Page 150 of The King's Man
Roger gave a strangled response and Ambrose turned his attention to Thamsine.
Thamsine raised her chin and looked him squarely in the eye.
‘I let Annie stay because she was plainly being neglected at Beverstock,’ she said. ‘I would have thought as she is your only responsibility … ’
‘Don’t presume to lecture me on my responsibilities, Mistress Lovell.’ The name spat from his mouth while his eyes blazed withhatred. ‘News must travel slowly in this part of the country. The creditors have taken Beverstock. Annie has no home.’ Morton shrugged and his face softened as he looked at his sister. ‘But I suppose I should thank you for the care of her. She is looking well.’
‘Annie is not responsible for your actions, Ambrose.’
Annie looked from one to the other, aware she was being discussed.
‘I haven’t forgotten she helped you escape. That was wrong, Annie.’
He glared at his sister and Annie shrank from his fierce, angry eyes, sensing but not understanding her brother’s displeasure with her.
Thamsine swallowed, fighting to keep control of her voice. She could not let him see how her heart hammered beneath her bodice and her knees felt as if they had turned to water.
‘If you’ve not come for Annie, then why are you here, Ambrose?’
Ambrose reached out and curled a lock of Thamsine’s hair in his finger.
‘That is an excellent question.’
‘He’s here to claim what is rightfully his.’
A woman’s voice came from the doorway and Lucy stepped into the room. Kit’s Mistress Mouse looked pale, travel-stained and weary, a far cry from the bright-eyed creature who had sold Thamsine into the hands of this man.
Ambrose glanced at his mistress. ‘London has become a little … uncomfortable, hasn’t it, dearest?’
‘What do you mean?’ Thamsine demanded.
Ambrose sighed, ‘Too many debts, too many memories. Time for a new start, in a new place.’
‘What do you want, Morton?’ Roger rose to his feet again, his voice strong.
‘Oh, it’s quite simple. I need money to finance my life in France. In short, Thamsine my dear, I want anything of value in this house.’
Thamsine straightened, almost faint with relief. If all he wanted was money, he could take the pictures from the wall.
‘You’re surprised? Did you think I still wanted you?’ He stroked her face. ‘No, you’re soiled goods now. Why would I want you after Lovell has swived you? Pity he’s dead. I would have taken great pleasure in killing him myself. But you make a desirable widow, Thamsine. Mourning becomes you.’
He stepped away from her and removed two pistols from his belt. These he laid on the table before turning back and looking around the room with a genial smile on his face. He sat down on a chair and crossed his legs.
‘I think some refreshments are in order before we discuss the contents of your strongbox. It has been a long, tedious journey, made more so by my companion’s delicate condition.’ Thamsine stared across his head at Lucy, who averted her eyes.
‘You’re with child?’ Thamsine’s barely aspirated words hung in the air. ‘You told me you could not conceive.’
‘Apparently the doctors were wrong. I have conceived.’ She threw aside her cloak, revealing a high-waisted gown below which the swell of her stomach was visible. ‘I am told the child will be born about Christmas,’ she said, lowering herself into a chair with a sigh.
Thamsine did a quick mental calculation. The child must have been conceived in late February or early March when Kit was still with Lucy Talbot.
Oh, Kit, she thought, is there no justice in the world?How could you leave this woman with child and not me?
Ambrose appeared to ignore the tension between the two women as he looked around the pleasant room.
‘And to think this was so nearly mine,’ he said.
His eyes came to rest on Thamsine as Annie crept up next to him and put her hand on his knee.
