“Seems a bit rude of us not to,” Michael murmured. “Did you and Mrs. Lawson have a row or something?”
James raised his gaze to Michael’s. “Turns out, she’s in love with her husband.”
Michael frowned. “She said that?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
“Hmm?”
A thoughtful expression slid into place on Michael’s face. “I think you may have misunderstood her.”
“Indeed?” James leaned forward in his seat and perched his elbows on the table. “She said she loves him, Michael. What is there to misunderstand?”
“The nuance, I suppose. I mean, she might love him without beinginlove with him. There’s a difference, you know.”
James stared at his son for a long hard moment. He wasn’t wrong, and yet… “If you know something that might be helpful, by all means tell me.”
“I can’t.”
“Right. Because you’re sworn to secrecy.”
“Exactly.”
Pushing out a deep breath, James reached for the tankard of beer he’d ordered earlier and took several gulps. “Well, I’m tired of trying to figure it out. Point is she made no claim of caring for me in a way that would ever compel me to fight for her. If she had, things might be different, but I don’t have the patience for playing games or unraveling truths I’m not meant to find. Instead, I’ll focus on more pressing issues, like the threat Cloverfield will continue to pose unless we find a way to stop him.”
“You believe he’ll attempt to strike back?”
“It would be naïve of me not to given the fact that he’s an arrogant duke intent on having his way and that I’ve now humiliated him in public.”
Concern stretched across Michael’s brow. “When do you expect him to act?”
“I don’t know. If he continues toward the house party he was headed for when our paths crossed, it could be weeks before he’s back in London.”
“At which point he may have come up with a crafty plan,” Michael muttered.
James nodded. “Hence my attempt to work on my own defense. I’m preparing an outline of the events that took place while they’re clear in my mind. Furthermore, I’ve secured written statements from a couple of people who witnessed the fight between myself and Cloverfield. My next step is to ask the innkeeper here to provide a similar account of Cloverfield’s brutal assault on Mrs. Lawson during our stay here the day before yesterday.”
“He attacked her?”
“While she slept, if you can believe it.”
“Christ!” Michael looked just as horrified as James had felt at the time – how he still felt when he thought of Mrs. Lawson’s cries for help, the fear in her eyes, and what would have happened had James not managed to save her. “That poor woman. What she has been forced to endure at that family’s hands is insupportable. Heaven help me, but I wish you’d have beaten him until he choked on his own damn blood.”
James stared at Michael. “That’s uncharacteristically callous of you.” Michael clenched his jaw and returned James’s stare with a hard one of his own. “You’re usually more forgiving than I. Tell me, what did you mean withwhat she’s had to endure at that family’s hands? “
“Nothing,” Michael gritted. He gestured for a maid and ordered a beer along with a couple of plates of food when she answered his summons. “Forget I said anything.”
That was about as unlikely to happen as him forgetting Mina existed. Her face had gone pale when she’d first seen Cloverfield in this very taproom. Recognition had filled her eyes with a wild sort of panic. So he’d known she must have crossed paths with him before, yet they’d both pretended to meet for the very first time.
Weary of the secrecy and the lies, James pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered a curse. Moving on from Mina would not be as simple as he’d have liked. Even though she clearly kept a great many truths about herself stowed away beneath her façade, he could not change how he felt, which meant he could not stop from caring or worrying over all the things she refused to share with him.
She doesn’t love you, he reminded himself for the hundredth time since their conversation.
More importantly, she did not seem to want his help.
Perhaps then, the only thing to do was walk away and leave her be. If she came to him later, he’d be there for her. At least then it would be on her terms and not because he’d pushed her for more than she was ready to give.
