Then, Henry smiled gently. “I’m nothing but a poor man; my son had to live in squalor with me.” His eyes turned red. “There’s no better way of putting it—I’ve turned into an evil person.” His smile became forced as he turned to look at Edward. It seemed he’d suddenly forgotten about feeling scared. “I only wanted to avenge him, but I dreamed of him last night. He was sad and kept asking me why I did the things I did.”

Tears filled his eyes. “He’s always been a strong boy; I’ve never seen him cry. That was the first time, and it made me feel terribly guilty.” Henry shut his eyes. “He told me I was no different from the other unsavory characters because of the things I did.”

Edward hadn’t looked into Henry’s background, but he knew he was telling the truth—provided he wasn’t secretly an enlightened martial artist. Edward appraised him to see whether he could catch Henry out somewhere. Henry met his gaze and smiled faintly, not looking flustered at all.

He continued calmly, “All I w