“I wasthatbad?” She looked up.
He shifted on the chair, and she wondered if he was trying to find words or weighing his answer.
“Tell me the truth, if you please,” she instructed.
He nodded. “You were days away from death. You had obviously not eaten for far too long, and I believe your water supply had either run out or you were too weak to get to it. The cold was taking its toll and your meagre fire was all but out.” He smiled slightly. “Both the physical and the metaphorical.”
“I see.” She shuddered inside, holding tightly to the control that had always kept her head above the waters of confusion and emotion.I nearly died…
“Fortunately, I was able to intervene to prevent any further degradation of your person, my Lady. With the continued application of gentle care, warmth, liquids and light foods…as you can surely tell, you are not yet at full strength, but you are well on the way to attaining that goal.”
“I see I owe you my life, Giles,” she said calmly. “For which I am, of course, most grateful. However…” she paused, watching his every move, “that begs the question ofwhy.”
“Why what, Ma’am?”
“Don’t be obtuse. You know full well the meaning of my question.” She snapped back at him, her fears lurking, nipping at her mind. “Why did you leave this place, Wolfbridge I’m told it’s called, and travel to where I was to—as Gabriel put it—rescue me?” She straightened, pushing herself back slightly into the pillows. “Are you acting as an agent of my stepson? Because if you are, if this is all a ruse to return me to…”
“Stop.” Giles frowned and the word was a sharply delivered command.
To her surprise, Gwyneth obeyed. She must be weaker than she realised.
“I am nobody’s agent. And no, I have not met your stepson. Ever.”
She got the impression he was trying for a little control as well.
“Should I have the misfortune to do so, you can rest assured that I will take pleasure in pointing out the error of his ways. Nobody should ever be deliberately placed in such a rundown hovel, such terrible life-threatening squalor. Nobody should be starved, deprived of the basics of humanity, or forced to share what little food there is with the rats that also share the dwelling.”
She opened her mouth to respond, but it seemed that Giles was in full spate.
“To condemn a woman, anyone, to such conditions is a monstrous act. To place a relative deliberately into such circumstances, is—in my opinion—tantamount to murder.”
“Ah.”
She couldn’t think of a response to that. Because she agreed with every single word.
“So to return to your question of why I travelled to the Kilham Abbey Dower House, it wasn’t necessarily to save your life—although it turned out that way—it was to collect you and bring you here so that you might assume the position that is rightfully yours.”
“And what position is that?” She eyed him with curiosity and not a little concern. What did he, and the other men, have in mind?
Giles leaned forward. “You, Lady Gwyneth, are the next Lady of Wolfbridge Manor.”
“What?”
“You have familial connections to the Wolfbridge line through a great-aunt. This connection brought you to the attention of Wolfbridge and the estate.” He took a moment, pausing to watch her response.
“I still don’t understand.”
“I must tell you many things, Lady Gwyneth. But first, and foremost, please know this. The position of Lady of Wolfbridge is a unique one, provided for by the original Lady, more than a few generations ago. It is granted to those of her line who are in need at the same time that the Manor has no mistress. We have just bid farewell to our last Lady of Wolfbridge. She is now wed and has left us with her husband for a new life.”
“A fortuitous event.” She could think of no other comment, since her mind was presently reeling like a drunken sailor.
“Indeed,” nodded Giles. “Her departure meant that I had to look for our next Lady—and that was you. I knew you’d moved to the Dower House. I did not, and believe me when I say how angry I am to have to add this comment,I did not, at any time, know the conditions in which you were living.” For a brief moment a look of fury crossed his face.
Gwyneth’s fingers clutched the quilt. She would not want to anger this man.
“Had I been aware of the terrible plight you were suffering, I would have been there much sooner, but thankfully I arrived in time to prevent the most tragic of happenings.”
“In other words, you reached me before I died.”
