Page 90 of The Unwilling Bride
“Both—and against you and your husband.”
She could easily understand why his enemies would want Merrick dead, for he would be an implacable foe. “But why me?” she wondered aloud. “Am I not more valuable alive, to hold for ransom or to ensure my husband’s silence or cooperation?”
“If this were strictly a political conspiracy, yes.”
Constance shifted. “It’s not?”
Ranulf shook his head. “I regret being the bearer of such news, but greed as well as ambition inspire your enemies.”
“Who are they?” she demanded.
“Your uncle, and Merrick’s.”
“Lord Carrell?” It was like getting another blow to the head. Dizzy, she closed her eyes and willed herself not to swoon.
She heard Ranulf rise.
“No!” she cried softly, grabbing his arm. “I’m all right. Please stay.”
“You’re ill, my lady. I told you too much too soon. The rest can wait.”
Her grip tightened on his arm like a vise. “Please!”
Ranulf reluctantly sat back down. “Apparently Lord Algernon wants Tregellas, and Lord Carrell has agreed to help him in this quest.”
Lord William had often claimed that Algernon begrudged him Tregellas and would stop at nothing to get it. So Algernon might be involved, but…“My uncle would never hurt me.”
Ranulf raised a brow. “Yet he left you in the care of a man who, I gather, was only slightly better than Caligula.”
“I was betrothed to Lord William’s son.”
“Before Lord Carrell had a daughter of his own. After she was born, the bargain couldn’t be broken without penalty.”
She was well aware of that—and that her uncle could be miserly.
“Perhaps he even hoped your future father-in-law would do his work for him and kill you in one of his rages,” Ranulf suggested.
That would explain why he’d left her in Tregellas all those years, no matter what Lord William did.
“If Merrick and I are both dead, Lord Algernon will inherit Tregellas, but why would my uncle want him to have it?”
“So that his daughter may marry the lord of Tregellas instead of his niece.”
She gasped as the answers to other questions fell into place. Why he’d never arranged a marriage for Beatrice or even mentioned it. The looks the two older men sometimes exchanged, their whispered conferences. And yet…“There’s no reason she couldn’t marry Algernon now.”
“Except that Lord Algernon doesn’t yet possess Tregellas, and all that goes with it. He gets Beatrice and a blood bond with Lord Carrell only after he has inherited the estate.”
It sounded incredible, yet she could believe it. “How did Henry come to find this out?”
“After he left Tregellas he encountered your uncle, who’d heard of his quarrel with Merrick. Your uncle offered him a place. Finding both your uncle’s manner and offer suspicious, Henry accepted. He discovered evidence of a conspiracy, including some very incriminating letters. I’ve seen them, and I fear there’s no doubt of your uncle’s guilt, my lady.”
“How did Henry get these letters?”
“It would probably be better not to ask,” Ranulf replied with the hint of a smile. “Henry’s very adept at getting around a castle without being seen.”
While on his way to amorous assignations, no doubt. “However he came by the knowledge, I’m grateful.”
Ranulf’s eyes gleamed like jewels. “What Lord Algernon doesn’t seem to realize is that if Beatrice is widowed, her father will as good as control Tregellas and all the power that goes with it.”
