His Mail Order Bride Was the Prettiest Woman He Ever Laid His Eyes On
Chapter 5
Eleanor read the letter twice.
Thomas watched her.
“Your aunt?”
“She died three days ago.”
“I am sorry.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“That isn’t all.”
She handed him the paper.
He read the final line.
Your cousin intends to contest the inheritance.
Thomas looked at her.
“What inheritance?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t know you had one?”
“My aunt told me everything had been sold.”
Thomas frowned.
“Perhaps she lied.”
Eleanor looked toward the road.
“She never lied to me.”
“Then someone else did.”
The rider who had delivered the letter had already disappeared.
Thomas examined the seal.
“Who sent this?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“There is no name.”
Thomas looked toward the hills.
“Then we should go to town.”
“Why?”
“To find out what your aunt left.”
They rode the next morning.
At the county office, they discovered that Eleanor’s family owned more than she knew.
A small estate.
Two warehouses.
Three farms.
And a considerable amount of unpaid debt.
But one document caught Thomas’s attention.
A transfer agreement.
Signed by Eleanor’s cousin, Jonathan Hart.
It claimed Eleanor had surrendered her inheritance voluntarily.
Eleanor stared at the signature.
“I never signed this.”
The clerk shrugged.
“It’s filed.”
Thomas leaned forward.
“Who witnessed it?”
The clerk hesitated.
“Silas Crowe.”
Thomas and Eleanor exchanged a glance.
The clerk lowered his voice.
“You should leave.”
“Why?”
“Because Mr. Crowe has friends everywhere.”
Thomas folded the document.
“We’re not leaving.”
The clerk looked frightened.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
Outside, Thomas and Eleanor mounted their horses.
A carriage waited across the road.
Silas Crowe stepped out.
He was dressed in an expensive dark coat.
His smile was polite.
“Mrs. Reed.”
Eleanor stiffened.
“I am not Mrs. Reed.”
Crowe smiled.
“Not yet, perhaps.”
Thomas moved between them.
Crowe laughed.
“I see.”
His eyes moved to Thomas.
“You married the woman whose inheritance I need.”
Thomas’s hand rested near his pistol.
Crowe continued.
“Your ranch debt comes due in six weeks.”
Thomas said nothing.
Crowe smiled.
“And her estate will be worth considerably more than that.”
Eleanor understood.
Her marriage had not been accidental.
Someone had known about her inheritance.
Someone had arranged the entire match.
She looked at Thomas.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Crowe smiled.
“That is the interesting part.”
