CHAPTER 8: The Son Who Said Nothing

James opened his mouth, but no answer came.
Margaret answered for him because she always had.
“Because that woman was clever,” she said. “Because people like her know how to attach themselves to families like ours.”
The words struck Noah harder than shouting would have.
His face went pale. He reached toward the ring, then stopped himself because Arthur's hand was already near it.
Arthur turned to his wife with a calm that frightened even the guests who had known him for decades.
“Did you know?”
Margaret's chin lifted.
That was her confession before language arrived.
“I protected this family,” she said.
James whispered, “Mother.”
Arthur did not move.
“Did you keep my grandson from me?”
No one breathed.
Margaret looked at Noah as if he were still an object on the wrong table.
“I kept a scandal away from us.”
Arthur's face changed then.
Not loudly.
Finally.