"Very well. As long as you won’t dismiss me for it, then we could talk, but I am not sitting on your bed. It wouldn’t be appropriate," Iris said, avoiding crossing a line. "I love my mother dearly, but her behaviour of late has been difficult to look past."

"I imagine, like everyone else, you have heard that my father took my uncle’s home. There are accusations about him killing my uncle as well, and I believe Eloise. My mother stood by him at first and chose to speak ill of Eloise rather than face it," Iris said carefully as she was still deciding how much to give away.

"It is no surprise she wouldn’t be warm to Eloise. I don’t know the full story, but I would imagine she wasn’t pleased about another young woman entering the household. One who might rival her daughter this season. Am I close?" Zayne asked, wishing she were nearer to the candle so he could read her face better.

"You are. It was not always like this," said Iris.

"You should have seen it coming. This story has been told a great many times before, and it tends to grow more dangerous with each telling. You are not the first pair of cousins to find themselves in this position, and you won’t be the last. How did it come to debts and your mother arranging your marriage?" Zayne asked.

"Whilst trying to find evidence for Eloise, I discovered that we are buried in debt. I had no idea before. Our lives always seemed perfect. And though my father has been arrested, that doesn’t make the debts disappear," Iris replied, folding her arms.

"My marriage might have helped, and I was willing to try, but I didn’t like what I saw in my mother during all of it. I couldn’t bring myself to go through with marrying the man she chose, so I left," Iris said.

"Before you judge me for leaving, I want you to know that I intend to send some of my wages home to her. She won’t be alone for long, as my brother should be back soon enough. I only needed some distance, and I could not marry that man," Iris quickly spoke to defend herself.

"Who is he? Some grey-haired fellow with money and a bad back?"

"He has children already and wants more. I thought I could manage it, but I am not that strong. And don’t you dare laugh," Iris said, pointing her finger at him.

Zayne turned his face away to conceal the smile already forming. "Forgive me. I didn’t mean to. I barely know you, but I can say with some confidence that you are not the sort of person built for marrying a man who already has a household of children. Besides, you are far too young and far too lovely to spend your best years on someone like that."

"Unless you were the type to marry an older man in the hope that he might leave this world soon to have his wealth. That plan doesn’t always pay off. More often than not, the money goes to the children from the first marriage, and the wife ends up no better than a servant in her own home," Zayne added.

"That is not the sort of person I am, and it is a dreadful thing to do to anyone who stands faithfully by you. But none of that is what concerns me now. I have always wanted to marry for love. That is what I set out to do. My season has not exactly begun well. I once courted Damien-"

"Damien!" Zayne shot upright in disbelief. "As in Damien Hawthorne? The very man Eloise has married? Your cousin’s husband?"

Iris shot a glance at the door as though someone might already be pressing an ear to it. "Could you be any louder? I don’t think they heard you all the way down in the kitchen. My interest in Damien was long before Eloise ever came to town and well before they wed. She should have told me she had feelings for him."

"Damien Hawthorne," Zayne said again, but quieter this time.

"Could you please move past it? I already regret saying anything. They are both aware that I had feelings for him, and we have all moved on. I am asking you not to speak of it, because I will not have it damage what Eloise and I have. Please," Iris said.

"You have my word. I won’t speak of it to either of them. I am simply struggling to accept that even you fell for that man."

"That man? You claimed to be close to him, yet you speak of him as though he were a stranger. I won’t sit here and let you disrespect Eloise’s husband. I may have my differences with Damien, but he is her husband, and I will not have him spoken of that way," Iris said, her tone firm.

"I have been calling him that behind his back long before you were smitten, so I shall not be stopping now. He’s insufferable for drawing the attention of every woman in a room without even appearing to try. I had taken you for a woman of particular taste, and yet here we are. I think I need to lie down," Zayne said, dropping back against the pillow.

"It is not so dreadful that you need to lie down over it. I knew I should not have said anything. Now you are making a performance of the whole thing," Iris said and started to move towards the door. "Your chamber has been tidied. There is no reason for me to stay. I will come back in the morning with fresh blankets."

"Wait!" Zayne said, sitting back up. "I took it too far. Don’t go yet. Tell me more about what you are dealing with."

"Are you treating this like a bedtime story? There is a library full of books downstairs. I could bring a few up," Iris offered.

"Now you know how to be amusing. I am sorry for making light of what you struggled to open up to. I am genuinely offering you a chance to unburden yourself, so please go on. And this time, pull that chair over and sit," Zayne said, nodding towards the chair behind her.

"I can’t stay long. It would look strange with me being in your chamber for any length of time, and I want to blend in here. I don’t want my mother finding me, and I certainly don’t want anyone getting curious enough to ask questions about my father," Iris said. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Then what if we leave it here for tonight and continue tomorrow? I have the sense there is more you haven’t said yet, and I can tell you I am not the sort of man who gossips. Shall we agree to that?" Zayne asked, extending his hand across the space between them.

Iris looked at the offered hand for a moment. "It would be better if we didn’t shake on it. I shall agree, but only on the condition that you agree to tell me why you live in all this darkness. Take some time to think about it. Good night," she said, and walked out of the chamber.

Zayne watched the door close behind her, leaving him alone once more with the dark, with little light offered from the candle she had left behind.