“Gabe won’t hear anything that will improve the fear inside him if he continues to listen outside her door,” Forrest said.
The earl came back looking pale. “She told the doctor she wishes him to hell, and to take me with him.”
“Excellent,” Forrest said. “Things seem to be progressing well.”
Gabe leaned on the wall. “I love that woman with all I am.”
“And you will do the same with your child. All will go well, Gabe.” Forrest touched his shoulder.
“I should be allowed in there with her.”
“Dr. Grace would have conniptions,” Nathan said. “More brandy, I think, and then Forrest can tell us Miss Knight’s story, and we can give him our sage council.”
“Her father is a bastard and treated both her and Adam terribly, which forced Ruby to leave. She is an incredibly strong woman to have done what she did.”
“What did she do?” Zach asked. He was now lying on the floor with Walter’s head on his chest and Harriet draped over his belly.
“She saved herself and her brother,” Forrest snapped. “Her perfidious father wanted to sell her into bloody marriage for a title!” Anger had him rising and stalking around the room behind Gabe. “Do you know that Adam was kept like an invalid in his room because his sire was ashamed of him.”
“For not telling us her story because it is not yours to share, you are doing an excellent job, Forrest,” Nathan said.
“Bastard. It’s my hope he gets his comeuppance,” Gabe hissed.
They fell silent for a while, and it was Zach who broke it, his voice unusually somber.
“We need to find the Merchant. He cannot be allowed to harm any more young ladies.”
“Amen,” they each said.
“Is there anything in those documents you took that will help with that?” Forrest asked Nathan.
“It is a ledger.” Nathan opened it and showed it to Forrest. He turned several pages “It’s clearly a list of passengers who arrived on theGodfrey. I wonder what that means?”
Forrest looked at the letter S he’d seen beside a few entries, Nathan was pointing to.
“I don’t know, but those are women’s names.”
“Lord Raine.” Dr. Grace appeared.
“Dimity?” Gabe croaked.
“She is well, and the delivery of your heir went better than I expected. It appears your wife is very efficient, Lord Raine. She has given birth to a boy with speed and limited fuss.”
Gabe ran around him and up the stairs. They all followed his movements with their eyes.
“Very odd behavior for an earl,” the doctor said, following.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
They were given nightshirts to sleep in, and their clothes taken away for cleaning after they had bathed, much to the horror of Ruby. She did not want to put the staff to any more trouble; there was already so much going on in this household with the expected birth of Lord and Lady Raine’s baby.
They had eaten like kings from trays before the fire that had been lit. Adam announced the room the grandest he had ever been in, and the food surely the best also.
As he’d lived on invalid’s food most of his life, she could only agree.
She felt safe here in this house Ruby realized. These people, Mr. Howarth and his cousins, and others had willingly helped her save her brother. They’d not hesitated. It was humbling and made her feel warm all over. Yes, there was still the fear of what was ahead of them, but right now she felt safe.
Adam fell asleep not long after they had eaten, clearly exhausted after what he had endured, so Ruby took their trays outside and closed the door softly behind her. Lowering them to the floor, she headed for the room next door.
