Could he detect an edge to what she was saying? One of the things that made him wary of Gabriela was the fear that she had the wisdom and experience to see through him to the truth of what he might conceal.

‘I wagered he would not have time to reload it.’

‘Something of a high-stakes wager.’

Raven looked away, fearing what more his expression might involuntarily disclose, specifically that his wager had been wrong. He opted for a playful response instead, as though making light of it.

‘I would have given them money had we any to offer. Having drunk it all, there seemed little option but to fight them off. I think it unlikely they would have accepted our apologies in the absence of payment.’

‘Nonetheless, three on one is not a fair contest, yet you did not shrink from it.’

‘It was not my first brawl, if that is what you are implying. I have the experience to know that those who prey upon the weak and unsuspecting do not always rise to the challenge when faced with a real fight.’

‘You placed a high-stakes wager on that too.’

Raven said nothing. His gaze was drawn to the letter that lay by his bed, to which he still had not replied. Dr George Keith was leaving 52 Queen Street to set up practice with his brother Thomas, and Professor Simpson was offering Raven the position of his new assistant. He was fully qualified now, an apprentice no more, and in his year abroad he had expanded his medical knowledge more than he would have thought possible in such a short space of time.

And yet.

He thought of what Henry had often intimated regarding his ‘perverse appetite for mayhem’, as he put it. Moreover, he had his mother’s words echoing in his head, spoken sometimes in jest, sometimes in earnest.

You have the devil in you.

Raven had come to hope that was no longer true. He had not been involved in any such chaos for a long time, certainly not since leaving Edinburgh, and thought it was because he had tamed his nature. He wondered now whether it was merely that the opportunity had not arisen. When bidden tonight, the devil had roused itself, proving it was not dead but merely sleeping. And back in that alley a man had paid for disturbing its slumber.

Gabriela placed a hand upon his shoulder.

‘Remember me?’ she said.

‘I’m sorry. My mind strayed. Thinking about Henry.’

She laughed. ‘Your mind strayed much further than the next room. Do not take me for a fool, Raven. I have been with you many times, remember? Whenever we lie together, afterwards you are not here.’

It would be folly to deny it. Certainly not to her.

‘You are somewhere distant, in the company of someone else. I have always wondered who she is.’