Page 69 of An Unwitting Alliance
Megan scowled and stepped backward. “You know I would never. Why would you even suggest it? Certainly not because of what I said before about stealing our own jewelry? Cassandra, I was in jest. Honest. I have no desire to own anything that belongs to that awful woman.” She pointed at the beads she had just fawned over, but this time disgust wrinkled her features. “They are not half as lovely as I thought. Just knowing they are Patricia’s ruins them for me.”
Cassandra heaved a sigh. “I believe you.” How would she fix this? If only she could hide the necklace and pretend it did not exist. If only she did not have a conscience. “No matter how this came to be in our possession, we have to return it.”
Megan shook her head. “She’ll blame us for thieving. I won’t give her the satisfaction of such an idea.”
Cassandra dropped the necklace back intoher reticule for the present. “There is no getting around it. We must at least ask if it is hers. There is always the chance it isn’t, but we must find the owner.”
“Patricia would lie and then accuse us. Either way, we are shamed and she is congratulated.”
Cassandra hated to think what would happen if Patricia or her family did not forgive them. Thieving was treated much as every other crime, with punishments as severe as death.
She pushed back her rising fear, her mind racing for a solution. Tom. Where was Tom? “I need Tom.”
“Tom? You meanMr. Harwood?”
Cassandra clenched her jaw. She had no desire to discuss with her sister the evolving nature of her relationship with her betrothed. How could she, when she herself did not know precisely where things stood? What she did know was she desperately needed him now. “Never mind. He is in town this morning.”
“Is that not him?” Megan pointed to the window.
Cassandra leaned forward to see Tom riding toward the stables. “Follow me.” She grabbed her reticule and hurried to the door, her skirts pulling tight with her long strides.
When they found Tom, he was grooming his horse in the otherwise empty structure.
Tom lifted the brush as a sort of greeting. “A pleasant morning to you both.” His eyes singled out Cassandra, and his smile grew.
She shyly ducked her chin, no longer capable of reasoning away the effect of his presence. When she lifted her eyes, she asked, “Are you back from the workhouse already?”
“Yes. Things did not go quite as I imagined. We got the doctor in, thank the heavens, but Mr. Longbottom was not exactly helpful. I’ve never met a man with less of a conscience. Life and death are no consequence to him.” Tom patted his horse’s neck. “Mr. Adams was a godsend. We should hear word soon.”
“That is wonderful news.” Cassandra was relieved for him.
“We can only hope. May I ask why you are greeting me here in the stables?”
She ignored the playful glimmer in his eye. “I was anxious to ask you for a favor.”
“If I can help, I will do so.” Tom rested his arms across the top of the stall door.
Not sure where to start, she glanced at Megan and grimaced. “We have found ourselves in a difficult situation.”
Tom’s soft chuckle mingled with a snort from his horse. “Ah, we have become experts on the subject. It should not be too hard, then.”
Cassandra took a deep breath and pulled out the pearls, holding them up for Tom to see.
Recognition dawned on Tom’s face, and his mouth gaped. He let himself out of the stall, stopping just before her. “Cassie, darling...” He cleared his throat. “I think I know what happened here, and I can help.” He stepped closer. “We all come to this earth with varying abilities. Some of these talents you might even call vices.”
She was so stuck on the fact that he had agreed to help and called her darling that she could not comprehend the nonsensical but much-too-serious words that came after. “Vices?”
He scratched his ear, clearly uncomfortable with whatever it was he was about to say. “For some it is the drink. For others, it is an incessant longing for other people’s belongings. But these things do not have to rule us. We can attempt to bridle our passions. I believe my friend Mr. Romantic would go as far as to explain the principle of redemption at this point.” He pointed to her with the brush. “If it can work for others, surely it can work for you.”
Cassandra looked to Megan for help.
Megan shook her head and shrugged. Clearly, she understood less about what Tom was saying than Cassandra did.
“Redemption? Mr. Romantic?” She squinted at Tom. “Are we still speaking of the pearls?”
Tom’s cheeks reddened ever so slightly, and he scratched his cheek absently with the brush before realizing what he was doing and droppingit to his side. “We can rectify this. You don’t have to steal a string of pearls to be happy.”
“Ha!” Cassandra sputtered, her laugh a little hysterical. “You thought that I... ? Good heavens! I am no thief.”
