"Safe," he replied in a hushed tone. "Upstairs in bed."
"I need to see her." Panic flared. She couldn't believe her daughter was truly there until she saw it with her own eyes.
"Ianthe—"
"Please," she whispered.
He seemed to read her mind with one glance. "This way," he said, without another word and led her upstairs.
"I have to fetch something first," she told him, swiftly disappearing into her own rooms and coming out moments later with something in her hand.
Lucien hesitated at the door to Louisa's room.
"Are you coming in?" she asked.
"Would I be welcome here?"
"Of course you'd be welcome—"
"I'm not her father, not to her. All she knows is another man. My own daughter doesn't know me, and whose..." Lucien broke off with a curse.
"Whose fault is that?" Ianthe whispered, the words tasting dry in her throat.
Lucien searched for the right words. "That's not what I meant to say."
"No?"
"We're both tired. This isn't a conversation we should be having in these circumstances. We'll discuss it in the morning," he murmured, then turned and strode away. "I need to have a bath."
Ianthe clung to the teddy bear in her hands, watching him go. She wouldn't cry. She would not. But those words had crushed a small piece of her.
You have earned his scorn, something whispered in her mind.
"Well, what do you think?" Louisa's voice drew her attention, from inside the room.
"I think the bad lady and her friends had best consider fleeing for the Continent before your aunt decides to finish matters" –that was Remy– "as she's very angry with them."
"The bad lady said that Aunt Ianthe's not my aunt," Louisa whispered, and there she was, tucked up in bed, as Ianthe peered through the narrow crack. "They said that she's my mother. That she didn't want me and gave me away to Elsa and Jacob to raise me."
"What do you think?"
Louisa's voice grew small. "I know she's my mother. Elsa told me a year ago, but I don't think she didn't want me. She wouldn't have come for me if she didn't, would she?"
God bless Remington, but he leaned down, his elbows resting on the bed, and cupped Louisa's hands within his. "Your mother would have moved Heaven and Hell to get you back, because she loves you. I think she loved you enough to find some wonderful parents for you when she realized she couldn't look after you as well as they could, not when she was so young."
Ianthe had to clear her throat. That bitch. Of all the things that Morgana could have done, making Louisa feel that she was unloved was at the top of the list.
Remington's dark eyes raked over Ianthe as he heard the noise she made. "And now, if you'll excuse me, princess, I believe someone else wants a word with you."
Louisa's pale face turned toward her. Ianthe's heart both bloomed and sank within her chest. Remington patted Ianthe on the shoulder as he went out, but she barely saw him. Louisa filled her world.
"Hello," she whispered, taking one step toward the bed.
And then Louisa bolted out of the covers and threw herself at Ianthe, her thin arms wrapping around Ianthe's waist.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "So sorry, Lou."
Louisa wiped away her tears. "I knew you'd come and save me. I waited every night for you."
