He led the way in and took a seat. Crowle took a seat opposite him, and his partner stood several feet back, beside the door, as though guarding against anyone who might want to join the conversation.
Of course, the real threat to him and to Crowle is already here in the room with us. He’s guarding against the wrong thing.
Unless Thomas was wrong. Unless his friends hadn’t made it in time.
Either way, there was nothing he could do about it now. He would just have to wait and see.
“I have your money,” he said to Crowle. “I have the sum we agreed on for the regular payments.”
“That’s all very well,” Crowle said. “But I’ve been thinking about it since the last time we met, and I’ve decided that that sum just isn’t enough.”
“But we agreed on that amount for a reason,” Thomas said. “I thought you understood that it was all I could afford to pay.”
“Yes, you said as much,” Crowle said. “Unfortunately, I require more. At the proposed rate, your debt will not be paid off quickly enough.”
“There’s nothing I can do about that,” Thomas said. “It’s all I have. At the rate at which I earn money, the amount we agreed upon will mean me giving you every bit of income I can spare.”
He waited with bated breath. Surely that would provoke Crowle into making the suggestion he had made to Richard.
And sure enough, Crowle leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Perhaps it’s time you sought out an alternative source of income, then,” he said. “Maybe there are ways for you to get money that you haven’t thought of yet.”
“What kinds of ways?” Thomas did his best to sound confused, to suggest that he had no idea what Crowle was talking about. He needed Crowle to speak the words aloud.
“There is work available for men who are not mired in their own scruples,” Crowle said knowingly. “For men who are willing to go beyond the strict limits of what Society allows.”
Thomas’s heart beat faster. They were very close now.
“What kind of work?” he asked. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I think you do,” Crowle said.
Thomas shook his head. “Truly, I don’t.”
“It’s not the kind of thing a man such as yourself would have considered, I suppose,” Crowle said. “And often I do find that the men from whom I collect debts need to be encouraged in the right direction. Consider, Lord Woodsford, that by operating outside the bounds of the law, you would be able to earn money more quickly and see your debt settled sooner.”
“You’re talking about doing something illegal?” Thomas frowned, doing his best to look as if the concept had never even occurred to him before. “I don’t know that I can do that.”
“Of course you can,” Crowle said. “And if this lady you’re courting means as much to you as you say she does, youwillconsider it. Because if you can’t pay me at the rate I wish to be paid, I will have to take steps to prevent you from seeing her.”
“What kind of steps?”
“I know you do not want the young lady and her family mixed up in these affairs,” Crowle said. “It’s much better, isn’t it, to simply leave her out of it? You don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
Thomas did his best to suppress the spike of fear that went through him at the implied threat to Lady Valeria.
Nothing will happen to her. That’s one of the reasons I’m stopping Crowle here and now. He’s too dangerous to be allowed to continue to operate out in the world. It’s not just about making sure that I get what I need. It’s also about saving any potential future victims from him—and that includes Lady Valeria.
“Yes,” he said. “I would prefer to leave her out of it. But I won’t be responsible for harm coming to anybody else.”
“That wouldn’t be necessary,” Crowle said smoothly. “I know there are some who lack the fortitude to partake in such things, who are unable or unwilling to take on the most difficult jobs available.”
They were both silent for a moment, lost in their imaginings. Thomas was sure that when Crowle had mentionedthe most difficult jobshe had been referring to things like paid assassinations. The idea made him shudder. Of course it would be possible to earn a lot of money that way—but at what cost to one’s own humanity?
“But if you don’t have the stomach for that,” Crowle went on, “there are certainly other options available to you. There are jobs that need doing—things that pay well, because it’s impossible for them to be done legally.”
“I wouldn’t know how to begin doing such things,” Thomas said.
“You’re in luck,” Crowle said. “I have a contact I can send to you. Someone who can help you get started. You can give me the money that you have today—I will accept it as enough. And next time I’ll expect you to be able to pay more, thanks to this new work you’re taking on.”
