The Wedding Night Affair--An Historical Mystery by L.C. Sharp (books to read as a couple TXT) 📕

more. She left the house and walked to London. She slept in hedgerows. On her arrival, too afraid to approach our father, lest he send her back again, she met a madam. As you must have noticed, Silence is extremely beautiful. So instead of going to a registry office to find domestic work, she went with the madam.”

He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “She did not come to me. When I finally discovered where she was, it was too late. She was already well established in the demimonde. And she has risen to the top, I have to give her that.”

Juliana watched. That was what she did best. That telltale muscle in his jaw on the left-hand side had tightened again. Did he know what he was giving away with that tiny gesture? Likely not, and she wasn’t about to tell him. Ash was tight as a bowstring, close to snapping any minute. He’d told her in a dead, dispassionate voice but she sensed the despair behind the cool façade. Inside she wept for him.

But she said nothing, let him finish his story. “I came across her when she was already under the protection of a powerful man. By then she did not need any help from me. Our parents were dead. I asked her to come home, promised her we could make something up, but she refused me, and swore me to secrecy.”

“And her children?”

His mouth flattened. “Still with her husband. Because he believes we repudiated Silence, we see the children from time to time and give them a respite. Show them what free will means, how to enjoy small pleasures. That is important to us in this house. Silence can do nothing to help them. Their lives aren’t as proscribed as hers was, but when the girl is older, she may face the same treatment.”

“But you are angry?” She sensed the emotion, pouring past her, a torrent of bitterness.

He whipped around to face her, eyes sparking anger. “Of course I am angry! If she had taken my offer, gone to live quietly in the country, she might have had the chance to see her children occasionally. But she has destroyed any chance of that. She has abandoned her children and us, too.”

Juliana understood La Senza. Who knows, if she’d had that choice, she might have taken it, too. Moldering away in the country, living a worthy, quiet life? Not for her. Damaged as she was, the one thing Godfrey had not had time to destroy was her spirit, and she had carefully hidden it away from her parents with her mask of cold aristocratic indifference. Nurtured it and kept it safe. Now she had the chance to use it. For the first time in her life, she had free agency.

Perhaps that was why he’d taken her into his house. If he couldn’t save his sister, at least he could give Juliana sanctuary. “Are you getting the justice for me that you could not for your sister?”

“No!”

His response was so vehement, he made her start. Her heart beat faster for a few seconds before returning to normal. Why such a harsh rejection? “My sister made her choice, and she is living with it. She cannot return to what she once was.”

“What will she do?”

He shook his head. “That is up to her. She grieves for the children she lost, for they have been turned against her. Their father has told them that she is dead to them. And...” He kept her gaze, “Nobody else knows. Not Amelia, not William, not Gregory, not Prudence. They know she is alive, but no more than that. They think she is living in secret in the country somewhere.” He shook his head. “I did not want to take you to the ball tonight, but once I’d told you about La Senza, I knew I would have to tell you the rest, if only to ask you to keep the information to yourself.”

Well, that was blunt. “You trust me?”

“The more people who know a secret, the more chance it has of escaping, but yes, I trust you.”

Propping his elbow on the arm of his chair, he rested his chin on his hand, keeping his attention on her. “You will not tell the family about this.”

Juliana nodded. “I will not tell.”

Amelia had a right to know her sister was in London, but this was not Juliana’s business. And she had given Ash her word.

If the case proved favorable to her, if Ash could prove her innocence, she would move on, probably to that “living quietly in the country” life that disgraced members of society undertook. Until she could persuade Ash or Silence to change their minds, she would keep her peace.

He sat up, assuming his usual pin-neat, ramrod-straight pose. “Then we will speak of this no more and turn our attention to our business at the ball tonight.”

She nodded, but although she wouldn’t speak of it again, she would remember. She had much to say to him about his sister, but it would wait. Nothing would change if she did not speak her mind now.

Ash clasped his hands before him. “Your husband had an unsavory reputation amongst that part of the demimonde that is devoted to...”

While he searched for words, Juliana supplied them. “Torture and abuse. I had no idea before tonight that the victims enjoyed the treatment, but the woman we met certainly did.” She would not condemn, or she would try not to, but she didn’t understand why someone would welcome that treatment. However, she condemned utterly her husband forcing it on her.

The lines bracketing his mouth deepened. “Yes, she did.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Money. That part of the trade pays well. And some women enjoy it. Men, too. Men will pay well to be skillfully whipped.”

“Oh!” Her hand flew to her mouth.

His mouth twisted in a wry smile. “You did ask.”

She didn’t want to think about that anymore, but she had to. “So you think Godfrey paid to whip women?”

“I’d put