For something she obviously didn’t want to explain to Gideon. Perhaps she was afraid he would consider it frivolous or even silly, but Gideon’s job wasn’t to decide if new furnishings for her house or a new wardrobe for herself or gifts to children or grandchildren were silly or frivolous. Her husband had been a generous man, and he had created the trust to protect his wife from being taken advantage of, not to keep her from indulging the occasional whim.

“How much did you have in mind?” Gideon asked with an encouraging smile.

“A hundred thousand dollars,” she said blithely.

For a long moment, Gideon couldn’t even speak. “That’s a . . . a rather large sum,” he finally managed.

“Is it enough, do you think?” she asked with a tiny frown.

Gideon was now confused. “Enough for what?”

“Enough for . . . Oh, I almost forgot. I can’t tell you. But perhaps . . . Let me ask you something, Mr. Bates. If you had an opportunity to invest in a . . . a project that would result in doubling your initial investment, how much would you put into it?”

This time it was Gideon who shifted in his chair, and not from excitement. Every nerve in his body had tensed in alarm. This was not at all what he had expected to hear from sweet Mrs. Darlington. He made himself smile politely. “I’m afraid I can’t think of any kind of investment that would earn a return of one hundred percent.”

“Is that how much it is? I thought it might be two percent since it was twice as much. One hundred percent is rather impressive, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” Gideon swallowed, hoping to keep his voice even. “Without divulging anything secret, can you confirm that this is what you have been promised?”

“Oh yes. Perhaps more, in fact, so you see how important it is to invest as much as possible.”

Gideon’s mind was racing. Even if he hadn’t married a con artist, he would have known something was very suspicious about Mrs. Darlington’s request. In the first place, who on earth would have approached an elderly widow with no understanding of finance to invest in anything reputable? Even if they had, no one reputable would have promised any sort of return and certainly not such an outlandish one. And finally, why had Mrs. Darlington been instructed not to tell anyone about it? “Have you discussed this with your children, Mrs. Darlington?”

“Certainly not! It’s none of their business what I do with my money, is it?”

Gideon’s smile was beginning to feel stiff. “Perhaps it is, since it will be their inheritance.”

Mrs. Darlington waved away any such thought with her gloved hand. “My husband left them very well fixed, and if they’re worried about their inheritance, this will make them even richer.”