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Oliver spun around and tossed his arms in the air. “I don’t know,” he declared. “I’m just angry.”
“Who are you angry at?”
“At everyone!” he exclaimed.
Baldwin leaned forward and placed his drink on the table. “You must be careful. Your feelings could get you killed,” he warned.
“For which, I wouldn’t mind.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t I?” Oliver questioned.
His brother eyed him with concern. “You have a wife that you must think of now.”
“A wife.” He chuckled dryly. “Yes, I do have a wife, and I can’t tell her a blasted thing about my life.”
“It is for her own protection.”
“Is it?” he asked. “I have a wife who has feelings for me, but I can’t reciprocate them without putting her in harm’s way.”
Baldwin sighed deeply. “I understand what you are going through.”
“I know you do, but you were fortunate enough when Madalene discovered the truth about you.”
“I must admit that I was very blessed.”
“I won’t be so lucky,” Oliver said, running a hand through his tousled hair. “Instead, my wife thinks I am incapable of being faithful to her. I see the questions in her eyes, and it is like a dagger to my chest.”
“The scandal in the newspapers will die down—”
Speaking over him, Oliver declared, “I am not speaking about the newspapers or the idiots that are placing bets at White’s over the state of our marriage.”
“Then what are you speaking of?”
“Emmeline doesn’t trust me based on my own actions,” Oliver said. “I have lied to her on multiple occasions since we arrived home from Gretna Green.”
“I am not sure what to say.”
“Neither do I.” Oliver leaned back against the windowsill. “I have no idea how to rectify the situation.”
“Do you want to?”
Oliver gave him a blank look. “What are you asking?”
His brother took a sip of his drink, then asked, “Do you want a real marriage with Emmeline?”
“Even if I did, it is impossible,” he replied. “I would have to give up being an agent, and I am not willing to do that.”
“Why would you have to give up being an agent?” Baldwin inquired.
With a blank stare, Oliver replied, “How would I continue to explain my absences?”
“Regardless, you don’t need to work,” Baldwin commented. “I can increase your monthly allowance—”
Oliver cut him off. “That won’t be necessary. I’ve acquired my own sizeable fortune from gambling.”
“Then I will purchase you an estate, and you can retire to the countryside to live the life of a landowner.”
