Page 104 of A Treacherous Bet to Win a Duchess

Cecilia nodded, “Yes, and then we ruled that out because mother was too weak to do any digging herself and she apparently had no accomplice to help her with it. Not even Mrs. Oakley knew where that box had got to.”

Anthony showed her the painting again. “Exactly! Mother would have been too weak to dig a hole in a grassy area or where ever the ground was packed together.”

“But look at this again—your painting has just reminded me that this entire stretch of soil along the line of the wall was bare when mother diedbecause shortly before her death, she had told Mr. Reeves that she wanted a long stretch of flowerbeds to line the wall.”

“She could have easily waited for him to break the ground and finish weeding it in preparation for the new flowerbeds. And then she could have easily snuck out and buried it anywhere along this perimeter. It was already dug up, she just needed to throw a bit more soil on top of wherever she placed the box and then Mr. Reeves would have been none the wiser.”

He was out of breath by the time he finished his elaborate explanation. Before Cecilia could respond, a knock at the door startled them.

“Anthony, Lady Cecilia, sorry to interrupt,” Ian’s muffled voice said through the door, “but I believe you need to come out here now.”

“Right away, Ian! Thank you!” Anthony called out.

Cecilia whispered, “We can tell Mr. Fletcher your theory once we get home. We’ll ask him if he thinks it could be possible.”

Anthony gave her a thumbs-up with one hand and turned the doorknob with the other. Ian was still waiting on the other side.

“Sorry, Ian, we just had to discuss a family matt—”

Ian dismissed the thought entirely, “Yes, yes, it’s no problem. It’s fine! Come, we need to get you two to the dining table,” he said in a frenzy.

* * *

At last, Ian returned to the dining room and announced, “My apologies for the delay, ladies, gentlemen, children. Once again, here are our generous patrons and guests of honor.”

Everyone at the table rose from their seats. Meredith wiped a tear from her eye. Seeing the children and Ma’am Tabitha so happy was all she could have ever hoped for. She wanted to thank the people who had made this possible. Ever since she had arrived, she had been asking Ian who the patrons were, but he refused to tell her.

Apparently even Lord Farellshire knew who it was, but he and Ma’am Tabitha, Joyce,everyonefollowed Ian’s lead and refused to tell her anything.

At last, the patrons entered. Meredith’s heart stopped.

Is that— No, it couldn’t be.But it is. Yes! Itishim!

He saw her at the same moment that she saw him.

She let out a sob. She had no idea why he was dressed the way he was dressed, but she didn’t care. It was him!

Even after all this time, his emerald eyes haven’t changed at all.

* * *

Slowly, carefully, he walked towards her. Anthony couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

Is it her? Is she really here?

When they were but two steps away from each other, his heart leapt for joy.

It’s her! It is! She’s somehow even more beautiful than the last time I saw her.

“Good afternoon, Meredith.”

“Good afternoon, Anthony.”

The End?