Like Miss Sengupta, Miss Pascal had been one of their many visiting instructors. Strong, eccentric ladies hailing from all corners of the globe. They came for a term or two, but never lingered. Most were women Miss Corvus had known during her time abroad. A bold contingent of females, with singular looks and decided views.

“Macarons, if I recall,” Nell said. “You always did have a partiality for elegance. Delicate sweets, beautiful clothing, adorable little dogs.” She leaned down to give Franc a gentle scratch of acknowledgment. “You’re far better suited to go after Compton than I would have been.”

“I’m not,” Effie assured her. “I failed at the first challenge.” She gave Nell an abridged description of what had happened in the library the night of Compton’s ball. She didn’t mince words when it came to Mr. Royce. This wasn’t the time for girlish secrets.

Nell listened in silence, a thoughtful line etching her brow. “He unnerved you,” she concluded when Effie had finished.

“He did, rather.”

“And that’s a problem because…?”

“It’s not a problem in itself. The issue is that he’s set himself up as some manner of guardian at Compton’s gates. The night of the ball, he distinctly warned me off. That’s why I’m here today, to discover what’s to be done. Or, more to the point, what I’m permitted to do. For if I must get through him to bring down Compton, then Mr. Royce will need to be dealt with.”

“Then deal with him,” Nell said. “You’ve never had any difficulty before.”

“He’s not like the men I’ve met before,” Effie said. “He’s…I don’t know what he is.”

“Is he dangerous?” Nell asked.

Effie recalled the strangely detached look in Mr. Royce’s eyes. That cold way he had of surveying the room around him. Of surveying her. “I suspect so.”

“More dangerous than you are?”

Effie huffed. “I’m not so dangerous anymore.”

“Perhaps that’s the problem,” Nell said. “In all your efforts at refinement, you’ve forgotten who you are.”

Effie gave Nell a speaking look. “I’ve never forgotten who I am, or where I came from. It’s why Miss Corvus sent me away in the first place.”

“You’re forgetting it now.” Nell took Effie’s hand. She pressed it firmly. “You’re one of us.”

A rush of unexpected emotion caught Effie off her guard. “An Academy girl? It’s not an identity, Nell.”