Josette swallowed, throat tight. “She’s fond of Glenna, is Beitris.”
“Good, then she stays. I’ll tell Bhreac.”
Josette regarded him limply. “I can go to Chadwick myself. Pay him off with my share of the gold. Explain he’s to stay out of my life. I’m not afraid to. I realized after my first despair when he left me that he’s a rather weak person. He’s been dominated by his wife and her family all his life.”
“And saw a pretty young woman as refuge from that for a while.” Will ran a hand through her tumbledown hair. “I understand why he fell for you, love. If he’d been a wiser man, he’d have known what a precious thing he’d found and never let you go.”
Will could flatter—Josette gave him that. She tried a smile. “Well, if he hadn’t, I’d not have met you.” And that would have been unthinkable. “I learned much about Oliver over the years. He owed his career to his wife’s father, and he could not walk away from that. Even if he’d been madly in love with me and wanted Glenna, he couldn’t. Family ties.”
“Aye, I know all about those.” Will kissed the top of her head. “I also know I’ll win this argument. Best to confront the man and end it.” A kiss to her temple, his breath warm. “I’ll not let him take me, or Glenna. Ever. You won’t be rid of us that easily.”
Josette had also learned much about Will over the years. She knew that if she tried to go to Edinburgh and speak to Chadwick herself, she’d likely walk into the man’s sitting room to find Will there before her. He’d never stay hidden and safe when she was in danger.
Josette cupped his face and made him meet her gaze. “Be honest with me, love. Will you kill him?”
She saw a flicker of old rage in his eyes, dark and impassioned. “For what he made you endure, I’d enjoy it.” Will turned his head and kissed her palm, his whiskers scraping. “But I promise, I won’t endanger you so. I’ll only kill him if absolutely necessary.”
From Will, that was a solemn oath.
* * *
Colonel Oliver Chadwick had taken rooms in a fine house in an elegant part of Edinburgh, though the abode was not quite as lavish as Lord Wilfort’s. The landlady was haughty, and an even haughtier valet took Josette’s name and eventually showed her upstairs. Both landlady and valet silently let it be known what they thought of a lone woman visiting the newly widowed colonel.
Chadwick received her in a parlor that had been decorated with fine taste. The charming young infantry officer who’d seduced the even younger and naive Josette had done well for himself, she could see. He’d lit no lamps, however, and gloom dulled the well-appointed chamber.
Chadwick, a straight and thin stick of a man, stood upright in the center of the room to greet her.
When Josette had met Oliver all those years ago, he’d been handsome and dashing, already a high-placed captain, thanks to his father-in-law. Now he was nearing forty, and the years had not been kind to him.
His face had a hollow, pinched look under a brown wig that did not fit him well, and his frock coat and breeches hung on a spindly frame. The hand he clenched was painfully thin, the knuckles swollen.
Josette realized with a jolt that his gaunt appearance came from more than grief at the recent loss of his wife. Colonel Chadwick was a very ill man.
“Mrs. … Oswald,” he said. Chadwick’s voice was deep, not scratchy and weak, but even the two words left him breathless.
“Colonel,” Josette said, giving him a polite curtsy. “I have come to negotiate.”
Chadwick immediately shook his head. “I told you my terms in London. Bring me Will Mackenzie or I take my daughter.”
“My daughter is happy where she is. Always has been.” No thanks to you, Josette forbore to add.
Chadwick took another breath, closing his eyes a brief moment, as though searching for strength. “She will be cared for,” he said stiffly. “I am a wealthy man with connections to eminent families. Glenna will live in a large house, with servants to wait on her every whim. If I am correct, she is already of an age to make her debut. As she is illegitimate, she won’t be presented at court, but I and my father-in-law can find her a good match. She will marry a man of decent means, have a house of her own, children. I can promise you all this. Surely you’d want that for your daughter.”
