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along the shadowy arcades. And because the Palais Royal belonged to the king’s obstreperous cousin, the Duc d’Orléans – the one member of the royal family who proclaimed himself for the people – and this same Orléans was intimate with Madame de Genlis, Asa felt herself a little nearer Thursday and the salon, when she would meet Paulin once more.
    She expected the usual asinine conversation with Shackleford, but on this occasion he startled her.
    ‘Your brother-in-law happened to mention that you are an abolitionist, Miss Ardleigh.’
    ‘So I am. I’m surprised Mr Morton told you since he does not approve.’
    ‘I suspect he thought it best that I should know the worst.’ He gave her a quick, sideways glance. ‘I wonder; how did you come to be so radical?’
    ‘My closest friend is a woman named Caroline Lambert. Since a young age, we have spent many hours in each other’s company. Her father is a brilliant teacher and a minister. She and I have been guided by him.’
    ‘And the rest of your family, are they sympathetic?’
    She was irritated by the hint of irony in his smile. ‘The rest of my family are glad that I have received, through Mr Lambert, an exceptional education, considering I am merely a girl. My father, as you may know, is a widower and was too preoccupied to see to my education beyond what my sisters could teach me. In any case, he has no money to spare. Neither has Mr Lambert, for that matter, but most of what he earns is devoted either to providing us with books or to charitable causes.’
    ‘Such as abolition.’
    ‘Not just abolition. Mr Lambert encourages us to confront injustice of all kinds. I have seen things, Mr Shackleford, that have made me unable to sleep at night. But you call abolition a charitable cause. To define it as such is to diminish it. I believe it is absolutely wrong for one human being to own another, and therefore an absolute necessity that slaving should be abolished.’
    ‘I admire your clarity, Miss Ardleigh, especially as I assume you haven’t encountered the iniquity of slavery yourself.’
    She stopped walking. ‘You mean it’s much more comfortable not even to try to imagine the source of our tea and coffee. Mr Lambert would never allow such evasion.’
    Shackleford’s enthralled gaze was fixed on her face. ‘Some evils, I fear, are easier to correct than others. I used to know a chap called Brissot in London. Met up with him again here, last week. He’s very hot on the idea of abolition. But he won’t find it easy, I suspect, to convince his fellow radicals at this point in time.’
    ‘Of course it won’t be easy.’
    ‘So I told Brissot. Nonetheless, he has persisted in setting up a society called Les Amis des Noirs, which happens to meet a stone’s throw from this very spot. It seems to me, most people will think abolition is a step too far. They’ll say that the French should concentrate on arranging some kind of elected parliament, then feed themselves, then free their slaves.’
    ‘Perhaps if you were a slave, Mr Shackleford, you would not be quite so eager for everyone to take their time.’
    ‘That’s certainly true. But I struggle, Miss Ardleigh, with how it might be done sooner. If we can’t achieve abolition in England, where the situation is relatively stable and most of the population isn’t starving, how can Brissot, in France? Fact is I’ve never seen so many hungry people.’
    ‘Then both evils must be cured, don’t you think? The starving in France and the enslaved abroad?’
    ‘You ask me what I think. I don’t have any answers. All too tricky.’
    Asa bit back a scathing comment and walked on. He remained close to her shoulder.
    ‘We’ve been beating about the bush, you and I, Miss Ardleigh, but I’m sure you know my family wealth is built on slavery. I can’t help it, I’m afraid. My father and brother run the family business, I run myself, that’s how it goes.’
    Asa gazed at him fiercely, her heart beating