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“Why was I not called sooner?”
“There were other, more important issues that needed to be attended to, Mia,” Braden said sharply. Hart leveled a deep scowl at him. “I apologize for my behavior.”
“Did he hit you anywhere else? Are your ribs all right?” Mia turned her attention on Emily again.
“No, just my face,” she finally admitted.
“And how far along are you?”
Emily’s face went pallid. “How did you know?”
Mia gave her a look far wiser than her twenty-four years. “I knew the moment I saw you that you were carrying. So why would your husband have done this to you?”
“How do you know it was him?” Emily whispered.
“Just a feeling. Mr. Tavers is watching my every movement around you like a mother hen. So it isn’t terribly difficult to assume what happened.” Mia finished cleaning Emily’s face. “You shall be bruised for a few days, but it’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” Jonathon shouted.
Mia turned her glare on him. “No, it wasn’t all that bad, Mr. Tavers.”
“How can you say that?” Jonathon said. “You have no idea what it is like to have a man beat you like this.”
“Oh, you might need to intercede, Hart,” Braden said with a cringe.
“My wife can fight her own battles, Middleton. I made certain of that.”
Mia rose and placed her hands on her hips. “Indeed? Mr. Tavers, I should warn you to tread very carefully here. I spent weeks recovering at Hart’s home because a man abused me. I am not saying what happened to her should be dismissed. But she will not need to stay in bed while her entire body attempts to recover.”
Jonathon looked abashed. “I apologize, my lady. I had no idea.”
“Now,” Mia said, looking at all the men in the room. “What are we to do with Lady Eldridge? She cannot stay here. Nor can she stay with Mr. Tavers. And I will not allow her to return to her husband.”
“I was hoping she could stay with you,” Braden said in a gentle tone.
Mia rolled her eyes before glancing over at Hart. He shrugged. “It is all right with me. However, if her husband comes to my home to retrieve her, we have no option but to turn her over to him.”
“You will do no such thing!” Mia exclaimed.
“It is the law, Mia,” Hart said. “He has the legal right to bring her back to his home.”
“It’s not right,” she retorted.
“I can’t agree more.”
Seeing Emily’s white face, Braden said, “If it is settled, we need to get her out of here before Eldridge pays me a visit.”
Mia and Hart departed with Emily as Jonathon watched from the window. Braden wrote a note to Alistair asking him to join them. Braden wondered where
Tia was right now. He needed to speak with Mrs. Abbott.
“Nelson, ask Mrs. Abbott to come see me in my study.”
“Of course, my lord.”
Mrs. Abbott’s hasty footsteps soon rang out from the hall. “Yes, my lord?”
Braden had hated asking for Mrs. Abbott’s assistance, but it had been the only way Tia would return to the estate safely. “How did it go with her?”
