Charity’s blue eyes. “Do you think Louis Ashton actually got rid of your real father so he could marry your mother, the way King David did to Uriah the Hittite in the Bible?”
“That was the way Mother told the story. She has come to that conclusion by piecing together the facts over the course of many years. As you did with your husband, she misjudged the kind of man Louis Ashton was and has been paying for her mistake ever since.”
“Oh, poor Pearl. Can’t you free her somehow?”
“Not as long as she chooses to remain in his house as Louis’s wife. I’ve offered to support her for the rest of her days if she will leave him but she always tells me she considers her marriage vows sacred and won’t break them. Not even now.”
“How awful.” Charity paled. “I suppose I should be more thankful that Ramsey Tucker is dead and gone.”
“We have no control over things like that,” Thorne said with resignation. “At least we shouldn’t. For your sake, I’m glad he’s no longer around to menace you.”
To Thorne’s relief he saw a slight smile beginning to lift the corners of Charity’s lips.
“Menace is the perfect word to describe that man’s behavior,” she said. “I wasn’t joking a bit when I referred to him as evil personified.”
“I think I prefer to reserve that term for my stepfather.”
“There really are a lot of evil people in this world, aren’t there?”
“Yes. But you’ve been delivered from one of them and now it’s time for the two of us to rescue Naomi and Jacob from another. Are you up to it?”
“Oh, yes,” Charity said. “I’ll be packed and ready to travel as soon as you say the word.”
“You’re sure? You’re not afraid?”
She laughed lightly, her pink cheeks revealing a touch of embarrassment. “What does fear have to do with making this trip? As long as I believe—and I certainly do—that the Good Lord wants me to help you, why would I hesitate just because I happen to be scared witless?”
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