James didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.
“He did this,” Aoife said, comprehension dawning. “Why?”
James laughed. “My mistake at dinner. With the wine.”
Aoife frowned, thinking back. “But you didn’t make a mistake. Lord Severcombe spilled it.”
“The dress was ruined. Someone had to answer for it.”
“It was an accident. His accident.”
James’ gaze was intense as he studied her. “You’re angry?”
“I’m furious. How dare he?”
James laughed again. It unsettled Aoife.
“You really don’t have a clue how the world works.”
Aoife’s shackles rose. Too many people were treating her like a child: Cormac, Halverton, and now James. She forced herself not to get defensive.
“Then tell me.”
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is. Someone has to pay, and it’ll never be the lords.”
Aoife sat down on the table next to him. “And no one tries to stop it?”
“And risk being punished too? No.”
For a long moment she sat there, trembling with fury she couldn’t spend at the injustice of it all. The image of the bruise on James’ wrist floated into her mind.
“Your bruised wrist last week, that was Halverton too, wasn’t it?”
His eyes narrowed. “It was.”
“And that wasn’t your fault either?”
James made a noncommittal noise. “Depends on who you ask.”
She watched him, waiting to see if he would say more.
“I was the one who told Lord Halverton you’d taken your things.” He looked her in the eyes as he said it, defiant, as though he didn’t regret it, even now.
“Why would he…?” Aoife interrupted her own question as she remembered Halverton’s words that day ‘Do it again, and you will face the consequences.’ She hadn’t understood the emphasis at the time. She did now.
“I’m sorry.”
James looked at her, stunned. “For what?”
This man was an enigma. “I’m the reason he beat you.”
James didn’t respond.
“Do you want me to take a look at that wrist now?”
“No, it’s fine, good as new.”
Aoife held out her hands, and reluctantly, James laid his wrist across her palms. She pushed the sleeve up to reveal the faded yellow bruising. He was right. It looked better. There wasn’t anything she could do for it.