Josette didn’t bother to hide her incredulity as she listened to this speech. “I never took you for a simple man. She’ll not be welcomed with open arms. She’ll be shamed as a by-blow—a badge of your indiscretion. She’ll be given a back room, hidden out of the way of your family, and married off to whomever your father-in-law can bully into the match. Yes, she’ll have a home of her own, but I’ll wager it will be buried in the country somewhere, her husband told what to do every day of his life. As you have been.”
Chadwick’s mouth pinched. “I assure you, I have already made plans for her, and they will be carried out.”
“In your absence?” Josette softened her voice. “If I am not mistaken, Oliver, you are not long for this world.”
He fell silent, the anger and resignation in his eyes telling Josette she’d guessed correctly.
She continued, keeping her tone gentle. “Once you’re gone, there will be nothing to prevent your family from throwing her out again. They are indulging you out of pity. Surely you can see that.”
The anger sparked. “Perhaps. But when I lay my hands on Will Mackenzie, the money I gain from turning over a Jacobite, a spy, and a killer, I will give entirely to Glenna. I will make a trust for her that no one can touch, not my father-in-law, not even a husband. Surely, Josette, you’d want that.”
Josette kept her hot reply from her tongue, choosing her words carefully. “For my daughter to have money enough to keep the world from her, and for her to have a happy life? Of course I want that. But why do you not believe I can give that to her myself?”
Now Chadwick looked her up and down in derision.
The truth of what he truly thought of Josette showed on his face—that she’d been a distraction for him, an amusement, and as Will had concluded, a refuge from his wife’s smothering family. Josette saw clearly now that Chadwick had never had any respect for her, any caring for Josette as herself. The evidence of that was blatant as he studied her.
The younger Josette would have been devastated by his dismissal. Now she only blessed her stars that she’d not been tied to this man for life.
“You run a boarding house,” Chadwick said with slow disdain. “A common boarding house in a cheap part of London. You consort with Jacobites. You’ve been a lover to the notorious Will Mackenzie.” He nearly spit the name. “You became an artist’s model for his brother—with your daughter in the studio watching you parade about in nothing.” He snapped his mouth tightly closed, as though upset he’d had to say such unseemly things.
The young Josette might have burst into tears, or at least given him the harsh side of her tongue and then wept in private.
The older and wiser Josette only watched him quietly, hands folded. “I do not recall you rushing to save Glenna from all that when she was a babe. When I truly had no means to keep her and had to pose for artists so I could keep food in her mouth, I never heard a peep from you, no matter how many letters I sent you begging for help.”
Chadwick reddened. “I could do nothing then. My wife—”
“Would have shown you the door, yes. Or at least had her papa cut you off from everything you held dear, including his purse. I have the feeling that Mrs. Chadwick would never have disgraced herself with a divorce, but you’d have paid dearly for your indiscretion, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes.” The word was sharp. “I am pleased you understand.”
“I understand you decided your soft life was more important than your daughter.” Josette let her voice harden. “You could have supported Glenna in secret, had you any caring for her, but you were too afraid even for that. Your wife never bore you children, did she? Well, sir, I pity you, but I refuse to let you try to make up for that hole in y
our life with my daughter.”
“My daughter, madam.” The determination entered Chadwick’s eyes again. “By law, she is mine, by-blow or no.”
A new voice spoke from a dark corner, one quiet, rumbling, and Scots. “Are you sure of that?”
Will Mackenzie stepped into the light. “You’d stand up in court and swear Glenna was your offspring?” he went on. “Because that is what you’ll have to do. Do you have a witness that says she’s yours? Other than Josette, I mean?”
Chapter 30
As Chadwick beheld Will standing before him, every bit of his bravado drained away. He looked vastly tired, weak, ill. “How did you get in here?”
Will shrugged. “I have my ways. I’m a ghost, me. Dead, according to battlefield records. And staying that way. Now, I asked you a question. Are you ready to stand before a judge and tell him you want to claim a daughter?” His lips curved to a smile. “How do you know Glenna isn’t mine?”
Chadwick looked no less weary but his impatience crept back. “Because there was no one else. I was Josette’s first.”
