Page 73 of Ties of Legacy

Chapter 25

Elliot

Corbett gave a shallow bow and held out his hand for Elliot to shake, his broad smile still in place.

Elliot stared from Corbett’s hand to his face, struggling to make sense of the steward’s response. Elliot had barely been more than a child when he left, and Corbett had never treated him with so much respect. He certainly hadn’t expected to be greeted with joy after both Elliot and the town had abandoned each other in turn.

Corbett’s face started to fall at Elliot’s frozen response, so Elliot quickly thrust out his hand and shook the steward’s. Around them the crowd burst into frenzied whispering, their voices growing louder as they pressed in closer, each craning for a proper look at Elliot.

“Your Lordship!” The ancient mayor was the first to step out of the crowd, offering Elliot a deeper bow. “Welcome. Your return has been long awaited.”

“Lordship?” Avery stared from the two men to Elliot, her face blank. “What are they talking about, Elliot?”

“Don’t be slow,” Mattie said. “Isn’t it obvious? Last night when you kept talking about the steward, I did wonder what had happened to the old lord’s son since I was sure I rememberedhim having one. It looks like we have our answer.” She shook her head. “I just can’t believe that none of the stories I heard about Opaline ever included this little tidbit! So she was married to the lord of Bolivere before she started traveling.” She turned a calculating look on Elliot.

“Snake in the trees!” Frank cawed from Nutmeg’s saddle as he stared at Elliot from one beady eye and then the other.

But Elliot couldn’t focus on anyone except Avery. She was staring at him as if he had just declared his intention to take up a life of crime instead of having just been revealed as the heir to a noble line.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, but any further apology was cut off by the crowd surging forward and jostling Avery so badly she nearly fell.

Elliot tried to leap forward to assist her, but Corbett seized his arm, slowing him, and Mattie reached Avery first.

“We need to get you up to the manor,” Corbett murmured. “We can talk further there.”

The mayor stopped frowning at the crowd to exchange a look with Corbett. He had managed to create a small bubble of space in his immediate vicinity, and the rest of them sheltered inside it as the two men exchanged quiet words.

“You’ll see the ladies settled in their rooms at the inn?” Corbett asked, and the mayor solemnly nodded.

“Leave it to me. It’s best to get His Lordship out of the open for the moment.”

Corbett signaled at another man to take the reins off Elliot, and before Elliot could protest, he was being whisked out of the square in the direction of the manor. He tried to pull back, looking over his shoulder for a glimpse of Avery, but Corbett’s grip on his arm was firm.

“The mayor will take care of the ladies,” Corbett said in a voice as firm as his hand. “The best thing we can do for them isto get you out of there before it becomes a crush and one of them gets trampled.”

Elliot stopped resisting, but dismay surged through him. He had known the truth would eventually come out in Bolivere, but he hadn’t expected such a dramatic reception—or to be immediately separated from Avery. He hadn’t even had a chance to?—

What? A chance to explain? He’d had days—weeks—to do that on the road. He should have seized his opportunity when he had it. Avery would certainly think so, and she would be right. He had allowed his resentment and pain to silence him about his past, and he was already paying the price.

Part of him still wanted to break away from Corbett and run back to Avery. But she had already been caught in the crowd once, and he couldn’t risk her being injured.

With a start, he remembered that he couldn’t leave Corbett, even if he wanted to. He had become accustomed to thinking of himself as bound to Avery, but he had never actually been bound to her. She had just been the one holding the lamp—a lamp she had just handed over to Corbett.

The realization shook Elliot. Avery had completed her commission for Bolivere, and now she had discovered that Elliot had been hiding things from her. If she felt betrayed enough to leave, despite her earlier promise to stay with him, there was no longer anything holding them together. He wouldn’t even be able to follow her—not as long as Corbett had the lamp.

“This is incredible!” Corbett marveled, unaware of Elliot’s internal turmoil. “Avery is even more exceptional than I realized. Some of the townsfolk were uncertain about entrusting our commission to such a young roving merchant, but she’s certainly proved herself beyond any possible expectation. She not only brought us the lamp but you as well! How ever did she find you?”

The silence stretched out long enough to make it obvious the question hadn’t been rhetorical. “It’s a long story,” Elliot muttered, unsure how much more to say.

Corbett shook his head. “I can imagine. And it’s a tale I would like to hear. But that can wait. The important thing is that you’re here. We’ve all been counting down to Avery’s return, but I didn’t realize it would prove so momentous!”

Elliot stopped abruptly just inside the manor grounds, waiting until Corbett also stopped before speaking.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “If you were so eager for my return, why did you send me away in the first place?”

“Send you away?” Corbett’s brow creased. “What do you mean? I wrote to you myself and even sent coin for your travel expenses to hasten your return.”

Elliot stared at him, uncomprehending.

---