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“You think so little of me?”
“Pray tell, what reason would you have given for being in Anmore?” Corbyn asked.
“I could say that I was looking for work at the mine.”
“I doubt anyone would have taken you seriously.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You have a muscular build, and mines are notoriously narrow,” Corbyn said. “I daresay you couldn’t even fit in a mine shaft.”
Guy frowned, recognizing that Corbyn made a valid point. “Regardless, I don’t need you hovering over me on every assignment.”
“That is not what I am doing.”
“No?”
Corbyn shook his head. “I am merely helping you along so you can be successful.”
“It feels a lot like hovering,” Guy muttered, “but I thank you for your assistance.”
“I do hope you are up to the task at hand.”
Guy nodded. “You do not need to worry on that account,” he replied. “I have no doubt that I can play the part of a gentleman.”
“I trust that is true.” Corbyn glanced at him curiously. “May I ask why you started working as a Bow Street Runner even though you were educated at Cambridge?”
“I’m afraid that is a long story.”
“I have time.”
Guy sighed. “When I was younger, my father discovered that I had a rather unique mind.”
“In what way?”
“I tend to remember everything that I read,” he explained. “I can read a book once and recite it nearly word for word.”
“That is remarkable.”
“When you are poor, a book is a luxury you can scarcely afford, but that didn’t stop me from borrowing them from everyone I could.”
“I hadn’t considered that before.”
“Unbeknownst to me, my father wrote to Eton and begged them for a scholarship for me,” he said. “They allowed me to be interviewed and decided that I could attend their school.”
“That is wonderful.”
“At times, it felt like a curse,” Guy replied. “I was poor, and everyone else knew it. My shoes had holes in the soles, and I wore nearly the same thing every day. The boys were relentless in their treatment of me and would throw cold water on my bed almost every night.”
“That is awful.”
“They found great joy in tormenting me, and the headmaster would look the other way, even when I showed up to class with bruises.”
Guy frowned as he continued. “I was miserable, and even debated about going home,” he shared. “It wasn’t until one of the teachers introduced me to boxing that I started fighting back.”
“How so?”
“Every morning before the other kids would wake up, I would spar with my teacher. Not only did I develop physically, but it helped me mentally. I realized that I wasn’t going to give up on Eton without a fight.”
