“A strong, clever thirteen. And indeed the animal Frakes said I was. I merely proved him right.”

“You were young and angry. You could not have fully understood what you were doing.”

“I would have done the same to Seamus Castle today if I’d had a knife on me at the time.”

“You wouldn’t have.”

“Goddamn it.” He covered his eyes with his hand and dragged in breath, fighting the wave of nausea that came upon the fury and despair. “Indeed I would have.” But he could not hide from himself. He had never been able to, no matter how many seas he crossed or how many slaves he set free. No matter the perfection of the woman in whom he lost himself. He pulled his palm away. “It is the man I am.”

“You are a good man, Jin.”

“And you, my friend, are living in a fantasy world.” He moved away, to the window. “Will Castle bring charges?”

“I doubt it. His uncle and cousin are furious, and ashamed, as well they should be. And since Carlyle is the magistrate-”

“Not you?”

“No. But Carlyle will take your word and the girl’s over Castle’s. No concern there.”

“I am not so certain of that.”

“You can be. Carlyle is a reasonable man.”

“I mustn’t remain here.” Jin spoke the words to make himself enact them, though nothing in him wished to go. Nothing but the fear. “I should not remain, and I have business elsewhere.”

“In London?”

“Elsewhere.” He went to the door.

“Frankly, I’ve been surprised you remained this long. I don’t remember a time when you have before.”

Hand on the doorknob, Jin paused. He met his friend’s gaze.

“Alex, I am in love with Viola.”

Slowly the earl leaned back. “Ah. That would explain it.” He frowned. “Carlyle is protective of her now, of course. Have you given him reason to-”

“No.”

He nodded. “All right. It’s your business. But I don’t see how leaving here will suit your purpose.”

Rapid knocks sounded on the door, then it opened. Jin stepped back and Viola came flying through.

“Where-?” She halted before him. “There.” She glanced aside. “Hello, Alex. Serena is looking for you.”

The earl pushed away from the desk and came forward. “Then I’d better not keep her waiting. Do bid my wife adieu before you depart, Jin. She will be sorry to see you go.”

The door clicked shut.

“Go?” Viola’s cheeks paled. “Go, as in go over to Avesbury to buy yourself a new waistcoat that is not soaked in blood? Or go, as in go?”

“It is time I leave here, Viola.”

Her dark eyes swam with distress. “Setting aside for the moment that you said mere hours ago that you would not leave if I did not wish you to, tell me that you can beat a man to a bloody pulp, then feel comfortable saddling up your horse and riding off the very same day? You cannot be serious.”

“He took a serving girl by force.”

“I know that! I just heard the story from Jane, who heard it from the third upstairs maid, who heard it from the scullery maid, who heard it from Cook, who heard it from Mrs. Tubbs, who heard it from the poor girl herself. And do you know why it had to pass through so many people before I could hear it? Because everybody in this house except you believes I am a bloody virgin because that is all unmarried ladies in this society are.” Abruptly the hysteria seemed to slide from her, her shoulders sagging. “I’m sorry. I am upset. Everyone is upset. Aidan and his parents, and Serena of course, because she invited them thinking that I-”

“You have a right to be upset. You have known Seamus many years.”

She screwed up her brow. “When Aidan wasn’t looking, Seamus used to push me into corners and fondle my breasts-uninvited. Someone should take him out to a barn and give him more than a beating. For what he did to that girl he deserves to be castra-”

“Don’t, Viola.”

“Don’t what?” She stepped forward. “I regret that it was you who came upon them. I regret it for your sake. But Seamus Castle is a very bad man. I could never tell Aidan what I thought because they were always so close. But that family would be far better off washing their hands of him. Or better yet, sending him off to the navy where he could get a real education in misery.”

“You know nothing of such misery.”

Her eyes flickered. “What?”

“You know nothing of it. Nothing.” He spoke quietly, a burning in his gut urging him on. “And you do not wish to. You never have. You kept your hands clean while Fionn and your crewmen ensured your safety.”

“What?” She blinked. “What are you talking about? You have no idea what my father and crewmen have done.”

“I spent a month aboard ship with men who have known you for years. Do you think I did not learn a thing or two about Violet Daly and her father?”

