Page 61 of The Heir's Fortune
He was insolvent and alone.
Madeline had remainedsilent as she had listened to the servant’s story. Everyone in the room had sat in rapt attention as he had explained the mysteries that had surrounded them while also telling them of the path forward.
She knew, with a growing sense of dread deep in her stomach, what this meant.
It was not that she was concerned that the fortune wasn’t Gideon’s. It was how he would react, what he would think that he had to do instead.
Say goodbye to her.
She couldn’t hear it. Madeline didn’t want those words, the words that would tell her she would come second, and only when all had worked out. She wanted to be his first choice, wanted to be worth more than anything else. She wanted to know that they could find a way forward together.
But that wasn’t Gideon. He was a man of responsibility, of doing the right thing and taking care of others, even to the detriment of himself.
So instead of hearing the words of goodbye, perhaps it would be best for her to say them first, before he could hurt her and tell her that a fortune was more important than she was, that he was going to take the easy way out and marry for money instead,choosing it over what they shared, that she had thought was going to mean forever.
She wasn’t upset that she had given her body to him. She loved him, and that had been worth it, whether or not they would remain together.
It was that he might throw it all away over something so trivial.
Perhaps it would be for the best. All along, as right as it had felt to be together, there was something wrong in it as well. It was almost as though she was the prize for him to have achieved what he had set out for and not the partner who could do it with him.
“It has been a long day,” the duchess said, standing, her smile serene despite all they had just discovered and gone through. “Why do we all not rest for a time, and then have dinner? We shall make sure that all of you eat well tonight.” She paused. “Well, we will do our best.”
There were some grimaces at the thought of dinner and Gideon must have come to the realization as well.
“Our cook…”
“She is part of it, yes,” Anderson said. “She feels great loyalty to the family.”
“Which is why we have kept her with us, yes,” Gideon said, running a hand through his hair. “I never understood why she stayed when we did not pay her as a cook deserves.”
“Perhaps she can find another position in our house soon that she would be better suited for,” the duchess said. “A lady’s maid, perhaps?”
She said it with such a hopeful smile that Madeline knew exactly what she was thinking – perhaps a lady’s maid for a new addition to their home. The only question was whether it would be her, or someone else entirely.
CHAPTER 24
“This is all rather unbelievable, is it not?” Cassandra said to Gideon.
They were seated on the floor of the long gallery where the chests had been stored and the treasure laid out before them. They had decided to review and inventory it all before they determined how to go about returning it to its proper home.
“It is,” he murmured. “All of it is unbelievable. That we were sent on this treasure hunt, that we found chests full of literal treasure, and now, after everything we went through, we are only going to be returning it.”
“I sense a bitterness in there,” Cassandra said, stopping her count of the coins to look at him after writing down the number so she wouldn’t forget it. “I know you were hoping that this treasure would restore our family fortunes, but it is not as though something was stolen from us. This was never ours to begin with.”
“I suppose you’re right,” he said, his jaw tight. “I just…” he sighed. He hadn’t planned on talking to his sister about this, but she knew Madeline better than anyone, knew him and understood this situation. Perhaps she could provide someinsight into his dilemma – one that was eating at him. He knew that Madeline was waiting for him to speak to her, but the truth was, he had no idea just what he was supposed to say to her. “I just thought that if the treasure allowed us to recompense all that we had lost, I would not have to resort to doing so by any other means.”
“I do hope you are not referring to the idea of marrying a woman for her dowry,” Cassandra said with a frown of disdain.
“And what if I am?” he asked defensively. “I would hardly be the first to do so. In fact, it would be more common than not.”
“But most of the men who do so are not in love with another woman!” she exclaimed. “Especially a woman who loves him back.”
“She said that?” He couldn’t help but hold onto those words, and Cassandra shook her head at him before looking away and up at one of the sculptures that lined the room, this one of a man who appeared quite handsome, wrapped in a toga and looking to the sky in supplication.
One of their ancestors had been greatly interested in the Greeks and had amassed the statues that stood before them now. Gideon wondered if it was time to begin selling them, even if it was telling all that their family was giving up.
“She has said almost nothing to me,” Cassandra said, her eyes glinting. “However, the two of you do nothing but stare at one another longingly every time you are together, and when you each speak of the future, I get the sense that you are picturing a futuretogether.”
