Any Other Name (The Split Worlds) - By Emma Newman Page 0,34
was in touch with the others who were caught. I told my contact to stay away for at least two weeks, just in case any messages we send out lead them to Father.”
“It makes sense. I had no idea they’d be so thorough.”
“I think our enemies are putting pressure on the Agency to round everyone up,” Cornelius said. “They’re all too happy to get behind the Lavandulas’ outrage.”
“Even though most of them hate that family,” Amelia said.
“Not as much as they hated ours, it seems,” Cornelius replied, aware that he was dawdling his way towards delivering the rest of the news.
“If anyone knows how to benefit from disaster, it’s the weasels in the Londinium Court,” Amelia said, no doubt thinking of all the people they’d once dined and danced with, now gloating over their fall.
“There’s something else.” He came closer. “Someone tipped the Agency off about my business in Judd Street. They’ve seized the assets.”
“Can they do that, even if we’ve been taken in by William?”
“Seems they can. William didn’t know about the company, so he couldn’t protect it. Even if he could, it would pass into his name, just like this house.” He watched the flutter of her eyelashes as she blinked away tears.
“It could be worse,” she said. “We could have been taken like everyone else. Better for us to live under William’s protection than be subjected to that life.”
“Is it?” he muttered, and then regretted it. “No, you’re right, of course it is.”
Amelia looked down at the jewels in her lap. “I was trying to decide which necklaces to keep and which ones to set aside, just in case.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and rested his head in his hands. “I’m so sorry, Amelia.”
“It’s not your fault. Is that the last of your assets seized?”
“Yes. I’m officially penniless and homeless.”
“Not homeless, darling – we’re still in this house, aren’t we?”
He tried to smile for her, but if he’d been alone he’d have been tempted to weep. He’d come close several times when lying awake in the silent house, wondering what had happened to their mother. The Agency had taken her from a dinner party in Grosvenor Square, dressed in a fine gown and diamonds. He’d heard whispers of what they did to the women, and his fists clenched at the thought of any of those Agency dogs laying a finger on her.
Amelia was putting on a brave face but their situation was dire. It was within William’s rights to revoke his protection and turf them out onto the street on a whim, and for the first time Cornelius knew what it was to be helpless.
“Has William been in touch?” she asked.
“No, I’ve been dealing with his father’s secretary regarding the house and the replacement of the staff.”
She leaned towards him and lowered her voice. “I don’t trust these Iris servants.”
“Neither do I,” he whispered back.
Even though they were still living in the house they’d known for years, having strangers attending to their needs was incredibly unsettling. Amelia was losing weight and neither of them had slept well since the night the Sorcerer destroyed their lives. With William’s help. He couldn’t forget that either.
“He’s getting married today,” she said, fingering the diamonds. “I heard the maids gossiping about it.”
“I don’t envy him having to marry that Papaver girl. She was awful.”
“I don’t suppose I’ll ever see that Oak now,” Amelia said, a tremble in her voice.
“One never knows what the future will bring.” He knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. Even though he smiled and kissed the soft skin on the back of her hands, he knew she was right. She was an outcast now, and they both knew her fate.
“Still, I suppose being a mistress is better than the alternative.” She was trying so hard to be strong for him.
“You weren’t born to be a mistress,” he said, the anger building in his chest. “You’re too good for that. You should be Duchess of Londinium, as Mother said you would be.”
“It’s inevitable though, isn’t it?”
He pressed a finger to her lips. His only sister, the one person in the world he trusted completely, buying their limited freedom with her flesh: that was not something he wanted to talk about.
“I’ll find a way out of this,” he said. “I promise. When all the fuss dies down and Society has a new family to destroy, our allies will come to the surface, I’m sure of it.”