Honoria swallowed uncomfortably, and her cheeks took on a telltale blush. “It will be assumed that Sarah is resting and does not wish to be disturbed.”

Hugh could only stare at her in shock. Was she giving him permission to ravish her cousin?

It took but a moment for Honoria to realize where his thoughts had led him. “I did not mean— Oh, for heaven’s sake. It’s not as if either of you is in a state to do anything.”

Hugh glanced over at Sarah. Her mouth was hanging open.

“You don’t want anyone walking in while you’re alone,” Honoria said, her skin now on hue with a slightly unripe strawberry. She narrowed her eyes at Hugh. “You’ll just be sitting in the chair, but still.”

Hugh cleared his throat. “Still.”

“It would be highly improper,” she said, followed by: “I’m leaving now.” She hurried from the room.

Hugh turned back to Sarah. “That was awkward.”

“You’d best lock the door,” Sarah said. “After all that.”

He reached out and turned the key. “Indeed.”

With Honoria gone, however, they had no buffer upon which to rely for a sense of normalcy, and Hugh found himself standing near the door like a badly posed statue, unable to decide where to take his feet.

“What did you mean,” Sarah blurted out, “when you said ‘there are men who hurt women’?”

He felt his brow furrow. “I’m sorry. I don’t know—”

“Last night,” she interrupted, “when you found me, you were so upset, and you said something about men who hurt people, men who hurt women.”

His lips parted and his throat closed, choking any words that might have formed there. How could she not have understood his meaning? Surely she wasn’t so innocent. She had led a sheltered life, but she had to know what went on between a man and a woman.

“Sometimes”—he began slowly, for this was not a conversation he’d ever anticipated—“a man can—”

“Please,” she cut in. “I know that men hurt women; they do it every day.”

Hugh wanted to flinch. He wished that her statement had been shocking, but it wasn’t. It was merely the truth.

“You were not speaking generally,” she said. “You may have thought you were, but you weren’t. Who were you talking about?”

Hugh went very still, and when he finally spoke, he did not look at Sarah. “It was my mother,” he said, very quietly. “Surely you have realized that my father is not a kind man.”

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“He hurt her in bed,” Hugh said, and suddenly he did not feel quite right. His neck cricked, and he jerked it to one side, trying to shake off the weight of his memories. “He never hurt her out of bed. Only in.” He swallowed. Took a breath. “At night I could hear her cries.”