Lucan stared at her for a long moment, as if she’d said something extremely stupid—or brilliant.
“Exactly.” He’d had the same look about him on the day when he was ten and six and he’d told her he’d decided to become employed by the king of England. “You shall be MasterBoyd’s tutor.”
Iris frowned. “His…tutor?”
“Yes,” Lucan mused, putting the portfolio and pages aside on the cot and, rising, working out his plan to himself as he paced the small chamber, while Iris scrambled to gather all her work together once more. “That could encompass any number of things. We might also say you are teaching him to read—that will amuseLord Hargrave.”
“I don’t understand,” Iris said, glancing over her shoulder before shoving the portfolio beneath the coverlet. She straightened and turned to face her brother. “What do youactuallywant me to do with the man, Lucan?”
“Padraig Boyd is…ah,” Lucan paused, squinteda bit. “Rough.”
Iris called to mind at once an image of the large Scotsman standing in his rugged clothes, his muscles straining at the cloth, his squarejaw that only—
She cleared her throat as her cheeks began to tingle. “Yes,I’ve noticed.”
Lucan nodded. “So you can imagine the difficulties he will encounter once Hargrave calls his cronies to descend upon Darlyrede, as he surely will. And should the king arrive…well.”
Iris pulled a face as she imagined the Scot dropped into the center of the crowd of nobility that Hargrave considered his circle. “He isn’t quite eloquent.”
“Believe me, his table manners are worse than his speech.”
“He’ll be completely humiliated. The king will laugh at the idea of giving a man like that Darlyredeand its title.”
“Which is why it shall beyourjob to educate him on the ways of the nobility. By the time Padraig Boyd encounters Henry, he needs to be a perfect gentleman.”
Iris paused. “How can you be sure this is the right thing to do? Aren’t we placing ourselves—you, especially, with your position in the Order—at risk of losing everything if the king sides with Hargrave? If we let it play out without interfering—”
“It’s the right thing to do,” Lucan interrupted, “because Padraig Boyd is Thomas Annesley’s only legitimate heir. He is our only chance of toppling Hargrave from this lofty perch he seems to have grown so comfortable upon. If I cannot prove who had a hand in the fire that killed our parents and forfeited their lands to the Baron Annesley, I can at least do my best to see that Vaughn Hargrave loses everything he has to a man who deservesit, by rights.”
Iris stared at her brother. She could see the ardor in his eyes beneath his perpetually composed exterior. He was ready and willing to risk it all for this rough Scotsman. But would the reward be worth it?
“Will we regain our lands? If PadraigBoyd succeeds?”
Lucan gave the slightest shrug. “I don’t know. Sheep and cattle graze about the ruin.Have you been?”
A scratching sounded upon the window, prompting Iris to huff in annoyance when in reality she was glad for the interruption that prevented her from answering her brother’s question. “He must have heard you.”
“Who?” Lucan asked, and then almost immediately, “Surely not—”
Iris opened the window and the white, slithering fog that was Satin slid through the opening and bounded to the floor, trotting at once to Lucan to wind about his ankles.
“Bon jour, mon petit ami,” Lucan said, a smile in his voice as he bent and scooped up the cat. “My God, I thought I’d never see this scoundrel again. I can’t believe you brought him.”
“I couldn’t leave him,” Iris lamented as she stepped forward to scratch Satin’s forehead. “Unfortunately, cats bring out hectics and choking asthma in Lady Hargrave. It’s been all I can do to keep him hidden, and keep Cook from taking a cleaver to him every time her ladyship sneezes.”
Lucan chuckled. “Well, I say a bit of a tickle is a small price to pay for a maid as devoted as you.”
“It’s more serious an aversion than just a tickle, Lucan. It could truly kill her. I must be very careful. And now I’ll need to change my gown before I visit her tonight.Even one hair…”
Lucan sobered and looked down into Iris’s face. “It’s obvious that you have become attached to her, Iris. But you must remember, regardless of the danger that Lady Hargrave might be in,yoursafety is paramount. Tread carefully. Caris Hargrave was friends with our mother, remember.”
“Maybe that’s why I feel so protective of her,” Iris mused. “She is the closest thing I have to a parent. Will you tell Padraig Boyd I am your sister?”
Lucan shook his head. “It’s too soon. Everything here is too foreign, and he is yet too impulsive. We cannot trust that he would understand our motivations, nor that he might not slip at the wrong moment or with the wrong person. I don’t think he realizes just how deadly a place Darlyrede House is. But he will.”
Iris nodded and sighed, dropping her hand. “Whenshall I begin?”
“Today,” Lucan insisted. “Now that we have decided our path, we can waste not another moment. Upon my honor, we shall need each one.” Lucan took Satin to the window and prodded him out.
