The Tremblers by Raquel Byrnes

Author:Raquel Byrnes [Raquel Byrnes]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781611169744
Publisher: Watershed Books
Published: 2018-01-20T00:00:00+00:00

20

Lord Rothfair stifled the urge to slap his son soundly.

Cornelius stood before his desk, shoulders hunched, a frown marring the handsome face his mother gave him. His eyes kept flitting to the mantel clock.

Rothfair knew he itched to join his friends at the club. It would be impossible to discuss things rationally after he had a few drinks. “A match is out of the question now,” Rothfair repeated. “What is it to you at this juncture? I had to convince you to consider her in the first place.”

“But I really do fancy her now.” Cornelius slumped into the hideous horn and leather chair Rothfair’s wife purchased. “Charlotte Blackburn understands me. She loves the Union. There is no way she is complicit or even knowledgeable about her father’s crimes.”

“Selling Union secrets to the Europeans is sedition, Cornelius,” Rothfair said as if speaking to a small child. He kept to himself the knowledge that Blackburn was unlikely to ever stand trial on the trumped up charges. “Even if she is not involved, her father is a traitor, she is ruined socially and, without a husband, financially, from what I hear.”

“But Savannah Chace?” Cornelius wrinkled his nose. “She’s a bit plain.”

“She is refined,” Rothfair said catching the roll of his son’s eyes. “Did you visit her as I asked?”

“Charlotte only just went missing. You want me to call on her friend already?” Cornelius’s mouth twisted.

Rothfair counted internally to keep his temper. “To see if she has heard from Miss Blackburn, not to woo her.” Twisting the signet ring on his pinky, Rothfair regarded his only child with despair. Blessed with his mother’s enticing looks and charm, he did not have an ounce of her brains.

“I already called on every one of her friends, and then some.”

“And?” Rothfair prompted

“No word. Nothing. Some are even loathe to admit spending time with the Blackburns, at all. As if we all would forget their association.”

“That is to be expected,” Rothfair said, standing. He straightened his vest and pulled a watch from the pocket by its fob as he rounded the desk. “With Blackburn accused of sedition, it is no wonder they distance themselves.”

“Still, you might think them a little loyal,” Cornelius sniffed, genuinely perplexed. “I doubt anyone will attend Sadie Blackburn’s funeral service…if there even is one.”

“People are loyal to what serves them best and nothing more. Keep that at the forefront of your mind, particularly when you take your post at the Bureau.”

“I suppose.” Cornelius rubbed at the leather making it squeak.

“No one has received any word, missive, or contact from Miss Blackburn since her disappearance.”

He looked up, startled. “Do you think her abducted?”

“Who would do that?” Rothfair shook his head, though Cornelius, vapid as he was, did not miss the mark entirely. “Has that rumor been spreading?”

Cornelius shrugged, his expression sullen. “I think they’re saying she’s sailing with pirates up in the clouds now.”

“What?” Rothfair paused, eyes narrowed at his son.

“Well, with her father’s past, who knows what the gossip hens will come up with next? They could make her out to be quite notorious.

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