Thomas was relieved when Rena sat down- he knew that he likely wasn't making any sense, but now that he was awake (however abruptly), his mind was racing once more. "I used to have quite a lot of dealings with her," he replied, quickly adding, "not like that, though! No- I- alright, the beginning, yeah?"
He took a deep breath, glancing behind Rena just to make sure the door to his quarters was still closed- he didn't want Bridget walking in on this conversation. "I met Abby in the market when she was sixteen, and she'd already been living with Madame Besoir for... five years? Maybe more, I'm not certain. She'd been orphaned, and Madame Besoir had taken her in, with Abby not knowing what the place was. Abby wasn't made to work there when I knew her- she was too young, I suppose, but Madame Besoir still held quite the grip on her- she insisted that Abby owed her, for taking care of her for so long..." Thomas shook his head, frowning at the memory. "I tried to tell Abby that I would get her out, but nothing seemed to work- the Madame just had Abby under her thumb. Even- even when Abby found out she was pregnant, the Madame wouldn't let her leave. The night that Bridget was born, I was there- at the brothel- but the Madame had guards posted to keep me from seeing Abby. It was the Madame who brought Bridget out to me, telling me that Abby had died in childbirth... A lie, I know now, because she told Abby that Bridget had been stillborn and that I had left and said I wanted nothing to do with her because of that. Abby, she- she's had the last ten years with her head filled with nothing but the Madame's lies about that night, lies about my character... It was only last week, I suppose, that Abby had finally had enough, and ran away to the Forrester's."