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“Third one on the right,” he mumbled, taking an abortive step toward the broad front stairs. Instead, he tripped, down on the floor again before Rafferty could catch him.

Rafferty reached down to hoist him up again when he heard light footsteps on the stairs, and a moment later Georgie was on her knees beside her prostrate brother. “Oh, Neddy,” she said in a gently scolding voice. “When are you going to stop this?”

“Can’t,” he muttered. “Sorry, Georgie. Hate to do this to you.”

“You’re not doing anything to me, you’re doing it to yourself,” she said, catching his arm in an effort to pull him to his feet.

Rafferty immediately reached behind him and hauled him upright once more, keeping a strong hand on him as Neddy wavered. “His bedroom is third on the right?” he asked, needing to verify it.

“Second bedroom on the right,” Georgie corrected. “I’ll show you. He has a tendency to cast up his accounts when he gets this bad, and it’s better that I look after him than you.”

“I disagree. If your brother is ill, I’ll take care of him. You don’t want to ruin your pretty new dress.”

That got a smile out of her. “Well, with luck, he’ll keep everything down. Let’s go.”

Their procession moved slowly up the stairs, Georgie holding his hand, Rafferty keeping him upright. By the time they reached the door, Neddy was mumbling under his breath, a string of unintelligible apologies. He fell face first onto his bed, and a moment later, a loud snore erupted from him.

“Oh, dear Neddy,” Georgie said miserably, as Rafferty lifted his body onto the high bed and rolled him onto his back. Neddy didn’t respond, lost to the world in his claret-induced haze. She started to unfasten his shoes, but Rafferty gave in to temptation and put his hands on her, moving her away.

“I’ll take care of him,” he said, moving her toward the door.

“But I want to help,” she cried. “He’s always been so good to me.”

“Then he’d appreciate it if you didn’t have to see him like this. I’ll see that he’s properly settled and then you can check on him.”

Indecision crossed her face, and then she nodded, reluctantly, before leaving them alone.

At least he didn’t throw up, Rafferty thought as he efficiently stripped the young man of his ruined clothing.

There were starched and folded nightshirts in a drawer, and he dressed him and put him beneath the covers before closing the curtains, plunging the room into merciful darkness.

He was just about to leave when Neddy spoke up.

“Who the hell are you?” His voice was still slurred.

Rafferty thought of a dozen answers, but went with the simplest. “I’m the butler, sir.” And he closed the door behind him.

He found Georgie waiting for him in the hall, her eyes anxious. “How is he?”

“He’s fine. Or he will be, once he’s sober.”

She started past him, and once more he touched her, stopping her. “He’s asleep,” he said. “Just give him time.”

“Poor Neddy,” she said, looking truly distressed, and he cursed the boy who’d upset her.

“He blames himself for the mess we’re in, and really, he’s just a part of it.

Mother gambles as much as he does, with even worse results, but we would have been fine if my father’s investments hadn’t gone terribly wrong.

Something to do with a bubble that collapsed, which I don’t quite understand.

Suffice it to say we’re quite destitute. ”

“I gathered as much,” Rafferty said.

A shadow had crossed her face. “And we’ll be out on the streets and homeless in a very short time unless Norah finds someone fabulously wealthy to marry.”

“And she refuses?”

“No, she says she will. She just wants to have fun for a while before she agrees to someone. But no one is good enough, and she’s starting to get a reputation, and I really don’t know what’s going to happen to us.”

This wasn’t a problem he could easily fix, Rafferty thought. Norah Manning was a spoiled bitch—sooner or later, her suitors would realize it and the Mannings would be out of luck.

All the more reason for Georgie to get herself a good, safe husband. He needed to find her someone, since her father seemed too caught up in the mess his life had become. Somehow the idea didn’t fill him with any pleasure.

“So you see, Neddy blames himself, even though he’s only part of the problem, and so he drinks.” Georgie finished. “If only I could do something...”

“You aren’t sacrificing yourself for your family,” he said flatly. “What we need to do is find you a nice young man to marry.”

She jerked her head up in sudden surprise. “I don’t want to marry a nice young man,” she said firmly.

“Then who are you going to marry?” he said, amused. “A bad, old man?”

“Yes,” she said simply. Looking at him.

Oh, no, you don’t! he thought. He ignored her shining gaze. “I’ll come back and check on your brother in a couple of hours,” he said, immediately changing the subject. “In the meantime, it’s best just to let him sleep it off.”

She was still looking at him with that odd, almost hopeful expression on her face. “But I?—”

“You’ll be going to out with your family,” he said, his voice brooking no refusal. “I think you should look around when you get there and choose someone.”

She looked startled by his sudden change of subject. “Choose someone for what?”

“To marry. There should be any number of suitable young men there—pick the one you want.”

She was no longer looking so sunny. “And you’ll arrange it like you’ve arranged everything else? No, thank you. And I don’t want to go to the Islingtons.”

“Too bad. You can’t stay in this situation—I want you to have somewhere else to go if your family loses the house and you’re homeless.”

“I’ll go with them,” she said. “With you. You wouldn’t abandon us, would you?”

He was planning on doing exactly that, but she was looking at him with a fierce gleam in her beautiful eyes.

“I wouldn’t abandon you,” he said. “Not until everyone is safely settled. Including you, with your new husband.”

The expression on her face was suddenly blank.

A moment later, she was gone with a flounce of yellow skirts, and he was watching her disappear, a rueful smile on his face.

He’d said exactly the right thing, whether she liked it or not.

Having her moon after him was going to make it damned difficult give the place the kind of search it needed.

He needed to find Belding’s cache, and soon.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t take care of other business at the same time. She was a sweet, lovely girl and he was going to find a husband for her, someone she could dote on, rather than her ramshackle family.

And he’d congratulate himself on a job well-done. Of course he would.