Jasper wandered along the Chelsea embankment, admiring the River Thames as it flowed away towards the sea. He often liked to walk by the riverside. It cleared his mind, blowing away any lurking cobwebs.

That afternoon, he had much to think about.

Memories of the previous day came flooding back, more troubling and vivid than ever. He pictured Adelaide staring listlessly out from the front step of her home, tears streaming down her cheeks. The desperation with which she had scoured the newspaper was not something he could easily forget. He could not recall a time when he had seen her in so much distress. Not knowing how to help her, he had placed his hand on her shoulder and hoped for the best. Even now, he chided himself for not doing more.

Just that morning, he had attempted to speak with her. He had longed to make amends for his lack of fortitude in the face of her sadness. Upon arriving, however, he had found that she had already departed for Mayfair. She had gone with Lady Francesca, by all accounts. A surprising truth, for he did not think they were particularly close acquaintances.

You ought to have done more, he told himself. You simply stood there and let her cry. Perhaps, she is seeking friendship elsewhere because you cannot offer the kindness she requires. Not to mention the fact you told her you would cast her aside in favor of Miss Green. Could you really do that to her? No wonder she is finding alternative company. Adelaide sent you away, didn’t she? When has she ever sent you away before?

After her outburst, she had asked him to leave. The act had stung him to the core. It was not like their usual conflicts. There had been no playfulness to it. Truly, he had wanted to do so much more for her, and he had seen the disappointment in her eyes when he did not.

From his window, he had watched her turn Miss Green away from the house, too. He had thought to run down and speak with Miss Green himself, to try and explain matters, but she had looked much too enraged. He was no coward, but he had learnt a long time ago that it was prudent to leave furious women alone.

He and Adelaide had always enjoyed an unusual companionship. Others thought it peculiar. Miss Green had certainly been vocal about her opinion. However, he saw nothing strange in it at all. They locked horns from time to time, but what companions did not? They teased and amused one another, and spoke with a refreshing freedom. Adelaide was his dear friend and he hoped she would always be so. He had not meant it when he’d said he would have to make a choice between a friend and a romance. At least, he did not think he meant it. Now, he felt as though he were somehow losing her—a prospect more upsetting than he knew how to put into words, now that it was a potential actuality.

Please believe that I intended to do more, he thought, as if she could somehow hear him. I would have attempted to fix your suffering, had I only asked what ailed you. I have grown so accustomed to our taunting that I forgot how to be sympathetic. I forgot how to act when you were in genuine pain.

He supposed her distress had something to do with the lack of announcement in the previous day’s newspaper. It had not been there this morning, either. As much as he disliked Reuben Fletcher, he knew how invested in the match Adelaide was. He would rather have seen the announcement and simmered in silence than have her weep.

“You devil,” he muttered aloud, swiping his cane at a stray daisy that poked through the masonry ahead.

“Now, that is not a particularly kind thing to say, is it?” a voice shivered through the air like ice.

Jasper whirled around. “Who goes there?”

“You do not recognize my voice, yet you call me devil?”

He narrowed his eyes, attempting to peer into the unseen shadows that lined the embankment. “Duke?”

“If only.” The voice chuckled as a figure emerged from behind a nearby cluster of trees. Jasper frowned to try and make out the face, but the gentleman wore a top hat. It cast a darkness across his features. “What is the matter, Lord Gillett? Do you not recognize me?”

A tremor bristled up his spine. “Lord Rowntree?”

“And here I was, believing I had not made a keen enough impression upon you.” He flashed a cold grin. “You see, I have been waiting, Lord Gillett.”

“Waiting for what?”

“Ordinarily, I am a patient man, but the task I have set you is somewhat time sensitive. I informed your… employer of its sensitivity over a week ago now,” he went on, every word making Jasper want to run for cover. “And yet, days pass, and I hear no word from him. We did not even begin to discuss the fundamentals before we were interrupted at the Assembly Rooms.”

Jasper cleared his throat. “Had you asked to hear from him?”

“Of course,” Lord Rowntree snapped. “How else am I supposed to get this enterprise underway?”

