“That is an order, George,” Winston said sternly. “I will not have anyone on my staff risk their livelihoods or freedom on my account. Is that understood?”
George lowered his gaze. “Yes, Your Grace.” He hesitated. “What if Lord Tallow was able to identify you and Lord Kingsley?”
“He cannot,” Winston said at once. “We both had our faces covered.”
“Still, there are other ways to identify a man… his voice or even his stature.”
“I am sure he did not,” Winston said, although he was less sure now. “Someone must have seen me on the streets that morning. But it matters not. Being out in the streets proves nothing.”
“I hope you are right.” George did not look convinced, but Winston was not interested in discussing the matter further.
“Very well,” he said, setting the letter down. “Please begin to pack my things. We will be returning to London in the next few days. And I suppose I shall have to tell my wife,” he mused, “that the honeymoon is ending early.”
Things had been awkward between the two of them for the past few days. Every time he and Vanessa had run into each other in the hallways, she had blushed scarlet and found it difficult to form a sentence. In other circumstances, Winston might have found this amusing. As it was, he was just glad it distractedher from noticing the flush in his own cheeks and the way he stuttered and stumbled over words. It was the most undignified he had ever felt in his life, and he did not particularly want her to see him that way.
That night at dinner was no exception. As soon as she entered the dining room to find him there, her cheeks turned a deep shade of red.
“Good evening,” she said, looking away as she crossed to her seat at the far end of the table.
“Good evening,” he murmured. He waited until the butler had filled her glass of wine and she had taken a sip before speaking again. “I have some disappointing news.”
She looked up, her awkwardness momentarily disappearing, replaced by a look of curiosity. “Oh? What is it?”
“We must return to London. As soon as possible.”
Her brow furrowed slightly. “And this is bad news?”
“Well, it means the end of our honeymoon.” She set down her glass of wine and gazed at him.
“It has not been a particularly traditional honeymoon,” she said at last. “And in case you haven’t noticed, I have been lonely. I shall be happy to return to London and to see my…” she trailed off, swallowing.
“Friends?” he suggested. “I know my cousin Miss Redding will be eager to see you. She wrote to me the other day that she longs for your return.”
“Really?” Vanessa’s face lit up, and she sat up straighter. “I mean—yes, she is one of themanyfriends I am eager to see when I return.”
Winston controlled his expression, eager for her not to see his flash of anger. He suspected that she did not have many friends in London. And while this infuriated him for her sake, it did please him greatly to think of her befriending Phoebe.
Vanessa took another sip of wine then her curious look returned. “Why must we return to London?” she asked.
“I have business I must attend to.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What business?”
“I—” Winston had not prepared a lie. He had not expected her to question him on it.
She tilted her head to one side and smiled, clearly pleased to have caught him in a lie.
“So not for business,” she said. “What else could it be?”
“It is Lord Kingsley,” Winston said, which was not entirely untrue. “He requests my help in an urgent matter.”
“Hmm.” Vanessa was still watching him very closely, and he had a bad feeling that his face was heating.Get a hold of yourself, man! You have never once been ruffled by any lord or lieutenant of the law who has challenged you, and now you are folding under interrogation by your wife? It was intolerable!“Lord Kingsley must be in serious trouble if he is requiring your immediate assistance. From what I could tell, he was most adept at taking care of himself.”
Winston shifted in his seat. Why was he suddenly so hot? And why did it seem like his wife knew more than she was letting on? She could not possibly know he and Kingsley were the Vigilantes of Virtue… could she?
“It is nothing you need concern yourself about,” he said a little stiffly, but for the rest of the meal, he felt a small kernel of worry in the pit of his stomach. The last thing he wanted to do was involve his wife in something that could get her into trouble.
It wasn’t a good time to return to London. For one thing, Vanessa had just started to get to know her husband. He had finally been joining her for dinner, and although he didn’t speak much, through their conversations she had started to glean a little bit more about him. For another, she did not particularly want to see her parents. She was afraid that if her mother probedtoo hard into her marital relations, she would discover that, so far, Vanessa and Winston hadn’thadmarital relations.
