His Mail Order Bride Was the Prettiest Woman He Ever Laid His Eyes On
Chapter 6
On the ride home, Eleanor barely spoke.
Thomas finally stopped the horses.
“Eleanor.”
She continued looking ahead.
“I didn’t know.”
“I believe you.”
He looked relieved.
“But that doesn’t mean I trust you.”
“I know.”
She dismounted.
Thomas followed.
She walked toward the creek.
“My aunt wrote that she had sold everything.”
Thomas stood several feet away.
“Maybe she was protecting you.”
“From whom?”
“Crowe.”
Eleanor turned.
“Why would he care about me?”
“Because your family owned the river warehouses.”
She stared.
Thomas explained.
“Crowe wants control of the river trade.”
“And my inheritance gives him that?”
“Yes.”
She sat beside the creek.
“Then my marriage was part of a plan.”
“Perhaps.”
“Crowe knew you needed money.”
“Yes.”
“He knew I had property.”
“Yes.”
“And he arranged for us to meet.”
Thomas shook his head.
“I never spoke to him about you.”
“Then who did?”
Thomas thought.
“Your aunt.”
Eleanor froze.
“My aunt?”
“She may have arranged the match.”
“But why?”
Thomas sat beside her.
“Maybe she believed you were safer here.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“You’re defending her.”
“No.”
He looked at the water.
“I’m trying to understand.”
She was silent.
Then she noticed something.
A small wooden box caught beneath a tree root.
She pulled it free.
Inside was a letter.
Her aunt’s handwriting.
Eleanor opened it.
“My dear Eleanor,
If you are reading this, I have failed to keep the truth from you.
Your family estate is not what it appears.
Your cousin Jonathan has been working with Silas Crowe.
He intends to marry you to one of Crowe’s associates, then claim your inheritance through the marriage settlement.
I arranged your correspondence with Thomas Reed because he was the only man I believed would protect you without knowing what you possessed.
Do not tell him everything immediately.
Watch what he does when there is nothing to gain.”
Eleanor looked up.
Thomas had not read the letter.
She handed it to him.
He read it.
Then he laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because the truth was absurd.
“So your aunt sent you to me to test me.”
“Yes.”
“And she knew about the debt.”
“Yes.”
Thomas shook his head.
“She knew I was desperate.”
Eleanor touched his arm.
“She believed you were honorable.”
Thomas looked at her.
“And you?”
She hesitated.
“I am beginning to.”
