He smiled even more warmly. “Well, perhaps I should like to see you again.”
Ruby glanced down at her hands. He noted the cup she held trembled as she put it aside. “I don’t know where I’m going yet,” she admitted.
Hector waited, hoping that if he gave her an opportunity, she might divulge her secrets.
She was wearing the same gown she’d worn for several days. The only dress he’d ever seen her wear was dated and fraying at the seams. Her marriage had not provided for her needs very well. He suspected she was in desperate straits and had come to her uncle hoping for his assistance. That could only be a mistake. “What you say to me goes no further,” he promised.
A tiny shuddering breath left her. “My husband died nearly a year ago. He was a good man, but he wasn’t a wealthy one as you must have already determined. He was my father’s servant. My father disowned me when it became known I had given my heart to someone of his lesser importance than expected.”
Ah, she’d scandalized her family. He did remember hearing something about that but could not recall the finer details. “Most fathers react badly to scandals, I’ve noticed.”
Ruby nodded. “I didn’t care then because I had Liam. I went to live with my husband’s family, but it soon became apparent they didn’t care to have an Englishwoman in the family. Before I fled Scotland, Mr. Roper had decided I must marry a man I didn’t know very well. He intended to keep Pip with him, so I had no choice but to run away from home. I took the mail coach, and then a series of carriages to reach The Vynes. I’ve asked for my uncle’s protection.”
A journey of weeks, perhaps, and costly, too. “I had assumed you hadn’t any money. How did you pay for it all?”
“My mother-in-law had some money set aside. She gave it to me, and in return, extracted a promise to have Pip educated and to send him back when he’d reached his majority.” Ruby glanced at the window. “Pip is the only family they have, too. I intend to honor that promise to Eliza Roper no matter what.”
An unexpectedly kind gesture to a family that didn’t want her. He admired her for taking steps to keep her son, and to avoid an unappealing marriage. Yet matrimonial peril not withstanding, her flight from Scotland would have been an anxious one for other reasons. “Do you fear Mr. Roper is in pursuit of you?”
She nodded. “I had had the good fortune to fall in love, but I ran off to be married without my parents’ blessing. They did not approve of Liam. I was married over an anvil. I fear they will make me give up my son to Mr. Roper, and they might not protect me after the scandal I must have caused. That’s why I came to my uncle first.”
“Most likely, Vyne will write to your father and inform him of your location. Your father could bring Mr. Roper here, too.”
“I’m sure they will come eventually.” She chewed her lips. “I watch the drive all the time, in fear of losing Pip.”
Having spent time with Ruby and Pip, he wouldn’t want to see them separated, either. Male children were considered family property, though. That was the law. Women had few rights when it came to their offspring. Yet it felt wrong to allow any separation of Pip from his mother. Ruby would need a wealthy man to protect her. Lord Vyne was wealthy but not exactly the charitable sort. There had to be more to the story. “Why do you stay?”
“My uncle is still deciding how he can help me.”
Most likely, Vyne was stalling. If it were up to Hector, he’d have spirited Ruby away to a distant abode and suggested she live a quiet life and for them to never use their real names again. “If Vyne refuses to help you, I will be only too happy to deliver you to your cousins in Cornwall or beyond.”
“I’m sure that it will not be necessary, but thank you. My uncle has promised his assistance, but under a condition.”
“How like him. What was his condition?”
“I am to marry a man of my uncle’s choosing.”
“Not you, too,” Hector exclaimed in annoyance. “That is too high a price to pay for anyone.”
“It is customary. Families arrange marriages for their daughters all the time. Don’t say it isn’t true. I need the protection of a marriage, my lord. Lord Vyne, no matter what he promises for Pip, will not live forever. I need someone with the power and funds for a bribe if necessary, to persuade Mr. Roper to leave Pip in my care.”
Hector frowned, disliking the plan. Vyne should easily be able to support and hide, if necessary, two family members. Hector could do it without requiring Ruby to marry anyone. “I’ve heard Lord Vyne is expecting another guest to arrive soon. When did you make this deal with him?”
“The night I arrived. Do you think it could be the man he wishes me to marry?”
“It couldn’t be. I arrived before you and I knew about the other guest coming that afternoon.”
“Well, then it will be someone else he picks.”
Someone Hector was sure not to like if they were closely acquainted with Lord Vyne. Surely Ruby didn’t want to go along with all of this. “Are you sure you want to marry again? Like this?”
“No, of course I don’t, but I have no choice.” Ruby looked at him for a long moment. “I won’t be parted from my son for any reason. I must do as my uncle wishes if Pip is to have the future he deserves.”
“Well then,” he murmured.
“Well then,” she replied, her smile strained. “More tea?”
It really wasn’t his place to tell Ruby what to do even if she was making a huge mistake trusting her uncle. “Hmm, I suppose that will do for now.”
Chapter Ten
Ruby lifted her gaze to the view. The storm had passed during the night, leaving them with a blindingly white world. They would go outside today, see some of the estate at last. Hector had promised to be their guide. He had insisted on escorting them everywhere after her confession about a likely pursuit, claiming he didn’t want them to become lost on the estate.
Ruby wasn’t sure his company was in her best interests, but she felt safer with Hector around than without. He clearly hadn’t approved of her plan to remarry to protect Pip, but he’d wisely kept his lips shut ever since voicing his initial objections. Pip seemed to enjoy his company immensely, too, and she was glad that Hector spared the boy some time.
When she saw the dark shape of a carriage approaching the manor through the swirling snow, her first thought wasn’t about danger from Mr. Roper but the likely loss of her time alone with Hector. Eventually, though, she couldn’t pretend she didn’t see the distant carriage, and she pressed her hand to the cold glass to peer out.
“There’s a carriage,” she called finally.
Hector was suddenly at her back, looking out the window with her. “Do you recognize it?”
“No. Do you?”
“It’s a wealthy man’s carriage.”
“Then it is not my father-in-law, unless he went to my father first, and together they’ve divined our location.”
“It’s too far away to tell still who it might be.”
Hector’s fingers stole around her waist, a light touch that made her turn. She was very nearly in his arms then—close but so far away. She thought of his offer for a second kiss and wet her lips in anticipation.