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"Or," Kev said darkly, "he’ll disappear to Paris and drown hied "Leo’s future is in his own hands I’ here Amelia is determined that Poppy should have a season in London, and that Beatrix should go to finishing school At the sa of the manor in Hampshire has to continue The ruins need to be cleared and the grounds-"

"I knohat has to be done"

"Then you will e the project? You’ll ith the architect, the builders, the lared at hiotten rid of And I’ll be damned if I work for you, or answer to you-"

"Wait" Rohan’s hands lifted in a staying gesture, a scattering of gold rings gleaers "Wait For God’s sake, I’ a partnership Frankly, I’m no more thrilled by the prospect than you are But there istogether than being at cross-purposes"

Idly picking up a table knife, Kev ran his fingers along the blunt edge and the intricate gilded handle "You want o to Hampshire and oversee the work crehile you stay in London with the wo back and forth to Haave hi you in London, do you?"

Kev shook his head

"Then it’s settled?" Rohan pressed

Although Kev hated to admit it, the plan was not without appeal He hated London, the gri and noise He longed to return to the country And the thought of rebuilding thehiood Besides, he knehat the Raht know every street, square, and rookery in London, but he wasn’t at all familiar with country life It only e of the Ramsay estate

"I’ll want todown the knife "There are field gates and fences that need repair Ditches and drainage channels to be dug And the tenant far flails and reap-hooks because there is no threshing machine The estate should have its own bakehouse to save the tenants froe for their bread Also-"

"Whatever you decide," Rohan said hastily, having the typical Londoner’s co more tenants will benefit the estate, of course"

"I know you’ve already commissioned an architect and builder But from now on, I’ll be the one they come to with questions I’ll need access to the Ra to pick the land crews and e them without interference"

Rohan’s brows lifted at Kev’s authoritative manner "Well This is a side of you I haven’t seen before, chair

"Do you agree to my terms?"

"Yes" Rohan extended his hand "Shall we shake on it?"

Kev stood, ignoring the overture "Not necessary"

Rohan’s white teeth flashed in a grin "Merripen, would it be so terrible to attempt a friendship with me?"

"We’ll never be friends At best, we’re enemies with a common purpose"

Rohan continued to smile "I suppose the end result is the sa casually, "By the way, I’ to pursue the matter of the tattoos If there is a connection between the two of us, I want to find out what it is"

"You’ll do so without my cooperation," Kev said stonily

"Why not? Aren’t you curious?" "Not in the least"

Rohan’s hazel eyes were filled with speculation "You have no ties to the past or the Ron was inked into your ar out?"

"You’ve had the sa," Kev shot back "You have no more idea about what it’s for than I do Why take such an interest in it now?"

"I…" Absently Rohan rubbed his arm over his shirtsleeve, where the tattoo was located "I always assurandmother’s She would never explain why I had the mark, or what it meant"

"Did she know?"

"I believe so" Rohan’sShe was a powerful herbalist, and a believer in the Biti Foki"

"Fairy people?" Kev asked with a disdainful curl of his lips

Rohan smiled "Oh yes She assured me she was on personal terms with many of them" The trace of arander My cousin Noah broughtclub as a list-maker’s runner I’ve never seen any ofshadowed "I was banished fro why And I had no reason to assu to do with it Until I s in common, phral: we’re outcasts, and we bear theout where it ca months Kev prepared the Ramsay estate for reconstruction A e of Stony Cross and its environs, where the Rarasses were crisped with frost, and stones rested hard-frozen by the banks of the Avon and Itchen rivers Catkins eed on s, soft and tender as a lawood sent up red winter steray landscape

The crews employed by John Dashiell, the contractor ould rebuild the Ra and efficient The first twooff charred wood and broken rock and rubble A satehouse on the approach road was repaired and refurbished for the Hathaways’ convenience

Once the ground began to soften in March, the rebuilding of the manor would start in earnest Kev was certain the crews had been warned in advance that the project was being supervised by a Rom, for they offered no objection to his presence or his authority Dashiell, being a self-lish, Ro as his payment schedule was met

Near the end of February, Kev made the twelve-hour journey from Stony Cross to London He had received word froh Amelia had added that all ell, Kev wanted to make certain for hiest he had ever spent away from the Hathaway sisters, and he was surprised by how intensely he hadwas e Hotel, Amelia, Poppy, and Beatrix all pounced on him with unseeruff indulgence, secretly pleased by the war them into the family parlor, Kev sat with Amelia on an overstuffed settee, while Cam Rohan and Poppy occupied nearby chairs Beatrix perched on a footstool at Kev’s feet The woht… all three stylishly dressed and grooed in pinned-up curls, except for Beatrix, who had plaits

A a contente Poppy was e as a beauty, with her fine features and her rich auburn-toned hair… a warmer, more approachable version of Win’s delicate blond perfection Beatrix, however, was subdued and thin To anyone who didn’t know her, Beatrix would appear to be a norns of tension and strain on her face

"What happened at school?" Kev asked with his custoerly "Oh Merripen, it was all my fault School is horrid I abhor it I did make a friend or two, and I was sorry to leave theet on within class, asking the wrong questions-"

"It appeared," A and debating wasn’t welcoot into soirls said their parents told them not to associate with me because we have Gypsies in the faht be part Gypsy, too And I said I wasn’t, but even if I were it was no cause for shame, and I called the and hair-pulling"

Kev swore under his breath He exchanged glances with Rohan, who looked grim Their presence in the family was a liability to the Hathaway sisters… and yet there was no remedy for that