Captain Jones's Temptation - Audrey Harrison Page 0,60
stop them.”
“I know it was hard to face him, but I hope it can bring you some peace. I would imagine he has been a monster in your memory, but you can remember him as an old man now.”
“Yes. He was not physically threatening. Not with you by my side, anyway.”
Samuel smiled. Her words warmed his insides. “I have my uses.”
“Occasionally.”
“Come. Let’s return to the house.”
“I need to speak to Sophie. It seems there are to be more revelations, if she will be honest with me.”
“Do you not think it is wise to let it lie?”
“No. I want to know the truth. Things have been a little odd between myself and Sophie since I returned. I was surprised and confused about it – it seemed she wasn’t the same woman I remembered. Perhaps it has something to do with what Mr. Boyd hinted at. I need to find out the truth whatever the cost.”
Samuel worried that it was going to cost her a great deal to hear everything that had to be revealed, if what Mr. Boyd had said was true. He had a sneaking suspicion that Sophie and Esther would not be the same before the day was out.
Chapter 19
Sophie was sitting in the drawing room but stood the moment Esther and Samuel entered the room. “What’s wrong?”
“Please leave us,” Esther said to Samuel, ignoring Sophie’s question for the moment.
“I would like to stay. For your sake.”
“Thank you, but this has to be a conversation between the two of us, or we might not be truthful.”
“As you wish, but I shall be close.” Samuel had never felt as helpless in his life. He wanted to wrap her in an embrace and kiss her cares away, but he understood that she had her past to resolve.
“I appreciate what you did today. It meant a lot,” Esther said. Turning to Sophie, she sat down on a seat opposite her. “I saw Mr. Boyd in the graveyard. He told me his version of events, and now I want to hear the truth, and I mean the truth, from you.”
If either of them had expected Sophie to look crestfallen, they were to be disappointed. Instead of looking anxious or remorseful, her expression turned to that of anger.
“I am staying,” Samuel said.
“No. Please leave,” Esther said. He had heard so much already; she could not face his hearing whatever other secrets she had to learn.
“As you wish,” Samuel said before bowing stiffly and leaving the room. He crossed to the dining room and poured himself a large glass of brandy. It was going to be torturous until he could return to Esther’s side. He hated that he could not ease her pain.
Sophie waited until the door had closed on Samuel before speaking. “I knew the fool would not be able to keep his mouth shut if he saw you, but he begged me to let him know if you ever returned.”
“You told him I was back.” Esther felt sick to the stomach. Sophie was fully aware of how Mr. Boyd had been a monster in her memories, and she had purposely let him know Esther was in the town.
“He’s proved a useful friend over the years. I owed him.”
“You encouraged me to go out. You knew I would meet him.”
Sophie shrugged. “I asked the question in a way that wouldn’t raise your suspicion as to why I was asking. It was inevitable you would go to the grave regularly. He would not have been able to see you any other way.”
Esther was astounded that there did not seem to be any concern or perturbance in the older woman’s demeanour. “Is what he said true?”
“I suppose it depends what he said.”
“Oh, that you and mother were running a gaming hell, had promised me to him, and were willing to allow my ruination to keep him sweet,” Esther said. Her tone was cold and detached, in complete contrast to what she was feeling inside.
“That about sums it up.”
“Did my mother agree to the scheme?” Esther was incredulous. All her memories seemed at odds with what she had been told today.
“She was a little reluctant at first, but if she had not got herself in such a pickle in the first place she wouldn’t have had to.”
“How did you meet my mother?”
“Through your father.”
“You knew my father?” Esther’s eyes widened. She had never thought that Sophie had known who her mother had run away with. Her head was spinning that she might be able to find out