Bianca,” he said, “I would advise you to sit down before you further worsen his legal position.

And, I should note, your own.” She sat, trembling, and I watched the calculation begin behind her frightened eyes, the calculation of a woman who has just realized she has attached herself to a sinking man and needs to know exactly how fast the water is rising.

And Marion — Marion had stopped defending her son.

She was staring at Roman now with an expression I had never once seen on her face in all the years I had known her: disappointment, deep and cold, clinging to her features like frost.

She was looking at her son as though seeing him clearly for the first time, and not liking, at all, what the clear view revealed.