Miss Corvus accepted it gratefully. She wiped the specks of blood from her lips with her handkerchief before taking a drink from the glass.

Effie watched her, frowning. “What has Compton’s character to do with you?”

“It has to do with every woman,” Miss Corvus said, lowering the glass. “A betrayal of one is a betrayal of all.”

“But this girl you knew—”

“Long gone, and the evidence of Compton’s crime along with her. I’ve told you, my concern is for the future.” Miss Corvus returned her glass to the table beside her. “There is serious discussion about a married women’s property bill being brought before Parliament. If passed, it would give a married woman the same rights as an unmarried one. Henceforward, she could keep everything she earned during her marriage. She could retain control of her property. She could exist, in British law, as more than a mere appendage to a husband. It would mean security and independence for countless women throughout the realm. The implications are too great to be ignored.”

Effie slowly resumed her seat. She may disagree with Miss Corvus’s methods, but Effie’s views on the subject of women’s welfare had always been as one with her former teacher. They had been ever since she’d first read Miss Leigh Smith’s A Brief Summary, in Plain Language, of the Most Important Laws Concerning Women at the tender age of thirteen. An illuminating text, and required reading at the Academy, it had revealed, in stark terms, the monstrous legal injustices suffered by women.

“It sounds an excellent proposition,” Effie said.

“If Compton has his way, the bill will never see the light of day. He can quash it with a word.”

“You’re convinced he would?”

“He’s already hinted he’ll come out against it, whether today or tomorrow or two years hence. When he does, the other lords will follow suit. They take their cues from him. There’s only one thing to be done.” Miss Corvus’s countenance hardened with a dangerous resolve. “Compton must be destroyed.”

Effie studied her old schoolmistress. “What do you have in mind? You don’t mean—?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Miss Corvus said. “We’re not murderesses. We are civilized women in an uncivilized world, acting to balance the scales. When I speak of destruction, I speak of Compton’s reputation. That is why I summoned you back. No one knows who you are, not of our connection, nor of your dubious beginnings. You have been in Paris, and have become a lady of fashion. Compton has an eye for beauty. Your charms can’t compare to Miss Trewlove’s, but they’re still something out of the common way. He will welcome you into his world. And you…you will be the end of him.”

Effie began to comprehend her. “You want me to ruin him? But how?”