Her eyes darted over him, twin red blotches staining her lovely cheeks. “What are you saying?”

“Do you know that Fionn wanted you to return here? He did everything in his power to protect you from the harsh realities of his life and to return you to this life from which he had stolen you. Where you belong. But you-goddamned stubborn, quarrelsome woman-would not oblige him. Every time he threw opportunity before you, you refused it.”

“You cannot know this. Who told you these lies?”

“Not lies. Truth from men who were loyal to their captain to the moment of his death. He wanted what was best for you. They all did.”

“If you stand here and try to tell me that I took so few prizes the past two years because my crew was bamboozling me, I swear if I can’t find my dirk I will find a prawn fork and stick you with it somewhere it will hurt you quite a lot.”

“Your father made Castle promise that after he died he would wed you and bring you back to England. He believed that were you finally here again, you would voluntarily return to your family.”

Her mouth dropped open. “He did not. That is positively ridiculous.”

“I have a letter in my possession from your former quartermaster. Your father left him with instructions to tell Aidan the truth about your family once you were married, with the request that he encourage you to come back here. Is Mr. Crazy typically a liar, Viola?”

“A letter? Why on earth would you have a letter from Crazy? What have you been doing, spying on me?”

“It is one of my many talents,” he said, but it passed her by.

“Crazy must have misunderstood. My father liked to invent stories. He was a sailor.” But she looked like she was struggling not to believe it. Behind her rich violet eyes he could nearly see her recalling the moments Fionn had encouraged her to return to England, and her willful choice to defy that. It sufficed for Jin. But driving her away was even more painful than he had anticipated. He could not have her, but he did not want to throw her into Aidan Castle’s arms either.

“Did you know Aidan planned to return to England at this time?”

Her brow drew down. “I thought he would stay in the Indies for a few more years. His decision to return here so soon after the fire surprised me.”

“As much as it surprised him, I suspect.”

“What are you saying?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did he tell you something? That day at the inn, after the fire, you both looked so peculiar when I came upon you. He told you something, didn’t he? And he kept it from me.”

He could tell her the truth, but then he would not be able to leave her. He could barely leave her now. Carefully he fashioned the words to seal his fate.

“Viola, I have lied to you since the moment we met. Yet still you trust me.”

“I do not understand. You have not lied to me.”

Her heart racketed and she was shaking, but he only met her gaze with that cool, steady glimmer of distance. Then he went through the door and was gone.

For a moment, she stood absolutely still, stunned.

She bolted from the room and grabbed a footman. “Which way did Mr. Seton go?”

He pointed.

She caught up with him as he descended the stairs to the drive empty of carriages now, the expanse of the Park’s sloping lawn mottled with trees and sheep. She ran through the puddles.

“Don’t you dare imagine you can make cryptic statements, then turn around and walk away.”

He halted. “I said nothing cryptic. But if it will help for me to repeat it, I have lied to you. A number of times. Is that plain enough?”

She gripped her hands together so she would not grab him instead, rain falling between them.

“It is plain. Now.” She bit down on her uncertainty. “But I don’t know that it matters.”

“You don’t know,” he repeated. He passed his hand over his face and released a hard breath. “Viola, go back inside where you belong.”

She shook from the cold rain on her arms and the certainty that this quarrel was not about Aidan or Fionn or her crew and ship. It was about this man and the life he had led and still wished to lead. A life that was truly unlike anything she had known, that frightened her a little bit. But he did not frighten her. He felt like a part of her.

“This is because of Seamus, isn’t it? If I had seen him do that, Jin, I would have beaten him to a pulp too. That is, if I possessed the strength for it.”

He came to her in a stride and stood so close she could trace each drop of rain on his jaw and lips with her hungry gaze.

“Why did you challenge me with that wager on your ship, Viola? After fifteen years on the sea did you understand nothing of men like me? Did you not?”

A fist clenched her heart. There were no other men like him. None.

“I challenged you because-because I wanted to come home.” Her voice quavered. “Is that what you wish to hear? I missed it more than I could bear, even after so many years, though I tried to pretend I did not, and I longed for it.” As she had longed for him. She had believed she could not lose.