The Heiress Read online

  Immediately, Jamie thought of his leaking roof and the villagers who wanted the Montgomerys to again be their landlords. “Nothing?”

  Axia smiled. “No major capital outlay. The husband of the heiress would, of course, receive what is her due from her mother, but the bulk of the wealth, the fabulous hoard as it were, will not come to her husband until after the death of Perkin Maidenhall. That is, if he so wills it.”

  “Ah, well, if there is enough to put food on the table and buy a few acres of land, I am content.”

  “If that is all you want, then why bother with the riches of the Maidenhall heiress? Surely, with your looks you could entrap any wealthy young woman.”

  Jamie shrugged. “Frances is here and there is some—some urgency.”

  “I see. It does not matter who you sell yourself to.”

  “Stop it!” he commanded. “You do not know what you speak of. I am not free to marry. I have responsibilities that you know nothing about. What of you? Who do you marry? How will you be supported?” As he said the words, he felt himself stiffen. What did it matter to him who she married? But even as he thought that, he was very aware of her body in the circle of his arms.

  “I do understand responsibility and lack of freedom,” she said softly. “I understand as well as anyone.” For a long while she was silent as she lay back against him, for she well knew that her father would not allow his daughter to marry a penniless knight or to remain married if she dared such. If he were to hear of this, Perkin Maidenhall would react in a rage that such a thing had been done. Her father had not become wealthy by giving anything away for free. Even his daughter. He sold everything.

  But he would not care that Frances had married this penniless knight. Perhaps it was cruel of Axia to continue this charade, but if Jamie secretly married Frances for her money, then found she had none, he deserved what he got. But then Axia well knew that she would stop this charade before he went to the altar. It did not matter what happened now, just as long as her father was not involved.

  With a crooked smile, Axia imagined halting the wedding ceremony with an announcement that Frances wasn’t worth the clothes on her back. Oh, how she was going to enjoy the look on James Montgomery’s face then.

  Just so her father did not know of this, she could play out the game to within seconds of its conclusion.

  As for answering him about her own marriage, she did not want to think about that. As soon as they reached their destination, the charade would end and she would have to marry the man her father had chosen for her.

  Jamie put his hand on her forehead. “I think something plagues you. You have secrets,” he said softly. “Tell me what is in your thoughts.”

  No! she screamed in her mind as she began to remember that night he had made love to her. Sometimes it seemed far away and sometimes only yesterday that he had held her and kissed her and said that he loved her.

  “You!” she said. “You make me sick. You try to seduce me as you do Frances. Or do you leave her chaste for your wedding night? Or is it only poor girls like Diana and me who you use for your lechery? What if you have impregnated poor Diana? Who will take care of her?”

  Abruptly, Jamie dropped his arms from around her. “You are free to go,” he said coldly, then when she struggled to free herself, he helped with the blanket and she got away from him.

  Feeling angry and not knowing the cause of her anger, Axia went to Tode and felt his hands to see that they were warm. When Jamie came to stand near her, her lips tightened. “You may go. Had you better not spend time courting your heiress? I can attest to the fact that Frances will have all the men in the hall swarming about her. And since everyone knows that she is the Maidenhall heiress—”

  “What?!”

  Axia could not resist a smile at his reaction; obviously he thought his secret safe. “I heard it in the stables when I went to get the blanket.”

  “And you did not tell me?” he demanded.

  “I beg your pardon, but the life of my friend was more important to me than the protection of gold.”

  “The gold you refer to is in the person of your own cousin.”

  That sobered Axia. “Yes, do go.” Her head came up. “Yes, please do go. I do not need you.”

  “Axia, you …” Words seemed to fail him.

  “Yes? I what?” she asked, shoulders back.

  For a moment, Jamie could only stare at her. Are beautiful, is what he wanted to say. If beauty was thinking of others, then Axia, standing in this cold room in her wet clothes while nursing an injured friend, was more than beautiful. But self-preservation kept him from saying such. She is not for you, Montgomery. Not under any circumstances can you have her. He had to marry for money. Think of Berengaria, he reminded himself. Think of the villagers who pawned everything they had to make you clothing meant to entice an heiress. Think of … Oh, think of anything except this muddy, damp, bad-tempered, big-hearted witch who has occupied your every thought since you met her, he told himself.

  “You are every man’s nightmare,” he said softly, meaning that no man wanted to meet a woman who overtook him as completely as she had.

  “Of course,” Axia said, misunderstanding. “Go to your heiress and leave me alone,” she said as she turned away.

  “Yes,” Jamie said and left the tack room.

  A few hours later, after a bath and a hot meal, Jamie lifted the quill and began to write to his sisters.

  I am sending a letter to Perkin Maidenhall to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage. I do not know if he will give permission or not. Axia thinks he would like to have an earl for a son-in-law, but I am not so sure.

  I have not talked to Lachlan yet, as everyone has now gone to bed. Since it has rained for days here, the roads are like the bottom of a pond, and the wagons were stuck repeatedly. It has caused us some problems, mainly that Axia’s friend was injured.

  I have not told you of Tode and I will not now, but suffice it to say that I might bring him home with me. We will need an estate manager, and he comes highly recommended. Berengaria, you will like him very much. You will see him as he really is, as only Axia sees him now.

  I must go now as it is late. I would like to sleep, but I must watch for Axia as she is nursing her beloved Tode, and I must see that she is safe.

  My love to you both. You are in my prayers always.

  With great affection,

  James

  “One, two, three, four,” Berengaria said. “Yes, I counted that he wrote this Axia’s name four times. Is that right?”

  “Mmmmm,” Joby said in disgust. “You are right. And he mentions the heiress only once. Oh, but I would like to go to him and put some sense into his head! One of those odious Blunts burned a field today.”

  “Their own field,” Berengaria reminded her sister.

  “My point exactly. No longer a Montgomery field. I am tempted to write our Montgomery cousins and tell them what is going on.”

  “Jamie would skin you.”

  “Better to die that way than of hunger.”

  “And how does the burning of a field that is not yours affect your belly?” Berengaria asked her sister, but they both knew the answer. Under no circumstances could they look like failures to their rich, successful cousins. Berengaria took a deep breath. “We should write him. Ask him to tell us more of the heiress. What does she say? What is her favorite music? Flowers? We will think of many things to ask her, so he will have to talk to her to find the answers.”

  “If this Axia allows him near her,” Joby said spitefully.

  “Do not tell me you have grown to dislike this Axia?” Berengaria said hesitantly.

  Joby eyed her sister thoughtfully. “As I think you have also. I am sure she has set her eye on an earl and means to have him. It is her only opportunity to meet a man of his rank. What do you think she does to entice him away from the beautiful heiress? Does she wear gowns that reveal an excessive amount?”

  Berengaria was thoughtful. “No, Jamie