Jane felt herself shrink a little. The unspoken implication was that Miss Knightly had expected no less from a person such as her.
Before she could formulate some kind of response, Ripley stepped forward. “She is Mrs. Ripley now. And you must be Miss Knightly.” He extended his hand. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
The woman seemed flummoxed as she looked Ripley up and down. “I…er, I hadn’t realized you had married. My felicitations.”
“Yes,” Ripley said, and placed a light hand on Jane’s waist. “It’s very new.”
Miss Knightly cleared her throat, giving Ripley one more glance before she focused those sharp eyes back on Jane. “I imagine you are here regarding your sister.”
“Yes,” Jane managed, and tried to put herself back together. “There has still been no sign of Nora since she left your care. Your letter gave me so few answers, I must understand what happened. What the circumstances were of her departure.”
Miss Knightly’s lips pursed. “And I gave you all the particulars I knew in the letter. It cannot be a surprise to you that Honora has done something so wild. I sent you the various reports of her behavior over the last year. Not every young woman wishes to be respectable, Miss…Mrs. Ripley.”
Jane stiffened her spine. “My sister attended your school without incident for the better part of a decade. It was only in the last year that she changed. Did that not trouble you? Did you not question the reasons rather than merely judge her for them?”
Miss Knightly huffed out a breath. “You’ve wasted your time coming here, Mrs. Ripley. I’ve nothing else of value to share.”
Jane gripped her hands at her sides, but before she could scream or lash out or burst into tears, none of which would help, Ripley stepped forward.
“Now then, Miss Knightly, surely you must understand my wife’s concern. She knows what a fine job your institution has done with Honora. We only wish to uncover where she might have gone so that we might collect her and return her to her loving family.”
“The family that did not allow her home during holidays?” Miss Knightly snapped.
Jane turned her head. No, she hadn’t let Honora home over the years. Where could she have sent her? Back to their mother and her abuse? To Jane’s home where what she did and was would have been increasingly clear to an impressionable girl?
Ripley’s jaw set. She could see the shift in him from his initial attempts to soothe this woman to more intense anger at her responses. “I would not question Jane’s love for her sister if I were you, Miss Knightly.”
The headmistress looked at him, was intelligent enough to see the warning through his quiet admonishment, and she swallowed. “Of course not.”
Jane drew in a short breath and tried again. “And understand I’m not questioning your seminary, either. Over the years I could see the good influence you had on Nora. Perhaps I did fail in my duties to her, but I don’t want to do that now, not when it could be a matter of life or death. Please, please won’t you consider what you might know, even something that seems unimportant?”
Miss Knightly put her hands on her hips. “Is there an issue of understanding, Mrs. Ripley? There is nothing I can tell you.”
Jane turned her head and bit back a roar of pain and frustration. Ripley reached for her and took her hand, squeezing gently. In that moment she saw the question in his stare. She understood, without him having to say a word, that he was requesting her permission to unleash a dragon, since something softer and more proper hadn’t given them results. She hesitated briefly and then nodded.
The change in him was immediate. His gaze darkened, his shoulders came back a fraction and he turned to Miss Knightly with a focused stare.
“I’m a very good judge of character, Miss Knightly,” he said, his voice still dangerously soft. “I can read people—it’s a special gift I developed in a life a person like you would easily dismiss. I noticed you said you couldn’t tell my wife more, not that you didn’t know more. A slip, something minor in theory, but I think words having meaning. I can tell you know more about what happened to Jane’s sister.”
“I—” Miss Knightly’s eyes widened. “No.”
His nostrils flared ever so slightly, but Jane still looked for smoke to curl from them. Fire. “Let me explain to you what will happen next. You will tell us everything you know about Nora’s disappearance and turn over any evidence you have about where she’s gone. You’ll also grant us access to speak to Nora’s friends.”
“I’m telling you I know nothing.” Miss Knightly folded her arms, but she looked less certain. “And I cannot just allow you to speak to anyone you wish to.”
Ripley continued as if hadn’t spoken at all. “If you don’t do this, then I’ll have no choice but to post a notice about her going missing into every paper in this country. And I’ll be certain to include the fact that she disappeared from this establishment under your care.”
Jane jerked her gaze to him and then back to Miss Knightly. The headmistress’s cheeks had gone pale. It seemed Ripley had hit upon a consequence that actually mattered.
“You can sit up there on that high horse, but what you do is perform a service.” Ripley arched a brow. “And people like you live and die on your reputation. I doubt you want the entire country to know it isn’t safe to send their daughters to you because you’d be so careless as to lose them. Do we understand each other better now?”
Miss Knightly opened and shut her mouth and she looked at Jane, but this time it seemed she was seeking assistance. Jane stepped up closer to Ripley and slid a hand through his elbow. He reached his other hand across and covered hers and it was like he pulled away some of the weight of her fear. They faced this woman as a united front and Jane was utterly aware of the moment Miss Knightly realized she was not facing off with individuals without power.
The headmistress let out a long, shaky sigh. “We understand each other perfectly, Mr. Ripley. Of course you and your wife have concerns about Honora. I’ll…I truly don’t have much information.”
Ripley’s expression was softer now that he’d won. Jane was fascinated by that. He only pushed to the point that he needed to. He didn’t use power as a cudgel. But then again, that was how he’d fought in the ring, as well. She remembered so many fights when he’d backed off the moment his opponent was stunned, even when the crowd demanded more violence and blood.
“We’ll be grateful to have all you know,” he said.
