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She opened a jar of the herbal salve Nick had brought. It smelled of lavender and comfrey. A comforting, calming odor with only a slight medicinal bite.
She smeared some over Jane’s wrists. After the first flinch, Jane remained motionless, allowing Alice to cleanse and dress her wounds.
She was wearing a dirty, torn gown that probably used to be fine.
Alice helped her disrobe and used hot water to wash away the worst of the dirt from her skin.
“I’ll return in a moment,” she said. “I want to fetch one of my nightdresses.”
Jane nodded dully.
Alice closed the door behind her and walked swiftly to her room, choosing a soft, flannel nightdress and a pair of woolen stockings. Jane might catch a chill. She was blue about the lips.
When she returned, Alice helped Jane into the flannel nightdress. Nothing much could be done with her short hair. Still, Alice ran a brush across her head softly.
“Never mind,” Alice told her. “Your hair will grow back. I’ve never seen eyes such a lavender shade. Have you ever picked lavender from a field? We have fields of lavender near our house in Pudsey. Lying in those fields was my favorite thing to do. It smelled like heaven...”
As she talked of any simple topic that came to mind, Jane visibly relaxed against the pillows.
Nick had said he took people in sometimes. Obviously, this woman was in terrible need.
She’d met with some manner of dreadful fate.
How did Nick know her? Was she under his protection, somehow? Had one of his disreputable friends harmed her in some way?
The thought made her stomach roil. She knew Nick had unsavory friends—the debauched lords who attended his scandalous entertainments. Could one of them be involved?
“Where did you come from tonight?” Alice asked.
Jane shrank back into the bedclothes. “Won’t go back. Don’t make me go to the Yellow House.”
She twisted the covers in her fists.
Whatever this Yellow House was, it must be an awful place.
Jane raised her eyes and Alice nearly took a step backward, there was so much suffering there.
“They will come for me,” Jane whispered. “They will find me.”
“Who? Who will find you? Tell me whom you are running from. Who did this to you? Was it a gentleman?”
“Can’t tell you. So... tired.” Jane’s head fell back against the pillows as she slipped into a deep sleep.
Alice’s head throbbed from the wine she’d had earlier and spun with questions.
This was not exactly how she’d pictured her wedding night ending.
It seemed that life with Nick was going to be far more complicated than she ever could have imagined.
She only hoped he had a reasonable explanation for Jane’s predicament. And that he’d had nothing to do with her suffering.
She didn’t want to think this way, but perhaps it was a good thing they hadn’t consummated the marriage yet.
There were some things a lady simply couldn’t forgive.
Nick and Lear moved swiftly in the darkness.
The squat silhouette of the Yellow House loomed to the west. Any charm its ivy-covered brick façade possessed was lost in the darkness. It was a heavy, oppressive lump of a building at night.
