//CLARA//
The shouting started before dawn.
I heard muffled voices raised in anger, the sharp crack of a fist against wood.
I slipped out of bed, pulled on my dressing gown, and crept down the corridor toward Casimir's study.
The door was cracked open. Just an inch. Enough to see inside.
Casimir sat at the head of the long table, his face carved from stone. Around him, seven men shouted over each other like vultures fighting over a carcass.
"The Board will vote tomorrow," one of them was saying. Mr. Ashworth, his face flushed with panic. "We need a plan. A defense. Something!"
"There is no defense." Mr. Marel slammed his palm against the table. "The newspapers have already convicted him. The scandal is too big."
"The scandal is manufactured!" Casimir's voice cut through the noise like a blade. "Mr. Vanderbilt fabricated the affair to destroy me. You know this. You've seen the evidence."
