The Arrangement Read Free Page B

close to him. ‘I’m here. What can I do for you?’ ”
    I saw the earl turning more toward me as he got closer to the revelation I did not want to hear.
    Savile went on, “ ‘Find the boy,’ George said, with those desperately urgent eyes still glued to my face. ‘You must…find the boy.’ ”
    “ ‘What boy, George?’ ” I asked.
    I was gripping my hands together so tightly that they ached. Here it comes, I thought. Oh God, here it comes.
    “ ‘In my will,’ George said. ‘He must have the money I’ve left him in my will.’ ”
    “I took my cousin’s hand in mine and his grip was astonishingly strong. I said, ‘How shall I find this boy, George?’ ”
    Savile stopped. When finally I could stand it no longer and turned my head to look at him, he continued quietly, “He told me to ‘find Gail.’ ”
    Our eyes held. I didn’t say anything.
    “He begged me, Mrs. Saunders,” Savile said. “ ‘Promise me, Raoul,’ he said. ‘Promise me that you will find the boy.’ ”
    I tore my eyes away from his. I forced myself to breathe deeply and slowly and tried to keep my face expressionless.
    “I promised him, of course,” Savile said, “and less than five minutes later, he was dead.”
    His voice ceased, and for what seemed a long time the only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock on the mantel.
    I had hated George Melville for many years and had often wished him dead, and now it seemed that even in dying he had managed to cause me trouble.
    Savile said soberly, “He was thirty-one—a year younger than I am.”
    I tried to organize my thoughts. It could have been worse, I thought. George had not told Savile everything.
    “How did you find me?” I finally asked.
    “Through your aunt, Miss Longworth.”
    I nodded. It was the answer I had expected. I had always remained in communication with Aunt Margaret.
    “So now you know why I have sought you out, Mrs. Saunders,” the earl said. “Clearly, your son, Nicholas, is the boy my cousin was referring to. I am the executor of Devane’s will and it is to be read at Savile Castle, my home in Kent. I have come to escort you there so that you may be present when the will is made public.”
    My mind was in a whirl as I considered the implications of this bequest. “Why isn’t the will being read at Devane Hall?” I asked, playing for time.
    “Under the circumstances, I thought you might prefer not to return to Hatfield,” Savile said quietly. “I understood from your aunt that you have not returned home since your marriage.”
    The village of Hatfield had never been home to me. It was just the place where Deborah and I had been forced to live after our parents had died. I cared not the snap of my fingers what they thought about me in Hatfield.
    This, however, was not something I was about to discuss with the Earl of Savile.
    I had made up my mind about what I should do, and I said in an extremely calm voice, “As there is absolutely no reason for Lord Devane to have made any financial provisions for my son, I see little point in my being present for the reading of this will.”
    “Don’t be a fool,” Savile said forcefully. He leaned forward in his chair, as if he would persuade me by sheer masculine force. “My cousin told me that he had left a sum of money to your son, Mrs. Saunders, and from what I can judge of your situation, you need it.”
    His eyes flicked insultingly around my shabby drawing room.
    I clenched my hands and said fiercely, “My house may not be elegant, but I can assure you that Nicky does not lack for any of the important things in life! My lord ,” I added with deliberate disdain.
    His golden eyes were inscrutable. “I believe I know more about your financial situation than you realize, Mrs. Saunders,” he said. “When I was still in Hatfield I had a talk with your late husband’s mother, and she informed me that you had inherited nothing from him. Nor, according to the same source, have you ever