“If it is the Earl of Leeds that you wish to converse with, why have you accosted me?” Jasper wondered boldly. “Presumably, you have followed me on my walk here. I believe I deserve to know your reasoning.”

Lord Rowntree laughed icily. “As I say, I am a patient man. However, I have certain expectations,” he explained. “The Earl agreed to my terms and yet he offers me naught but silence. Such a transgression cannot be ignored.”

“Perhaps, he has changed his mind?”

“He has already taken half the fee, Lord Gillet. He cannot change his mind. He requires that money, does he not? He seemed rather desperate when he came to me. I might have asked why he needed it, but that is not in my nature—I do not like to pry into the minutiae of peoples’ troubles.”

“You would have to speak with him yourself. This is none of my concern.” Jasper made to walk away, but Lord Rowntree darted forwards to block his path. With painstaking slowness, he pulled back the corner of his long coat to reveal a set of glinting blades.

Jasper froze. His eyes glanced up and down the embankment, but there was no one else wandering the riverside. It was much too cold and the threat of rain hovered in the darkening clouds. He did not much care for the Bow Street Runners, but, in that moment, he wished they might suddenly appear.

“I am not finished speaking with you,” Lord Rowntree warned.

“I can do nothing to help you and threatening me will do no good.” Jasper was grateful that his voice did not waver. He was a reasonable boxer, but he did not relish the idea of facing Lord Rowntree’s knives. The villain was infamous for a reason. Murder gave him little pause for thought.

Lord Rowntree flashed an alarming smile. “No, perhaps you are right. I doubt threatening you will be of any use at all,” he said coolly. “That pretty little thing at the Assembly Rooms, however… an acquaintance of yours, is she not?”

“I know her, yes.”

“Come now, you discredit your companionship by speaking in such detached terms,” he tutted in grim amusement. “She is the Earl’s daughter, correct?”

“You were there, Lord Rowntree. You know that she is.”

“And your family is rather close to the Colborne family, are they not?”

“You would not ask such a question if you did not already know the answer,” Jasper replied, trying to be as vague as possible. There was every chance that Lord Rowntree did not already know the ties that bound Jasper and Adelaide together.

“You care for her, do you not?”

“She is a friend, as we have established.”

“Then I should hate to see anything befall her,” Lord Rowntree purred.

The air between them suddenly grew very still. “What did you say?”

“I believe you heard me, Lord Gillett.”

“You will not harm her. She has nothing to do with any of this.” Jasper gritted his teeth. “I barely have anything to do with this. I am simply an accessory to whatever the Earl may need.”

“You are right, I will not harm her… as long as the task is carried out, as I have requested,” Lord Rowntree replied. “I put it to you, as the Earl’s accessory, to make him see how serious the matter is. If I do not hear from him by tomorrow afternoon, there shall be consequences.”

“Leave Lady Adelaide out of this.”

Lord Rowntree smirked. “Again, I shall, as long as the task is carried out as I have requested. You forget, Lord Gillett, I did not force the Earl into this. He came to me. He assured me I could rely upon him. If anything should happen to his daughter, it will be entirely his fault.”

Jasper balled his hands into fists. “Leave her out of it.”

“Do as I have asked you, and I will. All you need to do is pass on a message. Surely, that is not beyond your capabilities?”

“If you harm her in any way, I will—”

“You will do nothing, Lord Gillett. Do you think other men have not threatened me before? Do you think you are the first to find himself irked by my actions?” He chuckled coldly. “It does not change the fact that I am untouchable. The King himself could not rid England of me.”

Jasper glowered at the villainous cretin. “Your arrogance will be your downfall.”

“If that is so, hope your friend is around to see such a victory.”

Before Jasper knew what was happening, Lord Rowntree whipped a blade from within his coat and sliced it across Jasper’s cheek. It did not cut too deep, but the sting of it pulsed down the side of his face. A split-second later, something slow and warm trickled across his skin. He lifted his hand to try and stem the blood, grimacing as his palm came away with a faint smear of scarlet.

Jasper opened his mouth to speak, but Lord Rowntree silenced him with a warning look. “So the Earl knows I am serious,” was all he said, as he turned and stalked away into the shadows of Chelsea embankment.