Peter settled himself beside her. He still had hope he could offer some bit of peace.
“Were you comfortable enough in the carriage?”
Her smile brightened her entire face. “I was. As Mort reassured you all afternoon, it was quite comfortable.”
He shifted on the cold ground, his legs stretched out before him. “Are any of these men known to you?”
Her face shifted to a guarded anger before his eyes. He regretted his choice of words immediately. That was something he needed to move beyond with her if she was to ever feel safe with him.
“Known? As in the way you know Ursula?”
He did not anticipate the question. He paused before he asked, “Who is Ursula?”
“You don’t even know the woman you paid to lay with you?”
“I paid no one.”
“She showed me the gold coin.” Brighit’s head tipped to one side, her jaw tight.
“I’ve lain with no one.”
Brighit’s mouth closed tight.
Peter searched his memory. The woman in the red dress came to mind. “Ah, the wench at the inn?”
She turned toward him with eyes wide with outrage. “Now you remember?”
“I do not know what she told you but I gave her no gold coin and I did not lay with her.”
“So she lied to me? Why would she do that?”
Peter thought for a moment. “Perhaps she tried to make you believe I had lain with her?”
“Why would I care?”
“You do appear irritated.”
In a better light he was certain her coloring was turning a deep red.
“I do not know. I barely spoke to the woman.” He didn’t want to tell Brighit that she may have been insulted at his lack of interest in her. “I believe I was asking you about these men you are with. Have you met them before?”
Her lips tightened. “No.” She turned away.
“And your uncle hired them?”
She gave an exaggerated sigh. Peter resisted the urge to smile, instead waiting patiently for her answer.
“Ivan is my uncle’s man. Ivan hired the other two.”
“And your uncle?”
“I never met him before—at least that I remember, before the day we left my home to come here.”
She turned away. Her nostrils gently flared. Her throat constricted with her swallow. She struggled to keep her composure.
“It must have been very difficult to leave your home.”
Her tear left one single clean streak down her travel-weary face. “It was.”
