Morleigh opened his mouth to retort, but Theo cut him off with a lifted hand. “Perhaps it would be best if I spoke with Deverell alone.”
Morleigh did not move at first. Then, with a glance between them—a sharp, silent warning aimed squarely at Jasper—he turned on his heel and stalked off towards the far end of the room, his shoulders bristling like a general denied battle.
Theo remained standing for a moment longer, his gaze fixed upon Jasper. At last, with a sigh that bespoke both tightly-reined fury and resignation, he lowered himself into the chair opposite and gestured for Jasper to do the same.
“I should have thought,” Theo began, his tone deceptively mild, “that you, of all people, would know better.”
Jasper arched a brow, feigning surprise. “Better than to what?”
“Better than to drag my sister-in-law into a gentleman’s club. Better than to disguise her as a man and seat her at a table surrounded by half the gossips in Parliament. Bellamy’s, Deverell. Not Vauxhall or some ridiculous masquerade, butBellamy’s.”
“She wished to come,” Jasper replied, more defensively than he intended.
Theo’s expression did not alter. He simply watched him.
“She wished to win,” Jasper continued, shifting in his chair. “She claimed she could best me at cards. I accepted the challenge. I gave her the opportunity. And, for what it’s worth, she very nearly succeeded.”
Theo gave a slow, deliberate blink. “And what, precisely, were you both hoping to prove?”
“That she could do it. That she was capable. That she deserved a chance to play, just as any man might.”
“As His Grace so wisely observed,” Theo said, “Miss Tolliver isnotany man. And you know that full well.”
“She is not made of porcelain either,” Jasper snapped, then softened, lowering his voice. “She is clever, and sharp-tongued, and more vividly alive than half the dried-out relics I’ve had the misfortune to drink with in this club. She did not ask to be coddled. She asked to play. She wanted a wager, not a wedding. A challenge, not a chaperone.”
“And instead,” Theo replied, calm but merciless, “she hasme. Scrubbing the wreckage of your little adventure from the walls before the scandal sheets catch the scent. Did it ever once occur to you that giving her what she wanted might also give her precisely what she neveraskedfor? Repercussions. Exposure. The rug of reputation being pulled out from under her.”
Jasper exhaled through his nose, wishing he had another glass of something strong.
Theo flagged down a footman with a curt flick of his hand. “Three brandies,” he said. “Two here. And one for His Grace, if he can be persuaded not to commit murder before the first sip.”
The footman bowed and vanished.
Across the room, Morleigh was still watching them, motionless and dark-eyed, like some ancient statue of Justice awaiting the cue to swing its blade.
Theo sighed and leant in closer to Jasper. “You spoke earlier about how any man might befriend Miss Tolliver. How, if she had been born male, there would be no question or concern. And yet I tell you now, Miss Charlotte Tolliverismy friend, and remains so, regardless of her sex. I have known her since she was all knees and ink-stained fingers, running wild through the orchards and scrawling blasphemies in the margins of her governess’s Bible.”
A reluctant smile tugged at the corner of Jasper’s mouth, though it faded quickly.
“But a friendship between you and her,” Theo continued, “is not the same. It isnotinnocent.”
“And why not?” Jasper asked, tone sharper than before. “Because you are her brother-in-law and I am not?”
“Precisely.Iam her family,” Theo said. “And you, Deverell, areyou.”
“An excellent tautology, Langley. Very poetic. What precisely does it mean?”
“It means,” Theo said calmly, “that I have known you for half my life. I have watched you charm barmaids and marchionesses with equal ease. I have seen you toy with widows, debutantes, and sopranos”—he lowered his voice—“andmen...all with that same wicked look in your eyes, like affection is something you can pour into a glass and drink dry by morning. Do not tell me this is something new.”
“This is different,” Jasper said firmly, his voice dropping low.
Theo did not blink, but sat back as the footman arrived with the brandies. He drank deeply, and said, “If you are so certain of your affections—so convinced that what you feel for her is notpassing fancy or idle flirtation—then prove it is different! You had best do the only honourable thing that remains.”
Jasper’s mouth went dry. “And what is that?”
“You ask for her hand,” Theo said simply. “You go to her not with riddles or wagers, but with sincerity. You lay your pride at her feet, and you ask her to be your wife.”
Jasper said nothing, for the very idea of it landed in his chest like a stone in deep water.
