_Rowena’s POV_
I couldn’t sleep at night.
It wasn’t the account records this time, Celeste had made me close the laptop at eleven and I had actually listened, which was progress. It was something else.
I gave up at half past midnight and went downstairs.
The Ashthorne estate at night was always different from the Varkos estate at night.
I went to the kitchen for water, took it to the small sitting room off the east corridor, and sat in the dark for a while.
That was when I heard them.
The voices were coming from outside, the narrow courtyard between the east wing and the staff quarters, where the chauffeur’s rooms were. Not loud enough to make out every word, but loud enough to catch the shape of it.
A man’s voice, low and defensive, rang out.
A woman’s voice,
