Flight From Blithmore by Jacob Gowans Read Free Book Online

the bedside. “Are you in pain?”
    A
little smile grew on the pale pink lips of Lady Oslan. “I’m dying, Isabelle.”
    “Mother,
don’t talk that way,” Isabelle pleaded. “I’ll get Norbin.”
    Lady
Oslan reached out and took Isabelle’s hand. Her eyes opened and she seemed
happy, despite her anguished state. In fact, Isabelle noticed her mother was
more alert than she had been in months. “Please listen. I’m beyond Norbin’s
care and yours. Will you believe me?”
    Isabelle
sobbed twice. “No, Mother. I won’t believe that. We’ll do everything we can and
then you’ll be—”
    “You’ve
already done everything a daughter can do for a mother. Let me help you now.”
    “Have
faith, Mother.” She tried to sound brave, but tears betrayed her. Why did this
have to happen today? Life seemed too dark to face without her mother’s
guidance.
    “Youmust listen to me, Isabelle, or I will not be able to help you at all.”
Lady Oslan’s voice had a soothing effect.
    Isabelle
wiped her eyes and nodded. “Alright, I’m listening.”
    “Pay
attention to me. When I married your father, my parents gave me a large sum as
a dowry. Your father spent most of it, but our marriage contract stated that
some of it belonged solely to me for as long as I wished to keep it.”
    Isabelle
remembered her parents fighting over the money on multiple occasions, but her
mother had never caved to Lord Oslan’s demands. On James’ sixteenth birthday,
Lord Oslan announced that James had one year to make arrangements to leave and
start supporting himself. When James left at age seventeen, Lady Oslan made it
a point of giving her son the money. That decision had led to one of the
biggest altercations Isabelle had ever witnessed.
    Her
mother touched Isabelle’s cheek to get her attention. “Recently, I promised
your father that if he gave Henry his permission to marry, not only could he
demand from Henry a bride price, but I would also give him one thousand
crowns.”
    Isabelle
breathed sharply, trying to grasp all this information. “That’s impossible!
We’ve been nearly penniless since James—”
    “I
never gave the money to James.”
    This
news stunned Isabelle, and for several seconds the only sound in the room came
from the gears of Lady Oslan’s clock ticking away the time. “But I saw you give
him—”
    Lady
Oslan could barely move her head side to side, but the effort silenced
Isabelle. “I gave him a bag of coppers. I tried to give him the money, but he
refused. We tricked your father into thinking it was gone.”
    “Where
has it been all this time?”
    “In
banks earning interest—for the last seven years. I had the money returned to me
only weeks ago when I sensed I would need proof of it to barter with your
father. He had no idea until I showed him one of my receipts, but he doesn’t
know where the money resides or the exact amount.”
    “Why
are you telling me this now? Please let me get you a physician.”
    Lady
Oslan coughed several times, but gestured no to Isabelle. “I would have
told you sooner, but I feared if your father pressed you for answers—threatened
you—you would have told him.”
    “No,
Mother, never.”
    “Think,
Isabelle,” Lady Oslan insisted. “Your father still holds great sway over you,
especially with your desire to marry Henry. He can use your feelings as a
powerful lever.”
    “I
would be firm.”
    “That
remains to be seen. There isn’t a thousand crowns in the coffer now.”
    “How
much is left? Why not leave it where he can’t reach it?”
    Her
mother licked her lips and caught her breath before continuing. Each word took
great effort. “When I die, your father receives the money without question. I
have no control over the gold if it is tied up in banks. I had Norbin remove
it—a sense of foreboding. Now I need you to take the gold and give it to
Henry.”
    “Why
not will it to me and James?”
    Lady
Oslan pointed to the water pitcher, which Isabelle hastened