seat and attempted to grab her swinging hands. Lil fought like a wildcat, punching and screaming, trying anything that would keep him away from her. Her arms grew tired, her strength weakened by her advanced pregnancy, but still she fought. She thought of her unborn baby. She thought of Rolfe, and with every valiant swing she prayed her husband would miraculously appear.