Free Sister of Rogues by Cynthia Breeding

punishment did she receive?”
    Mr. Kelly searched through papers on his desk. “She was confined to her room.”
    â€œWithout food?”
    The warden glanced at the note. “I believe she was allowed to eat.”
    â€œWas she beaten?”
    He shook his head. “Mr. O’Reilly frowns on beating women.”
    â€œWho is O’Reilly?”
    â€œHe is the gentleman at whose home your daughter is lodged.”
    â€œHome? What kind of home?”
    â€œA residential place just down the road.”
    â€œMy daughter is not here?” Wesley felt rage beginning to build. “Why is she not in a cell here in the asylum? She needs the treatments you mentioned. All of them.”
    â€œRest assured, Mr. Avery. Your daughter is well-cared for. A trained matron—one who has had experience in such places—oversees her. I am alerted to any situation that arises.”
    Wesley didn’t want assurance. “I prefer that she be moved into the asylum.”
    â€œAt the moment, the women’s ward is full. Also, when a woman of…substance is admitted, we try to give her better accommodations. You are, after all, paying for them.”
    â€œCan’t you put her in a cell by herself?”
    Mr. Kelly frowned. “The only cells we have open are in the men’s wards. Surely, you wouldn’t want that?”
    Barely managing to control his anger, Wesley rose. “We will discuss this again when I return from France.”
    â€œOf course.” Mr. Kelly laid the paperwork down and rose as well. “Good day.”
    Nothing was good about the day. Not anymore. Wesley fumed as he stomped off the grounds, not acknowledging the guard this time. Why wasn’t the sly little bitch not chained to the wall in a cold cell like he had been in Bedlam? Damn it all. He’d been treated like a rabid animal until he’d managed to escape. Damn it all . He’d expected to see Fiona wild-eyed and already half-crazed. Instead, she was being kept like a damn guest in someone’s house?
    Maybe the MacLeod bitch had whored herself into better accommodations? Wesley’s disposition brightened a bit. If that was what she’d done, it would be just another step to her total ruin. Men raped whores…he’d done enough of that himself. The act wouldn’t be pleasant. Maybe it was just as well he’d made up the bit about a trip to France. Two weeks of the little whore being used by men like that guard would be pure justice and it would give Wesley time to think…and plan.
    Because the current situation would not do. It would not do at all.

Chapter Six
    Even though Ada continued to glare at Fiona whenever they were in the same room, retribution for pushing the matron had not come…yet. Fiona fully anticipated it would at a time when Kier was gone. For the past several days, he had been home, although he’d stayed mainly in the library. She assumed he took his meals there as well, since he had made no appearance at the midday lunch. Their evening meals—a light repast of bread and cheese—were brought to their rooms.
    This afternoon, she was alone in the courtyard—save for a frowning Seamus standing guard at the door. Lona was still recovering, Dulcee preferred to pray—which was how Fiona thought of it rather than talking to angels —in the small room that served as a chapel, and Kathleen had declared it was too cold.
    Fiona relished her time in the courtyard, even though it was somewhat in disrepair—the rhododendrons needed cutting back and the chrysanthemums lining the uneven cobblestone walkways needed trimming. She turned her face towards the meager warmth of a late October sun and tried to ignore the coldness of the stone bench seeping through her flimsy gown. At least the women had been given shawls. They weren’t as warm as a Scottish tartan, but wrapping one around her shoulders warded off the chill of an autumn