Willow voiced her concern. “How do I know if this is truth or tale you tell? It could be nothing more than an excuse to vindicate you of your poor deeds.”
That had been the problem all along. How did anyone believe him when the person claiming to be him lied with ease and apparently without guilt? Why when so many believed him a liar, should anyone believe his story?
“And how is it that there is someone out there that resembles you with such exact detail that I had mistaken him for you?”
“I don’t know who he is or how it is that he resembles me or why he does what he does,” Slatter admitted. “It is a puzzle and one that has many missing pieces.”
She narrowed her eyes as she gave thought to his strange explanation. “Why didn’t you explain this when you were caught, accused, and imprisoned?”
“I tried that once and it didn’t go well. It was then I realized that unless I caught this culprit and made my innocence known, I would continue to suffer from his misdeeds. And the only way to do that was to pretend to be him, when the occasion called for it, and find out what I could about him, in hopes it would lead me to him.”
He could see that she wasn’t sure if she should believe him and that troubled him, though he couldn’t blame her. It sounded a poor excuse to his ears as well. He didn’t like that she doubted his word. He wanted her trust. He’d believed he had it when they had been snug in the hole together, but she had had little choice then.
“You could have said something to me when I tended your wound.”
“You would have believed me, after I had attempted an escape?”
“I suppose if you speak the truth, that you are innocent, yet made to suffer punishment for another’s misdeeds, it would be a good reason to attempt an escape.”
He wanted to wipe her doubt away, return that small bit of trust she had had for him, but mostly he wanted to kiss her. And that would help nothing. She would think he wanted to charm her into believing him when all he wanted was another taste of her lips. That, in itself, was a dangerous thought as was prolonging her time with him. But what choice had he?
Devin had been right about the danger to her now. If he returned Willow home before this problem was solved, how could he be sure this culprit wouldn’t show up on her doorstep and claim her as his wife? How long would it take her to realize the difference? Or would she?
“It is good you see reason,” Slatter said, “since it isn’t only solving the problem of our unexpected marriage that needs to be settled that keeps us together. We also need to remain together until I capture this culprit and lay this problem to rest.”
“Why would that be?” she asked, wondering how it could possibly matter.
“What if for some reason you arrived home before our marriage was disavowed and I claimed you were my wife and that you would stay my wife? And what if it wasn’t me, but the man you saw at the market? Would you be able to tell the difference?”
“You make a good point, a worrisome point,” she admitted. “Still, how do I trust that you speak the truth to me?”
The old woman’s voice sounded in her head. It is a good man you married.
She had begun to believe that, had seen it for herself with the people that Slatter had gathered here, by the way he had helped her when he could have walked away and left her to Beck’s greed. Then there was the way she felt in his arms, that she belonged there. Or how his lips had brought hers alive, or the way her body had responded to his gentle, intimate touch. She felt something for this man whether she wanted to admit it or not.
And she wasn’t ready to admit anything, not with her recent, unexpected thoughts. A new voice had chimed in, a devilish one, tempting her to do things she would have never considered even giving thought to. So how then did she see reason in this situation?
“How long do you think this will take?” she asked, worried that too much time spent with him could prove far too challenging. If she responded so easily to his offered hand, how would she respond if he kissed her again?
“It is difficult to tell.”
“My family will be worried, more so when news of the market incident reaches them. And a message will not suffice, since they will think it comes from you. And what of Tarass? He will continue to search for you. We will be hunted as we hunt your culprit.”