He gave her a guilty glance. “I’m right next door. I didn’t know this was your room until tonight. I’ll move farther down the hall if you wish.”
“No.” She leapt to her feet. “Please, don’t go.”
He paused, raising an eyebrow in question. If this was an invitation, he didn’t know how in the hell he was going to refuse her.
She bit her lip. “I’m afraid my husband doesn’t realize the gravity of our situation. He seems to think your father is merely testing us and has no intention of sending us away.” She lifted her gaze to his. “What do you think?”
He hesitated, but knew it served no purpose to lie. He owed her the truth, in this at least. “He’s already bought the tickets. I’m certain he wouldn’t have summoned me here if he didn’t need me to escort you.”
“Sutcliffe knows about Daniel’s… activities, doesn’t he? That’s why he’s sending us away. Because he’s embarrassed and knows Daniel and I will never have a child.”
That wasn’t quite it, but he gave an abrupt nod.
She closed the distance that separated them, her face somber and imploring. “I know I have no right to ask anything of you, but there’s no one else I can trust.”
He wanted to ask her what on earth made her think she could trust him, but he swallowed his protests and sighed. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want to go to my father. Now. Tonight. Will you take me?” It was the last thing he’d expected her to ask, and he frowned.
“Can’t it wait until morning?”
She shook her head. “I’m hoping he’ll intervene on my behalf and petition the church for an annulment. If I wait until tomorrow, Sutcliffe will be back, and he’ll never let me go.”
An annulment. He stared at her in surprise. If she succeeded, it would put her beyond Sutcliffe’s sphere of control. And what use would the earl’s bastard son be without a daughter-in-law to impregnate?
The thought of returning to prison threw him into a moment of blind panic. He wouldn’t go back. He couldn’t. He opened his mouth to deny her request, but when he looked into her lovely green eyes, he realized refusing her would make him no better than his father.
She didn’t deserve to be sent away for Daniel’s sins. She didn’t deserve any of this.
“If I help you, will you promise not to mention it to my father?” If the earl didn’t know of his involvement, he couldn’t blame him for failing to give him an heir.
She nodded. “Just take me home. That’s all I ask. No one need ever know.
