Have Faith

Chapter 8

Cassian's business inside the bank took just over half an hour. The manager did not challenge the fact that Faith was with him, though his judgemental sneer was enough to let Cassian know that he did not think much of Faith.

It honestly made Cassian want to take his business elsewhere. He would look into it.

Cassian decided to skip seeing his tailor and instead took Faith directly to see the painting he was thinking about buying. They journeyed to the home of an old widow, Mrs Forster. The painting had belonged to her husband, and she was now selling his possessions to pay off debts.

It was really none of his business but the Forster scandal had been front page news for a few weeks in the summer.

Cassian watched Faith as they travelled towards Mrs Forster's London home. She really was angelically beautiful. Cassian knew that he would be lying if he said he were not attracted to her. It was hard not to be.

Any man could see how fair she was. Cassian appreciate her beauty. But he appreciated her heart more, and he meant that sincerely. The gentlemen at the club could mock him all they wanted, but Faith was the sort of good that he wanted to immerse himself in.

Who else but an angel would give a fortune away to an urchin she did not know?

But there were so many questions surrounding Faith.

If he was being honest, Cassian really did not know much about Faith. Cassian was sure he knew more about Faith than most. After all, she had told him about her son, but there was so much more to her. There had to be.

One day, he hoped, she would trust him enough to tell him everything.

Her fringe had fallen aside again as she looked out the window, exposing that pink scar once more.

"What happened to your head?" asked Cassian. It took him a moment to realise he had actually asked the question out loud.

Faith's eyes immediately widened and she slapped her hand over the scar. Faith fluffed her fringe so that it covered her hairline scar properly. "Nasty accident," she murmured. "A few years ago I tripped. Hit my head on a table."

Cassian wondered why she had just lied to him. He could see it in her eyes. She was waiting for him to call her on her lie. But he did not confront her. Faith could tell him the truth when she was ready to.

But that only made the scenarios in his head that much worse.

Mrs Forster was not in. Cassian and Faith was shown to the drawing room by a servant and they were left alone. The drawing room was quite empty. Quite a few pieces had been sold. All that was left was a few settees, a mantel clock, and two paintings on the adjacent walls.

One was of a landscape. The other, the one Cassian was interested in, was a portrait of a woman.

The raven haired woman was sitting by a window, looking over her shoulder at a closed door. She looked ... sad. But that was what Cassian liked about the painting. Her face told a story. She was a real person. Someone else to add to his collection.

"Who do you suppose she is?" asked Faith. She, too, was standing beside him while looking up at the painting.

"I would like to hear your thoughts," Cassian countered.

Faith exhaled and cocked her head thoughtfully. "I imagine she spends most of her time by that window," she mused. "She looks like she is waiting for someone."

"A man?"

"Perhaps. But he is not coming. He never comes."

"How do you know?"