Page 52 of A Treacherous Treasure

“I am glad, since I wouldn’t have wanted you to be in danger. You have been so kind.”

She gave him a gentle smile, and his heart melted. He imagined taking her in his arms and holding her.

But then he immediately remembered Benjamin.

“I must go. I hope my boots weren’t too muddy.”

“Not at all. Thank you for coming by.”

He stopped and turned back to her. “Please do be careful. This man may not have had a gun, but that doesn’t mean the next one won’t. You need to make sure you have a gun and are ready to defend yourself, especially if you venture out of doors.”

“I will, thank you.”

He nodded and left the house, retrieving his gun from just inside the front door as he went.

Chapter Fifteen

Caroline, Mrs. Westbrook, and Benjamin came to call every day that Rebecca and her mother and sister didn’t call on them first. Thomas only came with them about half the time.

Rebecca’s mother and sister were used to going for a walk on days when the weather was fine, but here, they only ventured out when either Benjamin or Thomas were with them.

About a week and a half into her mother’s visit, Rebecca once again was obliged to receive Mr. Gilbert Heywood.

He was a bit fidgety as they sat—Rebecca, Mother, Margaret, and Mr. Heywood—together in the sitting room. He patted his knee with his hand, then put a hand on his hip, then pulled at his coat.

They spoke of the state of the roads between his home and theirs, the weather of late, and of their relatives’ state of health.

“Mr. Heywood,” Rebecca said, “I heard a rumor that you were thinking of making an offer to purchase Heywood House.”

His brows went up, and his mouth fell open, and he seemed to freeze in place for a few moments. “As a matter of fact, Mrs. Heywood, I would like to purchase the Heywood House estate if you are interested in selling.” He stared at her, his gaze no longer shifting around the room.

“I might possibly wish to sell it to you in the future, but at present, I have no plans to sell Heywood House nor any part of my late husband’s estate.”

“I see.” His disappointment was palpable as his shoulders slumped and his brows fell.

“May I ask why you wish to acquire this estate when you already have one?”

“I simply wish to keep it in the Heywood family, to preserve the name and the inheritance. Someday I shall have children and I would like to leave them two intact estates instead of only one. And you and Arthur, of course, did not have any children.” He cleared his throat. “Forgive me if I have said too much.”

One of only a few times Rebecca confronted Arthur about his philandering, she asked him, “Why are most of your adulterous affairs with married women? Are you not afraid of their husbands?”

“If a man cannot keep his wife at home, then why should he care enough to harm me? And there are multiple reasons I like married women, but partly because, if a child comes from the affair, her husband will raise the child as his own and provide for it.”

Rebecca had been disgusted by his answer, so much so that she never sought his love again. Two months later, he was dead.

“No, we did not have any children,” she told her dead husband’s cousin.

She couldn’t fault him for his answer. Society prided itself on keeping inheritances intact and carrying on the family name. But could Gilbert Heywood be responsible for sending men here to search for the treasure? For bribing the Justice of the Peace and the constable into finding it for him?

There was no way to know.

Mother and Margaret were looking a bit frightened. No doubt they were thinking the same thoughts. But she would not falsely accuse the man, in the chance that he had no idea about the treasure.

“I have no wish to take something from the Heywood family, and that is why I say that someday I may be willing to sell it to you at a fair price.”

“That is kind of you,” Gilbert Heywood said. “I trust you will send word when you do decide to do so.”

“I will.”