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Georgiana then met Henry’s gaze. His amber eyes glowed with understanding. But any thought of how they might spend that time together promptly fled her mind at the sight of her brother pacing the length of the first-class lounge. “Reggie!” He looked up and frowned in her direction. She rushed over as alarm gripped her. “Is everything all right? Is it Franny? Or did something happen to Ollie?”
“What? No, Franny is fine. They’reallfine.” Then he narrowed his eyes. “I spoke to Mr. Khan yesterday. He told me the signing was moved up and that you would likely be leaving earlier than expected, so I took the next train down to Dover.”
“Whatever for?”
“It’s you. Thebothof you,” he hissed before addressing Henry directly. “You’ve got a hell of a lot of nerve, Captain. I’m not paying you a small fortune to sleep with my sister.”
Georgiana gasped while Henry remained silent in the face of her brother’s accusations—but then, could they still be accusations if they were true?
Reggie cut her a glance before stepping closer to Henry. “I expected more from a man like you. I told you she was being reckless, and you took advantage.”
Well, now that was really too much. Georgiana uttered a noise of protest, but Henry shot her a pleading look and raised his hand. “I apologize for acting unprofessionally. You can be angry with me about that, but you do a great discredit to your sister by calling her reckless. She is one of the most competent people I’ve ever met. What happened between us was consensual, if perhaps…inconvenient.”
Georgiana blinked. That last bit stung, but it seemed to calm Reggie. “What are you doing here?” she managed to ask.
“I heard some rumors about the two of you. I worried about what would happen if you then returned to London together.”
Georgiana tilted her head. “You didn’t come all this way because ofrumors, Reggie.”
“Fine,” he said with a huff. “I received word that you were…were…involved.”
Henry narrowed his eyes. “Fromwhom?”
“Someone I trust,” he snapped. “Which is a damn sight more than I can say for either of you at the moment.”
Georgiana looked away. Reggie’s anger was masking his hurt. She should have been honest with him about her conflicted feelings about the captain from the beginning, but it had been some horribly misguided attempt to protect her pride. She couldn’t even make sense of her reasoning now.
Reggie continued to address Henry. “I think it’s best if you let us return to London separately. And once there, you keep your distance. At least until the talk dies down. I’ve already hired someone else to watch over her.”
Outraged, Georgiana was just about to tell her brother to sod off when Henry nodded. “That makes sense.”
Her mouth fell open as she stared between them. Henry was the first to notice her anger.
“Georgiana—”
“No, please continue discussing what to do with me as if I’m not evenhere. I’ll be waiting for my orders.”
Then she turned on her heel and stalked away from them. Reggie called after her, but she was far too angry to stop. She needed to calm down before she said something she couldn’t take back. But as Georgiana turned a corner, she stepped right in the path of a vaguely familiar older gentleman, who swiftly doffed his hat.
“Lady Arlington, I’ve not had the pleasure.”
Georgiana stopped short. It was the commodore. Had he beenfollowingthem? The thought was unsettling. He gave her a smile that she was too shocked to return and glanced past her. “Tell Captain Harris that I asked after him. And that I would like to have a chat. It will be in both of your interests.”
Though his tone remained friendly, a chill ran down her spine.
“What do you want?”
“I made a proposition to the captain back in Monte Carlo, but he turned me down. I would be much obliged if you could convince him to accept it.”
Though Georgiana was still angry with Henry, a protective instinct surged through her. “No,” she said with a glower. “I have absolutely no interest in helpingyou.”
But the commodore didn’t appear the least bit offended and instead shot her a pitying look. “That’s a shame. I had hoped we could be useful to one another.” Georgiana swiftly turned around, but the commodore called out to her. “A piece of advice, my lady?” Despite her better judgment, she couldn’t help glancing back.
His dark eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t sign those papers. You don’t know what you’re up against. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want those you love being targeted next. Especially our mutual friend.”
Before Georgiana could respond, the man faded back into the crowd. Their exchange had not lasted more than a moment. She heard footsteps behind her, accompanied by the familiar tap of a cane.
Georgiana squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath before straightening her spine and resuming the graceful countenance of Lady Arlington. When she turned around, Henry was giving her a remorseful look.
