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“He did behave rather strangely this evening. I thought it was just the medication,” Jules said on a frown. “What do you know?”
“What I know is that they are the Berkleys from Berkley Grange. That their blood is noble and their name an old and respected, one dating back to our illustrious Saxon days. I know that the young lord still has to find his way…and that his sister should have had a season to find hers, but their pockets are to let. What more is there to know?” Sir Edward answered.
Jules laughed. “What stuff is that? Are you warning me off because they are booked?”
“No, a man in earnest would not care how much money his beloved had,” Sir Edward said quietly.
“Since I don’t give a fig about her dowry, it must mean I am in earnest?”
Edward laughed, “Are you asking me or yourself?”
Jules shook his head, “I don’t know at the moment. Right now…I suppose I had best sleep on it.” He sighed heavily, “However, it was a bit havey-cavey the way the lad descended on the ball like he did. Something is off there and I don’t think I would like Georgie…Miss Madison drawn into it.”
“Ah, would you not?” Sir Edward’s brow arched.
“Oh go to the devil. It is just that…I find her…a very fine young woman,” Jules snapped.
“Indeed, do you?”
“Stuff it,” Jules answered.
Sir Edward chuckled and then also sighed as he played with his lower lip, “At any rate, there was more than medicine that prompted young Vern to descend on Sefton House the way he did and I mean to find out just what that was.”
Chapter Fifteen
THE BARMAID AT the Mermaid set down her tray and passed around four bumpers of ale to the burly men gathered there.
She tried to avo
id Farley who reached out for her and grabbed hold of her skirts. She gave him a warning glance and told him sharply, “Leave off, if ye know whots good fer ye.”
Her threat didn’t serve to spare her, for Farley felt the thrill of the chase as he pulled her up close against his body. She put her nose up in the air and told him loudly, “Ye stink ye do, get off!”
He was not deterred by his and pinched her butt. She screamed out an objection laced with heavy swearing as she hauled off and slapped his shoulder.
This however, made him laugh as he leered at her and as she struggled to get away, he had her in his lap and pulled down the white bodice to expose her full breasts to his men. “Let’s have a taste sweetheart, let’s have a taste, while m’lads look on and see how it’s done.”
All at once, she produced a sharp and glinting knife and stuck its point into his neck and drew a line of blood. She clamored off as he released his hold and hissed, “Next time, ye touch me, Farley, I’ll cut ye from ear to ear.”
He smeared the blood over his fingers and laughed as he answered her, “Next time, ye’ll have to kill me, if ye want to stop me, fer Oi’ll have ye right here, on the floor…whot say ye to that?”
“Try it and find out,” she snapped before she ran to the back of the Inn. She could be heard screaming at the innkeeper and Farley and his men snickered.
Farley turned his toothless grin to his lads and rubbed the scar on his hawked nose. “There lads, ‘ave yer ale and then off wit ye. That’s enough entertainment for now. Oi have somewhere Oi wants to be.”
“Don’t like her hollering and squawking back there,” said one of his men. “Want us to shut her up?”
“The little doxy. Oi could have ten of her if Oi so wanted,” Farley answered. “Now then, no sense taking this any further just now.”
“We should have gone last night to that ball. Should have prigged those jewels loike ye said. Oi know Oi would have enjoyed getting close to some of those fancy pieces, touching them before we took the jewels,” one of his men said darkly.
“Johnny Raw!” Farley spat at him. “That’s why Oi run this ken. Whot now, should we go and get ourselves snabbled? If we had done that, they would have had us surrounded in no time. The gentry don’t take kindly to their women being accosted. No, Oi jest wanted our young lord to worrit about it.”
“Aye,” said another man, “But the young lord, he won’t come across, will he?”
“Oh, won’t he just? We’ll see,” Farley retorted.
“That ain’t good enough, Farley,” said yet another man.
