Unfair,” I said as Captain Goode opened a door to reveal a beautiful library. The room seemed to stretch on forever. Bookshelves lined all the walls. Hundreds, thousands of volumes. The air carried that wonderfully comfortable and musty scent of dust, age, and wisdom that only worn books can emit.

I asked Tuffins to put him in the garden, bring tea, and make sure no one disturbed us. I couldn’t keep Mr. Braddock inside when I planned on shouting the roof down.

And I’m truly sorry about last night with Mr. Edwards.” She sniffled. “Hang Mr. Edwards. After what he said yesterday, I’ve already added his to the lists of houses to be set ablaze.

The room boasted many luxurious perks: a narrow bed, a rotted writing table, a stained wall, and a warped looking glass dangling on a rusty hook. I wondered if Mr. Kent recommended this hellish place so I would hurry back to his home.

You play at altruism, Miss Wyndham, but the truth is that you decided your sister was more important than my brother. What you don’t understand is that you don’t just ‘help people.’ Any choice to help someone, hurts someone else. You want to help Britain? Then take from Egypt. You want to heal someone? Then you leave someone else in pain, waiting. You want to save your sister? Then you kill my brother.

We do not remain the same each minute to the next. Every word you hear, every sight you see, every smell, every thought you have, every moment – it all changes you. We keep putting on mask after mask, layers over layers. That’s how one grows.

Laura, that dress is not suitable for today, I’m afraid. It’s only a small dinner party,” I said, hastily stuffing it into the abyss of her wardrobe in exchange for a simple, undecorated blue dress, which would, as Laura passionately claimed, “accentuate her sapphire orbs so Mr. Edwards could not look away.” I sincerely hoped she meant her eyes.

Lately, in order to win you over, I’ve been finding myself thinking, What would Mr. Braddock do in this situation? And it took me far too long to realize what that meant: I wanted to tell you that I would not be interfering anymore. I don’t pretend to understand why it is that you would want to be with him, but even someone without my superior detective skills would notice how you gravitate toward each other.

Our cab set off down the crowded Victoria Street toward the heart of the city, trundling past drab buildings and gray street corners at an agonizingly slow speed rivaling that of a dying cow. To make the trip even more enjoyable, pungent city scents seeped through the hansom doors – strangely enough also reminding me of a dying cow.

And then I noticed the small cake that still sat uneaten next to him. And another in front of his mother. That was the last straw. I fully disliked them. How dare they leave perfectly good cake untouched?