Still, they gave her no clue about her purpose at Greyburn. She couldn’t be a mother. She was useless to the Cause. Loving Braden should have been enough. Six weeks ago, it had been.
Six weeks ago, perfect happiness had seemed right around the corner. Now she felt more cut off than she’d been in New Mexico from all the things and people who should have mattered most.
That was going to change.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “but I can’t leave you alone or let you starve. Maybe you don’t much like me, Rowena, but you’re family. That means something to me, even if it doesn’t to you.”
Rowena stared at her as if she were a two-headed calf. “You truly haven’t learned. If you expect domestic loyalty, love, and tranquillity, you have married into the wrong family.”
“I think I’ve learned that… sometimes we have to make things happen ourselves, instead of waiting for them to come to us.”
Rowena rested her head on the back other chair. “You defended me to Braden when I last attempted to follow that advice. I have not forgotten.”
“Then let me help you now.”
“Have you heard from Quentin?”
“No.”
“Then there is nothing you can do.” She looked at Cassidy without hope. “He was to return two weeks ago and help me escape from Greyburn while Braden is gone. He has not come.”
Cassidy let out a slow breath and sat down in her chair. So Rowena hadn’t just given up after the first attempt—and her twin brother was prepared to assist her in spite of the inevitable consequences. Quentin had done a very good job of hiding his intentions. He’d never interfered between Braden and Rowena before, at least not in Cassidy’s presence.
But he was Rowena’s twin, and it made sense that they would be close, even if both concealed that closeness along with their plan for her escape.
For reasons unknown, Quentin hadn’t come as promised. Rowena’s last chance was gone. She was desperately unhappy and afraid—desperate enough to choose the only kind of release she saw still open to her…
No. If no one else at Greyburn needed Cassidy, Rowena Forster did. Not just words, but actions. Someone had to care that much.
She clenched her fingers around the armrests of her chair and leaned forward. “You said Quentin was going to help you escape. How?”
“He did not share all his plans with me. I only know he was to provide a suitable distraction for the servants who guard me, and we were to take a ship at Liverpool, to America—”
“America?”
Rowena’s mouth formed the ghost of a smile. “It is the last place Braden would ever search for me.”
That was true enough. Rowena had made clear her distaste for things American, including her prospective mate.
“And what would you do, in America?” Cassidy asked. “Will you meet the man you love?”
“No. That is over.” Rowena closed her eyes. “It no longer matters.”
“It might if I help you in Quentin’s place.”
Pale brown eyes snapped open again. “You?”
“I’m the only one who can.”
“You are Braden’s wife now,” Rowena said bitterly. “You saw how he reacted before. Don’t you know what will happen if you interfere again?”
For a moment Cassidy thought of Isabelle’s note and wondered if Rowena had sent it. She would have an excuse to criticize Braden if Milena, whom she’d loved so much, had also been kept prisoner by her brother.
But Rowena had said that Braden loved Milena. She’d never suggested anything else. She didn’t know about Mikhail, and hadn’t spoken of a stillborn child.
How could she go on admiring Milena if she knew that Braden’s wife had been unfaithful to him? Or did she think he deserved it? If she believed that Braden had actually pushed—
There was no truth to that letter. None.
“Is that why you didn’t ask for my help,” Cassidy said, “because you were worried about me?”
Rowena glanced away. “You cannot stand against him, Cassidy.”
“Not against him. I love him. But if I have to choose between his Cause and saving your life—I don’t see how I can do anything else.”