Yet Viola fears Gracewood’s reaction if he realizes that he used to know her as Marleigh. Because Marleigh joined the army only to accompany Gracewood, Gracewood blames himself for his friend’s death, and his guilt over that, added to war trauma, has left him laudanum-addicted, emotionally shattered, and considering suicide. While she has revealed her transition to her brother and his wife, Viola has allowed Gracewood to believe that the Marleigh he knew died at Waterloo. He has excruciating physical pain from a leg injury sustained at Waterloo, but it’s his mental state that is the most perilous. Lady Marleigh, alarmed by correspondence from Gracewood’s sister, takes Viola to check on the girl’s welfare, but it turns out that Gracewood is the one in need of help. Her brother inherited the viscountcy and invited Viola to live in his household as a companion to his wife.īut while Viola has moved on with her life, Gracewood has not. She joined the army with her dearest friend, Justin De Vere, the Duke of Gracewood, and after being presumed dead at Waterloo, took the opportunity to start to live honestly as herself.
Viola Carroll was raised as the Viscount Marleigh. Note: As the author has done so, I have used a character’s ‘deadname’ (or pre-transition name) in this review.
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