Page 77 of Holding Onto Love

She tasted it all, though she was not hungry. She wouldn’t send it back to the kitchen untouched in case the fact might be reported to someone. She wouldn’t add rudeness or ingratitude to her faults. Then she rose, went to the door, and put her ear against it, listening for house sounds. Just wind and creaking. No voices. No footsteps.

Oh, for Heaven’s sake. She was being foolish. It was only a snub. Jasper had marshaled a small army for a snub. If this were all it took to ruin a man, the ton’s pretensions to superiority were ludicrous. When her father had ruined rivals, the men were left destitute.

It was too early to try to sleep. The evening would be endless.

Something spattered against the window. Like hail, but rapid fire, then quiet, then spattering again.

She stepped to the window and looked out once more. A tall, slender, blond man stood in the garden, draped in a dark greatcoat. Crispin. She pushed open the window, and he began ascending the trellis. She watched, gaping, as he rose.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. Something that he had to hide from the earl and countess.

“Ouch! Damn it!” He swore as his head crested the sill.

“Is Jasper all right? What happened?”

“Jasper?” He laughed shortly. “He’s fine. I am bleeding.” He held up his finger to show her the prick. “I forgot the vines had thorns.” He stuck the finger in his mouth.

“What are you doing?” She could hear her blood pounding in her ears. Jasper was fine. Crispin said he was fine.

“There is a…complication. I need to know, quickly, about your brother. His character.”

“My brother? Crispin, what on earth?” She shivered, not only from the cold evening air. How could Freddy be involved in anything that would interest Crispin?

“How would you describe his character? Please.”

She thought a moment, perplexed, frightened, then answered as best she could.

“Weak.”

“Ah.” He looked past her, chewing his lip. Then he said quietly, “Vanessa, if someone were to harm either of my brothers, or my sister, even inadvertently, and I were to find out, I would never forgive them. Ever. So…”

“Someone wants to hurt Freddy?”

His face softened. “Freddy? Not Frederick?”

“Oh, not to me. He’s a boy, Crispin. He’s sixteen.”

“Hell.” Pity and frustration washed over his features. “So his character is malleable.”

He started to lower himself back down, but she grabbed his wrist and held tight.

“What is happening? Crispin, tell me.”

Crispin emitted an annoyed sigh. “Your father’s son is in a place he shouldn’t be. I needed to know if it was worth the effort of extricating him. It seems it is.”

“He’s in danger?” Vanessa’s heart clenched and clenched again when Crispin nodded. “What can I do?”

“Nothing. Except let go of me.”

She let go. “I want to help.”

He started to shake his head, but then paused and peered at her. “What motivates him? What would be the best way to lure him from one place to another?”

“From where to where?”

“It’s best I don’t say.”

“For Heaven’s sake.” She glared at him. “Do you know how absurd you sound?”