To Save a Love - Alexa Aston Page 0,66

down at them. Dez ignored her glare and continued up the stairs, willing the others to follow him as he had done on the battlefield so many times. They reached the top and the woman had to step back to accommodate them.

“We are here for Lady Jergens,” he said calmly. “Fetch Dr. Cheshire.”

“He ain’t here,” she said belligerently.

“It doesn’t matter.” Dez indicated the man to his left. “This is Lord Morton, her father.”

Matron sneered. “A father won’t do much good in this circumstance,” she said haughtily. “Only the lady’s husband can extract her. From what I know, that will never happen. That woman will die in here, decades from now.”

Lord Morton choked. Whether in sorrow or rage, Dez didn’t know but he did know a bully when he saw one and stepped toward her, forcing her further back until she bumped against the wall.

Drawing near to her face, he hissed, “You will send someone for Cheshire. In the meantime, you will find Lady Jergens. The law is on our side, Madam. She is not Lady Jergens at all but rather Lady Alice.”

As he stepped back, he saw both anger—and fear—in the woman’s eyes.

Mr. Black crisply said, “The marriage is to be annulled because no marriage existed. Marital relations did not occur, thus rendering things invalid.”

Understanding lit Matron’s eyes. She remained defiant, however, as she said, “That will be up to Dr. Cheshire to decide.” Glancing to her right, she told the hovering attendant, “Fetch the doctor. Be quick about it.”

He hurried away, throwing a glance over his shoulder.

“Produce Lady Alice,” Dez said, his voice ringing out.

“I am here,” a voice called.

Looking past Matron, he saw the usual line of silent women hunched on the hard benches they inhabited for all of their waking hours. One woman had risen, however, and unsteadily made her way toward them.

“Papa?” she asked as she drew closer. “Papa?”

“Alice. Alice.” Morton rushed to her and wrapped her in his arms.

She began weeping profusely, clinging to him. Dez had to look away because the emotions flooding him were so powerful. He glanced to his companions and saw they, too, had a hard time watching the reunion between father and daughter.

“Stay here,” Matron said and she moved down the staircase.

Dez walked down the corridor, looking at the various patients. Not a one met his eyes or said anything. No one moved other than the attendants, who began hurrying off, making themselves scarce. He withdrew the list Haggard had composed from his pocket.

“Miss Stone?” he called.

When no one replied, he repeated the name. Finally, a voice said, “I am here.”

He started toward her and came to a halt. “I want to talk to as many of you as I can before Dr. Cheshire arrives. I need to ask why you were placed here.”

In the next few minutes, Dez tried to speak to every woman on Haggard’s list. Seven of them knew their names and little else so he moved on, eager to gain as much information as he could in the short amount of time he had. Three patients looked at him in such fear when he addressed them that he believed they regretted even giving their names to him. All three became mute afterward, despite his pleas that he was here to help them. Regretting having to abandon them, Dez again shouted out a few names from his list, despair filling him. Two of the women came forward when he did so but they hurried back to their seats when he tried to question them regarding why they were placed at Gollingham.

He tried again, his desperation growing. Another two women began weeping hysterically, waving him away as he approached, fear evident on their faces. Having remembered the punishments Anna told him about, he understood their reluctance to speak out and suffer such dire consequences.

Finally, the dam broke. Nine of the patients sprang from their seats and surrounded him, revealing why they had been put away. Only two from this group, a Miss Stone and Lady Eastman, were lucid enough to answer his questions rapidly and succinctly and seemed to have a chance of being helped.

“I cannot promise you anything,” he told the two women, “but I will speak to your families and see if I can have you removed.”

Lady Eastman burst out into tears, returning to her bench and placing her head in her hands.

Miss Stone said, “Thank you, my lord. For giving me hope.” She kissed his hand. “Thank you.”

She, too, returned to the bench she had