"Quite a night, eh?" Cedric clapped Charles on the shoulder as they left the Sanderson home. "Far less painful than I feared."

"Quite a night indeed," Charles agreed. He hadn't thought his spirits could be buoyed after the attacks on Phillip and Graham. But coming here tonight and finding Lily Even her name made his blood hum and his head dizzy, as though he'd drunk too much whisky. She had given him a glimpse of hope again.

"It seems to have pulled you out of your ...