Page 104 of A Shadow Amongst the Roses

Edmund swallowed. “He told me not to be afraid.”

The words themselves were harmless. The way the child said them was not.

Eliza felt something cold slide beneath her ribs.

“You told me he warned you to stay quiet.”

Edmund nodded. “He did that too.”

“And told you to remember who protected you.”

Another nod. Eliza waited. There was more. She could see it in the way he worried the seam of his trousers between his fingers.

“Edmund,” she said gently, “you are not in trouble. Whatever you remember, you may tell me.”

His eyes lifted to hers.

“He spoke gentle.”

Margaret closed her eyes briefly.

Edmund frowned, struggling for words large enough to hold what he meant. “But it was the wrong kind of gentle.”

Eliza did not move. “Can you explain?”

He thought about it. “Like when someone smiles but they are not happy.” His small mouth tightened. “Like he was smiling at something bad.”

The image struck with unexpected force. Ashwood’s polished courtesy. His careful concern. The faint amusement that appeared at moments when another person was least likely to notice it. A man could disguise menace in perfectly civil words. A child could still hear what lived beneath them.

“You did very well,” Eliza said.

Edmund looked doubtful. “I was scared.”

“Being frightened does not mean you weren’t brave.”

His gaze dropped again. “I didn’t want Mama to get in trouble.”

Margaret made a small, broken sound.

Eliza rose and crossed to her. “Mrs. Lane, look at me.”

Margaret did.

“You are not in trouble.”

The woman’s lips parted.

“You came here believing you would be protected,” Eliza continued. “Whatever else must be untangled, I understand that much.”

Margaret looked toward her son. “I thought I was doing what was best for him.”

“I know.” The words cost Eliza nothing because she believed them.

Whatever doubts surrounded Margaret’s claim, whatever questions remained about Adrian and the ring and Edmund’s supposed rights, Eliza no longer believed the woman beside her had arrived at Hartleigh intending harm.

Someone had taught her what to believe. Someone had expected fear to keep her obedient. And now a boy had heard the truth in a man’s voice.

Eliza reached for Margaret’s hand. “No one is going to ask you or Edmund to face him alone.”