Pricing The Heart

Chapter 40

One Year Later.

A pounding sound pulled David out of his restless slumber. Groaning, he pushed himself to a sitting position and pressed a hand to his aching head, while rubbing his eyes with the other until his blurry vision gave way to the piles of paper that littered his desk. He'd fallen asleep again in his study. It was the third time in one week he'd done so. But at least he was sleeping, he thought, digging in his pocket for his handkerchief. He pulled out the blue fabric and dabbed the saliva on both sides of his mouth. In the past year, sleep eluded him, and so did peace.

And what peace could be found outside of Eloise? He'd spent the past one year in the purgatory of her absence. Desperate to find relief from his torture, he was consumed with the need to find her, to marry her. Now that James had been convicted for bigamy and imprisonment for his attempt on the life of a gentleman, the law stood firmly behind David in his desire to marry Eloise.

He thought of James, his mouth souring.

"He would beat me often," Edith had said one evening, while the two sat sharing a meal. "And force me ter do many... unpleasant things for money," she sighed, her cheeks turning crimson. David understood then that James had forced his own wife into prostituting herself for money. It didn't surprise him, but it certainly made his blood boil until he saw red. "Then he'd make me blackmail the gentlemen I was involved with. He made a pretty penny feasting on the ton's fear of scandal."

"I can imagine." He downed his claret to still his raging nerves.

"A little over two years ago, Steve disappeared." David knew that was the time period Eloise eloped with the lout. James had preyed on Eloise's vulnerability at the time by ensnaring her into a fraudulent marriage with plans to rob her of her dowry.

"I was left ter fend for myself, ter continue in the only path I knew, which was... Well, I did what I 'ad ter in order ter survive." Edith glanced down.

Reaching forward on impulse, David took her hand and squeezed. She raised her head, and he saw the tears that stained her cheeks. "I do not judge you harshly for your actions."

Surprise clouded her gaze, then appreciation. She nodded and swallowed. "I wasn't always going ter continue in this path, ya know? I 'ad a plan ter save enuf money to turn from it. There was even a man... A blacksmith. I felt differently 'round 'im. It seemed like love. I'm uncertain. But I truly liked 'im. Life would have been perfect, or perhaps close ter it, if Steve 'adn't reappeared several months ago. I was devastated. I'd thought 'im dead. I'd wished 'im dead."

"You will never have to deal with him again," David promised, swearing to keep Edith safe. He made good on that promise when he leased her a house and placed her on a monthly allowance.

David also sued James for fraud. The scandal sheets termed his decision many things—petty, laughable, unwise. He was labeled mad because he sought to claim a paltry one shilling, while spending a fortune in legal fees. Yet he cared nothing for the gossipmongers. It was for the sake of justice and principle he went to court, because he sought to reclaim Eloise's dignity. Money had been wrongfully exchanged for her freedom from a man she was never tied to in the first place. He thought the end result of the lawsuit was worth every penny spent, even if the lawsuit had cost him something more than money.

Even now, he saw the rage that darkened Jon's eyes as he regarded him.

"You will put our family's reputation on the line for a lowlife, nobody?" Jon had asked coolly.

"Eloise is not to be insulted. And this has nothing to do with us."

"Do you truly believe that?! Surely you've lost your damn mind, brother! And certainly not for the first time! Once again, you've made our family a laughingstock, first with your marriage to a mentally deranged woman, and now this ridiculous lawsuit."