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“I’m glad to help you back into the world,” Charlotte said. “Although, truth be told—”
“Ah. No secrets,” Jeffrey said. He tapped the end of his nose and arched his brow. “We promised.”
Charlotte giggled, and Jeffrey’s heart burned with lust. He lifted his fork towards his half-eaten platter, recognizing that he and Charlotte were far behind the others—having fallen head-over-heels in conversation. He hurriedly tossed several carrots onto his tongue and chewed.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” Charlotte said beside him.
Again, Jeffrey had to laugh.
**
After dinner, Jeffrey remained at Peter’s estate, as the thought of that dark and ominous estate back home, awaiting him, filled him with dread. No. It was far better to sit in the parlour while Peter’s young children raced down the staircase to say goodnight to their father. Their governess remained at the bottom of the staircase and gave them all a sleepy smile.
It was a strange thing, having known Peter for so many years as a rascal. Now, he bent down to drop kisses on his daughter’s forehead and bid his children sweet dreams with such assurance that one might have thought he’d been doing such things all his life. When Peter’s children and wife disappeared, Peter turned around and gave Jeffrey a slight shrug.
“You look at me as though I’m a stranger.”
“You are,” Jeffrey said, chuckling. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”
“I think it’s been good for me,” Peter said. “Building a sort of arena of safety for the children has allowed me to calm a bit. I don’t suppose that makes much sense.”
“Maybe.” Jeffrey turned his eyes towards the fire. In the silence that followed, Peter slipped out towards the corridor, disappeared, then reappeared with two glasses of Scotch.
“Thank you, my friend,” Jeffrey said. They clinked glasses as Peter settled into the chair across from him. “You’re entirely generous with your time, your staff members, your assistance helping me back to this world. I must admit, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Peter gave a mischievous grin. “I’ll continue my generous efforts if only you’ll tell me what it was you spoke to Charlotte about throughout nearly all of dinner.”
Jeffrey cut his eyes back towards the fire. After a pause, he said, “I feel that she must know something about it—the reason for my return.”
“Did you tell her this?”
“Of course not,” Jeffrey said. “I feel as though I have to tiptoe around the subject at hand, especially given the fact that we’re absolute strangers. I don’t want her to know that I know about her cousin—that I’ve investigated her.”
“Suppose she’s investigated you, as well?” Peter said.
Jeffrey hadn’t thought of it. “If she’s in any way involved in this, I suppose there’s a chance that she has a sense of my role. Regardless, I want to remain cautious. Stand towards the back, assessing her.”
“And in the meantime, as you dig for details …” Peter arched his brow.
“What do you mean?”
“I only mean that she’s quite beautiful. Very much your type—if you have the same sort of type as before your departure …”
“Of course, I cannot disagree with you,” Jeffrey said. “I cannot in good faith state that she’s anything but a beautiful woman—perhaps one of the more beautiful at the party this evening. That said, this isn’t the reason I must speak with her. Besides. If she is in any way involved, it’s clear to me that I cannot become involved with her in any manner at all. She could very well be deadly.”
Peter clucked his tongue. His face grew shadowed with disappointment.
“Have I said something wrong?” Jeffrey asked.
Peter shook his head. “No. Of course not.” He tilted his glass of whisky, allowing the colours to change in the firelight. “I only hope you find what you’re looking for, and avoid heartache along the way.”
“If there’s one thing this life seems to have plenty of, it’s heartache,” Jeffrey affirmed. “We’re always on the brink of it.”
“Here, here,” Peter said, his eyes shadowed.
