"Deal." Hartley had hesitated for a moment, but then he took James' hand and shook it. What was the worst that could happen? Time would tell, he supposed. It most definitely would. "When should I come to yours?"

There was just the slightest excitement to it. Truthfully, Hartley had thought about how to break in and out of the manor even before he'd been thrown out of it, simply as a mental exercise. Now that it was actually about him getting his stuff, it felt justified. His parents had no right to keep him from things like these application letters. He had tried to call them, but of course that was pointless.