“I think it helped,” she said stubbornly. “It showed him that there is an upside to him leaving on his own. It would save him money to just go and set up his business somewhere else, rather than stay and fight you. He might not have agreed to leave right away, but that is in the back of his mind now.”
“You really think he took your advice that seriously?”
James was affronted to see his wife roll her eyes. “You heard him—he likes women who are smart and speak their minds.”
“Not planning to join his organization, are you?” he asked sarcastically.
Violet ignored this. “This was just the first day of negotiations. Tomorrow, we’ll meet with him and hear what he has to say. If he refuses to leave, then we can think of the next steps.”
James didn’t fail to notice how she had started sayingwe.“When did this become a dual task?” he asked.
She narrowed her eyes. When she spoke, there was a cold determination in her voice. “It became a dual operation when you married me under false pretenses and denied me the chance to ever become a mother. You did it to clean up the duchy, and now I need to make sure that actually happens, or my sacrifice will have been in vain. I’ll never be able to hold my own children in my arms, but at least I can make sure that your tenants’ children grow up without the threat of Farrell and his gang hanging over them. And maybe I can help these dogs, too.”
She glanced out the window, but it was too dark now to see the dogs that had gathered outside—James had instructed the inn’s staff to feed them.
“They’re not children, but animals can be good companions as well,” she added quietly, and he could hear the pain in her voice.
She really did want to be a mother, he realized, and a pang of guilt shot through him.I took that from her. Because of my selfishness.
But he couldn’t think about that now. He had to focus on how to convince Farrell to give up his operation—and, perhaps more importantly, how to convince his tenants that it was in their best interest to side with him against the gang boss.
“I’m going to stay down here a little longer,” he said. “I will need to go over strategies, and I don’t want to keep you up.”
Slowly, Violet nodded. “Very well. Then I will bid you goodnight.”
She rose from her chair and picked up one of the candles from the center of the table. Raising it high, she used it to light her way to the door. Once she was there, she paused and looked back at him.
“Thank you for letting me come today,” she said. The tone of her voice seemed different—softer, less angry. “I know I broke my promise not to interfere, but I assure you, it was only because I want to defeat this man as much as you do. It makes me sick what he has done to everyone in this place.”
James swallowed. “I thought you only wanted to help so that our marriage wasn’t in vain,” he uttered tonelessly.
“That is part of the reason,” she admitted. “But when I saw those dogs yesterday, I was filled with a deep desire to destroy the man who had harmed them. I want to protect them, too. I know they’re just animals, but I felt love for them.”
“I understand,” James said, and he had to raise a hand to his chest because it suddenly felt tight. “I love those dogs, too. I’ve been caring for them ever since I was a boy, and now that I finally have a chance to end this once and for all, I can’t let them down.”
Violet’s eyes blazed. “Then we are on the same side?”
He nodded. “Yes. We are on the same side.” His voice sounded rough to his own ears.
She nodded and then left him alone.
For a long time, James sat there, doing and saying nothing, just staring off into the distance. Memories from his childhood flashed through his mind—the mangled dogs, their broken bones and bloody snouts, his father laughing at him for his ‘tender-heartedness’ as he wept over a favorite hound who died of his wounds, the promise he’d made to himself to not only avenge the dog but also shut down Farrell’s operations once and for all.
His father’s face, on his deathbed.
But these memories only caused him pain, and pain was the last thing he wanted to feel right now. The inkeeper had brought him whiskey earlier, and he reached for the bottle now and poured himself a large glass.
That will help.
But then he remembered what he’d said to Violet, that day in his study when she’d disguised herself as a chambermaid, and his stomach churned.
A man and a woman should always have some alcohol in them when they are discussing business.
“Marriage is more than a business arrangement,” he said out loud to the room, still empty save for him. “It is a deal with the devil.”
As he drained the first glass of whiskey, the memory of his wife’s calm but determined face as she faced Farrell flashed through his mind. She had looked so calm, so brave, as she’d reasoned with the gangster. James had admired her greatly at that moment, even though he’d also been afraid.
But he’d also known there was no cause to be afraid. Of her three sisters, Violet had always been the one with the most grit. And her icy exterior made her the perfect person to negotiate with Farrell. He’d known she would be fine.
