Page 8 of Vanquished by a Viscount (Tales from the Brotherhood #3)

“Do your railroad interests lie more with the companies and contracts that are being created or with the development of trains, Lord Broxbourne?” Lady Winifred asked.

“I am interested in both as they complement one another,” Charlie said, working to keep his focus ahead of him, not behind.

“As a point of interest, I am fascinated by the capabilities and promise of the machinery of railroads. As an investment, I follow the developments in contracts and companies.”

“There was a particular fortnight I spent in Valencia that I will never forget,” Gray said behind him.

“Valencia, you say?” Pettigrew asked.

“Yes, where there are unlimited soft mounds and inviting curves,” Gray answered wickedly, “all smooth and warm and invitingly spread.” He paused briefly, then said. “I am referring to the beaches, of course.”

“Of course, of course,” one of the gentlemen said as the others laughed knowingly.

At least, they thought they knew what Gray referred to.

Charlie was the only one who understood what sort of curves and mounds his former lover meant.

Although Robert and Pettigrew likely knew as well.

Charlie tried not to let his mind wander into images of his former beloved tangled up with some other man’s sun-kissed body, tried not to hear their moans and grunting.

He tried his hardest not to be jealous as well…

which was probably the entire reason Gray was blurting his stories so indiscreetly.

“Are the railroads a good investment, Lord Broxbourne?” Lady Winifred’s Aunt Violet asked with genuine interest. “I have heard conflicting information on that score. For every story of a man making his fortune in the railroad there are ten other of one being left destitute.”

“There was one beautiful young thing who caught my fancy and held it for an entire fortnight,” Gray went on.

“They are a good investment as long as one chooses an appropriate company,” Charlie said, his head beginning to hurt as he attempted to pay attention to two things at once.

“Fortunes will undoubtedly be made on railroad stocks in the next few years, but I believe one will find that if they throw themselves away on cheap goods that look appealing on sight but prove to be shallow and fickle, they could lose everything.”

Gray twitched slightly behind Charlie, which brought a tight smile to Charlie’s face. Good. The wastrel had heard him after all.

“Which companies do you recommend, my lord?” Lady Winifred asked.

“One must always enjoy oneself when one can,” Gray said, ostensibly to the gentlemen. “One never knows when everything will be pulled out from under them and they will be left with nothing at all.”

“I could not say with any certainty where one who wishes to build their fortune and their life upon something as changeable and fast-moving as the railroads should invest,” Charlie answered with too much steel in his voice, “but I can tell you that it is vital to be certain you are investing in companies with character and stability before risking everything.”

“Of course, not everyone is as capable of enjoying themselves while they travel as much as others,” Gray said in an off-hand way behind Charlie.

“It takes a man of vivacity who has an open mind and an adventurous spirit to enjoy themselves. Too many men of my acquaintance are stiff and stodgy old sacks who have grown old and decrepit before their time.”

Charlie clenched his jaw and fought with everything he had to ignore Gray as if he were a fly buzzing too close to his ear.

“I would imagine that a man must be supremely adventurous to invest everything they have in such new and untried transportation,” Lady Suzanne said, a mysterious smile on her face. “But it sounds to me as if you are that man, Lord Broxbourne.”

Charlie blinked and tried not to frown. If he didn’t know better, he might have thought Lady Suzanne was commenting upon Gray’s statement as much as his.

Then again, as someone who relied on her sense of hearing to make up for her lack of sight, Lady Suzanne might have been more aware of the larger current of the conversations than anyone else.

“The new South Eastern Railway company has already contracted to build a line from London to Dover,” Charlie said, hoping to keep everyone from straying too far off their paths.

“There are several possibilities for branch lines along that route as well, including discussion of a line leading right here, to Maidstone.”

“Yes, Robert has mentioned something about that, have you not, Robert,” Barbara said, sitting straighter and calling over to the other conversation.

