She mirrored his posture. “Go on, ask me.”
“How long have you known Beatrix was alive?”
“Two years,” she replied without hesitating. “And I’m not telling you any more details about why she did it. It is not my story to tell. If you want to protect Henry, you’ll keep silent about it until Beatrix reaches him.”
“He grieved her. Henry never moved on from her death.” He sounded affronted by Henry’s pain. “When Beatrix drops out of the sky, back into his life, it’s going to break him.”
“It won’t. I know what he’s about to face, better than you can possibly imagine.”
“Just because you’ve forgiven her doesn’t mean he will.”
“They hunted her, Ian. All Beatrix wanted was to stay safe.”
His scowl softened. “Then how did you find each other?”
She hesitated while she debated what she could reveal.
Without Beatrix or Amelia, Ian was the only person she could rely on to help track down the Stag traitor. But if she brought him with her to the meet to exchange the emeralds, he’d find out everything about why she’d joined the Stags.
And she’d finally be free of the burden of hiding so much from him.
Diana recalled the brush of his fingers along her throat earlier, and the seamless way they’d disarmed the guards together.
It was foolish to continue denying the true reason she’d made him part of her endeavor.
She couldn’t let him go; she wanted him alongside her.
“Eight years ago, a covert collective known as the White Stags recruited me,” she began. “And before you say something biting which you’ll later regret, it’s merely a coincidence that both my name and the organization’s are associated with the goddess of the hunt.”
“If you say so,” he replied with mock solemnity.
“When I agreed to join the Stags, my handler emphasized that secrecy was a necessary part of our mission to help and protect women in trouble.”
“There are plenty of organizations with the same mission that don’t operate in the shadows.”
“They don’t need to if their sole purpose is to convert the poor and downtrodden into righteous Christian soldiers. The members of those organizations seek to rationalize their own indulgent lifestyles by forcing others to adopt a set of values and morals that are as far away from London’s rookeries and slums as Arabia is.”
Ian made no comment on her summation of good society, which was wise of him since she was in no mood to entertain any misogynistic counterarguments.
“The Stags help women leave dangerous and abusive situations and place them in communities far away, hidden from their abusers. But that is only one part of our mission,” Diana went on. “We also work with them so they can live independently. They come from all walks of life. Some have no money, connections, or skills. Others come from what society would deem as respectable homes, but they know nothing beyond how to manage a household. All of them need help to support themselves and navigate a new world.”
“And Flora and Blanca?”
“They’re an exception.”
“Which is why you had cause to suspect the traitor arranged for their rescue.” He drummed his fingers against the cider glass. “Do these women do well in their new lives?”
“Yes. We are clear from the start that it won’t be perfect, that there are sacrifices involved. None of them go into this expecting utopia.”
“I understand,” he said softly.
“Of course. Your mother had to do the same thing. She left Malta to escape her first marriage. My mother told me about it.”
Ian’s gaze hardened. “Whatever you think you know is most likely wrong.”
Diana was tempted to ask if that entanglement had something to do with the emeralds, but it would only anger him more. “You know what her life was like, what she had to do to start again in a new place. With no one she could trust or depend on. She made a new life from the ashes of her old one, and you were witness to it.”
“And you’re telling me all of this to protect the people you’re working with?”