Page 25 of A Wicked Business

“Cat? It was Cat’s maid?”

“No, not Cat’s maid, her friend’s,” Felix said, adding desperately, “Oh, look at that beautiful view, Mama. I’ve never seen the countryside looking so lovely. What a relief it is to see green after being in town so long.”

“Never mind the view,” his mother said crossly. “Which friend of Cat? I know many of them, their maids, too. I want to know which of them it is, because that creature who works for Lady Seabridge is a spiteful little minx and Charles can do much better.”

Felix groaned inwardly. “It was Lady Belinda Madox-Brown’s maid.”

There was a sudden silence in the carriage and Felix knew his father was now attending the conversation.

“Oh,” Helena said, disconcerted. “Well, I don’t know her, or Lady Belinda, so I could not say. You say you were shopping for Evie yesterday when he met her?”

“Yes,” Felix replied, knowing he was in for it now.

“And you met Lady Belinda?” His mother’s eyes were sharp now, the green flashing with interest in the shady carriage.

“I did,” he said, hoping that may be the end of it. A forlorn hope if ever there was one.

“Is that the first time you’ve met?” his father asked, his tone far too casual.

“No, it isn’t,” Felix said with a sigh. The jig was up, so he may as well come clean. “I met her a few weeks back.”

“Under what circumstances?”

Felix held his father’s gaze, resigned to giving up some information. He could not lie to his father, who could smell an untruth from a mile off.

“She asked me to help her with a small business deal.”

Silence reigned.

“Need I remind you that her father is the Earl of Keston, a man who would ruin this family if given the chance? I’m know it’s him financing that blackguard, Flint, to cause me trouble.”

Felix shrugged, doing his best to look unconcerned, though he knew he was standing on a powder keg. “I don’t doubt it, but I do not see what that has to do with Lady Belinda. She does not share her father’s opinions. Indeed, she was very gracious.”

“Oh, was she?” his father said, a note to his voice Felix did not appreciate.

“Yes,” Felix replied, irritated. “And I don’t see why you sound so annoyed. It was only business. She wanted me to buy a property for her without her father’s knowledge.”

Belatedly, he wanted to cut off his tongue, but he knew at least that his father would not speak a word of it to anyone, his mother either.

“And you did it!” Gabriel exclaimed in anger. “Good God! And what happens when her father finds out what you did?”

“I imagine he will hate me. What will have changed exactly?”

“He’ll tell the bloody world you did something underhanded, find some way to discredit you and say you involved his daughter in some shady affair she was too innocent to understand. What was the property she bought?”

A surge of heat rushed up the back of Felix’s neck. Bloody hell. The last thing he wanted to do was confess the nature of the business Lady Belinda had purchased, and what she meant to do with it. However, if he said nothing, his father would make it his business to find out. Gabriel Knight knew everything that happened in the city and Felix did not doubt he could discover the truth in a matter of days should he put his mind to it. Better to give a little of the truth away and hope that was enough.

“A small place on Hosier Street,” Felix said, not about to tell him it was a print shop.

“What on earth does she want with a property in that dreadful location?” Gabriel demanded, suspicious. “What have you done, Felix?”

“Nothing,” Felix retorted, annoyed now. “I’m not an idiot, Father. I am a good judge of character, and I tell you now, Lady Belinda is nothing like her father. Indeed, I believe she despises his pretensions as much as we do.”

Gabriel snorted and folded his arms, staring at Felix. “And you were out shopping with her yesterday, were you?”

“No! Well, yes, but… I didn’t go shopping with her, only Cat was at Gunter’s with her, and Charles and I stopped early as it was so damned hot—”

“Don’t swear in front of your mother!” his father snapped, which was rich as he was the worst culprit for that, and they all knew it.

“Gabe, do calm down. It’s far too hot for such wrangling. Felix could hardly refuse to speak to her or accompany her and Catherine on a shopping trip. You know what Cat is like when she gets an idea to do something,” Helena said impatiently.

“Thank you, Mama,” Felix said gratefully. “It was exactly that. I could not refuse, but in truth, I believe you would very much like and approve of Lady Belinda, Mama. She is everything a young lady ought to be, which I admit is rather a shock when we know what her father is. But all the same, I do not think it fair that you paint her in the same colours as the earl. Frankly, Father, I am surprised at you of all people being so judgemental.”

His father opened his mouth, clearly ready with a stinging retort, but his mother got there first.

“Gabe, don’t you dare!” she said, holding up a hand. “We are on a family outing to visit our new granddaughter, and I won’t listen to the two of you arguing. It is going to be a happy visit with everyone in a good mood. Do you understand?” she demanded, looking from her son to her husband, green eyes blazing.

“Yes, Mother,” Felix said, though he still glared at his father.

Gabriel merely harrumphed and folded his arms, but he said nothing more.

Felix sat back and tried to relax but tension sang through his veins. His father’s words had struck a nerve, and he worried that he had been rash in helping Lady Belinda purchase the damned print shop. What if she got herself into trouble? What if the earl found out, as his father suggested, and tied Felix to the mess? It would cause one hell of a scandal if the earl accused him of leading his daughter into disreputable business. Surely, he would not ruin his own daughter in such a callous fashion, even if it gave him the means to damage Knight Enterprises’ reputation.

A cold sensation ran down his back. He only hoped that Lady Belinda really did have her head screwed on and didn’t go publishing anything that could cause them all trouble.