Gray was in the middle of saying, “One never lacks for company on those hot, Spanish nights,” when the invisible barrier between conversations vanished.

“What is that, my darling?” Robert answered his wife, sitting straighter in his chair in mirror to her.

“Charlie, that is, Lord Broxbourne, was just telling us about the South Eastern Railway and its plans to build a branch line up to Maidstone,” Barbara said.

“Ah, yes,” Robert said, glancing to Charlie. “I had hoped to speak with you about that, Broxbourne. I have been contacted by a representative of the Crown about whether we would be amenable to selling a portion of our land so that the railroad might cross it.”

“You have not mentioned any of this to me,” Gray said, shifting both his body and his chair so that the two separate circles of conversation began to blend into one.

“There has not been time,” Robert said, glancing from Gray to Charlie. “I was only just sent a letter about it last week, and preparations for the house party have taken every spare bit of concentration all of us have had.”

“Will the railroad cut through ancient estates?” Lady Winifred asked anxiously.

“Only by permission of the owners of those estates,” Charlie answered, shifting his chair as well. As a result, he moved closer to Gray and rather than being back-to-back, they were nearly side to side facing each other. “And only once the owners are offered a fair price for their land.”

“It stands to reason that a gentleman who wished to make a quick fortune could buy up the land that the railroad plans to traverse so that they could sell it to the Crown at a premium,” one of the gentlemen Charlie had not yet been introduced to said.

“They could,” Gray answered him, much to Charlie’s surprise, “but many of the plans for specific railway routes are being kept secret for just such reasons. And even then, the Crown might not be willing to pay extortionate prices for the land when they can simply go around it by purchasing cheaper land.”

“You seem to know a good deal about this subject, Mr. Hawthorne,” Lady Suzanne said.

“I have been particularly interested in the advancement of the railroads for quite some time, my lady,” Gray explained. “Since university, in fact, though my fascination with all things locomotive persists.”

Charlie caught his breath and his heart sped up.

Was Gray still interested in railroads? They had been such new and exciting things when the two of them were together at Cambridge.

The two of them had spent as much time visiting prototype engines and attending lectures by men like Isambard Kingdom Brunel as they had exploring each other’s bodies and all the things they could do.

It felt somehow incendiary to know that Gray was still interested in those things now.

“I thought you had become more interested in sandy mounds and cheap company than you are in serious investments and the advancement of transportation,” he said, his words clipped and confrontational.

“A man needs to have interests and investments beyond the cold iron of combustion engines and the callousness of cash,” Gray snapped back at him. “We cannot all be bloodless automatons.”

“Anyone who jumps into investments without a thorough knowledge of what they are committing to, or who treats their life and livelihood as ready money to be thrown around on whatever fancy strikes them will end up with nothing in the end,” Charlie fired back.

“Ah, yes,” Gray said mockingly. “So it is all about numbers, advantages, and disadvantages to you. I had guessed that you were as calculating about business matters as you are about other things.”

“And I have already guessed that you are as careless with what you invest yourself in as you are with your words,” Charlie said.

“And doesn’t it just make you see green,” Gray seethed, eyes alight with challenge.

“Oh, look! Greene has made a cake,” Barbara said in lilting, slightly desperate tones, leaping up from her seat and going to meet the footmen who were bringing a large cake to the marquee.

Charlie cursed himself for taking things with Gray too far. No, he cursed Gray for his lack of discretion in personal matters. And hadn’t that been one of the chief components that had come between them? The man simply did not know when to keep his mouth shut.

“Cake sounds lovely,” Charlie said, getting up and turning away from Gray.

He did not go to join Barbara at the table, nor did he have any appetite for cake at all.

He marched away from the gathering, hands numb with frustration, body shaking with pent-up anger.

But underneath that lay something far more insidious that had him striding swiftly away to the coolest, loneliest corner of the garden that he could find.

Battling with Grayson had felt good, very good.

It was the sort of feeling that was sure to set things up for disaster.