The Outcast by Rosalyn West

Author:Rosalyn West [West, Rosalyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical
ISBN: 9780062243287
Publisher: Avon
Published: 2012-11-12T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Patrice’s sudden turnabout in mood and manner had everyone mystified over dinner. The abruptly meek and soft-spoken woman fell under close scrutiny as she sat beside her brother, nodding at his every word.

“We’re going to have it all back,” he announced in a broad stroke of optimism. Patrice smiled up at him, her gaze warm with belief. It made him pause, off-balance, then go on with renewed certainty. “I’ve got materials coming in tomorrow and enough workers to see us back in the Manor by the end of next week.”

Hannah smiled her bewilderment. “Did you talk to that young man at the bank?”

“No, of course not. He’s not getting his hands any tighter around our throats. Once we get crops in, we can shake him off our backs and we won’t be beholden to anyone.”

It sounded simple. Nothing was that easy. Reeve studied Deacon as he spoke, searching for clues to his sudden almost buoyant attitude. He’d never met a man harder to read. But in his gut, he knew Deacon was hiding something behind his smooth assurances and bland smile. Something bad, if not dangerous.

“So,” he drawled out. “If not from the bank, where did you find this sudden fortune?”

He looked Reeve right in the eye and said without a flicker of expression, the biggest, boldest lie Reeve had ever heard. “From overseas investments Father made before the war. I’d forgotten them until the solicitor came out to the Manor this morning.”

Reeve glanced at Patrice. He saw her mouth purse slightly, but she said nothing. She must have felt the same jangle of suspicions that rattled through him, only this time, she let them go unspoken. Her acceptance of a blatant falsehood alarmed him more than the lie itself.

Noting the focus of Reeve’s stare, Deacon turned to his sister with a pleasant and totally out-of-character smile. Like watching the sun rise in the middle of the night.

“Patrice, I want you and Mother to come into town with me tomorrow. We need to order papering and window things. I’ll turn that over to you. And I want you both to buy yourselves new dresses, shoes, whatever you need. I don’t want to take you home looking like poor relations.”

Hannah’s concern deepened. “But Deacon, we can’t afford—”

He still smiled, but his gaze held a definite rebuke. “Hush now, Mother. I can afford anything you want. Don’t worry your head over it.”

“If you say so, dear,” came her meekly murmured reply.

But Reeve noticed that the uneasiness never truly left her. She knew something was not quite right about their sudden riches, too. However, she’d been trained since birth never to reveal her doubts, especially not in public. And not when her son wore the same forbidding mask her husband had adopted when he absolutely would not tolerate any questions.

The rest of the meal went quickly, with Deacon speaking casually of the repairs to Sinclair Manor and no one daring to challenge him on how. Reeve pointedly ignored the squire’s urgent stares, knowing this new twist in things disturbed him.

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