Page 30 of Secrets of Capell Manor
“Sounds like Rosalind needs an acceptable suitor then. Someone who is ready to settle down and who will accept the children…and the unconventional servants. Someone who is loyal to the king and who will watch his border closely. Hmm, I wonder who could… and would fill this unique position,” Alden said with a grin, and a sparkle in his eye.
Devlin stared at Alden, and after a stunned moment of silence, he said, “Are you mad? You don’t think I should marry Rosalind? I’m…I’m not…I’m not what she needs. She is a titled, gentle lady. I have nothing. I can give her nothing.She’d probably run in the opposite direction, screaming at the thought.”
“I think you underestimate the lady of the manor, Devlin. She’s strong and brave. But more than that, she isn’t interested in jewels, fancy gowns, or gold. She wants her family together and to be safe, Devlin. You can give her that.”
Devlin shook his head. He saw no way that the king would grant him Rosalind’s hand. A marriage would give the king a measure of security, sure, but he wouldn’t gain any lands marrying her off to his hired man.
Chapter Nine
When Alden and Devlin rode their horses to the stable, no one was around, and he was glad. The noon hour had long passed, and he assumed everyone was busy in the house with chores, lessons, and such.
Devlin took Lord Edmond down from the back of Alden’s horse, and he placed him inside the barn at the back of the hall. The weather was still cool, and so the body would keep for a time. Devlin had the smell of the bog on him. He wanted more than anything to take a bath. But he knew he had to let the household know what he’d found. He headed toward the door to the kitchens, and every step up the path seemed heavier and more challenging to make as he got closer.
He and Alden entered the kitchen, and Marta took one look at him, and she knew. She gasped, and her hand flew to cover her mouth.
Devlin nodded. “Where is your lady?”
Marta cleared her throat and answered, her voice quivering, “She’s in the solar, Sir Devlin. With the children.”
Devlin left the kitchen, climbed the back stairs to the second floor, and entered the chamber that Rosalind used as a school room. The children were seated around the table. Ridley worked on his sums, and the girls both wrote on their boards. Rosalind monitored their work. Grim appeared to be passed out, enjoying his rest in a square of sun that streamed through the glass window. When Devlin stepped forward, the dog raised his big head, snorted in Devlin’s direction, and then returned to his nap.
That dog has become way too comfortable.
Then he turned to Rosalind, and she caught his expression. He didn’t have to say anything.
“You found him then?”
She was not surprised, and her face was emotionless. Devlin didn’t know what he’d expected, but no emotion was a surprise.
“Ridley, continue with the girls and help them with their letters and reading. I’ll be right back.”
Rosalind closed the door behind her as they left the room. By now, Benton and Marta, escorted by Alden, had joined Devlin in the hall. Rosalind quickly opened the door to Edmond’s bedchamber, and immediately closed it so they could talk without the children hearing.
“Tell me,” she said right away. “What did you find?”
“Edmond. He was at the bottom of the bog.”
Devlin searched everyone’s face. Marta looked genuinely surprised, and then she clenched her jaw. upset, Her hands shook ever so slightly. Benton looked stoic as he always did. His face gave away nothing. And Rosalind now looked nervous and curious.
“Could you tell if he was injured?”
“Did he have his sword?”
“Was he robbed?”
Devlin told them. He looked at everyone in the room and tried to discern from their faces if this news was surprising and unknown to them. Marta looked pale, horrified, actually. Rosalind was also pale but not necessarily shaken. And Benton appeared unaffected by the news that his lord had been rotting at the bottom of a bog.
“Then it was an accident then. We don’t know how he landed in the bog, but it seems that he must have got stuck in the mire and drowned,” said Benton.
Suddenly, Rosalind gasped and yelled, “Marta!”
Benton moved in slow motion to catch poor Marta as she swooned into a faint, but there was no way he would catch her in time. Luckily, Devlin leapt into action and caught her before she hit the hard floor. Rosalind rushed to put a pillow under herhead, and as soon as she was sure Marta, while prone and passed out, was comfortable, she started to say something.
“I’m not finished,” Devlin stated quietly. “I would like to believe that this is true. But I did find something on the body.”
Rosalind lifted her gaze to his.
“Inside his cloak was a bag of gold and silver pieces. And that’s not all. His body was weighed down with rocks. Large stones were crammed in his trouser legs and his waistcoat. Someone didn’t want him found.”
