Into the Wilderness
Page 197

"I will miss her," Elizabeth said. "But yes, I mean it."
"Weel, then, come along wi' ye," Robbie said softly to the red dog. "If ye are tae bide wi' me, it's time I taucht ye some manners."
"That was kind of you," Nathaniel said when Robbie had disappeared toward the lake. "He seems lonely, these days."
"Nathaniel Bonner," Elizabeth said, turning to her husband and fixing him firmly with her most concentrated schoolmistress gaze. "If you think you can distract me from the topic at hand with a few weak compliments, you are sorely mistaken."
"For a woman in misery you're sounding mighty sure of yourself." he said dryly, trying to produce a scowl but not quite succeeding.
"Oh, very clever," Elizabeth noted, matching his tone. "But making light of my discomfort—for which you are responsible, I might point out—is a tactic which will not divert me, Nathaniel."
A hand passed over her back; he smiled and bent toward her mouth. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice."
"And if insulting my powers of observation does not serve," she said, tilting her head so that his mouth caught the crest of her cheek instead of its real target, "then you will try seduction."
He laughed out loud, his eyes flashing irritation and pleasure in equal parts. "It's good to see you feeling better," he said. "Even if you are set on sharpening that tongue of yours on my hide."
"I am not easily diverted, that is true. Would you have me more malleable?" It was a challenge, edged with worry.
He shook his head. "I wouldn't change you, Boots, if I could. Aggravating as you are at times."
"More flattery," she said. "Do stop, or I shall swoon."
Nathaniel sighed, apparently resigned to his fate. "So ask if you're set on it, and I'll answer if I can."
Elizabeth thought for a moment, and then she put it to him as carefully as she could: "How is it that you went off to Albany with not quite enough money to pay both Richard and the taxes, and managed not only to do that, but also to buy a plot of land with a new building on it? If there is a price on your head for robbery, I should like to know about it."
There was an edge of irritation in the way he ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe I'm just good at dealing."
"Perhaps," Elizabeth conceded, trying to keep her tone even. "But even so, money cannot be created out of thin air. How did you make aunt Merriweather's note stretch so far?"
"It was easy," he said. His face had gone very watchful and still. "I didn't use your aunt's money at all. That's all safe in the bank."
It was not often that Elizabeth found herself speechless, but she could not think of a thing to say to her husband, whose eyes never moved from her face. Nathaniel reached into the neck of her dress to pull out the long silver chain. Along with it came his mother's pearl cluster, Joe's bijou, the panther tooth, and finally the gold coin, warmed by her skin. This he tapped softly.
"The Tory Gold?" Elizabeth asked, numbly. "You have the Tory Gold?"
"Not all of it," Nathaniel said, sitting back, suddenly tense and very wary.
She stood abruptly and pointed at him, her finger trembling slightly. "You didn't have a dollar to wager at the turkey shoot!"
Nathaniel peered up at her, one eye narrowed. "Couldn't exactly toss a five—quid gold piece at Billy Kirby and ask for change. Not without giving the game away."
"The game?" Her voice wobbled. "The game? What game is it that you mean? The one when you convinced me that marriage was the only way to secure Hidden Wolf away from Richard? That game?"
Nathaniel stood, and put his hands on her shoulders. "I never said that," he said softly. "If you'll think back."
She pulled away. "Did or did you not have a chest full of gold at your disposal at the very time you were telling me that you could not match Richard Todd's bid on Hidden Wolf?"
"Chingachgook gave us leave to spend as much of the gold as we needed, back in December, but we couldn't," Nathaniel said.
"Not without drawing the government of the state of New—York and the British army down on our heads. Not to mention—”
“Jack Lingo," Elizabeth supplied.
Nathaniel grimaced. "Aye. Jack Lingo."
"This whole journey was for naught," she said dully.
"No!" He reached out toward her but she stepped away. "Elizabeth. Even if we could have handed the gold over for the land without half the world coming down on us, it wouldn't have done any good. You know that. Your father was set against selling it to us from the start, because it was the only way he had of keeping Richard Todd in line—by marrying you off to him, for the mountain.
"Yes," she hissed. "But none of that would have come as a surprise. You might have told me the truth. You might have trusted me."
"Elizabeth. I trust you with my life. I would have told you before we got back to Paradise." Nathaniel paused, his face clouding. "I didn't tell you back to start with, because—”
“Yes?" She waited in a kind of void, terrified of what he might say, but needing the truth anyway.
"Because I was afraid of losing you, if there was another way to get the mountain. I couldn't see a way out, but I figured you might."
The words hung there between them, over the shimmering heat of the fire. Elizabeth watched them floating for three beats of her heart. There was a ticking sound in her throat.