Page 52 of Atone, Adonis

Which leads us to ask: is this marriage anything but a gilded ladder for the girl who climbed out of obscurity, stepped neatly over a dying man, and into a coronet?

When a wolf brings a lamb into the city, it is rarely for the lamb’s protection. And if that lamb should flourish, perhaps she was the wolf after all. We imagine her brother already feels the teeth at his neck.

Ever Yours in Disgust & Delighted Curiosity,

E. S. Mallory

Editor-at-Large, The Poisoned Quill

Chapter

18

Fred sat at the desk in his study, the vile Poisoned Quill in his hand. The despicable scandal rag could pester him all they wanted as they had done for a decade but the pressure they were now exerting on his wife would not do. He would not have her name dragged through the mud.

He pulled a fresh sheet of crisp vellum out of the drawer and sharpened his quill. Down the hall, Julianna still slept. Tomorrow they would go to London but today he had other business.

He dipped his quill into his ink stand and began to write to his cousin, the Duchess.

Private Correspondence From: the Right Honourable Frederick Sedgewick, Earl of Chester

Sedgewick Manor, Dorset

May 29th, 1860

To: Her Grace, The Duchess of Barclay

The Estates of the Duke of Barclay

Cousin,

Or ought I to call you Your Grace?

I hope married life finds you tolerably well. It should do, I suppose, since you chose this particular gentleman for yourself. And a secret Duke, no less. For a moment the papers gave me some respite while they covered your scandalous marriage, but alas, as you are secreted away up North now they are at me again.

And so I write to you with a request. Trust that I do not do so with any pretense that we are regular correspondents. I believe the last words I spoke to you were while rendering you a small service involving my carriage on the day of your nuptials. Your other nuptials, the ones that did not take.

I ask a favor now, in return. It has come to my attention that your husband’s sister is presently attached to a gentleman who formerly served as a Bow Street Runner. I find myself in need of such a gentleman and should like to know whether this man is still in London, and if so, where I might locate him. Discretion is, of course, essential.

If this person is indeed within your circle of acquaintance, and if he would be amenable to looking into a small matter for me, you may assure him that his compensation will be commensurate with both his experience and his silence.

You may reply by post. I will be at Chester House for the foreseeable future with my wife.

Yours,

Frederick Sedgewick

Earl of Chester

Private Correspondence From: Her Grace, The Duchess of Barclay

The Estates of the Duke of Barclay

June 1, 1860

To: the Right Honourable Frederick Sedgewick, Earl of Chester

Chester House, London