Page 27

FOURTEEN

Briar

This was a bad idea, but it was mine, and there was no stopping me now.

Not now I was standing at the desk, making a complete fool of myself.

“I am sorry, miss, but?—”

“Lady Briar,” I said, correcting the irritating man behind the desk. Honestly, I’d said my own name at least three times, the very least he could do was attempt to remember. “And as I said, I would be grateful if you could?—”

“Yes, but you see, the Gambling Club members don’t just drop everything they’re doing to meet random women who turn up at their homes,” said the man dismissively.

He was wearing a livery in a shade of red which did not suit him. His dark greasy hair was pushed back in a sort of wave, and he was frowning at me through dark rimmed glasses.

I tried to smile back. I should have sent a note ahead, I just knew it—but by the time I’d made the decision, I was already halfway here.

Impetuous, I was not. And yet today I was.

“And I heard you,” I said, trying to keep my voice level. “And all I'm asking you is to?—”

“I don’t know who you think you are,” interrupted Henry, with a look that told me he wouldn’t care if I was the Queen of Sheba. “The Gambling Dukes are not to be disturbed. And that’s final.”

I let out a long, low breath, and tried to collect myself.

It had, perhaps, been a rash idea. There was nothing more pathetic than a woman turning up at a building as impressive as this one and demanding to see the owners. With no appointment.

I glanced up. Long soaring glass archways curved into a roof that allowed sparkling sunlight to pour through. The flowers in the gardens were positively blooming, even as autumn crept onward, and there was a fresh coat of paint on the door.

Evidently The Gambling Dukes was doing well.

I, on the other hand, was not.

Forcing down the urge to tell the footman precisely who he was talking to—one of the richest woman in Britain—I tried to smile.

“I honestly think that Lilah—that Delilah, the Dowager Duchess of Rotherwick will want to see me,” I said, amending my words hastily at the look of horror on the man’s face. “I think you’ll find?—”

“You’re looking for Markham, aren’t you?”

I turned around to face the unfamiliar voice.

It was a man. You could tell he was connected to Peregrine immediately. There was something about his friends, they all had a look. It wasn’t one I could describe, except a quiet confidence behind the eyes that proved just how impressive they were.

This one, however, was not as handsome as Peregrine. He didn’t have the roguish charm of his friend, nor the ease with which Peregrine stood.

This man looked comfortable, of course. Just simultaneously uncomfortable. Was that because of me?

“Your Grace, I had no idea you knew the lady,” babbled the footman behind me. “If I had known?—”

“He’s not here,” said the man quietly, entirely ignoring the servant and looking instead directly at me. “You would know that, if you knew anything about him.”

I bristled. It was difficult not to. I knew Peregrine better than anyone in his club, though they didn’t know that right at this moment.

But I would prove it to them.

“I think you’ll find you are the ones who don’t know much about him,” I said coldly, thrusting my hand into my handbag and pulling out the precious notebook. “Here.”

Stepping forward, I pressed the notebook into his hands.

“I am Lady Briar Weatherford, by the way,” I said, stepping back and trying to look sharply at Peregrine’s friend, as though my heart wasn’t in my mouth. “And you are?”

“Kineallen,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “The Duke of Kineallen. And what’s this?”

Kineallen. The leader of the club, Markham had once called him. No wonder he looked so surprised I was here, ruining his day. Likely as not getting in the way of a few appointments.

Well, there was nothing for it.

“This is Peregrine’s notebook,” I said, pushing aside the guilt I felt. Well, he’d left it in my townhouse, hadn’t he? It wasn’t up to him what I did with it. “I think you’ll find a few things of interest there.”

I spoke far more boldly than I felt, and the Duke of Kineallen seemed to know it.

Despite only having met me minutes before, he chuckled slightly as he opened it. “Really? And you know this because…ah.”

I said nothing as his eyes perused the page. Then he turned the page, his expression growing more and more astonished with every word that he took in.

My heart slowed slightly, now the greatest hurdle had been reached.

Simply posting the notebook would not have worked. Who knows how many people there were between the Gambling Dukes and their post? I couldn’t be certain they’d ever actually see it. And I had to be. It was important they saw this.

“Damn,” the Duke Kineallen breathed. “Turns out the rake had a conscience after all.”

Irritation bubbled within me. “That man has a great deal more conscience than half the people in London.”

That made him look up, his eyes cold. “And you know this because—what? He’s always acted honestly with you?”

