He lifted her to her feet and led them to the stairwell to the upper levels. “Take care of your mother, Christopher.”
He watched them go up the stairs before he headed to the door.
“Thank you for saving my son.”
Her voice was loud, bouncing off the chandelier and the neat plastered wall.
He swallowed hard, forced his throat to work. “Adam’s son. You two are my family, Mrs. Wilky.”
Tugging at his collar, he hoped she didn’t see his scars. “I need to get out of these wet clothes. I’ll visit with your father tomorrow, if he’s available.”
“Lord Wycliff, please come tomorrow. We could have tea. I’d like to have tea with you.”
With a hand to his collar to keep it from falling, he nodded. “I’ll be here.”
Ruth smiled then took her son up the stairs.
Wycliff knew battle shock. He also trusted his gut. Ruth was still suffering from their brutal attack, but did she have another villain?
Found in a brothel.
He picked up his hat and cape and stepped out of the entry. She’d said her father had retrieved her from a brothel. Could that be her aversion to a passionate marriage?
He grew sick to his stomach.
No wonder she hated Adam. Ruth had been left unprotected. Had she been forced to work at a brothel? Lawden must find out what had happened to her. Some of the bawdy houses he’d been searching for his sister, they needed to be questioned about Ruth.
His heart thundered.
Anger overtook him.
Some bawds treated their women as slaves. Could that have happened to Ruth? Is that why she didn’t know if Christopher was his?
Did he care for Ruth enough to agree to a platonic marriage?
This all had to be a test.
Tomorrow, he’d clear up everything. There was no way he could have a platonic marriage with a woman he desperately loved.
Chapter Seventeen
The Patriarch Needs a Word
I sat in front of my mirror, balancing my spectacles by pushing them up and down my nose, as I tried to get the focus right.
Wycliff was coming for tea. I had an urge to take a little more care.
Ester popped inside, whipping through the door I’d purposely left open. “Here, use these pearl pins. They will make your curls so pretty.”
“Thank you but no, Ester.”
I grabbed my brush but saw my sister’s reflection in the mirrored glass.
Why did she frown? Why were her lips trembling?
“Out with it, Ester.”
“I didn’t mean for Christopher to be in trouble. I didn’t look…for just a moment. He could’ve been hurt.”
