that husband of yours.”
The blood pounded loudly in her ears. She didn’t think she could get around Matron and make it out the door. She locked her knees, trying to keep from swaying.
“It was my place. My place!” Matron shouted. “I handled the patients and staff. Dr. Cheshire merely came in from time to time, pretending to know what went on.” An evil smile lit her face. “I would be the one who whispered in his ear what to do. I decided who would undergo which treatment. I was like a queen, controlling my own little kingdom. I issued orders and they were followed to the letter.”
Matron continued to ramble on. The more she spoke, the more Anna believed that the woman herself had dipped into madness.
“He killed himself, you know. When they shut down Gollingham. Cheshire was a fool.”
Though she couldn’t feel regret for the death of the man she’d called Fiend, she said, “I am sorry for your loss.”
Matron sneered. “I never cared for him. He was weak. Not as I am. I am strong.” She began twisting her wrist again, the blade of the steel knife catching the light.
“You need to leave, Matron,” Anna said again, hoping to get through to her.
“And go where, you bitch?” the woman shouted. “I am out of a job with Gollingham closed. Cheshire died without writing me a reference. Even if I did have one, what good would it do? I have already tried to find another position. No one wants to hire someone from the infamous Gollingham Asylum. Not that all the other madhouses are any different. They’re all the same.”
Matron raised the knife in her hand and, instinctively, Anna brought her hands to her belly, shielding it.
“I will give you coin to help tide you over until you find another position,” she said.
“Money? You offer me money?” Matron shrieked. Then an evil smile settled about her lips. “I want much more than money, dearie. I want your life. Yours—and your child’s.”
*
Dez closed the ledger and rubbed his eyes. He had enough of numbers today.
What he needed was Anna time.
His love for his lovely wife had only grown stronger since their wedding ceremony. He had loved Anna with boyish devotion throughout their childhood and mourned her loss as an adult. When he had discovered she was alive, it was as if the still-burning ember inside him ignited, fanning the flames of love and desire until they engulfed him. Now that she carried their child, he felt his love multiplying daily and couldn’t wait for its birth, when they would become a family of three.
He rose from his desk and decided to look for Anna. He would probably find her digging in her garden or at the stables with Daisy. She loved the freedom of being outside. Dez grinned. He would suggest that she was dirty and chilled from being outdoors and that a hot bath would be the best cure. Naturally, he would join her in it and then they could spend the afternoon in their bedchamber as he made sweet love to her.
Leaving his study, he passed a maid and asked, “Have you seen Lady Torrington?”
“Not for an hour or so, my lord. She was with Mrs. Abbott.”
“Thank you.”
He made his way through the house and located the housekeeper, inquiring where his countess might be.
“She went to visit Mrs. Milken, my lord. Took her a basket of food.”
Dez remembered the woman had given birth a few days ago.
“Thank you, Mrs. Abbott.”
He headed to the kitchens and had Cook prepare a basket with bread, cheese, and wine. If Anna was out walking, she would have worked up an appetite. He would meet her and they could stop at their cottage for a few hours of love play.
Once out the door, he noticed the wind had picked up. The previous few days had seen warm afternoons, while the nights were cool. It seemed today was the day the tide changed and autumn had arrived in full force. He worried, hoping his wife had taken a shawl with her. Dez decided to detour to the cottage and leave the basket there. He would bring in some firewood and place it upon the hearth so it would be ready to light when they arrived. Stopping would be a nice surprise for Anna and offer her a respite before they continued on to Torville Manor.
As he arrived in the clearing, he noticed the door to the cottage stood wide open. He chided himself for