It had the opposite effect.
Polly broke into sobs as she rushed over to a wooden cradle perched in the corner. “You won’t take my son away! You’re not taking him!”
“Why on earth would you think we came for your son?”
“Because his father is your brother!”
Ian struggled to process the series of appalling epiphanies.
Jared’s mistress had given birth to a son.
The man Ian had charged with watching Polly either hadn’t known about the baby, or intentionally kept it from Ian.
And Polly believed Ian was the bogeyman sent to separate them. Because if Jared had told Polly anything about Ian, the woman knew it was his charge to eliminate any threat to the Holts.
Ian observed Diana; her expression remained eerily calm.
Neither of them should have been shocked by Polly’s revelation. Jared was reckless, and it was possible the baby in the cradle wasn’t the only child he’d fathered. It was also possible he wasn’t the father at all, given that Polly had until recently worked at the bordello.
Yet Jared had continued his arrangement with Polly. He’d never shown such interest in any of his other women.
“You lot have some nerve. Wasn’t enough for the lout to give me that!” Polly gulped another sob as she gestured to a pile of papers on the small table. “So he sends the Devil of the Docklands to force my hand.”
“Hush, Polly,” Lady Cora said in the least soothing voice Ian had ever heard.
“Please, Mrs. Wren, your son is safe with you. We only came to talk,” Diana added, in a much gentler tone.
“That’s what they all say.” Polly hiccupped. “Before they take our babies.”
Ian had done terrible things to protect his family and their business. Many were necessary; others he regretted. But he’d never rip a mother apart from her child.
He could insist that he wasn’t like the men Polly knew, but she’d never believe him. Diana didn’t jump to his defense either, which he hoped was a tactic to disarm Polly’s wariness. The woman watched them through slitted eyes, suspicious of them both.
They took a collective silent moment of contemplation to process Polly’s words.
Eventually, Diana cleared her throat and turned to Lady Cora. “How are you and Mrs. Wren acquainted?”
“The Ladies’ Discussion and Improvement Society received a pressing request from Polly for help with legal documents.”
“The society is an instructional institute for young ladies, to improve their entrance to society,” Diana explained to Ian. “They also provide employment training for working women and other types of support.”
“Couldn’t read them papers,” Polly said in a smaller voice. She retreated to the cradle and lifted the sleeping baby from it. “Learned my letters, but Lord, if I couldn’t understand a word of that mess. Someone said that Lady Cora’s group could help.”
Ian scrubbed a hand down his face. “Were the papers the only reason Jared paid you a visit last night?”
“What’s it to you?” Polly drawled. The woman was undereducated, but she wasn’t stupid.
“He was missing for a good part of last evening, and when we found him this morning, he was unconscious,” Ian replied. “We haven’t been able to revive him.”
“Good God. Could he di—” Polly’s voice cut out in a swallow and her face turned ashen. “You think I’m to blame for it!”
“Not at all, Mrs. Wren. Come here. I know this is most upsetting to us all.” Diana’s tone was gentle without being patronizing. She gathered a blanket from the settee and settled it over Polly’s shoulders. “We only want to piece together what happened. It could make all the difference for Jared. Will you help us?”
Polly heaved a sigh and shared a nod with Diana. There was a shift of energy in the room with their alignment.
Ian had once read a story inThe Timesabout a rattlesnake let loose in the lobby of Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo. An Italian monk had strolled among the screaming patrons and staff, taken a firm hold of the snake, and tossed it into a nearby bucket of water. Then the man had walked calmly out the door as if he’d performed such services countless times before.
Ian wondered if the monk’s expression had been as calm as the one Diana now wore.
