Page 163 of Courting the Wrong Duke

“Attempting to solve every possible disaster before any of them have occurred.”

“I prefer preparedness.”

“You prefer tormenting yourself.”

Gabriel had tossed his coat over the back of a chair before sitting on the other bed.

For once, William had lacked the energy to argue.

“What if Algernon knew everything?” he had asked. “Not merely where Eastmere was being held. What if he arranged all of it?”

Gabriel had been quiet for a moment.

William had stared at his hands.

“I keep thinking there must be something we have missed. Some explanation that makes all of this less…” He had struggled for the word.

“Terrible?”

William had laughed without humor. “I was going to say impossible.”

“It stopped being impossible when we found the letter.”

“Yes.”

That was precisely the problem.

He had risen and crossed to the small window overlooking the inn yard. Somewhere on the other side of the wall, Rosalind and Isabella occupied another room.

“I cannot stop thinking about what this has done to her,” William had admitted. “To both of them. Rosalind and her mother have spent weeks believing Eastmere abandoned them. They thought he had chosen another woman. Rosalind has questioned everything she knew about her father because someone wanted her to.”

“And you think that is your fault?”

“No.”

Gabriel had waited.

William sighed. “Not rationally.”

“Ah.”

“Do not sound so pleased.”

“I enjoy the rare occasions when you recognize your own stupidity before I am required to point it out.”

William had ignored that. “He is my brother, Gabriel.”

“I know.”

“If Algernon did this…”

Gabriel had not offered an easy reassurance. That was one of the reasons William trusted him.

Instead, his friend had leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

“Then we deal with that when we know it.”

“And if Eastmere is—”