Maxey glanced around the room again. “Do you actually live here?”
Nora lowered her head. “Yes,” she whispered. “I actuallyownthis house.”
Emotion clogged Maxey’s throat, and she dared not speak, but she needed answers. The pain of betrayal cut a hole inside her that had to be fixed.
“Well, I appreciate your help, Nora,” Maxey said in a tight voice, “but we won’t be staying long. As soon as it gets dark, we will be gone.”
Nora’s bottom lip trembled, but she didn’t lift her head.
Nash rubbed Maxey’s arm, and she looked up into the comfort of his eyes. He offered a soft smile. “I think you and your mother need to talk. I shall wait outside.”
She grabbed his arm. “No, don’t—”
“Not to worry, my love. I will keep a sharp eye for any of my uncle’s men. Right now, you and your mother need some privacy.”
He kissed her forehead before stepping out. Emptiness filled her from his absence, and worry tried to take over the space. She really didn’t want to be alone with her mother, yet how else would she know the reasons Nora had left all those years ago?
Heaving a ragged breath, Maxey turned and walked to the window, looking out into the yard. Green bushes and a rainbow of flowers colored the lovely landscape. She had learned by now that first impressions were always so deceiving.
“I’m sorry I have disappointed you,” Nora said brokenly.
Maxey shrugged. “I’m surprised you are not more worried about disappointing yourself.” She looked over her shoulder at her mother. “This is not the kind of profession one can be proud of.”
“Don’t you think I know this?” Nora walked closer, stopping at the foot of the bed. “Do you honestly believe I chose this lifestyle?”
Maxey let out an unladylike snort. “Are you trying to tell me you were forced into it?”
Sighing heavily, Nora sank to the bed and covered her face. “No, I wasn’t forced. I just didn’t have any choice.”
“I beg to differ, Nora. Everybody has a choice.”
When Nora lifted her head, her throat contracted. “As a young girl, my family was very poor. My father died, and my mother had a hard time keeping the family fed. She worked as a maid for a wealthy family, but she still struggled.”
From her pocket, she withdrew a white handkerchief and wiped underneath her nose, then dabbed her eyes. “One day, the man who my mother worked for approached me. He said he knew a way I could make money. Loads of money. He said I was the perfect age.”
“How old were you?”
“Seventeen.”
“What happened?”
“He took me to a house of ill repute, grander than this one.” She swept her hand through the air. “He introduced me to the madame, who then explained to me that because of my class, I would never make enough money—the kind to help out my family, that is. But if I worked for her, she would dress me in silks and jewels, and men would fall at my feet. I agreed. At the time, my brother was very sick, and we had no money for a doctor.”
Nora sniffed and wiped her eyes again, still keeping her focus on the floor. “Little did I know at the time, but the man hadsoldme to this madame. Once I realized what they expected of me, it was too late. I was already one of Madame Patricia’s girls.”
She waited a few minutes. Silence surrounded them, except for her sniffles. Then she lifted her head and looked directly at Maxey. “I made a living doing that for two years. I hated every minute of it, but I couldn’t leave.” She shrugged. “I didn’t know how. One day while in the marketplace, I met a man passing through town. He didn’t know about me, and I wasn’t about to divulge the truth, mind you. Immediately, we were attracted to one another. I feared he would find out about my profession, so I met him secretly for two weeks. When he first proclaimed his love, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Then he proposed, and I was the happiest woman alive. I lied and told him I didn’t have a family. I also told him I worked as a maid.”
Nora took a deep breath. “So, I married him and left with him that very day, back to where he lived, which was far away from this type of life. I had never been happier, except when I had his children. I loved my family completely.”
Maxey’s throat tightened with sorrow, so she swallowed, not allowing her emotions to take over.
Turning, she leaned against the wall and folded her arms across her chest. “Then why did you leave us?”
“My world came to an end when one of my former customers recognized me with your father. The man walked up to us on the street and asked where I had been all these years. He asked if I was now giving my favors to your father. I tried to cover it up with lies, but your father’s curiosity got the better of him, and he sought answers. It nearly killed me to have your father look at me with accusing eyes. He was ashamed of me. He told me I didn’t deserve to be his wife and the mother of his children, so he ordered me to leave.”
Maxey’s heart slammed in her chest, and she bolted away from the wall. “What? You’re telling me Father instructed you to leave your own children?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Nora, but that’s hard to believe. What father would do that to his children?”
Sobs took over Nora, and she cried into her handkerchief. “It’s the truth,” she muttered. “I never wanted to leave you.” She lifted her head and met Maxey’s eyes again. “I wouldn’t leave, but your father became very forceful, and his words crushed my soul. He was right. Because of what I had done, I wasn’t good enough to be a mother to my children. He feared that you might be with me the next time I crossed another one of my…men.”
