He drew a slow breath.
“The man you’re asking about works for powerful patrons. People with reputations, fortunes, and influence at stake. When a problem threatens them, he removes it. Quietly. But he himself is a ghost. He moves unseen, does what must be done, and leaves no trace. That is why he survives.”
“Therefore, I need the name of the man more than ever,” Daniel insisted.
Valentine sighed, perhaps because he would not back down. The hunt will be happening, and danger will be close.
“You are a duke. Searching for this man will be difficult for you, while it will be easy for him to sense someone like you. However, you can try looking for him in The Iron Hand, a gambling den in Shoreditch. It is where people, especially men, lose their souls. He may be there, looking for men who may need him. Men who can give him bigger jobs.”
Valentine’s eyes searched Daniel’s.
“You may also have sightings by the docks. He likes sticking around there. He has been linked not just to arson but also to smuggling. You will need someone to accompany you on such missions, and do not go as you are—no, not as a duke. Not as a member of the ton.”
Daniel folded the paper in his hand and rose. He wanted to hunt for this Moses Gordon now. He needed answers now more than ever. The feeling burned hot within him, which was the complete opposite of the cold emptiness he had felt all year long.
“I truly appreciate your assistance, St. Clair,” he said gruffly.
“Tread lightly,” Valentine responded as he walked him to the door. “Vengeance itself can be a blaze some people don’t need to dabble with. It may burn you as much as the other person. I don’t want to have to see your sisters wearing black and seeking me for their own revenge.”
“I will be careful,” Daniel promised, the lie tasting bitter on his tongue. “Thank you once more. I will be off.”
He was out into the night and felt that the chill had descended harder with the growing fog. The lamps glowed but cast blurry halos. Daniel could not see clearly either.
He sought his carriage and rode it in silence. He had the most discreet coachman, Thomas, who could also handle himself in a fight if need be.
However, as the carriage rattled away from the dark alley behind Valentine St. Clair’s house, his mind was not on Moses Gordon.
Rather, it was on Lady Lucy Coulson.
Valentine worried about him pursuing his family’s murderers, and yet he didn’t know that a woman had been there not too long ago. She was also in danger just by being there. Just by being a woman.
Daniel told himself that it was the only reason he was still thinking about Victoria’s friend.
It was a strange thing, because for a long time, his mind had been focused only on revenge.
Chapter Five
“You look particularly radiant today, dear Lucy,” Joshua declared at breakfast, making her look at him incredulously. “But there’s something else. You almost look a little too delicate.”
“Too delicate?” Lucy echoed.
Her brother liked to compliment her, then he would take a few steps back and give her a reason to stay inside the house more. That was the way he was. Still, she was curious to know if she indeed looked weak and delicate after a late night. She didn’t want him to suspect something was afoot.
“Yes, it would seem so. You need to be protected,” Joshua confirmed, his eyes now fixed on his newspaper.
Of course, he would say that. He would make her feel good about her appearance, and then he would make sure that she understood that she only belonged in Marsleigh because she wastoo delicate. She wondered what he’d think about her venturing to a male escort’s house, too close to knocking on his door.
“Joshua, you know that I am fully well. I had a hard time sleeping last night because I believe I do not have enough exercise,” she said, trying not to sound exasperated but also wanting him to feel her discontent. “You should allow me more time outdoors, in the fresh air. Last night, the wind had almost become a stranger, and it made a branch tap by my window restlessly.”
“Mmm,” was all Joshua said as he rested his newspaper and proceeded to spread butter on his toast. The scratching on the bread sounded louder than usual.
Perhaps she was falling ill.
For a moment, there was almost complete silence between them as her brother enjoyed his buttered toast. Lucy looked at her eggs and began slicing them into tiny pieces before forking bits into her mouth.
When Joshua finally looked up, he stared at her. She thought that it was probably her chewing. She felt a little self-conscious, eating more slowly. However, she wondered what was happening as his gaze trailed over her, as if examining her.
What was her brother doing? Looking for a flaw in a delicate-looking woman like her?
