Since none of the men seemed inclined to start the discussion, Kendra addressed herself to Godfrey. “I was present the first time you and Lord Foxton met here. You accused him of being responsible for your crippling injury. Foxton didn’t understand why you were accusing him, and you refused to explain, saying he should know what he’d done. Am I remembering correctly?”

His gaze on the floor, Godfrey nodded. Not a very articulate young fellow. He must have been barely out of the schoolroom when he became a midshipman.

Guided by intuition, Kendra said, “In my experience, I’ve found that if someone doesn’t want to discuss a fraught situation, it’s because they carry some guilt over their own part in it. Is that true in this case?”

Godfrey’s head jerked up. He licked dry lips before saying, “Yes. I hold Lucas Mandeville responsible for the accident that crippled me, but I . . . also behaved foolishly.”

“Please explain why you feel the way you do,” Lucas said quietly. “If there are amends I can make, give me the chance to make them.”

Godfrey drew a shaky breath. “We all looked up to you so much in Bitche. No matter how threatening the situation or how dire, you were always calm, strong, and willing to speak up for other prisoners. Fearing nothing. A true English gentleman. All of us younger officers admired you so much.” His mouth twisted. “Then when you were on parole in the town, you broke that parole and escaped! Hearing that news was . . . crushing. A betrayal of the principles of honor that we all valued. I almost didn’t believe it, but you were gone, abandoning the rest of us.”

“I can tell you more about why I escaped, but later,” Lucas said, his searching gaze on the other man. “Tell me how my actions led to your disabling accident.”

His brother Patrick was frowning down on him, but Godfrey continued to speak, his words halting. “Your betrayal made me question my own devotion to honor. I was furious. I wanted to be like you and escape to freedom, yet at the same time, I hated you for your dishonorable behavior. After stewing for a fortnight or two, on impulse I decided that if you could escape, so could I and be damned to the consequences.”

“You were injured in your escape attempt?” Kendra asked softly.

Godfrey’s gaze locked on Lucas. “You know how impregnable the Bitche fortress is. How steep the walls. How dangerous any escape attempt from the fortress would be.”

“But breaking out of the prison would not be breaking parole,” Lucas said. “Not like walking away from the town as I did.”