The infant wailed louder, and Emily was forced to give Victoria over to Anna to feed her.

When it abruptly fell silent upstairs, Emily worried that the earl had done something drastic.

“Your aunt is not here to rescue you, so you might as well be silent,” Stephen told Royce. “If you continue to disobey, you will be punished.”

He had never actually punished an errant child before and had no real wish to do so. But as he’d hoped, the threat worked. Royce stopped struggling and stared at him with fascination. The boy wasn’t staring out of fear but out of curiosity. “What is that?”

In the midst of Royce fighting him off, he’d clawed at Stephen’s shirt, loosening the collar. Likely the boy had glimpsed the tattoo.

Stephen turned around to reveal the full design. “Have you seen this before?”

Royce bobbed his head. “Father had one.”

Interesting. Though he was no closer to learning the meaning of the design, he wondered whether Carstairs or Hollingford had been responsible for the stolen shipment profits.

“Do you know what it means?”

The boy shook his head. “I asked Father to let me have one, but he said not until I was older.”

“Your father was right.” Stephen adjusted his shirt to hide the tattoo.

”I am older now,“ Royce argued.

“Not old enough.”

Royce scowled, even as he climbed into bed. “I still don’t like you.”

“I still don’t like you either. Go to sleep.”

“Are you my uncle now?” Royce asked. “I don’t want you to be.”

Stephen hadn’t thought of it, but he supposed he was. “To my great misfortune, I am your uncle now.”

“If you die, you won’t be my uncle anymore,” Royce offered.

Stephen hid his amusement. “Planning to do me in, are you?”

Royce pondered this a moment before saying, “Not until I’m older.”

“How very reassuring. I shall sleep better at night, knowing it. Be sure to let me know the date on which you plan to kill me, won’t you?”

A devilish smile creased Royce’s mouth as he closed his eyes.

Stephen shook his head at the boy’s active imagination and pulled the door shut behind him. Down the hall, he heard Victoria wailing loud enough to shatter glass. He ignored it and entered his room where he saw that a servant had delivered the baggage. But his wife’s belongings were nowhere to be seen.

Why did Emily insist on being so stubborn? After opening the door to her original chamber, he found the battered valise. Upon a quick inspection of its contents, he saw that it contained only the black dresses she owned and the lavender tarlatan gown. She’d brought none of the day dresses or the jewels he’d given her.

Almost as if she didn’t want any part of him.