It was tempting to tell him a lie, to let Rhys think she was innocent. But Wister had never been one for falsehoods. She believed in honesty in her dealings with others. And that included lovers and potential lovers.
“Rhys, I am not unaware of the ways of the world. Of what happens between a man and a woman. I had a romance two summers back. He promised me marriage, but then turned out to be a blackguard. He even told Lord Kington of our affair and he was most displeased.”
He needed to know the truth of who she was. The whole issue of her sexual experience was irrelevant to her way of thinking, but she still knew that those sorts of things mattered to men of rank.
Rhys brushed the back of his hand over her cheek and leaned in close. Wister shivered as a soft kiss was placed on the side of her neck. A second kiss which followed, had her knees trembling. He slipped a hand around her waist and drew her against him. The hardness of his erection could not be mistaken.
“Thank you for telling me. It means a lot that you trust me with such a personal matter. I am grateful for your honesty. It also makes sense of something Deri discovered in London. Lord Kington wasn’t just displeased with your affair, he used it against you,” he said.
How had Lord Kington used her love affair against her? And what had Baron Ruthin uncovered in London? A sense of dread settled over Wister.
“Have you ever wondered why you have been unsuccessful in gaining a new position as a lady’s companion? Why every application you ever sent has come back as a rejection?”
Her anxiety rose ever higher. These were questions Wister had mulled over in her mind in the past but had never quite got clear. “Of course, I have thought about why no one has wanted me. I just assumed that without a reference from Lord Kington or better social connections, people decided I wasn’t suitable,” she replied.
He shook his head. “It wasn’t anything you’ve done. George Weld used to give your letters of application to Lord Kington. He in turn would write to prospective employers and tell them that you were not suitable. I have seen one of his letters, and it seems he was more than happy to let others know that he considered you a fallen woman.”
Wister flinched and pulled away. The words struck at her the same as if a fist had landed a heavy blow. Rhys stepped forward but she held up her hand, fending him off. Her heart was thumping hard. How could Lord Kington have done such a thing?
“Please, I don’t want to be touched. In fact, I think I might well be ill.”
Lord Kington had deliberately laid waste to her plans to leave. He had kept her here, made her a virtual prisoner.
Rhys stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat. “I spoke to George a little while ago. Confronted him and he confirmed my suspicions that Lord Kington had intercepted your correspondence. Mister Weld will be coming to see you today to apologize. He knows full well that if he doesn’t and I have to go back to the Royal Oak to remind him, that I won’t show mercy.”
When Rhys made a second attempt to move toward her, Wister stepped back again. If she let him wrap his strong arms around her, she would crumble. The utter sense of betrayal was the worst pain she had known since the death of her parents. How could George have been a party to such a terrible deception? A man she had thought a friend.
“I am going to go into the house now and start my chores,” she said.
She headed toward the door. Her need to run inside, lock herself away in her room, and let the tears come, was stopped only by the concern that if she did start to cry, she may never stop.
Chapter Fifteen
Rhys was in two minds. Did he go after her, or did he march into the village and find George Weld again? He feared what he might do if he did walk out the front gate of Kington House.
The sight of the Royal Oak innkeeper making his way up the laneway had Rhys sighing with relief. Whether George was here through fear or a genuine sense of remorse, he didn’t really care. Wister deserved justice and he would see she got it.
Rhys stood and waited, slowly curling and uncurling his hands into fists. He was not a man of violence, but the thought of what this man and Lord Kington had done to Wister made him question himself.
“Lord Carno.” George got to within a yard or so of Rhys and dipped into a low bow. The expression on his face couldn’t be described as anything other than shame.
Good. You are finally beginning to comprehend the evil you have done.
“Mister Weld, I take it you have come to see Miss York?”
George gave a brief nod. He retrieved a letter from out of his coat pocket and offered it to Rhys. “This came in the mail sack this morning.”
Rhys took the official-looking note and glanced at it briefly before pointing toward the house. “Miss York is inside. I suggest you knock at the door and speak to Polly. I have just explained the way of things to Miss York, so your visit is most timely. Hopefully she will see you.”
“And if she won’t?”
He gritted his teeth at the hint of hope in the innkeeper’s voice. The man was a fool if he thought he was going to get off that lightly. “Then you will come back here every day until Miss York is prepared to hear your apology. Until that time, you and I still have a major problem. Have I made myself crystal clear, Mister Weld?”
“Yes, Lord Carno.”
After George had disappeared into the house, Rhys opened the letter.
“Bollocks.”
When he had written to his bank instructing them to prepare a bank note made payable to Wister York for wages owed, it had been with the idea of seeing her off the estate and her debt settled. Now the note represented something else—the certain and worrying knowledge that she would soon be leaving Kington House.
He lingered in the garden, not wishing to disturb the difficult conversation Wister was likely having with George somewhere in the house. When Wister herself appeared only a few minutes later and began to make her way over to him, Rhys steeled himself. Her face was as black as thunder.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“It was brief and to the point. Suffice to say I won’t be spending any coin at the Royal Oak in the next month or so,” she said.
“But George did offer up a groveling apology?”
“Yes, and in return I assured him that the matter shall remain a secret between the three of us. He doesn’t need the villagers turning against him because he did something at the behest of Lord Kington. While he finds you intimidating, he does seem to respect you—something which few people did with your predecessor.”
As far as Rhys was concerned, she would have been well within her rights to yell at George. He had helped ruin her life. But Wister was the bigger person here. The Weld family had to live in the village and be able to face their neighbors.
As he searched her face, Rhys’s heart was filled with pride. Wister had shown George Weld a degree of good grace of which he was not deserving, and which Rhys suspected he did not have within himself.
Her eyes were clear and bright. There was not a hint of tears. This woman was strong. She was a true survivor.
He could only hope she didn’t decide she wanted to stand completely on her own. The letter in his hand now tested his resolve. He had to give her the money, but he also wanted her to stay.
I am not bloody Lord Kington. This woman has the right to decide her own life’s path.