“I am, but Rosalie reads them religiously.”
“Don’t blame your sister!” he teased, and they both laughed.
They looked at each other for a moment, and the air seemed to crackle with all the unspoken things between them. Then Violet slid back on the bed and lifted the covers.
“I should get some sleep,” she said. “It’s been a trying couple of days.”
“I’ll be here,” James reassured her, gesturing to the settee. “Standing guard.”
Violet laughed, then hesitated. She smoothed the blanket down around her and bit her lip. “Maybe… maybe you could sleep in here?” she suggested tentatively, averting her gaze.
“On the bed?”
“Yes.” She flushed a deeper crimson. “After how you exerted yourself today, I don’t like to think of you sleeping on the settee. You must be in pain, after all. And your injuries…”
She glanced up, and he saw her eyes dart to the bruise on his chin.
Yes, it did hurt, as did the other bruises on his body, but he had barely noticed them all day. His relief at having Violet home safe, and then putting out the fire, had distracted him from tending to his wounds.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
“I won’t be uncomfortable. Please, sleep in the bed. You must be exhausted, and a good night’s sleep will do you well.”
She patted the spot next to her, and very slowly, James approached. As he did, he took in how petite she was, and how her cheeks glowed with nervous excitement. Her eyes, too, were blazing with an intensity he hadn’t seen before.
He pulled back the blanket on the other side of the bed and crawled in next to her. For several heartbeats, they were both very still, and James wondered what it was she was thinking. It felt awkward to lie in a bed next to her, and from the stiffness of her body, he could tell she felt awkward as well.
“I’m sorry I didn’t take Farrell’s threat seriously,” Violet said, at last. “The news of my father’s escape from prison was so overwhelming that I couldn’t believe anyone or anything could be as terrible as him. But I see now that you had good reason to be afraid. Farrell is dangerous.”
“Hewasdangerous,” James corrected at once. “But I believe that at long last, he will no longer bother our tenants. We can only hope he will not bother anyone else either.”
“But do you accept my apology?” Violet asked as she turned her head towards him.
“There is nothing to forgive,” he said as gently as he could.
She nodded, and for a moment, they were both silent.
“What was it like,” he asked tentatively, “growing up with the former Lord Carfield?”
“Oh…” Violet hesitated, and he wondered what it was that held her back from speaking.
“You can tell me,” he encouraged her. “You can see what I grew up around—my father was scum, as well.”
“It was scary,” she mumbled. “I know that Iris got the worst of it, but it was difficult for me as well. I was sure that once Iris was married, I would also be forced to wed one of my father’s friends or allies, all of whom were horrible, elderly men that I knew would treat me as less than dirt. And even that future was better than enduring my father’s daily taunts, the way he mocked Iris, the way they would argue. She would try to defend me and Rosalie, and he’d shut her up in closets and scream at her. It was… horrible.”
James nodded. He couldn’t speak. Too much rage at the former Viscount was coursing through him, and if the man hadn’t already been arrested, he himself would have gone to great lengths to ensure that he was.
“And the worst part wasn’t even my father,” Violet continued.
“What could be worse than him?” James asked, astonished.
“It was my guilt,” she said. “My guilt that Iris bore the brunt of his rage because she wanted to keep us safe. It tormented me. I couldn’t bear to think that I was the reason he treated her like that.
“And that’s why I became so reserved, I think. I kept my feelings hidden because I knew it would deter my father from attacking me, and then Iris wouldn’t have to rush to defend me. Sometimes when he was awful to me, I feared that she would find out, so I hid the things he said and did from her.”
She was fully facing James now.
“I was relieved when she told us she was going to get married to Eavestone. Not because I wanted to lose her, but because it meant she would no longer have to bear the brunt of my father’s anger—she would no longer have to sacrifice herself for me. And you know the weird thing? I felt guilty about that, too.” She laughed dryly. “It seems I have spent my entire life feeling guilty!”
