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Hearing no reply, Simon took a deep breath and released it before cracking the door and peering inside. She lay on her side, facing the wall away from the door. He assumed she was asleep until a little sniffle gave her away. He didn’t think he had ever seen her cry. Worried that she might be in more pain than she’d let on, he quietly walked to the bed.
“Please go away,” she implored him.
“Why are you crying, Mia?”
“I am not crying,” she said with a sniffle.
Unable to bear the pain in her voice, he lay down on the bed and put his arm around her. She immediately stiffened.
“What are you doing?”
“Just comforting a dear friend.” He gently rubbed her arm until her muscles relaxed. “We are friends, aren’t we? After all, we have known each other since we were children.”
“I suppose we are friends.”
“So why are you upset?”
“I am just feeling sorry for myself.”
“I suppose that is understandable in this situation. I’m just wondering why now. Did your mother say something that upset you?” Her mother was a hard woman. The tension grew thick whenever Mia and her mother were together.
“Nothing more than usual.”
He decided not to say anything for a moment to see if she would continue. Perhaps she would feel the need to fill the silence that quickly enveloped them.
Finally, she whispered, “I just don’t understand why no man can ever love me.”
Now, he was at the heart of the matter. “That’s not true, Mia. Davies was a monster. No real man hits a woman.”
“It’s not just him. Paul Smyth was no different, well, except he never hit me. Instead, he lied to me and told me I was the only woman he loved all the while he was engaged to be married. He used me... just like Davies. I just don’t know why Davies used me.”
“Why do you think he used you?”
She laughed coarsely. “What else would you call it?”
“How did you meet him?”
“I was walking home from church. My mother hadn’t been able to attend so I was alone. He stopped and asked me for directions.”
“Directions? To where?”
“Cheadle. He said he wasn’t from around here. Then the next week, he was there again, waiting for me.” Mia looked down. “He said he hadn’t been able to put me out of his mind. We walked together for a while and talked. Before long he asked me to...”
Her voice trailed off but Simon knew what she meant. “We shall figure all this out, Mia.” As much as he wanted to tell her how he felt about her, Simon knew this was not the time. She would need time to learn to trust him before he could tell her the truth. But he was determined to make her understand the danger she still faced. “You must believe me that not all men are like that, Mia.”
“Perhaps not when you’re a member of Society and the men are all supposed to be gentlemen. But out in the country, the men can act as they like. Women are nothing but chattel to be used and discarded as desired.”
Simon couldn’t help but chuckle. That laugh forced Mia to slowly turn and face him with a frown. He realized with a start just how close they were on the bed. And alone.
“You think this is humorous?”
“No,” he said softly. “I think your opinion of Society’s men is. I have met more men in London who believe woman are for nothing but their pleasure than I have out here.”
Her shoulders dropped. “So all men are the same and I should just give up on ever finding a man who will love me for who I am.”
“No, I just don’t think you should idolize any man who gives you attention.”
“Perhaps not.”
