Page 81 of Sutherland's Secret
“What did ye hear of his death?” Brice asked, crossing his arms over his muscled chest. Thomas’s jaw worked.
Eleanor put a hand on her brother’s arm. “This is important, Thomas. We need to know exactly what you know.”
He seemed to relax a bit, but he still watched Brice with narrowed eyes. “We heard he was accused of treason and hanged. My God, Eleanor, I’m so sorry. If Father had known, he never would have sanctioned the marriage.”
“Father didn’t know because Charles wasn’t involved in treason.”
Thomas appeared surprised. So Blackwood had managed to convince his superiors in London that Charles was guilty.
“I wondered,” Thomas said. “But we were told by some of the highest members of the English army. The Hirst family has left London in disgrace.”
Eleanor closed her eyes in pain for Charles’s family. Blackwood had ruined so many people, and for what?
“We sent letters to the address you had given us in Edinburgh but received nothing back. Our queries were met with silence. Father used all of his considerable connections.” Thomas shot Brice a look, but Brice stared blandly back, unimpressed by her father’s connections. “Mother wanted to travel to Edinburgh, but Father refused, saying it was too dangerous to travel to Scotland now. They sent me. I went straight to Edinburgh, but you were gone, and no one there knew anything about where you’d gone. It took me some weeks to find someone to bring me to Fort Augustus, where I spoke to Colonel Blackwood.”
Eleanor flinched at Blackwood’s name. Brice’s impassive gaze slid to her.
“What happened to you, Eleanor?” Thomas asked.
Chapter 32
It took every bit of Brice’s incredible self-control to keep his arse on his desk and not go to Eleanor. Thomas’s question brought forth all of the terrible memories that she’d fought so hard to contain. Memories that sneaked out only in the deep of night. Memories he’d been there to hold her through.
When she left, who would console her in the night? Would her family be understanding? Because Lord knew London society would not. If the Hirst family had fled in disgrace, what would happen to Eleanor? Lord, but he despised everything London stood for.
Eleanor’s face had lost all color and her lips were bloodless. As if sensing his anger, she looked at Brice and tried to smile, but it wobbled, then disappeared.
“After Charles was arrested and hanged,” she said, turning back to her brother, “Blackwood offered me his protection. I refused. He arrested me and I was imprisoned.”
Thomas gaped at her. “No. I don’t believe it.”
Brice’s jaw clenched hard and his body tightened in fury. Eleanor shot him a pleading look. He knew she wanted the two of them to get along, but he didn’t see that happening any time soon. Thomas looked at Brice as if he wanted to put a dagger in his heart, and Brice did not trust Thomas.
“It’s the truth,” Eleanor said softly. “The charges of treason against Charles were falsified. But I can’t prove it. I never even read the charges. When I asked for them, I was told not to worry about it. At first Blackwood was very kind, but when I refused his protection, he turned mean and desperate.”
“What sort of protection was he offering?” Thomas asked, his voice choked.
Eleanor gave him a knowing look and Thomas cursed. “He told me he’d met you once or twice. He acted like he hardly knew you at all.”
“He was lying. He kept me as his prisoner for weeks.” She raised her wrists, revealing the scars she tried to keep hidden from everyone.
Thomas stepped forward and took one wrist to examine it. “Oh, Eleanor.” His voice cracked and he blinked. “If we had only known. Father would have moved heaven and earth to find you.”
She pulled her hands away and hid them in the folds of her gown. “I was lucky,” she said, her voice rough with emotion. “I escaped. Almost everyone else didn’t make it out of the prison alive.”
Thomas blinked. “You escaped?”
“I found her,” Brice said. “In the middle of the road, half dead.”
Thomas turned to Brice. He appeared as if he couldn’t take in more than one piece of information at a time.
“She was in bad shape,” Brice said.
“Brice saved my life, Thomas. He brought me here and nursed me back to health.” She looked pointedly at Brice, who understood what she was trying to tell him without words. She didn’t want her brother to know how bad it had been, that she hadn’t been able to talk, that she’d been more animal than human.
Brice looked at her steadily and nodded imperceptibly. He pushed away from the desk and walked to a side table, where he poured three glasses of whiskey. “Eleanor has told me a bit about yer family,” he said as he poured. “It’s my belief that Blackwood created the false charges against Hirst.” He handed Thomas a glass of whiskey. Thomas nodded his thanks and took a hefty swallow. A bit of color returned to his face, but the shock was still in his eyes.
Brice handed Eleanor a glass as well. She smiled at him but didn’t drink.
