Chapter 62
Yet the concern in his eyes made it difficult to evade his questions.
So she told him, as plainly as she could and she didn’t stop even when she felt it reopening barely healed wounds.
By the time she finished, Adrian was no longer seated.
He had risen in a burst of fury and was pacing across the room, his expression darkening as the implications of her story settled upon him.
Cassandra watched the anger take hold over Adrian.
She knew that kind of anger, had seen it on more than one occasion.
It was the sort that made a man reckless. Adrian cared for her, and because he cared, she knew he would want to do something.
Something destructive.
Filled with fiery rage, she half expected him to storm straight to Ashford House and make her family pay for what they had done. As satisfying as that might have been, it would also force her to reveal her hand and put the Ashfords on their guard far sooner than she wanted.
Her family deserved something far worse than a moment of anger. If she wanted them to suffer as they deserved, she needed their defenses to come down first. She needed them comfortable, convinced that they had escaped the consequences of their actions.
Let them believe they had gotten away with it. When she finally struck, she wanted them completely unprepared.
"They tried to force you into a marriage," he said, his voice strained with disbelief.
He turned away, hands clenching into tight fists.
Cassandra waited until he faced her once more before trying to reason with him.
"I know what they did was wrong." She began but his outraged look caused the rest of the words to die on her tongue.
"Wrong?" He was appalled and indignant. A terrible combination.
"Yes. Wrong. Cruel. Unthinkable. Impossible to forgive. All those and more. But that does not make it unlawful." She said and it was the truth.
He stared at her like she had sprouted a second head, mostly baffled by how calm she was being.
"As long as I remain unmarried, my parents retain authority over me. The laws of the kingdom give them considerable power to arrange a marriage on my behalf, whether I consent or not. They used that authority against me." Cassandra kept her voice level even while discussing something so distressing.
Adrian’s expression hardened. As a man, he had never had any reason to worry about such matters and now he was suddenly forced to confront this reality.
"Something has to be done. They can’t simply hide behind the law."
"Not precisely." Cassandra shook her head. "But they knew what the law permitted them to do, and they exploited it."
That was what made the situation so infuriating.
If her family had committed some obvious crime, Cassandra could demand justice. She could take the matter before the proper authorities and expect them to intervene.
Here the law had not protected her and it had become part of the weapon used against her. Her family would no doubt go unpunished if she relied on that same biased law.
Adrian resumed his pacing, nearly wearing a hole in the carpet.
After watching him for a moment, Cassandra asked, "What do you intend to do?"
Her question brought him up short. The look on his face suggested that he had already considered several possibilities, none of which were likely to end peacefully.
"I don’t know." He grumbled stubbornly.
"Then don’t do anything yet."
There was that disbelieving stare again and this time Cassandra held his gaze. "I will deal with them the way they deserve."
"You cannot simply—"
"I can." She smiled. "And I will. Have some faith and it shall be done."
Her voice remained quiet, but the certainty behind it left little room for argument.
The anger in Adrian’s expression gradually softened into concern.
"What are you planning?"
"I am still working that out."
It was the truth. She had begun forming the foundations of a plan the previous night, but too many pieces remained uncertain.
She needed to ensure that she could protect herself when things eventually got out of hand and to make certain that the people who had harmed her would never have the opportunity to do so again.
"But I may need your help." She said earnestly.
"Anything you need." He could never refuse her.
"You should be careful about making promises like that." She mused. "You don’t even know what I might ask from you."
"I mean it. Anything you want." Adrian said
"Then I will hold you to it."
Adrian nodded.
"What about this Whitmore fellow?" Edmund asked. "I don’t believe I have heard of him before. What do you intend to do about him?"
"I have already sent word to Mr. Reaver this morning." Cassandra replied. "He is a watch officer I am acquainted with. I have asked him to look into Mr. Whitmore, his businesses, his associates, and anything else he might uncover. Whatever he finds, he will report back to me."
Accusing a man of a crime as grave as trafficking was no simple matter.
Cassandra might have little doubt about what Whitmore was involved in but suspicion alone would not be enough to bring him to justice.
She needed concrete evidence before making such accusations, evidence strong enough that no one could dismiss her claims or give Whitmore room to wriggle his way out of them.
She had overheard enough of his conversation at the chapel to understand the nature of the man she was dealing with, but what good was her word?
She had been barely lucid at the time, still suffering the effects of the tonic. No respectable court or magistrate would condemn a man based solely upon her recollection.
No. She needed proof.
More importantly, she needed proof that could be traced directly to Whitmore and his dealings. There had to be something connecting him to the crimes he had so carefully concealed. Without that connection, Whitmore would simply deny everything, hire clever men to defend him, and walk away untouched.
Cassandra could not allow that to happen.
She couldn’t imagine how many people a man like Whitmore might have harmed before their paths had crossed, nor how many more he might destroy if he were allowed to continue unchecked.
Whatever he had done in the years before she met him, whatever he had managed to conceal after she escaped, she could not in good conscience turn away and allow him to keep doing it.
If she wanted to put an end to Whitmore, she had to be certain she could bring him down completely.
"I will have my own people look into the man as well." Adrian said. "If there is anything worth finding, they will. Rest assured."