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“I do not have to leave. Do you know…”

Judging from the way none of the other patrons spared a look at the exchange, Edwin assumed that it was a frequent occurrence. He tore his gaze away from the spectacle as he rounded the corner.

He did not knock before he stepped into Magnus’s office. His friend, on the other hand, did not seem quite surprised to see him.

“You received my letter,” Magnus said simply.

Edwin nodded.

He rarely went to the gambling hell during the day, but after he received Magnus’s letter so early in the morning and read it, he canceled all his earlier plans and made the journey to his friend’s establishment.

“I just saw your guard throwing out a man who would not stop claiming that he is a marquess,” he said.

“Ah, that would be Granby!” Magnus chuckled. “He is a regular, and once he gets drunk, he would begin to gamble until he loses all his money. I fear that he will gamble away all his fortune someday.”

“I see.” Edwin nodded as he took a seat.

This was one of the inconveniences of running a gambling hell. Many noblemen would get drunk until they could no longer think clearly, and then they would gamble away all their fortunes.

“Instead of taking advantage of his drunkenness and plying him with more alcohol and games, I simply ordered that he be kicked out.” Magnus shrugged.

Edwin understood his friend.

“You are a fair and honest man. A less honest establishment would have been all too happy to take advantage of the drunken man.”

Moreover, Magnus had started a gambling hell to save his family from ruin. His father had squandered the family’s fortune before his death, and he had to rebuild it from scratch. Perhaps this was why he was so particular about running the establishment with integrity and not taking advantage of anyone, even when they were too drunk to notice.

“I am certain the man will be grateful when he sobers up and finds his fortune still intact.”

Magnus shook his head. “Not quite. He will be back tomorrow and attempt to throw away his money, again.”

Edwin could not help but feel relieved that Magnus was handling the day-to-day running of the gambling hell. He did not quite possess the patience to deal with such people.

“Now, about your letter,” he prompted.

Magnus sobered up. “You may need alcohol to help you soften the blow of the news I am about to deliver.”

“News?” Edwin blinked rapidly, confused. “I thought…”

Magnus hit the bell on his table, and one of his men immediately entered the office. “Bring brandy.”

Edwin waited for the man to leave before he said, “I thought you said you had news about Wilbury.”

“Indeed.” Magnus nodded, his lips pressed in a thin line. “But you must know that this is far bigger than Wilbury.”

His man returned with a bottle of brandy and poured each of them a glass.

Edwin immediately took a swig and felt the alcohol warm his chest. “Now, speak,” he urged, fiddling absent-mindedly with the scar on his palm.

The wound had healed fast, in only a matter of weeks, thanks to Ava’s tender care. But a scar remained, reminding him of thenight he had been lucky to survive an attack, with only a gashing wound on his palm to show for it.

“I am not quite certain how to bring this up,” Magnus sighed.

“Just spill it out!” Edwin snapped, growing rather impatient.

Why had his friend sent him a letter telling him that he had gathered more information about his attacker if he knew he would be too scared to share the news?

“Fine.” Magnus raised his hands in surrender. “But you must know that I did not want to do this. In fact, if I knew my discovery would be so dire, I would not have even investigated the matter.”