Chapter ONE - Weebly

way of getting close to her father?”
She regarded him with an odd mixture of
amusement and alarm. Finally, she laughed and shook
her head. “Go home, Ethan, before you get yourself
hurt. You’re meddling in matters you can’t possibly
understand.” She turned to her men. “We’re done
here.” Glancing back at Ethan, she laughed again, and
then led Nigel and the rest of her men back down
Middle Street, toward the South End.
Ethan watched them go before making his way up
the path to the Dernes’ door. Two chaises waited
outside the house, their horses standing with their heads
bowed. Derne was home. Ethan knocked once, and the
door opened immediately. The same hulking servant
Ethan remembered from his first visit to the house stood
in the doorway, staring down at him, his expression no
more welcoming than Nigel’s had been.
“Ethan Kaille to see Cyrus Derne,” Ethan said.
“Mister Derne doesn’t wish to speak with you,
Ethan.”
Ethan frowned. The servant hadn’t opened his
mouth. He glared at Ethan a moment longer and then