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"Oh," she replied, her expression uncertain She ceased hugging the book so tightly and lowered it in her hands

"I had a nurse Connie Does she by chance still work here?"

"I have never heard of her Perhaps you could ask in the village Sheoff his strange ain"

She gave a slight nod, looking distinctly uncomfortable "Your father would be pleased He did not live very long after I came here, but he desperately wished to have this nursery full of children again"

How ironic that his father had craved a nursery full of children when he banished his own son from its confines "Yes, a shame he did not live to see this," Nick said dryly "I am certain his view does not extend this far from hell"

He waited for her shock, her denunciation, perhaps even a fainting spell--the hall, especially froe like herself

Instead, she angled her head and studied him curiously "I take it you and your father parted on bad terms?"

Nick eyed her closely She blinked back at hiuileless She posed the question sincerely, without the faintest aossip has reached your ears?" Nick lifted a brow "How surprising I thought you would surely be apprised of all the sordid details Edaze dropped and she plucked at the spine of her book, h he’d asked a tactless question

"No, he never rieved by her loss that the ave her such discomfort? Had she loved him that ain The flyaway tendrils of hair haloing her face , fresh Undeniably pretty His blood stirred with both desire and envy What had Edmund done to deserve her devotion? The brother he remembered hardly seemed the type to evoke loyalty

"Yes, well, I don’t suppose Iof me from others?"

"No, and I certainlyhim to disapprove "I learned that your mother was a performer of some kind before she o"

Nick smiled at her intrepid irl she appeared in her prim robe "There’s a little more to it than that The truth is ly little word that is only whispered about in drawing rooht years old, but he divorced himself from me just asthe calhtfully and she pursed her lips, evidently considering his words The lighted sconces on the wall lent shadows that obscured the exact emotion of her eyes, but he sensed her reproach--or perhaps expected it

"I suppose you’re wondering e did to deserve it?"

"Not at all I don’t think a father is ever justified in banishing his own child It is reprehensible"

"Is it only reprehensible to banish one’s child? What of wives?" Nick challenged

At this, she stammered, "I--I cannot presume to know the circumstances--"

"Very politic of you However, I wonder if you would say the saer Tellwith my father? Did he not possess the wealth and status? Does the law not grant a ht now beholden to me just as you were to Edmund?"

Her body noticeably stiffened, and he knew he had made his point A point she clearly did not like but nonetheless recognized

"What’s wrong? Do you find it difficult to hear the truth, my lady?"

"I don’t like it," she admitted "I don’t like to think of myself as subject to anyone"

"Your circumstances are not so different fro"

Nick shrugged and injected a measure of calm he didn’t feel "He accused ation was true, perhaps she deserved the miserable end she suffered"

"But what of you?" she asked "You could not have done anything to deserve such treathtening to lose everything safe and familiar I can understand that" Her last words were uttered with such feeling, as if she truly kne it felt to lose one’s sense of security Perhaps she experienced a bit of that right noith her future still so much unsettled That her future rested on the outcoary of fate A vicar’s daughter would ht wryly Not hio Whether she gave birth to a boy or girl, it was just a roll of the die

"I survived"

"Your father lost too, even if he did not realize it He died a lonely retted--"

"No," Nick interrupted harshly, slicing a hand through the air "That bastard doesn’t deserve your pity, and you’ll rouse none from me If you must pity, pity my mother who had to whore herself just to put food in our uts up in a rat-infested hellhole"

Her face blanched Now he had shocked her And it felt good Rage--that old fah the hardest of ti to lash out at someone

Everyone else he could blame was dead She was the closest substitute The chit hadher bed and life with the very brother who had stood silent as he was banished Edh to possess a voice, to have at least spoken out on their behalf The woutless man, even mourned him He would feel no softness for her No matter hoeetly she listened as he bared his soul

She dropped her gaze to the carpet, reo unseen in the face of its predator "My apologies I spoke unthinkingly"

"Now you know"

"I’m sorry for all you suffered I only wish others had known, so they could have helped you"