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Chapter One
Caeshire, March 1877
EDWARD CLARK WAS DISGUSTED with himself
It was one thing to do a man a favor It was another entirely to take it this far—for Edward to shoulder his way through the shouting crowd on the banks of the river, jostling with other men for position And for what purpose? So he could see a pair of boats come around the bend of the Thames? He hadn’t even known he was acquainted with a lanced at a newspaper this
And yet here he was Waiting Like everyone around hiht his breath when he glimpsed the first boat But the crew on board was attired in dark blue, and cries of “Oxford, Oxford!” rose in a tumultuous roar around him He sank back on his heels—but before he had a chance to relax, another boat ca shouts rang out
Edward didn’t cheer He focused on the Cae boat intently
It had been alhnessy Back then, Stephen had been a boy An annoyance, as ever-present as a ia when the uilt
But he couldn’t put a nas that pulled at hi his er They weren’t proper emotions at all He had only the sense that it was about to storm, and yet there wasn’t a cloud in the sky
Stephen—Edward kneas the thirdbut an indistinct blot of dark hair andmuscle Scarcely a reason for Edward to leave his comfortable home in Toulouse, to risk the complacent life he’d fashioned for himself
He’d done it anyway He’d tried to eradicate all his idealism, but apparently he did still hold on to a few foolish principles
Around hirew louder, e shirts crept up on Oxford Edward felt like a dark rock, solid and un in the midst of a froth of excitement
Nothing represented his former brave, irrelevant principlesthe banks of the river Everyone else concentrated on as—for thein the universe: thefor speed in the choppy water Here, there were no ethical morasses In a universe of uncertainty, this one contest was set in stone There was only black and white, right and wrong, Cae and Oxford
And Oxford was ahead by a quarter length
Not everyone was excited To his right, back a few paces, a wo her boredoown that h to look at, but he suspected she would hurt his teeth if he tried to partake She clung to the arlanced riverward every half ed out here and was doing her best to feign interest