TOUCH OF THE WOLF By Susan Krinard

How different were the fine lady and fallen woman now?

“Lady Rowena,” Isabelle said, “I’m sure you understand that it is impossible that Cassidy should accompany you to Liverpool.”

Rowena did not quite meet her eyes. Was she offended at the whore’s outrageous effrontery—or was she wretched enough to accept aid wherever she could find it?

“I realize that you and Cassidy have not been close,” Isabelle continued, hardening her voice. “You did not want her for a sister-in-law, but what’s done is done. I ask you to consider her future here at Greyburn, long after you are gone—”

“I have considered it, Mrs. Smith.” She looked up. “From the very first day Cassidy spent with us in London, I saw that Braden felt something for her that could not easily be dismissed. When we arrived at Greyburn, I told her about his previous wife.” Her delicate throat trembled. “I made Cassidy believe that Braden loved Milena, that she was so perfect that no one could ever take her place. I believed the latter, Mrs. Smith, but not the former.”

“Lord Greyburn didn’t love her?”

“No. Perhaps once he was infatuated with her, but that passed, and all that remained was lust and possession. A male animal’s domination of its mate. I deceived Cassidy to protect her. I hoped she would lose heart and stay away from Braden.”

Isabelle held her gaze. “Was it you who sent me the letter?”

“I sent you nothing,” Rowena said with a return other cool dignity. “I tell you this now so that you can help Cassidy if she requires it.”

“Is it true, then—that Lord Greyburn was jealous and kept Milena here, isolated—”

“Yes. It was an arranged marriage. They never had much in common. She tried everything to please him, but by nature she preferred being among people who could laugh and find joy in life—just as she brought joy to us at Greyburn. She delighted in society and the Season. But Braden wished to remain here with his Cause. That was all he ever cared for. He came to despise her because she had not given him a child for the Cause.” Her eyes glittered as if with tears. “For a while he allowed her to return to London every Season, but the last year of their marriage, he—went mad. In his sickness, he believed that every man she spoke to was her lover, and he was determined to punish her. He brought her back, just as he did me, and kept her prisoner. While she was confined at Greyburn, he… got her with child. Milena could not bear the thought of letting her babe be brought up here, without love or happiness. She begged me to help her escape. But I was too much a coward to defy my brother.”

Isabelle felt ill. The letter’s claims hadn’t been wholly false, then. “And her death?”

Rowena flinched at the blunt question. “She contrived to leave, in spite of Braden’s ploys. He went after her during a terrible storm. He brought her back, injured and unconscious. She never fully became herself again. Her child died.”

“I see,” Isabelle murmured. “Thank you for telling me this, Lady Rowena.”

Rowena’s pale brown eyes were the only spots of color in a proud, handsome, brittle face. “I wished you to know. If Braden finds out that Cassidy helped me escape, the consequences…”

The consequences. There was no telling what Lord Greyburn might do if he had any reason at all to doubt Cassidy’s loyalty. Lying now served Rowena no purpose. Even if Lord Greyburn hadn’t pushed his wife, her death was his responsibility. He had treated her cruelly, accused her of the very sins society had pinned on Isabelle, perhaps even compelled her to submit to his lust.

Once Isabelle had sensed that Braden was a man who hid great passions beneath a cold exterior. Those passions were more dangerous than ever she’d suspected.

“I have no doubt that Cassidy offered her help freely,” Isabelle said. “Once I would have thought this a child’s impulsive action, but she has grown and changed in the past months. To dissuade her would be difficult.” She took several steps into the room and stopped, fighting her own agitation. “Even though Cassidy knows Braden will be angry, her faith outweighs her reason. She has already heard… some of what you’ve told me, yet she loves Lord Greyburn, and because she can only love with all her heart and soul, she believes that alone will protect her.”

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