Chapter Thirty-Three
Lucas went to sleep not knowing what to do—and woke having decided. The post-chaise left Woodhuish House at nine o’clock. He spent the first forty miles examining his decision, laying it out in his mind like a clockmaker laying out the components of a clock—all the tiny cogs and springs and screws and shafts—all the possible consequences, the hazards and the risks. Then he reassembled his decision, putting the pieces back together until it formed a whole again.
It was a good decision. But not without its dangers.
He waited for the panic to come. It didn’t. Instead, there was a feeling of calmness. Not a fatalistic calmness, but a deep and profound calmness that was almost serenity, and he knew—knew—that he’d made the right decision.
Lucas turned his attention to th
