Page 13 of To Treasure an Heiress
But that wouldn’t be what Mamm-wynn was concerned with. Not the treasure hunt, not the stacks of notes and books hiding even now in her desk drawer. No, she’d be concerned with the relationships Beth had injured with her secrecy—and the ones that may be injured still more if she didn’t rectify it.
Another huff puffed out. But the frustration melted into regret in the next second. “I shouldn’t have kept it all from you and Ollie. I was selfish. And then afraid—so afraid.”
“There now, dearover.” Mamm-wynn rested a hand on Beth’s cheek. Her knuckles had knotted over the years, and her skin was soft and wrinkled. But she cupped Beth’s cheek in just the way she’d always done. “You’re forgiven.”
“Am I?” It made her chest go even tighter. “Even by Ollie?”
Her grandmother gave her a small smile. “I daresay his frustration with you has been greatly tempered by the fact that your poor choices led him to his dear Libby. But perhaps you ought to ask him, just to make sure. After.”
“After?” But she knew what Mamm-wynn meant. After she came clean to the others and confessed that it was unlikely the Scofields would let this rest. Because they knew, as she did, that there were still many more clues to be followed. Many more pieces of treasure to try to find.
Her shoulders sagged, but only for a second. Then she mustered a smile and squared them again. “All right. I’ll go and tell them now, shall I?”
Mamm-wynn’s eyes twinkled. “You always were my favorite.”
Exactly what she needed to make her laugh—given that Mamm-wynn said that toallof them—and shake off the uncertainty. She leaned over to kiss her grandmother’s cheek. “I love you, Mamm-wynn. You can’t know how glad I am that you’re back on your feet.”
“Well, I certainly can’t be leaving you all yet—you need me far too much.” She winked, grinned. “I had a good talk with the Lord about it, and I think He agrees.”
Beth prayed He did. She and Ollie had said good-bye to so many family members in the last few years—she couldn’t bear doing it again. Not yet. Not now.
Drawing in one more rose-fragrant breath, Beth turned to the house and marched toward it, then followed the voices still coming from the dining room. For a moment, she just stood there and watched them—this unexpected collection of people brought together because of her. She’d thought she was on a solitary adventure. How had it ended up so crowded?
Beth sighed. And cleared her throat, forcing a smile. “Mamm-wynn and I agreed that it was time I tell you all of ... of everything else I’ve found.”
Her brother’s brows knit together as he looked up at her. “Everythingelse?”
She winced at the way he said it. “You don’t really think one crate of silverware is Mucknell’s entire haul, do you?”
Oliver opened his mouth, clearly ready to say that he had, but Lord Sheridan sprang to his feet first. “Obviously not! That is ... well, I knowI’mstill here because there must be more.”
Bully.
She kept her gaze on Ollie, watching the emotions that flowed over his face like a current. His expression settled on determination. Or perhaps resignation. “Well. If there is more, we should see it.”
“Ah!” Sheridan sprang away from the table, eyes ablaze. “Excellent. I mean, do you need any help?”
What hemeantwas that he wanted to get his grubby paws on all her research, all her finds, all her weeks—months—of work. She sent him a scowl that he probably wouldn’t even notice through the haze of his own excitement. “I have everything in my room, so...” The idiot man was starting around the table, as if he meant to vault up the stairs and grab it all. “So,no. You’re not stepping foot in there, as my brother and everyone else with a shred of sensibility will guarantee.”
He didn’t slow. “Library! I’ll clear the tables!”
She might have muttered a phrase that she’d learned from the girls at finishing school. And it might have made Emily giggle even as Libby frowned in confusion. And it also might have made her brother clear his throat and rise with that vicar cloak around his shoulders.
She rolled her eyes and turned to the door, but she couldn’t convince her shoulders not to bunch up or her fingers not to curl into her palms. Perhaps Mamm-wynn was right that shemustshare, but that didn’t make it any easier to do so.
Libby must have noted it. She reached out to put a calming hand on Oliver’s arm, her face all compassion. “We don’t have to go over it all if you don’t want. Do we, Oliver? There’s no need to hunt for more of Mucknell’s treasure. We’ve found the silver, and that’s all anyone was searching for, wasn’t it? Why not let it rest?”
“What?” Lord Incorrigible was back in the doorway, horror on his face. “You can’t—she mustn’t—Telly, tell her.”
Beth turned her head, along with everyone else, toward Lord Telford, Libby’s brother. He hadn’t said much through the meal, but that was no great surprise. He was utterly silent upon rising, never seemed to say a word until eleven, and was still largely quiet at midday. Though by afternoon he had a sarcastic rejoinder for every observation.
Beth quite liked him.
And Sheridan’s oddities never ruffled him in the least. “Certainly. Libby, it’s like this.” He leaned forward, hand waving along with his words. “Sher is obsessed and won’t give us a moment’s peace until either we find every last coin of Mucknell’s treasure or he’s convinced that what remains can’t be found by someone else.”
Yes, she really quite liked Lord Telford.
Sheridan huffed. “Thanks, chum.”
