“Those whom I loved and trusted sent me to die in Coorg.” His voice was chipped ice. “They didn’t merely discard my affection. They obliterated it. They took my heart and cracked it in a vise.” “Oh, Fox.” “And now these same people hold Madeline’s future in their hands. My niece destroyed everything by being conceived, and I ruined everything by refusing to die. We are, the both of us, unwanted dross.”