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“I turned a blind eye to his faults because I needed him, and I was too proud to admit why.” Warwick glanced at Rex again, then looked away.
“You spent the most time with him. Do you have any idea why he might have engaged in such… activities? He appeared to be well paid.” Elijah would know since Mitchell had also received compensation for his activities as an ‘operative working in an unofficial capacity for the government.’ Which meant he had been earning a double income, and unlike Nathan’s father, he was not a gambler, so it could not have been for the money.
It sounded as though he would have been able to get whatever else he needed from Warwick, and Warwick was flush. There had never been a whisper about debts or unpaid bills. Mitchell had done a good job for his employer in that way.
Warwick sighed.
“The only thing I can think of is he was jealous.” There was a note of confusion in Warwick’s voice. He was not the only one perplexed.
Nathan’s brow furrowed as he considered the notion. Jealousy as a reason fortreason?
“Jealous?” Josie’s skepticism rang clear, and her husband shot her a look. She, Lily, and Mary had promised to only listen.
Warwick did not seem to notice she had asked instead of her husband. His hands smoothed out over his lap in a nervous gesture.
“Of us.” He lifted one hand and waved it around, generally indicating all of them. “Our positions.”
“He wanted a title?” Elijah asked.
“Yes. He wanted to run in our circles, to receive the same respect as a lord.” Warwick snorted self-deprecatingly. “I know he enjoyed seeing me lowered, dancing to his tune, once he had me tied up in his string.”
“Hm.” Nathan had not had much interaction with the man, but he had seen nothing that would counter Warwick’s claim. Mitchell had been the type to see himself as important and possibly resent those who made him feel less.
If that was true, he would have enjoyed getting one over on the Crown’s spymaster.
* * *
Lily
After exhausting Warwick with questions, they left him with another dose of laudanum to prepare themselves for supper. During the meal, there was no talk of spies or Mitchell, not with her parents and Nathan’s cousins still there. It was a relief. Everything was almost normal.
Well, as normal as they could be.
Meeting Nathan’s eyes across the table, Lily smiled at him. When he smiled back, a happy feeling settled around her heart.
When the ladies got up to withdraw and leave the table to the gentlemen, Robert stood as well.
“My wife and I will be making an early night of it as we need to leave early tomorrow,” he announced, looking up and down the table before meeting Nathan’s gaze. “We wish you well, cousin, you and your wife. I hope we can meet again soon under happier circumstances.”
Letitia’s pinched lips said she did not agree with her husband’s sentiments. Personally, Lily would not be sorry to see the back of either of them, but they were family. One could not choose to have only pleasant relatives.
Nathan stood and shook Robert’s hand while Lily came to stand by his side. They exchanged a few pleasantries before Robert and Letitia retired for the night. Sharing another warm smile with Nathan, seeing the same relief in his eyes as she felt, Lily nodded her head and led the ladies to the drawing-room.
“Well, it has been a day,” Josie said, flopping down with predictable unladylike verve. Lily’s mother smiled, seating herself far more decorously on the chair across from Josie. “At least we do not have to spend any more time with Letitia.”
“Josie,” Mary chided, settling herself on the couch next to her. “We are not supposed to say such things out loud.”
That startled a laugh out of all of them, lightening the mood of the room even further. With Lily’s mother there, talk of traitors would still have to wait. Lily could use an uneventful evening. They all could.
Ringing for tea, she sat in the chair next to her mother’s, facing her friends.
“Well, if we are not going to talk about Robert and Letitia, what are we will talk about?” Josie asked, reaching to play with one of her curls. She turned her gaze to Lily, a slightly wicked smile curving her lips. “Should we talk about Nathan and Lily?”
“What about Nathan and Lily?” Lily asked, giving her friend a reproachful look. Her mother was in the room. If her friends brought up the Society of Sin or any of those sorts of activities with her mother there, she would be mortified.
“The stolen glances, the longing looks,” Josie drawled, then giggled. “For an arranged marriage, you two appear far cozier than I would have expected.”
“I will say, I am glad you and Nathan have fallen in love,” Lily’s mother said, turning and reaching to take Lily’s hand. Staring at her mother, Lily was dumbfounded. “Your father and I were worried, but he seems like a good man, and the connection between you was there immediately. It has been wonderful watching it grow as you have supported him through this time.”
