Page 22 of Ruthless, But for Her

Margot turned to Cassia. Her voice gentled. Ashton had heard her use it on frightened girls time and again. He’d never been sure whether to trust it, though the girls always did.

“You’ll not be harmed under my roof. Not by him. Not by any man who comes through that door. You’re a guest here, not a captive. Whatever he’s told you, whatever you’ve decided about this place already, know that much to be true.”

Cassia studied her, the same way she’d weighed him on their walk through Mere’s End.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Don’t thank me yet.” But the edge had gone out of her.

She called a girl in and gave the orders herself. The second-floor chamber. A bath drawn. The blue kirtle that would have to be taken in at the waist by morning. Food upstairs. She did not ask Ashton’s leave for any of it, and he did not offer.

When the lady had gone up with the girl, Margot stood a while looking at the foot of the stair.

“Her husband is the warden’s man?” she asked.

“Deputy.”

She didn’t look at him. “You’ve set me between de Grey and Heron for a woman you took this morning.”

“Sorren’s spoken to you.”

He’d come ahead of them. Ashton was certain the two had already had this conversation, or one near enough.

“He told me what she’s worth.” Her mouth thinned. “That’s not the same. You know the difference better than any man living. I taught it to you.”

He said nothing.

She held his gaze a moment longer, then let it go. Whatever more she was about to say, she kept it, the way she kept everything she’d decided to keep. He had first learned that at the age of eight and that lesson had been reinforced every year afterward.

“Go,” she said. “You’ve earned your bed.”

He got as far as the door before her voice caught him.

“Ashton.”

He turned. In the low light, she looked tired. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d thought that.

“You did a foolish thing, bringing her here.”

“I know.”

She gave him a small smile. “I didn’t say you were wrong.”

CHAPTER 14

Cassia

It had been a surprisingly good meal. But it hadn’t been the first of the evening's surprises.

Cassia pushed back her seat, the wooden legs of her chair gliding smoothly on the bare boards below. There were no rushes, though she wouldn't expect them with a brazier glowing. But the cleanliness of the establishment was one of those surprises.

She got up from the table, leaving a tray of finished fish stew behind, then reached for the goblet of mulled wine standing beside the brazier.

And there were other surprises... The faint smell of honey from the Daisy's beeswax candles filled the air, and tapestries, though not woolen and made of linen, lined every wall of her bedchamber.

And though the woven rope bed lacked a canopy, every other feature spoke of wealth. The linens were fine, the coverlet thick enough for a northern winter.

And she was still amazed by the fact that she had been able to bathe. Cassia had spoken to one of the young serving girls, asking her how such a thing was possible on the second floor.