Beatrice heard the bitterness and understood it. How awful it must have been to be so close to Annie and not be able to do anything to stop the abuse. The baron’s wife was not the only one who had suffered.
“And to think that I welcomed his attentions in Birmingham and even here as well.” It made her shiver. She was determined to avoid him. If nothing else, she would have the opportunity to practice the social nicety of being cordial to someone you hated.
“It makes Cecilia’s tantrum seem petty.” She would not allow herself to feel disloyal for speaking the truth.
“Yes, miss.”
As they moved through the sitting room toward her bedchamber and her sister, Beatrice took a moment to contemplate the oddities of life. The story she had just heard had been fascinating and would forever change her opinion of both Lord Crenshaw and Jess Pennistan, and even her understanding of Darwell and what a lady’s maid must know and never tell.
How odd that what she had really wanted to know was why Jess and Lord Crenshaw had nearly come to blows over some “paltry acres.”
That question had been answered but many more had been born in the explanation. What other secrets were there? Was everyone’s life one thing to society and, at its heart, something else entirely? She thought of Mr. Garrett and wondered if even he had secrets he rarely shared. Did she?
Chapter Twenty-three
JESS WALKED OVER to the corner of the bookshelf devoted to spirits. He set the wine aside and poured a brandy.
“Pour me one, if you will, Jess.” Michael took off his spectacles and rubbed his eyes. “I imagine that story is not easy to recount no matter how many times you tell it.”
Jess took a fortifying drink. “It was a cruel thing to do to such a sweet woman.”
Michael was cleaning his lenses but stopped. “Are you speaking of Annie or Miss Brent?”
Jess half shook his head, struck by the question. “I was speaking of Annie but the same can be said of Miss Brent. It has darkened her heart a little. Imagine someone of her gentle upbringing wishing a man dead.” He drank some of the brandy. “Even though I know this was all Crenshaw’s doing, talking about it makes me feel as tainted as he is.”
“Stop right there.” Michael set down his spectacles and stood up. “There is no god in the pantheon that would call you tainted.”
“The pantheon, Michael? Are you turning heretic?”
“No, not at all.” He did not smile at the teasing; his face remained serious, a rare expression for him. “I know your beliefs do not incline you to the god I represent. So just in case Zeus or Yahweh speaks to you more clearly, I include them, too.”
“The god of gamers, perhaps.” Jess finished off the last of his brandy and went to put the glass back on the table. It was a good excuse to turn away from Garrett’s searching eyes.
“The Roman god of gamers is a goddess. Fortuna it is for you.”
Did the man know everything? “It hardly matters whether any god thinks I am good or evil. It’s true that the people most important to me know why Annie needed a divorce. But beyond that I am not much better than Crenshaw. I would never physically harm a woman but I have won fortunes from their husbands and left them with nothing but worry and ruin.”
“And what brings on this confession?”
Jess shrugged. He thought of Beatrice Brent and how ill-suited he and she were. How powerless they were to stay away from each other.
“Beatrice Brent is quite delightful.”
Garrett seemed to be reading his mind.
“Did you see how much she wanted to comfort you, Jess? She could hardly stand to see you so upset. You are a hero to her now, you know.”
“Yes, compassion fairly radiated from her. That was not what I intended at all.”
“If only I had a shilling for every man, woman, and child who said that to me,” Michael said, running his hand around the back of his neck as if an ache was starting there. “And as I say to each of them, what we intend is one thing. The consequences are not in our control.”
“Damn little is,” Jess admitted. He wanted more brandy but denied himself just to prove he had some control somewhere.
“You just said that the people who are most important to you knew the truth about Annie’s divorce and that’s all that matters to you.”