Colonel Fitzwilliam's Dilemma by Wendy Soliman Page A

there.”
    “Your husband made his fortune in Jamaica, I collect.”
    “Yes.”
    “Did you enjoy living there?”
    Mrs. Sheffield absently plucked a leaf from a bush as she considered the question. “At first, but I soon became homesick.”
    “I understand. I have spent some time on the island myself and confess I found it rather limiting after a while. If you enjoy riding, and you clearly do, I can understand why living in Jamaica would have been frustrating. As you said last evening, you cannot ride out alone and it’s usually too hot to ride at all.”
    “Precisely.”
    They had reached the end of the path and paused to admire a different prospect. “You and Mr. Asquith met one another in Jamaica I imagine,” Joshua suggested as they turned to retrace their steps.
    Her entire body tensed. “Why ever would you think that?”
    “Tell me to mind my own business if you like, but if we are to be friends I would prefer it if you did not prevaricate. I am a colonel, Mrs. Sheffield, a leader of men. It is my job to recognise, or at least suspect when things are not all they seem to be.”
    “You take a very great interest in my affairs, Colonel.”
    He covered the hand that rested on his sleeve with one of his own hands and was slow to remove it again. “Yes,” he said. “I do. You must forgive me but I cannot seem to help myself. I know you are in trouble, have anxieties that keep you from your own property, and if I can be of service in any way you have but to say the word.”
    She swallowed several times, and Joshua thought her eyes appeared moist. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I was not aware I was in such very great need of a confidante, until now.”
    “You are assured of one with me if you will honour me with your trust.”
    They walked in contemplative silence for several minutes. Joshua was unsure whether he had overstepped the mark. No, that was not precisely true. He knew that he had. In fact the tenor of their entire conversation had not exactly been correct. It had however felt exactly right. What was less sure was whether Mrs. Sheffield would turn away from him or look to him for the help she clearly needed. There was nothing more he could say or do to persuade her and so he remained silent. It was now up to her.
    “Mr. Asquith and I are acquainted,” she said eventually, “but we do not choose to advertise the fact. There was nothing improper about our relationship in Jamaica, but for reasons I cannot share with you, we prefer others not to know it.”
    “In which case, you can rely upon my discretion.”
    “Again, I am indebted to you.” She stepped around a rut in the path. “That is why I was so keen not to take part in the play Mr. Asquith is producing and why he did not wish me to be a part of it. I understand he has made alternative arrangements to fill the vacant role.”
    “You dislike one another so much that you cannot bear to be in the same room?” Joshua flexed a brow. “Now I am really intrigued.”
    “You read too much into that particular situation.”
    “What business was your husband in? What took him to Jamaica is what I am asking I suppose?”
    “Oh, the usual. He and his younger brother were involved in the exportation of sugar.”
    “He had his own plantation?”
    “Yes. He was known to Sir Marius Glover, Mr. Asquith’s mentor, which is how I come to know Mr. Asquith.”
    “But there is a very great deal more to your acquaintanceship than that I think. Your husband died in Jamaica.”
    “Yes, a fever went around and he unfortunately caught it.”
    Again, Joshua was convinced she was holding something back. She certainly didn’t appear to mourn her husband genuinely. “I am very sorry,” he said.
    “And the correct response would be for me to say I am too, but it would be untrue.” She flashed a brittle smile. “My husband was a bully and a tyrant and I would be a hypocrite if I pretended to be sorry he was dead. If we are to be friends, Colonel