“Oh, I can understandthat,” Agnes said. “I’m not married either. It’s never held much interest for me. Imagine shackling yourself to a man who had dominion over you and could tell you what to do day in and day out. I would loathe that.”
“This isn’t dinner conversation,” Reeves said, glancing at his daughter. She so deeply admired both of the women sitting at this table, and he didn’t want her running away with the idea that there was something unpleasant about marriage. It was something he hoped she would have one day. Though his own marriage had been short and not a matter of love, he had valued it, and he didn’t want his daughter to miss out on a good thing because her aunt had convinced her there was something wrong with it.
And hecertainlywouldn’t have Miss Wetherby convincing her of that.
He cleared his throat. “That’s enough intrusive questions for our guest for one night,” he said.
“I’m just trying to get to know her,” Agnes protested.
“You can do that another time. Right now, I want to hear from Emma. We need to know what happened that led to her arriving at the orphanage.”
Emma froze. Her eyes were glued to her plate.
Agnes went quiet at last. Miss Wetherby’s eyes narrowed in disapproval, but that didn’t matter. Reeves didn’t need her approval. He focused on Emma.
“I know you haven’t wanted to speak,” he told her, keeping his voice calm. “I understand that that has been hard for you. Butit’s time to tell us what happened, Emma. We need to know, all right? Whoever took you that night might take other little girls if they aren’t caught and brought to justice. We need to make sure they’re punished for what they did.”
Emma shivered.
“Look at me,” he told her.
She didn’t. She kept her gaze fixed on the plate in front of her, as if she thought that ignoring him might get him to stop talking.
“Emma,” he said, allowing his tone to grow a bit sharper. “We don’t have time for this. You need to let us know what happened. This is very important, all right? I know you can speak. You spoke to us before, back at the orphanage, remember? I need you to do that again now. Once you’ve told us who that bad person was, you can go back to being quiet, but right now I need some cooperation.”
Miss Wetherby put down her napkin. “That isn’t going to work,” she said, her voice quiet but firm. “You can’t just scold her into talking to you, as if she were being naughty. That isn’t what this is. She’s dealing with pain over what happened to her, rather than disobeying you. She isn’t talking because shecan’t, not because she’s trying to defy you.”
“But shecantalk,” Reeves argued, frustratedly. Why were they indulging this? “We heard her talk just yesterday.”
“Physically, yes, she can. Emotionally, she isn’t ready, and that’s obvious,” Miss Wetherby snapped, clearly growing frustrated herself. “This is why you brought me along, Your Grace. We agreed that I might be of help to your daughter as she recovers from what happened to her. But that is only going to be true if youletme help.You have to listen to me and take my advice. If you can’t do that, having me here is not going to do Emma the slightest bit of good.”
“And what if you’re wrong about all this? What if being soft on her is teaching her that she doesn’t have to be strong? That she doesn’t have to find a way to move beyond what happened to her?” Reeves asked. “I don’t want to make it difficult for her either, but allowing her to sit in silence is going to make this worse. And besides, we have to find out what happened the night she vanished. That’s important information. We aren’t going to get anywhere until we have that answer.”
“Well, it isn’t her responsibility to give you that answer.” Miss Wetherby’s eyes had grown bright with anger. “She’s a child. She’s been through an ordeal. You’re a man who wants to hunt down the criminal who hurt your family, and that’s all well and good, but you can’t force her into helping you with that. She shouldn’t have to help you with that. She’s suffered enough.”
“I’d think she wouldwantto see the kidnapper locked away,” Reeves retorted, rising to his feet. “Surely, we’ll all sleep a little better once we know that man is no longer out there. I know I will, and I’d think she would too.”
“Perhaps, but you still have to wait until she is ready to have this conversation,” Miss Wetherby said firmly.
“You presume to sit here in my house, at my table, and tell me what Ihaveto do? You don’t command me.”
“It isn’t a command,” she shot back, standing up as well. “It’s simple reason. Youcannotforce her to speak before she’s ready, and you will only upset her if you try. You have to stop. You have to wait untilsheshows us that she’s ready to talk about what happened. Until then, forcing the issue will only make her retreat.”
“You think you know her so much better than I do? You’ve known her for a week,” Reeves growled. “You may be good with children. I wouldn’t know. But we’re not talking aboutchildren. We’re talking aboutmy child. I admit she’s taken to you, but no one in this world knows my daughter better than I do, and I’m not going to listen to anyone who claims they know more than I do about what she needs.”
Miss Wetherby threw up her hands. “Then why did you bring me here in the first place?” she demanded. “I want to help you both, but I can’t do that if you refuse to let me. If you won’t even listen to me when I tell you whatI knowneeds to be done. You are doing her more harm than good by badgering her to talk before she’s ready. You’re going to make it impossible for her to ever open up to you about this. You have to go at her pace, and if you can’t do that, I’m not responsible for what will happen.”
“Well, you’ve said one true thing,” Reeves laughed bitterly. “You aren’t responsible. None of this is your responsibility, because she isn’t your child and this isn’t your family. I’ve allowed you to come here, and you’re already making me wish I had left you at the orphanage.”
“Stop!”
The high-pitched voice interrupted their bickering. Both Reeves and Miss Wetherby turned to see that Emma had clapped her hands over her ears and screwed up her whole face, as if in terror.
Miss Wetherby opened her mouth to say something, but Agnes jumped in. “Emma is right,” she said quietly. “I don’t know what she needs, exactly. I don’t know how best to take care of her after all she’s been through. But I do know that she shouldn’t have to sit here on her first night home and listen to the two of you fighting. That isn’t the solution.”
Miss Wetherby sank slowly into her chair, her cheeks flaming. “You’re very right,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry, Emma. Thank you for telling us. We’re stopping now. We won’t do that again.
So, she can be wrong about something.
