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“That was certainly never my solution, you know that. You chose that on your own.”
Jay’s eyes widened. A real explanation for a nagging detail of how Urs and her parents ended up in Delaware.
“You left us no choice.” Judah’s eyes glimmered like coals. “You and the community. You all made me choose. What else was I supposed to do?”
Bernard closed his eyes and sucked in a breath as if he was trying to regain control. “It doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done and that’s not the issue on the table. He is.” He waved towards Jay.
“Do you really think the Truitt family would permit anything to get out of hand?” Judah pointed another finger at Jay.
Was he ever going to be permitted to speak or just be gestured to like an object?
“We all have a lot more to lose than the Truitts. As you well know, they have privileges we don’t, new world or not.” Bernard folded his arms. The lines on his brow deepened and his eyes grew darker, almost as dark as Judah’s. Resentment flared through his features.
What had happened between the two men? Why, if there was so much enmity, were they even in the Levy household? Unease and fear stabbed at his senses.
“Yes, you like to remind me that ad nauseum though I’ve lived it quite a bit more than you.” Judah closed his eyes for a moment.
Jay swallowed. Was this what ghosts felt like? He cleared his throat. Bernard and Judah each turned, Bernard with an outright sneer while Judah’s face was unreadable, surprise, disappointment, sadness, no one emotion could describe his expression.
“Mr. Truitt,” Judah said. “Why don’t you go see the staff in the kitchen about Artemis and then join us?”
Chapter Nineteen
Hot tears streaked down Ursula’s cheeks in the carriage. Rose made grunts of concern, but she ignored them. She had to think. Her first plan failed, but there had to be other options.
Think, Ursula, think.
She fanned herself over and over. Heat, enough insects to be considered an eleventh plague, frustration; it was a wonder she didn’t burst into flames.
“You’re going to break that.” Rose had an elbow leaning out the open window. The maid used her hand to bat away a fly. Probably hit the thing too.
Ursula scowled. “It shall be fine.”
“Naturally.”
So much judgment, yet she was the only one whoever did anything. Everyone else, even her father, only spoke about things. At least she took action. She just needed a new plan.
If the Pierponts wouldn’t back down, she’d have to convince everyone they were liars. Well, not everyone. She needed to convince one person.
“Stop the carriage,” she cried.
Rose jumped in the air at the sound and struck her head on the window.
“We’re going to be in trouble with your father, aren’t we?” The maid rubbed her head as they came to a halt.
“I’m never in trouble.” The retort was automatic, but a twinge of doubt tickled her stomach. Good lord, how did she think she could do this, especially after the last failure? Still, she was all Jay had—Don Quixote in a corset.
The hurt, the injustice, the unfairness burned behind her eyes.
What her father didn’t know couldn’t hurt him, right? She wasn’t actually doing anything bad. Not really. Besides, this was a dire situation. What they were doing to Jay was wrong. Just wrong.
Bollocks.
She did whine, even in her head.
The coachman came around the side for instructions and she worked to keep her voice level. She would come out on top. There was no other choice now.
* * *
