"To get Micaela," Benedict clarifies, adding with some hesitation, "...the woman who raised me." He leans into Colin as much as he can, still shivering, but he seems to be turning inward.
"My mother sold her. I asked Kitty to help me find where she'd gone, so I could buy her back. And she did, and we did. ...but it was. Set up."

He blinks heavily, squeezing out a bit more moisture. "My mother knew she could get me to come home, and had the seller direct me to her. So we went for a quick visit, and it went." He pauses to push his hair out of his face.
"...wrong. I sent Kitty back with Micaela, and stayed with my mother." His mother, who turned out to be exactly the person he's been cautioned against for going on years now, which he refused to see until far too late. She probably hasn't lost a wink of sleep, and somehow knowing this makes the pain all the greater.

"I was an idiot," he whimpers.