Violet let out a shuddering breath and tried not to think about his kisses and the heat of his hands on her. She wouldn’t allow that to happen again. She no longer believed he would run away at the first sign of trouble. He would help with Lizzie and Ferryman, but after that, he would go. Whatever his trouble—had he called it a curse?—he would certainly have it worked out in the next few days.
*
The next morning,Violet woke early. She was hungry, but she didn’t have money for food unless she took more out of what she owed Ferryman. She’d have to send Georgie to beg for his breakfast, and she hated doing that.
She opened the door and descended the steps into the back room, expecting to see King sleeping under the counter, but he wasn’t there. Maybe she’d been wrong about him after all. Maybe hehadrun at the first sign of trouble. But she saw he’d left all of his clothing, and she rather doubted he would leave it behind. He seemed particularly fond of it.
She pushed through the door into the tavern and found him sitting at the bar looking down at the parchment the old woman had given her to pass on. She was about to chastise him for wasting her candles when she caught the look on his face. His eyes looked red and his cheeks a bit hollow. He had two days’ growth of beard, which she rather liked, but it made him look even more haggard.
“I see I need to send you begging for food as well,” she said. “You’re looking thin.”
He glanced up at her, and she saw a flash of pain in his eyes before he masked it with that annoying smugness.
Violet’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m not begging,” he said.
She waved a hand. “Don’t change the subject. What’s on that paper that’s upset you?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s clearly something.” She moved around the bar and took a seat on the stool beside him. “It’s been three days. Don’t you think it’s time you tell me what’s going on?”
“Why, Miss Sunshine, I didn’t think you cared.”
She was about to hit him and tell him shedidn’tcare, but that was what he wanted. He wanted to push her away, so he didn’t have to reveal anything of himself.
“My name is Violet, and I don’t know if I care yet. Start talking. Begin by telling me why there was a crowd of merchants trying to collect on debts the morning I came to your house. Does it have something to do with tainder by verdict? That might not be right. I heard it from Joshua.”
He sighed, and it was a long sigh. The kind of sigh that made her chest tighten a little with fear. He raked a hand through his hair, disordering it, and with the mussed hair and the stubble, he was almost irresistible.
“It’s attainder by verdict,” he said. “And yes, it has almost everything to do with that.”
“What is attainder by verdict? It sounds like something to do with the law.”
He looked down at the bar, and she noticed he traced the scarred wood with one finger. “That’s correct. The night I was first here with my friends, my father was tried in the House of Lords and found guilty.” He looked up at her, his green eyes full of pain. She hadn’t expected that. “Of treason.”
Violet gasped. “Treason? Surely that was a mistake.”
“I don’t think so. I don’t have much of a relationship with my father, but I didn’t doubt the charges when I first heard them. Rather, I read them. My father and I aren’t on speaking terms, and I saw in theTimeshe had been accused of selling secrets to the French.”
Violet grasped the bar, shaken by this news. She did not know very much about the war between France and England, but she knew she wanted England to defeat Napoleon. “Why would he want to help our enemy?”
“He was helping himself. That’s the only person he’s ever cared about. I’m sure they offered him money and titles and land, and that’s all the duke cares about.”
“What about your mother? Your siblings?”
“My mother is dead. She died in childbirth.” Violet put a hand on his arm. She couldn’t help but want to comfort him, but he moved his arm away and looked down at the bar again, at his finger tracing a deep scar. “My father never married again. I don’t have any siblings. I was the heir to the dukedom, but that’s where the attainder comes in.”
Violet took a breath, but a knot had formed in her belly, and it sat there, tight and hard and nauseating.
“I won’t bore you with the details of attainder, but the consequences are forfeiture and corruption of blood. When my father was found guilty of treason, his title and lands were forfeited to the king. Last I heard, the Parliament was set to vote on whether to strip the duke’s heirs of their lands and titles due to corruption of blood. I have no doubt it passed.”
“Corruption of blood? The Parliament thinks that you are corrupted because of your father’s actions? You just said you don’t speak with him.”
“And that’s the only reason I wasn’t implicated in the treason. Everyone knows we aren’t on speaking terms, but I assume I have lost everything.” He looked up at her. “I’m no longer a marquess. All I have are the clothes on my back.”
“And the pile in the back room.” She raised her brows, and he gave her a rueful smile. “What about your friends?”
