These three lads have taken what’smine.
At the age of thirty, repay them inkind.
Pilfer, purloin, and pinch what it is they lovebest.
And then and only then will I find my eternalrest.”
Katie stared at him. “That’s it?”
“You think there should be more?” Henry jumped up. He needed to move, or he’d start shaking.
“No. I just want to be sure I’ve heard it all. It does sound like a curse. One that takes effect when you’re thirty. How old are you?”
“The night I lost my town house was my birthday. And that night—” He moved back to the couch and leaned down, lowering his voice. “That night was the last time I saw her.”
“You saw her the night of your birthday? Had you been imbibing, perchance?”
Henry scowled at her. “A half a glass of brandy. I was at White’s playing vingt-et-un against your father. I wanted to stay sober.”
“You saw her at White’s? I thought… I suppose I assumed she was dead.”
“I think she is dead. I saw her in the, er, in the hearth. Her, ah, her head was floating in the flames, and she was speaking to me. I can see you think I’m daft. I thought I was daft as well.Bad brandy, I told myself. But this slip of paper”—he removed the counter-spell—“this is not my imagination.”
She took a breath. “And you did see her on your thirtieth birthday. That was when you lost your last real asset. The curse said she would take what you love best. Was that the town house?”
“I wouldn’t say I had any special affinity for the town house, but losing it meant I lost my home and my reputation. No more credit.”
She nodded. “No more gambling. That’s what you love best.”
Henry sank down onto the couch and put his head in his hands. “She is really doing it. She is really enacting the curse on us.”
“Carlisle, it might just be coincidence. After all, you were wagering large stakes. She couldn’t force you to do that.” She rubbed his back in a soothing motion.
“True. But do you know what happened to King on his birthday?”
“King?”
“The Marquess of Kingston. He was at St. Andrew’s with me, along with Lord Emory Lumley. When Kingston turned thirty, he lost his title. That was the night his father was found guilty of treason. The duke and King were stripped of all titles and lands.”
“But surely a witch couldn’t have made the duke commit treason or forced the lords to vote against him.”
“What about Rory, then? His birthday was eight months ago. And that was the day his wife and heir were killed in a carriage accident.” He looked up, and Katie was staring at him.
“It does seem to be too much coincidence. Have either of them received a counter-spell? At least the counter-spell gives you some hope.”
Henry sat straighter. “Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Let me see it.”
She lifted it from the couch and passed it to him. He studied the paper, then pointed to one of the lines in the spidery handwriting.
Lose they may all they holddear,
But open a path to clean thesmear.
He looked at Katie. “There’s a way to undo this.”
“Yes. That’s the part that’s cut off. It says,If true love they find, they may return to the start. Changed, they may offer a—”
“Return to the start.” Henry rose and began pacing again. “That means Scotland. Back to St. Andrew’s. I have to offer something. What? Maybe a new barrel of whiskey? Maybe an apology?”
