Into the Wilderness
Page 57

"I see," Elizabeth said hoarsely.
"So you understand his connection to Hidden Wolf is quite—personal in nature. He has been trying to buy it from the judge for years. I expect he will go to some lengths to secure his interests. He is tenacious, to say the least."
Mr. Bennett stood up with a little bow. "It is time we started home for dinner," he said briskly. "If I have answered all your questions?"
"Yes," Elizabeth said with an absent smile. "Thank you so much for your help."
"I'll get your things," he said, starting toward the door.
"Mr. Bennett?" Elizabeth asked, so that he paused with his hand on the knob. "What happened to Richard's brother?"
"The uncle tried to ransom him, but he wouldn't leave. He stayed with the Mohawk and became a warrior.
"Is he still in Canada?" asked Elizabeth. "No," Mr. Bennett said grimly. "He died in battle. Fighting for the English."
* * *
Elizabeth had been hoping for a quiet supper at the Bennetts', but she got both more and less than she expected. Just after dinner, a servant arrived from the Dubonnets' with an invitation to an evening party in honor of the visiting governor and his wife. Mrs. Bennett and Katherine were so very excited about this invitation that Elizabeth's own calmer reaction went unnoticed, until she asked Mrs. Bennett to decline her share of the privilege.
"I am very tired," Elizabeth excused herself. "I hope Mr. and Mrs. Dubonnet will understand."
"Lizzie doesn't care for such affairs," Julian pointed out needlessly. "She probably picked up some new book this afternoon and can't wait to get to it."
Mr. Bennett sighed. "A new book in front of the hearth sounds to me a much finer evening than listening to Ellen Clinton play the piano."
"Hush, John." Mrs. Bennett swatted at her husband impatiently, but grinned nonetheless. "What a thing to say." She turned her gaze to Elizabeth. "If it is a book, Elizabeth, won't it wait? You may never have another opportunity to meet Mrs. Clinton."
When Elizabeth had assured Mrs. Bennett that she preferred to stay home, Katherine spoke up. "It's our last evening," she said.
"But if you really don't want to go out—"
"You are most welcome to borrow my cape," Elizabeth said with a smile.
* * *
She was served a late supper of soup and cold meat, which suited her perfectly; Elizabeth did have a new book—two, in fact—and many things to think about, but as she was finishing her meal the maid came to announce a visitor.
"Did you tell them that the Bennetts are out this evening?"
Elizabeth asked, trying hard to hide her irritation with this delay of her plans.
"Yes, Miss, but the gentleman is asking for you."
"I see." Elizabeth touched a hand to her hair, began to rise, and then sat again abruptly, fighting with a sudden and quite explicable case of the jitters. Who could this possibly be but Nathaniel?
The maid was watching her closely. "Shall I just send him away, miss?"
"Oh, well. No, I think I shall just speak with him briefly—"
"You don't even know who it is, miss," the maid pointed out.
Startled, Elizabeth looked up. "Did you get a name?"
"We always ask for a name." There was a pause as the woman struggled to hide her peevishness. "This may not be England, miss, but we know how to answer a door."
"Of course you do," Elizabeth murmured, wishing very much that she did not have this disgruntled servant to deal with right at this moment.
"Since you don't ask, miss, then I'll just tell you. It's Dr. Richard Todd come to call."
* * *
The parlor was well lit, with braces of candelabra on the tables, so that as he paced, Richard threw his long shadow about the room. "I had some business to attend to in town," he told her. "And I thought I would pay the Bennetts my respects." He strode up and down Mrs. Bennett's good Turkey carpet with his hands crossed behind his back and his head bent forward as if his life depended on counting every cabbage rose he stepped on.
"I'm sure they will be sorry to have missed you," Elizabeth said.
"Hmmm." Richard stopped suddenly before the hearth and turned to face Elizabeth. "I really came to see you, you realize."
When Elizabeth refused to ask him to clarify this statement, he looked puzzled, and then dropped unceremoniously into a chair. His broad frame made the carved walnut back seem very fragile by comparison. He leaned toward Elizabeth with his hands on his knees and his elbows turned outward. You are very good—looking, Elizabeth thought to herself And very, very sure of yourself.
"Do you realize this is the first time I've had the opportunity to talk to you alone for weeks? You avoid me in Paradise. You've never even been to my home."
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "I would say that you exaggerate, Dr. Todd. I see a great deal of you at my father's home. And I know you are sensitive to the delicacy of a single woman visiting an eligible bachelor."
"It's a very nice house," Richard said. "The only brick one in Paradise."
"It appears very nice, yes," Elizabeth said. "Did you come to talk about your housekeeping arrangements?"
Without further preamble, Richard jumped up and began his pacing again. Apparently Richard Todd was a man who needed physical movement to think clearly. It was quite irritating, really, and if it weren't for the story Mr. Bennett had told her earlier in the day, Elizabeth might have been more forward and asked him what he could mean by such strange behavior. She watched him sweep past the tables with their piles of books and collections of shells, round the armchair nearest the hearth so that his coattails brushed the fire screen make a hook around the pianoforte, and sweep back again in her direction. There was a run in one of his silk hose, and a splash of dirt on the other, but otherwise he was dressed impeccably, as always.