Free The Eden Passion by Marilyn Harris Page A

teaching the young ones . . ." Her voice fell as her mind darted back to those blissfully happy days.
    Then Mr. Johnson was there again, his manner still apologetic.

    "Forgive me, miss." He smiled. "But if I may ask, what was your . . . relationship to Mr. Eden?"
    Quickly she glanced at Jack Willmot. No white lie here, not when she'd spoken the truth earlier.
    Apparently Jack Willmot saw her discomfort and turned to Johnson with a question of his own. "In what capacity are you here, Johnson, and where are your questions leading?"
    As though annoyed by the intrusion, Johnson looked toward Willmot. "Forgive me, sir, but I was about to ask you the same question."
    Elizabeth saw Jack Willmot's confidence falter. He seemed to look to her for an answer. And in spite of her weariness, she rallied. Jack Willmot had been far too kind to let him struggle thus. Now to Johnson she said, "Edward had been employed by Mr. Willmot. He was with him the night he died, and without his support I doubt if any of us would have survived from that night to now."
    As though moved by her tribute, she saw Willmot lower his head.
    Again a feeling of quiet stole over the room. And in that quiet she found the courage to answer Morley Johnson's last question. "The relationship I shared with Edward Eden," she commenced, "was a simple one. I kept his house, and in the later years, his books as well."
    Johnson seemed to be listening with interest and at this point withdrew from the inner pocket of his plain jacket a small notepad and point. While he was still in the process of recording something, he asked bluntly, "But you were not his. . .wife?"
    "No."
    "Did you share his bed?" Johnson asked, still not looking at her, apparently unaware of her embarrassment.
    Again Willmot interrupted. "I protest, Johnson. I can't see what—"
    "I'm not here to question you, Mr. Willmot," Johnson snapped, all traces of kindness gone from his voice. "Though I may in time," he added.
    But still Willmot moved forward in his chair. "I don't give a damn who you've come to question. I'm saying that in certain areas, you've got no right—"
    As Johnson turned in his chair to meet the angry challenge, Elizabeth sat up. "Please, Mr. Willmot," she soothed. Then to Johnson she said, "No, I never shared his bed."
    He looked at her, clearly disbelieving. "If I may be so bold," he

    said. "What was your . . . profession . . . before you went into the Ragged School?"
    She gazed at him without speaking. There was something arrogant in his manner now, which suggested that he already knew the answers to the questions he was asking.
    "I was a prostitute, Mr. Johnson," she whispered, feeling battered.
    He smiled at her. "And yet, you are asking me to believe that you never knew Edward Eden in a carnal way?"
    "I didn't," she protested, leaving her chair, her anger dragging her to her feet in spite of her fatigue.
    Within the instant Willmot was beside her, the full force of his fury aimed downward on the still-grinning Johnson. "I'm asking you to leave now, sir," he said, his voice taut, as though he were exerting massive self-control.
    Sensing an ally, Elizabeth felt strength returning. "No," she said, settling back into the chair. "Let him ask all his questions now and never return."
    Apparently Jack Willmot gave in to her judgment, though he did not return to his chair, but instead took up a protective stance directly behind her.
    "As I said," Johnson commenced again, a new conciliatory tone in his voice, "some of the questions might be awkward. But you must know that I'm acting under explicit instructions from Lord and Lady Eden."
    Baffled, Elizabeth looked closely at him. "What possible interest would Lord and Lady Eden have in me?" she asked quietly.
    "Oh, not you directly," Johnson hastened to explain. "It's the boy."
    Suddenly everything became clear. Of course. John. Obviously Lord and Lady Eden thought that she was John's mother.
    In a way relieved, she leaned back in the chair. "I'm