“Ah, so pleased ye acknowledge her purity. Which you then ruined. But you couldn’t own up to your guilt.” A glint entered Will’s eyes. “I say Glenna is mine. Will you battle me for her?”
Chadwick gave him a cold look. “You are an outlaw, and as you just said, dead in the eyes of the world.” The look he shot Josette held venom. “I knew you were hiding him.”
Josette spread her hands and said nothing. She had no idea what Will was up to but was willing to leave him to it. She also noted that Will made certain he did not go too near the windows or raise his voice enough to alert the landlady and valet downstairs.
“I was hiding me,” Will said. “Josette is blameless. Well? Will you concede Glenna to me?”
“No,” Chadwick snapped. “Josette never met you until years later. I know this. I kept an eye on her.”
“How benevolent of you. Spied on her from afar but never sent her a penny, never a comfort, never a kind word. Now, let me tell you why I say Glenna is my daughter.” Will advanced on Chadwick, who took a few steps back as Will loomed over him.
“She is not,” Chadwick asserted, some of his courage returning.
Will shook his head, ignoring him. “When Glenna was a wee one, couldn’t she get into mischief? I wore out my feet running after her—aye, she’d be in one place then another faster than ye could blink. When she wanted to know all about the world, what trees were called, how water pumps worked, why rain fell, I told her. I read to her, I told her stories, I carried her across roads so she wouldn’t be run down. I held her hand when she was afraid, and I taught her how not to be afraid. And most of all, I loved her mother as hard as she did. And that, my friend, is why I am Glenna’s father. Not you. It never was you.”
Chadwick listened with a scowl. “It doesn’t matter. I sired her.”
“Oh, I think it matters to Glenna, and to Josette. Whenever I had to leave them—” Will broke off, bleakness in his eyes. “It shattered me. Knowing Josette and Glenna were alone nearly killed me every time, but I went because I knew they’d be safer without me.”
Chadwick swallowed, his sallow throat moving. “They’d have been safer if they’d never met you.”
Will regarded Chadwick with pity. “You know, I don’t believe that’s true. I thought so for a long time, chastising myself for wanting to be with Josette, yet causing her trouble when I was. But I never could quite walk away. I always made sure she and Glenna were well, warm, fed, happy. I’d never let Josette be desperate again, or let Glenna be afraid of anything. And she is not. Fearless, that’s Glenna. She takes after her mother.”
Josette couldn’t breathe. She was glad Chadwick and Will focused so tightly on each other, because she was about to break down and weep.
It was true that as much as she grieved when she and Will were apart, as much as she pushed him aside in worry for Glenna, he’d never truly left them. Will’s hand had been in Josette’s life since the day she’d met him, even when he’d been miles away.
He’d sent Josette and Glenna money, or had a man of business keep them in funds, found them lodging, and made certain that artists who’d painted Josette paid her well. He’d had his brothers look in on them whenever he couldn’t, and made it clear that anytime Josette wished to go to Kilmorgan or the Mackenzie residences in Paris or Edinburgh, she’d be welcome.
Josette and Will had been as one for nearly a dozen years now, though neither of them had openly acknowledged it.
“Will,” she said.
Both men turned to her, as though reluctant to give up browbeating each other. “Yes, love?” Will asked.
“Leave him. The poor man thought to assuage his conscience by trying to look after Glenna at the last, not wanting any regrets.” Josette faced Chadwick. “I thank you, sir, for giving me my daughter. She is a fine young lady, robust and strong, and so beautiful. She is well and happy, and I believe her future will be the same.” She took a step toward him. “But I will not give her to you, and I will not give you Will. Nor will I hand you the money I had planned to, to make you go away. You had many chances to be Glenna’s father, and you threw them aside. If you regret that, I am sorry. I pity you for what you face, I truly do.”
Josette walked all the way to the staring Chadwick, took his emaciated hand, and squeezed it gently. “I admire you for attempting to make things right, in the end. You can go knowing you at least tried, and assure yourself that Glenna is happy and well looked after.” Josette raised his hand and pressed a kiss to his dry fingers. “Good-bye, Oliver,” she said softly.
