Gabriel was quiet a moment before answering, reflecting on his past, on all the cruelties, insults, and indignities that had brought him to this point. A man of no birth, with nothing much to recommend him, except that he’d somehow managed to earn the love of a woman like Euphemia Flite.

It had changed him. It had changed everything.

“I have been brutal, it’s true,” he admitted. “I’ve also been a businessman. An unthinking brute wouldn’t get far running a betting shop that traffics with the aristocracy, nor would he have much success inspiring loyalty among his men. I’ve done both, and well. The unsavory aspects have less of a place in my world of late. You’ve seen for yourself. The people of the Rookery look to me for leadership. Once the slum is reformed, my position will be solidified.”

“The sons of the gentry still place wagers with you. Some of them are in debt to you for considerable sums.”

“Your associates would rather I call in those debts?”

“They’d rather your business weren’t so murky. It gives them pause.”

Gabriel gave a short, humorless chuckle. “But not enough to terminate our plans. Not so long as Compton is still lending them countenance.”

“I’m giving you the courtesy of candor,” Haverford said. “It isn’t I who is objecting to your character, after all. Not outright.”

“No,” Gabriel said with bitter humor. “Reform-minded people of your class enjoy a heartening tale of an impoverished street urchin who pulls himself up to a position of authority. It strengthens their arguments for charitable measures.”

Haverford didn’t dispute the fact. “So long as that street urchin hasn’t done anything too disagreeable.”

“What street urchin hasn’t? More to the point, what politician hasn’t? Disagreeable acts aren’t limited to the poor.”

“No. They’re not. Regrettably, the poor aren’t judged by the same standards as gentlemen in government.”

“They should be.” Gabriel straightened from the door of the loose box. “Though if we removed every villain from Parliament, I’m not entirely sure who would be left to run the country.”

Haverford smiled briefly. “I fear there would be infinitely more villains waiting to take their place. Such is the way of politics.”

Gabriel gave him a hard look. It was a jest, obviously. And yet…

A lunatic thought occurred to him.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he’d been viewing the problem from the wrong angle. It surely made no difference in terms of the outcome. Nevertheless, a glimmer of possibility beckoned.

That was all Gabriel required.

“You can tell your concerned friends that Compton is out,” he said.

Haverford’s face fell. “You’ve lost his support?”