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“No, of course not,” Marcus said, turning in a circle and running his hands through his hair.
“This is really starting to get annoying,” Walter said tiredly.
“I agree,” Laurie sat forward in his chair. “Would someone please tell me if Mr Blake wasn’t Mr Blake, then who was he?”
“She,” Marcus said at last, breaking down the wall of the secret. “You should be asking, who is she.”
Silence followed these words. Unable to look at his two other brothers, Marcus fixed his gaze on Peter instead.
“I knew it,” he said, laughing, delighted with himself until Marcus reared forward toward him again. This time Peter squealed and ran round the desk to escape him.
“How did you know!?” Marcus cried.
“There was nothing definitive,” Peter said, the words coming thick and fast. “Just ideas and suspicions here and there. Did you ever really notice the way she got on and off a horse, for starters?” At the words, Marcus blanched, stepping back. He had noted often enough the odd way that she had climbed down from a horse, but until Peter had said it, he hadn’t realised it was because it looked like she was about to mount or dismount side-saddle, rather than swing her leg up and around as a man was wont to do. “How about the way she used her cutlery.”
“She was just always proper. That is reading far too much into it,” Marcus said.
“Was it?” Peter asked, arching his eyebrows. Marcus thought back to each time he had seen her eat, the delicate way she used her napkin and picked up her glass of wine.
“She was still convincing.”
“Very convincing. She convinced all of you,” Peter said, pointing toward the three of them. Marcus turned round to see Walter looked lost for words, practically half fallen out of his chair, whilst Laurie was trying very hard to hold in his laughter.
“It’s not funny, Laurie,” Marcus snapped, but these words just broke down the barrier, and Laurie laughed heartily, falling back in his chair. “Oh, good god!”
“I beg to differ. It’s hilarious,” he said, laughing much harder. “You have been living in and out of a lady’s pocket for these last two months at least, and you never even noticed it? You never even suspected it?”
“I…” Marcus trailed off and brushed his hands through his hair. He could remember thinking similar things, but each time he had seen beauty in her features or a delicacy, he had figured it was just her similarity to her cousin, Lady Violette. He had never thought she was actually Lady Violette. “It’s not that simple.”
His words just made Laurie laugh all the more, though.
“Marcus,” Peter said, earning his attention. “She excused herself from dancing because she didn’t know the steps. When we all went swimming, she said she was scared of water, when you yourself said you had gone sailing with her before.”
Marcus backed up and flushed red, remembering the way he had easily stripped down in front of Violette and dived into the water. No wonder she had appeared to be blushing that day and refused to swim.
“Yes, it’s official,” he said decisively with weariness. “I’m an absolute fool.”
“You are certain of this, though?” Walter said, his face still a picture of disbelief. “If she is not Mr Blake, then who is she?”
Marcus turned round, reluctant to say her name. That’s when he found the drawing that he had made of her. It was the same sketch he’d done the first day after he had met her, with her copper hair falling past her cheeks and those bold eyes staring at him over the pianoforte.
He snatched the drawing up and crossed the room, tossing it for Walter to see. He struggled to grab it from the air as it see-sawed its way down, floating like a giant feather. He angled the paper a little more, the better to see the picture, then he stood up from his chair in realisation.
“Lady Violette Blay? Lord Brunlow’s daughter?” he asked.
“Yes,” Marcus said, striding forward to snatch the picture back. He suddenly wanted it back, within his grasp. He turned the page upward, so he could see those eyes staring at him.
“Wait, we met her, Marcus.” Walter gestured between the two of them. “How could we meet her and not realise she was in this house?”
“She said she was Lady Violette’s cousin,” he said hurriedly. “I just assumed the similarity was because of that reason.”
“Ha! You two are both as blind as each other,” Peter said. This time, Marcus was not the only one to veer toward Peter threateningly, for Walter did too. Peter ran round again, until he was hidden behind Laurie’s chair. “I think they’re a little sensitive on the subject.”
“Peter, if you suspected something, why didn’t you tell me?” Marcus said frantically.
“I couldn’t be certain,” Peter said, adopting a sincere tone. “What if I was wrong? I’d look like a complete fool.”
“As much as I do now,” Marcus said with a sigh.
