eyes.
Drat! He probably suspected she wasn’t a man.
Vivi tried to imitate Luke’s wider-legged amble, but almost tripped over the longer pants leg. Giving up the pretense, she scurried up the stairs behind him. He stopped outside the last door on the left and stared at it.
“I have kicked doors open in the past, but it can be painful. And then there would be the cost for repairs.”
Vivi reached for the handle and pushed it open. She grinned up at him. “Obviously, I’m the brains of this match.”
“Well played,” he said with a wink.
Their playfulness disappeared when muffled sobs sounded from the dim room.
Luke slipped inside. “Johanna?”
There was no answer. Only louder cries. He moved to the curtains and drew them open. Early morning light pushed its way into the room, revealing a crumpled heap on the bed. It was Johanna, and her legs were drawn toward her middle.
When Luke would have charged over to her, Vivi held up a staying hand. “Miss Truax, it is Lady Vivian and Luke. We have come to bring you home.”
“I know who you are,” she managed to croak out. “But I have no home any longer.”
Vivi cautiously crossed to the bed so as not to startle her. “Your home is with your family. You are as much a part of the Forest clan as anyone.”
She shook her head, another sob bursting from her.
Vivi moved to place a comforting hand on her hair. “We can debate this later. Are you hurt?”
She buried her face against the covers and cried even harder.
“Johanna, what has he done to you?” Luke came forward. “I swear he will pay.”
“Leave me be,” she moaned.
Vivi tried to catch his attention and flicked her gaze toward the door. His lips set in a thin line.
“Go,” she mouthed and motioned for him to leave them alone. His frown deepened, but he left, closing the door behind him. She sat on the bed beside Johanna and brushed her hair behind her ear like Patrice had done for her when she was a young girl. She didn’t ask any questions or lend any commentary. She had been on the receiving end of well-meaning comments in the past, and no matter the speaker’s intentions, the words could hurt. She just allowed Johanna to cry until her tears began to subside.
“Why are you being nice to me?” she asked between sniffles.
“I don’t know.” Vivi sighed softly. “Maybe because I have made mistakes, too, and I know how horrible I have felt afterward.”
Johanna held her hair aside and gazed up with narrowed eyes; her bottom lip protruded mutinously, reminding Vivi of a child. “Have you ever tried to hurt someone intentionally?”
She shook her head and swallowed hard. “Is—was that your intention? To hurt me?”
“No.” Tears welled in the other woman’s eyes and slid down her cheeks. “Not like this. He said he loved you.”
Vivi concluded she referred to Mr. Collier. “I’m certain the scoundrel said a lot of things that were untrue.”
“He told me he couldn’t live without you. That he wanted to marry you. I feel the same way about Luke.”
Vivi’s stomach turned, and bitterness crept into the back of her throat. She didn’t want to feel jealousy or anger, especially when she had won Luke’s heart. But she had trouble ignoring that she could have been suffering Johanna’s fate hours earlier. Vivi could be ruined and destined to a life of solitude because of Johanna’s machinations.
The other woman rubbed the back of her hand across her nose and regarded Vivi warily. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
Vivi forced herself to speak calmly. “Why did you help Collier escape?”
Johanna hid behind her curtain of hair again. “We had an understanding. If I helped him, he would take me with him and give me his name. It seemed like the best prospect available to me. I couldn’t stay with the duchess any longer. Not when His Grace plans to turn me out.”
“You don’t know that.” Neither did Vivi, but would he have come looking for Johanna if he felt no responsibility toward her?
“When we stopped here, Mr. Collier said I had to prove my dedication. I didn’t know what he meant, but then he brought me to the room. Then he—” She whimpered and Vivi wanted to have the man at gunpoint again.
She smoothed a hand over Johanna’s back. “It’s all right. You do not have to talk about it.”
“H-he said I had failed.” Johanna took a shuddering breath. “That he would never marry a loose woman like