An Inadvisable Wager (The Curse of the Weatherby Ball Book 2) by Eliza Lloyd (the best novels to read txt) 📕

father had a real treasure?” She burst out laughing. “My father?” she said again, and then fell back on the bed, laughing uncontrollably. “My father the thief?” She wiped at her eyes before pushing to her elbow. “If my father had a treasure, we would not be married. I would be swanning about London on the arm of a duke and with three children who called me Mu-ther. Oh, Carlow, tell me another tale while you are at it.”

“My father believed the stories were true.”

Nora stopped laughing. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because my father tore Henbury Hall to pieces looking for it. During one argument over his behavior, he gave me this token.” He touched the scar down the side of his face.

She sighed, rubbing her temple. “Oh my God! When is it going to stop? Feed me some small kernel of normalcy and I will grab onto it with all my strength.”

“So, you don’t believe the rumors?”

“Do you? Did your father find anything?”

“No. He didn’t find anything, but I did.” Nora still didn’t suspect he had developed strong emotions for her and certainly wouldn’t attribute his comment to the treasure he found in her.

“What are you saying?”

“That Henbury Hall had treasure that didn’t involve gold and silver. And it was well hidden.”

“How much?” she asked, curiosity in her gaze. “It must have been substantial. You have a very smug look right now.”

“I can’t put a price on it. Suffice it to say, I think the value is incalculable.”

“And your poor father died not knowing. How long will it take to repair the manor house?”

“Several months yet. The outbuildings also need work but not to the same degree.”

“So, we can’t stay while the repairs are happening?”

“We can. It won’t be comfortable, and I don’t have any domestics hired, other than the cook, and that was to make sure I kept my day laborers happy.”

Nora glanced around the room again. “Will it be a grand house again, one day?”

“That is my plan.”

“Well then, while you are rebuilding, do you want me to help spend your treasure? I am sure I could find a bonnet or two that would please me. Along with some furniture, books, paintings, a piano, and a few other items.”

“Was I not clear enough? The treasure wasn’t monetary.”

“I’ve really had enough mystery, Carlow. Tell me plainly or don’t tell me at all.”

“I’ll tell you if you come walk with me in the back. Aside from keeping the repairs on track, I’ve spent the last six months designing a small pleasure garden. It’s one of my new passions.” There had been numerous holes where Gabriel’s father had dug in search of the hoard. Something had to be done and a garden seemed most logical.

“Like Ranelagh?”

“Nothing so magnificent. I didn’t have the room, but there were two indentations in the back that seemed to hold water for several months, which gave me the idea for the fountains and holding ponds.” As they headed down the stairs, Gabriel glanced toward the windows. “I hope it won’t be too dark to see everything,” he said. “It really is magnificent.”

“There’s always tomorrow.”

Chapter Twelve

The Henbury Hall pleasure garden was a welcome surprise. Nora’s despair had rebounded to the level of acute sorrow. She was naïve to think the property hadn’t changed, that every detail from her childhood was exactly as she remembered it. Carlow had warned her, but she hadn’t listened. Hadn’t really believed.

But seeing the groomed bowling green, the two water fountains feeding the terraced ponds and the rock bridge were a delight. Even the tinkling water was a special joy.

“Oh, Carlow! It is marvelous.” She took in a deep breath, unable to identify all the scents, but it was a lovely combination of fragrant flowers and aromatic herbs.

She glanced at Carlow beside her. He strolled with his hands behind his back, the light wind shifting his hair with each turn in the trail.

“There’s more,” he said. They continued on a stone path that wound through the garden with loops and turns. They came to the entrance of a private arbor, two of them actually, facing each other. Sticks and long, slender tree limbs formed an arch, and inside the alcove was a bench with a rounded back. Two potted plants, sage by the smell, decorated the interior. There was also a selection of flowers planted in a circle around the alcove edges, a snow carpet of allysum.

Gabriel led her inside and they sat next to each other, their knees touching. Maybe it was the closest they had been in the last few days, since leaving Whitmarsh anyway.

“I love it, Gabriel. I know you didn’t make it for me, but it feels very personal.”

“Had I known you when I started the project, I would have found a way to make it even more grand.”

“Now you are just trying to make me feel better about the manor house.”

“Yes. Did it work?”

“It’s such a shame. That is all. I know a house isn’t really a home unless there is love and family present, like Timothy and I had with Lord and Lady Fortenay, but it seemed all so perfect to me. I couldn’t help but want it all back. Did your father ever tell you about it? Why he thought my father had this secret hoard of wealth?”

“Aside from the rumors, no. Considering your father was a very fine thief, I’m sure people speculated about all the things he’d stolen. We’ll just have to add it to the heap of things we will never know. All I saw was that Father deteriorated as he searched. He must have believed it was a wildly lavish hoard. Surely, no man would do what he did for a few hundred pounds, not when the estate itself could have been rented