Page 73 of The Lord Meets His Lady
“Hismission here?” Mr. Beckworth echoed, pushing off the chair.
“That’s what he said.”
“I’d hazard a guess the deception to get you didn’t matter,” Lord Bowles said.
She leaned an elbow on the arm of the chair. “Reinhard thought I’d come around eventually. He couldn’t understand why I wasn’t overjoyed at the plan to be his mistress and live in a nice house inKönigsberg.”
“Because any woman at the Golden Goose would leap at such a chance.”
“Women like me don’t get opportunities like that very often, do we?”
Lord Bowles tapped his fist against his mouth. His gaze met hers, dark and hollow. In telling her tale, did he see some of himself in what had unfolded between them at Pallinsburn? Or was he mourning her leaving?
Silence filled the parlor, save the footfalls of Mr. Beckworth pacing the room. He read the one-page contract, scowling at every line. Before her, the fire crackled nicely, but her knees hurt from the tumble in the woods. Her wool stockings rubbed raw skin. Wood fragments stuck to her hem and her hair. She was a mess.
Is this what happens to women who take charge of their lives? Who dare to seek a different path from the one to which they were born?
She stood up. “Now you know why I sought my grandmother. I didn’t have anyone else to turn to.”
His brows raised a fraction. “You could find sanctuary with her now.”
“For how long before Herr Wolf comes knocking?”
“Wait.” Mr. Beckworth held up a hand. “There is one way out.”
