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Lavinia grimaced. “Didn’t you tell me I shouldn’t do anything at all?”
“Well… I’ve changed my mind. I think you should be honest with her.”
“Perhaps… I am so indecisive about this. It is not like people’s lives depend on my further actions, the lives of the people I love. And my life most of all. I know Caroline doesn’t care for Kensington, and he doesn’t have affection toward her, either. But what if I ask Caroline to give him up and we end up miserable together? Or worse yet, what if he finds someone else to marry? Someone who is not me. Again.”
“I wish I could help you,” Olivia said.
“Do not despair. I am certain your foray into seduction will help me as well. Everything else is up to me.”
Jarvis walked around the small, wooded area just outside of the Roth residence. He felt uncomfortable in his own skin. He needed the exercise. He wished he could take to his exercise room and blow off steam, only he couldn’t. He needed to be by Olive’s side, watching her seducing another man. If that wasn’t painful enough, he’d received a note from Erebus this morning. It was a simple one-word message.
Stay.
Jarvis understood that it wasn’t that Erebus wanted him at the party. If that was the case, he would outline the issue in at least one full sentence and assign him someone to watch or give him something to do.
No, this was Erebus’s way of ensuring that Jarvis knew he was being watched. The Shadows didn’t want him running around London’s streets, chasing thugs. He was under lock and key at this ghastly estate.
Jarvis kicked a pebble as he continued along the narrow path. There was a sound, like the crunch of a tree branch under a foot, and Jarvis stilled. He looked around but didn’t see anyone. Probably just an animal.
He resumed his steps, but some plant stuck to his stocking, and he bent down to peel it off. At the same moment, a loud bang split the air, and Jarvis dropped to the ground. He looked around but was forced to duck as a few seconds later, another shot fired, hitting the ground next to him.
Taking advantage of a brief pause, Jarvis ran and hid behind the tree. Silence followed.
Jarvis’s breath was coming in gulps. He forced himself to calm down and regulate his breathing while he thought about how to get out of this predicament. He hadn’t taken a pistol with him on the walk. He had not anticipated getting accosted here. After all, who would attack him during the biggest house party of the year?
Apparently, someone was bold enough to do it. He did have his dagger with him, but much good it would do him against an invisible adversary with a rifle.
He heard quiet footsteps stalking his way and unsheathed his dagger. Someone was creeping toward him. In the periphery of his vision, he noted someone—someone large—silently making his way toward Jarvis’s hiding place. One more step…
Jarvis jumped out from behind the tree, his dagger raised above his head.
The man took a step back and raised his hands in surrender. “St. John?”
Jarvis relaxed his hand. “Kensington? What the bloody hell are you doing here?”
“I heard rifle shots. Were you out hunting?”
“Hunting? No. I was…” Jarvis looked around and finally lowered his arm. Whoever was after him wasn’t about to show himself in front of a duke, it seemed. “I was just out on a walk when someone shot at me.”
“Shot at you? Are you certain it wasn’t some foxed lord out hunting?”
“And did he mistake me for a doe?” Jarvis massaged the tense muscles on the back of his neck. “Quite possibly,” he said, although he highly doubted it.
“Well, whatever it was, perhaps you should go back to the house instead of meandering about,” the duke said.
“What were you doing here?” Jarvis asked, eyeing the duke suspiciously.
“Same thing as you, I suppose. Although I think we should head back. I do not have the desire to get shot while being mistaken for game either.”
Jarvis nodded and waved his hand. “After you, my lord.”
Kensington eyed him for a moment but proceeded down the path. They walked in silence all the way back to the house. Everything looked quiet and no more shots were fired.
Jarvis entered the hall, lost in deep thought. So preoccupied he was with his musings that he almost collided with Olivia in the hall.
“Oh, you’re here. I’ve been looking all over the house for you,” she exclaimed, not paying attention to the duke by his side.
“You were?” Jarvis’s face split into a pleasant smile, his earlier woes forgotten.
