Chapter 10
Will ate the last of his meal and ordered more ale. He needed it after that conversation, the one he swore to himself he would never, ever have. He was stunned by Dearne’s quiet but completely immodest declarations of love for other men, of bedding other men, and his refusal to be shamed by it. Shame clung to him like fog most of the time. A black cloud which seeped into his soul and kept him cold and alone. He couldn’t quite believe he had revealed so much.
“Do you have any other close family?” he asked Dearne eventually.
“My nephew, Augustus. Holbrook’s boy.”
“How old is your nephew?”
“Lord, now you’re asking,” Dearne said and scratched the back of his neck. “He’s probably about twenty or thereabouts. He’s probably finished university by now. So, what’s your real name?” D
