Still, my face felt wet. This loss undid me.
“Why are you crying, Mrs. Wilky?”
“I’ve come. I came out of the house. And you don’t have it.”
“I see. I wish I had everything that you needed.”
Could a raspy masculine voice hold such melancholy? Lord Wycliff’s did, and it tugged on me.
With my thumbs, I smeared the tears on my cheeks then wiped them on my shawl. My poor Christopher. Nothing will change the gossip about him now.
Digging into my reticule, I tried to finger a handkerchief, but Lord Wycliff put one in my hand. “I haven’t been believed for four years. No…no friends or family. No one. And you saw Adam’s half. You said it so soft and easy, like I’d asked about the weather. But you don’t have it.”
“Sister, I’m sorry.” Ester’s voice was heavy, and she clasped my shoulder.
“Ma’am, there is nothing soft or easy about me. I’ve been away for a long time. The letter could be anywhere. You’ve kept the registry all these years. You still love Adam?”
“What? What kind of question is that? Hand it back.” I flailed my arms. I must’ve looked wild.
“Here.” He slipped the paper against my palm.
I took my time and folded the registry like a precious pinafore, then slid it into my reticule. “I didn’t have this until two weeks ago. It was sent to me.”
“Two weeks? Mrs. Wilky, someone had the registry for four years and just sent it two weeks ago?”
“Yes. That’s what I’m saying. Your belief turns to disbelief quickly, too?”
“No. I’ll believe anything you say. I can tell you are a woman of honor. You’re guided by your heart. That’s what Adam believed.”
That used to be me, but I couldn’t be guided by what I didn’t have. “What’s with your voice? The remains of a dry cough? An injury?”
“An injury. All wars have costs.”
England’s wars had injured and maimed so many. “Sorry.” I laid both hands flat upon the desk and turned toward the direction I heard his voice. “What relation are you to Adam?”
“We were close…like brothers. He told me everything about the woman he loved, Ruth Croome. You love daisies. You think your middle name, Elizabeth, makes you feel like a queen.”
Adam’s words. At least Adam couldn’t tell Lord Wycliff that he was dead because we’d returned to see my parents. My fault. I pushed the guilt into the back of my mind. It needed to stay there.
“You have one beloved sister. I believe Adam said you described her as perfect and sheltered.”
I wanted to laugh at the memory, but now this felt like another violation. Adam had given away their privacy. “Adam had no brother. Who are you?”
Ester grabbed my hand. “This is parlor games, Ruth. He’s speaking in riddles. It’s obvious he’s a cousin.”
“I share Adam’s bloodline. I’m related to you by marriage. The concern you hear in my terrible voice is for you and all my new relations, the Croome family. The men responsible for harming you and Adam were never brought to justice.”
“Harm? Adam was murdered. He was horribly killed, and I watched him die.”
“Then you understand why I must protect you. I’m honor bound to do so.”
“Ruth, how can we trust him? He’s crazed. He threw you over his shoulder.”
Ester was right in a lot of ways. Logical in her assessment. But the rebel inside me didn’t want logic. I wanted vindication. “You say you were close to Adam. He never spoke of you.”
“I suspect he didn’t say enough about a great many subjects.”
That truth stung, hitting hard at my empty chest. “Well, I didn’t come for a reunion. I’m aware that Adam’s family did not approve of him marrying me. He said that it was him choosing his mother’s heritage over his father’s.”
