“His favorite.”
His brother hunched his shoulders. “The Owl and Drum.”
Great. Five streets away. They might just make it to Ashton House before supper was served.
“Do we have to go in that?” Robert hung back on the bottom step.
Thomas glared at him. “You would prefer I hired a hackney?”
“I could hire a hackney.”
“And send me searching through the clubs for you again? No. Get in. None of our friends will see you.”
“It’s not our friends who concern me. And you well know where I can usually be found.” He glanced back at the door to White’s. “I just felt like a bit of hobnobbing today.”
“I do not have time to deal with Ballast Bill tonight, no matter how entertaining his hell is. We have to go.” When Robert hesitated, Thomas tapped his cane on the pavement. “Robert. Get in.”
With a deep sigh of resignation, Robert climbed into the carriage. Thomas gave instructions to the driver, then followed. As the footman closed the door and remounted, Thomas shook his head. “What is wrong with you?”
Robert sank back against the velvet squabs, well away from the windows. “I’m just not up for an evening of scolding by our dear mater. I’m tired of hearing what reprobates we are.”
“You and Michael.”
“And you, dear brother. Or have you forgotten the last harangue about your lack of an heir and a spare? Or the frequent reminders that by your age, Father had four of them. Oh, and I forget. How long has it been since you’ve been out to the country? Visited all the properties?”
“Four years.” Thomas struggled to ignore the annoyance building in his gut. He well remembered his last conversations with his mother—and his angry departure from the family home. He hadn’t returned for more than a month, and then only to gather his effects in order to move out for good. His bachelor rooms were in Bloomsbury, and he avoided Berkeley Square as much as possible. “And there are only three heirs. Elizabeth is not an heir to the estate or title.”
“She might as well be with that dowry Father has dropped on her head. Making her a target.”
Wariness shot through Thomas, dampening his growing ire with his brothers. He leaned forward. “What have you heard at the tables?”
“Only that with her coming out this year, a lot of impoverished nobles have decided to abandon their dedication to bachelorhood. All kinds of rogues and rakes see her as young, innocent, and easily seduced.”
“Then they obviously have not met our sister.”
“They do not care if it’s true. Two are already conniving to get her into a compromising position at the first opportunity. To them a forced marriage is an easy solution to their crushing debts. Our sister’s ruin is a small price.”
“Who?” Thomas gripped the head of his cane, his voice demanding.
Robert looked over his brother, then glanced down at the cane. He hesitated, and Thomas knew Robert remembered the last time a man had disparaged Elizabeth’s reputation. The cane wasn’t just for the sake of Thomas’s carefully cultivated appearance. The silver wolf’s-head had needed extensive remolding when he had finished demonstrating to the man that he did not take his sister’s honor lightly.
“Don’t you think you should wait until they actuallydosomething before you bash their bones?”
“Not necessarily. Sometimes a good example is more effective than punishment.”
“Now you do sound like Father.” Robert crossed his arms. “You know that incident made the gossip sheets. Left you with a nickname.”
Thomas leaned back against the cushions and looked out the window. “I have heard it.”
“Duke Wolfsbane.”
“I am not a duke.”
“Dangerous, possibly poisonous, to be handled with care.”
“You should not repeat rumors.”
“Rumors are who we are. Going to make that whole thing about getting an heir and a spare a little more difficult. Not many mamas are going to turn their daughter loose with a man who could bash heads whenever it suits him.”
