The Heiress - Lynsay Sands [86]
“I’m sure we shall be grand friends,” Lady Woodrow said soothingly.
Daniel nodded and then tried to sit up, but she pushed firmly on his shoulders to keep him down.
“Stay put, son. You have been shot,” she said sternly.
Daniel shook his head. “I have to get back. They are all waiting for me at the inn.”
“They?” she asked.
“Suzette, her sisters, their father, Richard and a fellow named Robert Langley. They are waiting for me to bring you back. They will be worried.” He frowned and glanced around. “What time is it? I do not even know how long I have been gone. They may already be looking for me.”
“Why ever did you not bring them all with you?” she asked, still trying to push him flat on the bed.
“Oh, er . . . well,” Daniel sighed, and sank back on the bed to admit, “Suzette thinks I am marrying her for her dower.”
Lady Woodrow blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
“I said—”
“I heard what you said,” she snapped, interrupting him. “Now, please explain exactly why the poor young girl thinks you would marry her for her dower.”
Daniel winced at her tone. Every word was razor sharp and precise. She was angry. Grimacing, he said, “Well, Suzette has a rather large dower, huge really, and she wanted a husband who needed money and—” He paused abruptly as he saw her expression becoming befuddled, and sighed. “It is a long story, Mother. Just suffice it to say I couldn’t let her see how well set we are financially or she might not have agreed to marry me.”
“That makes absolutely no sense at all, Daniel,” Lady Woodrow said impatiently. “Women look for a good provider. They want a husband with wealth.”
“You didn’t,” he pointed out with amusement.
“Yes, well I am not like most women of the ton,” she said with a wry smile.
“Neither is Suzette,” Daniel assured her solemnly.
“So you mentioned. Still I—lie down,” she snapped when he tried to rise again. “You will lie there and rest and explain this to me.”
“There is no time. I need to get—”
“You need to rest and recover. I will send word to the inn, and—”
“No,” he cried, grabbing her hand when she stood up. “She will come here. You can’t let her come here.”
Catherine Woodrow raised her eyebrows, but sat back down. “Then you had best explain why. Or I will send for her and get to the bottom of this myself.”
Groaning, Daniel closed his eyes briefly, but then opened them again and glanced to the door as a knock sounded.
“Come in,” his mother called, and the Woodrow butler opened the door to look in.
“My lady, the Lords Fairgrave and Langley are demanding to see Lord Woodrow, and insist they will not wait any longer to do so.” He grimaced and pointed out, “They have been waiting two hours. I fear I will not be able to keep them downstairs much longer.”
“Why didn’t you tell me they were here?” Daniel asked his mother with irritation and then glanced back to the door as the butler cleared his throat.
Once the man had his attention, the butler allowed the corners of his mouth to curve just the slightest bit before getting his face under control and back to the expressionless visage of a proper butler as he said, “It is good to see you awake and recovering, my lord. We have all been quite worried since Mr. Lawrence brought you home.”
“Thank you, Watkins,” Daniel murmured, and then cleared his throat and asked, “Are Richard and Langley alone?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Thank God,” he muttered, sitting up again. This time his mother did not try to stop him and he said, “Please, send them up.”
“Daniel. Please explain what you have been up to and why this young lady you are to marry thinks you are poor, when you have worked so hard these last ten years to ensure we are not. None of this is making sense.”
He grimaced. “It’s really a quite convoluted story, Mother.”
“I don’t care. I have time.”
“Yes, but—” Fortunately, Daniel was saved from trying to put her off further by the arrival of Richard and Robert. The two men must have jogged up the stairs