Page 45 of The Truth Serum
“No one believes me. I even have a letter from my doctor, but still…”
“You got a doctor’s letter?” Good God, what had she endured just to get that? And the necessity of it shocked him.
“I did. Doesn’t seem to matter.”
“But that’s ridiculous!” he said. “Even if it were true, there are enough gentlemen who would overlook such things. Men who want your dowry, if nothing else.”
She jerked her foot out of his hand as she glared at him. “What makes you think I would want such a man?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I don’t care how you meant it! It’s an impertinent question. I’m not married because I’m not. You’ve no right to question me that way.”
“Keep your voice down,” he said softly. “Your mother’s asleep, but even she will rouse if you yell at me.”
She opened her mouth to argue but then frowned. “How do you know my mother’s asleep?”
Because he’d checked. “Same way I know Fletcher’s gone, and most of the servants as well. For a prestigious London home, there are very few servants who reside here.”
She shrugged. “It is Fletcher’s primary residence. He loves a large staff during the day, but then they all go away at night.”
That surprised him. Fletcher seemed like a man who enjoyed all levels of ostentation, including a large number of servants available day or night. Curious, but Nate hadn’t come here to discuss her brother.
“And you’re correct,” he added, forcing the conversation back to her. “I have no right to question your choices.” Then he arched a brow. “And just to be clear, I’m not questioning them. I want tolearn what you’ve been doing these years. I once thought I knew everything about you. Now, you’re like a different woman.”
“Iama different woman.”
“So let me get to know her.”
She looked at him, her expression softening. He wanted to believe it was yearning, but he didn’t know for sure. Once he knew her every expression. Now, he hesitated to even guess.
“After…” She shifted her position, pulling her feet back until they were primly covered by her nightrail and a blanket. “After we were discovered and Father passed, you disappeared.”
“I was sent away. Fletcher threatened to kill me. My parents feared he would follow through at school.” He watched her carefully for her reaction. Would she dismiss her brother’s rantings? Or did she credit them as serious?
She did neither.
“I was in such a fog of guilt and grief.” She looked down at her hands. “I didn’t come out for a long time.”
“I’m so sorry Becca. About everything.”
“I am, too.” Then she caught his eye. “I don’t blame you any more than I blame myself.”
At least he shared in her guilt. Whereas in his mind, he’d been older and the man. He should have taken better care, but prudence wasn’t something he’d learned until he’d been in a war.
“What did you do?” he pressed. “What made the grief ease?”
“Time. And a sickness came to the village. Everyone’s help was needed, including my own.”
He frowned. “Did you get sick?”
“Yes, but nothing like some of the others. I started working with Mrs. Chenoweth and…” She shrugged. “I stopped feeling sorry for myself.”
“I wish I could have been there. I would have helped.”
She arched a brow at him. “You’d clean up, change diapers, feed the livestock?”
He’d done all of that and more in his life, but much of it came after he’d left her. “I have done my share of farming,” he reminded her.