The barb stung, and what hurt even more was that it was a shot in the dark that landed home. Even though the Duke of Kineallen hadn’t known what Peregrine had done with my money, he knew enough about his friend to guess.

That hurt.

But I lifted my head high as I said, “I thought you’d want to know that, for when Peregrine—when the Duke of Markham contacts you. I think it’s important for everyone to have all the facts, don’t you?”

“I haven’t heard from my idiot friend,” said Kineallen shortly. “If he turned up here?—”

“He won’t,” said another voice.

I swallowed as the beautiful woman who had awkwardly stood by our table at the Queen’s Head approached us.

Delilah, the Dowager Duchess of Rotherwick.

Some of their servants were staring at us now. We weren’t making a scene, exactly, but I was sure that most of the time, the Gambling Dukes held their meetings in private. They didn’t debate the morals of a man in public.

“Of course he won’t turn up here,” I said quietly. “He already believes it’s too late to reconcile with any of you. Even though I think, honestly, it was his greatest wish.”

“Making it up to my family, somehow, is my priority right now.”

“I told you,” said the Duke of Kineallen, a testiness entering his voice. “I haven’t heard from Markham, and?—”

“I have,” said Lady Rotherwick quietly.

My gaze snaped over to her. She had? When? Why? Had he mentioned me?

Thankfully I managed to keep my questions to myself before I completely embarrassed myself.

Peregrine would never have mentioned me, and even if he had, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it.

It wasn’t like our last conversation had been that complimentary.

“Briar, you have to listen to me. I'm not the same person I was when you met me—I’ve changed!”

“You’ve not changed at all. You are a knave, Markham. You’re the duke who risked it all, and you’ve lost. You are everything you said you didn’t like about yourself, everything you feared. You’ve just proved yourself to be the worst kind of man, and I want you out.”

“Kineallen, I need to talk to you,” the Lady Rotherwick was muttering in her friend’s ear. “Something has changed?—”

“I hope it has,” came a voice that I knew, a voice that crept down my spine tingling all the way, a voice that made my legs quiver and my heart throb painfully. “I really hope it has.”

Markham

Every breath hurt, but it had been my own damn fault for running the last few streets. My impatience hadn’t helped in the long run. My sides ached from running and I knew every word was going to hurt.

But it had to be said.

The trouble was, I could hardly concentrate when Briar was looking at me like that. Like I’d just arrived to save the day, but only had to because I’d destroyed it in the first place. Like she’d expected me long ago, and I was late, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to forgive me.

She had to forgive me.

“Markham.” Kineallen’s word was cold. He’d managed to put into two syllables everything I knew he was thinking.

Not hatred. My oldest friend was far above that, I thought bitterly. Kineallen wouldn’t demean himself to feel something so unproductive.

No, he just felt distaste, I was sure. Disappointment. Many other things I probably didn’t want to know.

“What’s taking so long?” came a voice I knew well. “I thought you said—Markham.”

Georgiana halted as she stepped up the footpath to Kineallen’s house, her expression astonished as she saw me, her arm linked with her new husband Monroe.

Great. The whole family was here.

“What’s this, Markham?” Kineallen said quietly, lifting up?—

Hell. How in God’s name had he got that?

“Ah,” I said with a wry laugh. “Funny thing. I…well, I?—”

“There are apologies in here,” Kineallen said, glancing down at it before passing it to Georgiana, who whistled as she skimmed through it. “And Lilah tells me you actually didn’t steal any money, you idiot.”

That had to be a good sign. Kineallen almost never spoke with such passion. He was the epitome of detachment.

I tried not to grin, but I met Monroe’s eye and couldn’t help myself. “Is a thief really a thief if he didn’t steal anything?”

“He’s an ass,” Monroe pointed out fairly. “They’ve gone through the mill for you, you?—”

“There’s so much to talk about—so many conversations long overdue,” said Briar quietly.

Her voice cut through the chatter of my friends, and my heart leapt as she took my hand.

“Don’t you think it’s worth it, though? After all, you’re all one family.

You’ve got each other. Don’t you all deserve to know the truth? ”

I realized I was holding my breath as I looked at each of my friends in turn. Georgiana looked ready to forgive me immediately, but then she and I had always been close. Monroe didn’t look that bothered.

You could read Kineallen. He was irritated, aware we’d made this far too public. The Gambling Dukes servants were whispering and that damned footman was probably selling the story to the nearest tabloid as we spoke.