Henry’s uncle!
She shook her head unable to recall his name. Henry barely mentioned him. She had never seen him at gatherings. Actually, she had never met the man. Why would he approach Lord Simon for help and had he done so on Henry’s behest? He couldn’t have if what Henry says is true and her da had wed her to him. Unless Henry never spoke of the marriage to his uncle.
She started up the steps again, her mind churning. Was it a coincidence that he had been in France the same time as her parents? But he had been on the coast, a distance from Paris where they had been.
The coast.
Flora stopped again, Iona’s words rushing into her head.
Growing by the sea and sandy soil.
Where one would find black henbane.
She turned to head back down. She had to tell Torin. He must know immediately. She did not want to believe it, but she feared Henry was the one who wanted her dead, though she still did not understand why.
She barely took a few steps when she heard footfalls rushing up the stairs. Anwen must have told Torin and he came to see if she was safe.
“Torin!” she called out. “I think I know the culprit. I think it’s—” Her mouth clamped shut when Henry came around the curve.
He smiled and shook his head. “I knew it was only a matter of time before you figured it out.”
She silently admonished herself for failing to make it a priority for her husband to teach her how to defend herself in any given situation. But once Torin learned she was in the keep alone, he would not fail to seek her out. She had to stay alive long enough for him to reach her and she had only one weapon to use… her words.
“I do not understand, explain it to me, Henry,” she said, encouraging him to talk.
“If you think to delay so your husband can come rescue you, you are wrong. He is in a lively debate with Walsh and paying heed to no one else.”
Her heart felt as if it stopped for a moment, but she would not allow the news to defeat her. Henry was unaware that Anwen would speak with Torin after she spoke with the servants. She simply had to survive until her husband reached her, no matter what it took.
“Then you have time to satisfy my curiosity,” she said, keeping her fear from her voice.
“I always admired your courage and audacity. You would have made me a good wife… until I did not need you anymore.”
Flora saw whatever Henry had never shown before, arrogance and anger. “You have worn a mask all this time.”
“And it has not been easy, showing a weak side while befriending people I found loathsome.”
“Was my da one of them?” she asked.
“Not until I discovered he spied for the king.” Henry’s brow shot up when he did not get the shocked response he had expected. “It is no surprise to you.” He shook his head. “Walsh told you, a spy himself. Though, not a good one since he never realized I spy for England.”
“England? Whyever, would you spy for England?”
“It is my mother’s homeland and through the years I have come to love it. It is a powerful country, and it expands its power to grow even larger and like others who are true Englishmen, I will do whatever I can to assist and see it victorious in all its endeavors. That means making sure no spies obtained any valid information that could hurt England.”
“The reason you want me dead. You fear my da shared information with me before he died,” she said, it beginning to make sense.
“Nay, I made sure your da and mum would be too ill to speak of anything with you.”
Flora rushed a hand to her stomach, feeling as if he had punched her there, realizing what he alluded to. “You poisoned my parents?”
“They left me no choice. I engaged a fellow spy to poison a few members of your da’s group in France, then had the poison fed to your parents slowly so they would be ill and beyond help upon their arrival home, leaving nothing nefarious to be suspected. You see, what information your da discovered would have eventually led to me and I could not allow that to happen.”
Her hand fisted in anger at her waist that he had taken her parents from her when they had so much life left in them yet.
“But I had no hand in putting a bounty on your head. That was my uncle’s doing, my mother’s brother, a useless sot. I was the one who had the bounty rescinded. Upon Lord Simon’s death, my uncle discovered that since he had no family, Simon named you as sole beneficiary of his estate and wealth. You are a wealthy woman, Flora.”
“But women cannot inherit—”