She was finished with him. Forever. Josette turned and walked out of the room, leaving the two men to watch her go.
* * *
Will joined Josette outside the gates of the city as they’d arranged. By the time he reached her, she was shivering, tears on her cheeks.
Will risked ruining his disguise as a downtrodden peasant and took her into his arms.
“’Tis done,” he whispered. “My darling Josie, you are the bravest woman I know.”
“Or the most foolish.” Josette leaned against his chest. “What is to stop him sending men after you, even from beyond the grave? You shouldn’t have showed yourself.”
Will held her closer, his heart burning with leftover anger, and sorrow for what she’d had to face. “Couldn’t help it. I hated the way he spoke to you. And though Chadwick boasts of his powerful connections, mine are even more powerful. I am owed favors by men and women from the loftiest positions who could grind Chadwick and his in-laws to dust if need be.” He stroked her hair, wanting to warm her shaking away. “He is gone, Josette. The past is over.”
“Yes.” Josette looked up at him, sad but with the light of determination he loved so much. “It is done.”
Will held her until they both calmed, then he kissed her, and started them on the path for home.
* * *
That night they stayed with one of the crofters they’d visited on their last journey, and were made welcome. Will had brought the family food and cloth from Edinburgh, which he hid, along with money, so they’d find it after he and Josette had gone.
Will was like that, Josette knew. Taking care of everyone, no matter how much in the shadows he had to remain.
They came together under a pile of plaids in the miniscule shed in which they slept, no room in the crofter’s house. Josette was as comfortable and warm there as when she’d stayed in a palace. Warmer, she reflected, as the stoves in palaces rarely worked well.
Will loved her swiftly, thoroughly, while the Highland wind beat at the stones, trying and failing to get inside.
He brought her to the highest point, and joined her there, the two of them kissing, crying their release, defying the wind to be louder. They drifted down into laughter, contentedness, tired joy.
Will kissed her for a long time, then held her close. Josette drowsed, happier than she’d been in a long while. She felt free and prot
ected at the same time. Will had given her that.
“Love,” he whispered. They lay on their sides, face to face. Will traced her throat, the single lantern showing an uneasy light in his eyes. “I promised I’d do it properly, but I’m too tired to rise. So I’ll ask ye now.” He hesitated, then drew a resolute breath. “Josette Oswald, will ye do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Josette stilled. Will watched her—she knew he waited for her to say no, to run from him and bury herself in her lonely life once more. Her heart beat with jubilation, but she’d been practical for too long to succumb instantly to emotion.
“Are you certain?” she asked softly.
Will’s face creased with a scowl, and he rose on one elbow.
“Am I certain? What sort of question is that? I’m a roamer, a vagabond, a ne’er-do-well. I vowed I’d never settle down, or fall in love, or be a family man. Never thought I’d have the chance, so why bother?”
Josette touched his face, smoothed the lines of his mouth. “So why do you want to bother now?”
“Because I know how I feel when I’m without you.” Will’s voice was gravelly. “And I know how I feel whenever you walk into a room … or a castle, or a cave. It’s as though light enters my life again, banishing all the darkness.” He cupped her face, closing his eyes as if he looked for courage. “I love you, my brave Josie. I always have, even when I couldn’t admit it to myself.” He drew a breath, his golden eyes flickering open again. “All right, then? Will you marry me, or not?”
Josette kicked practicality aside and sent it packing. Elation and joy won. “Of course, dearest Will.” The last word broke on a sob. “Of course. I love you so much.”
Will gathered her close, his words vibrating with warmth. “Thank the Lord. I thought I’d have to argue. Though I warn ye, I was prepared to do it for years if necessary.”
Josette held on to him, his nearness banishing all the cold, anguish, fear, and pain of the past. “I imagine we’ll argue constantly. About everything.”
The Devilish Lord Will: Mackenzies, Book 10 Page 28
