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“I must speak to you in private. And to be clear, I wasn’t sneaking about. I simply wished not to disturb the staff.” Benedict gave her a quick squeeze and then released her.
She grabbed her shawl from the end of her bed and wrapped it about her shoulders. “What is so important that you deemed it necessary to climb up the trellis at…” She glanced out the window, but with the clouds masking the moonlight, it was hard to determine the hour. “…at such an ungodly hour. Wait. Why are you not abed with Phyllis?” She studied her brother’s features closely and identified concern and worry. “You haven’t made a muck of your marriage already, have you?”
Benedict leaned against her bedpost. “Your lack of confidence in me wounds me deeply.”
“You can’t fault me. You’ve not had a great example for the role of husband.” Fact was her parents were a poor example all round, both far too self-absorbed to care for anyone but themselves.
Benedict sighed. “You have matters to worry about other than whether or not I’m making a hash of my marriage with Phyllis.”
A trickle of fear prickled the skin on the back of her neck. What had Benedict discovered? Did he know her plans for the upcoming Season? She searched her sibling’s features once more. Brows knitted, and lips thinned into a line. He was worried. But for whom?
Her brother bowed his head and kneaded the muscles at the back of his neck. “Drake is in danger of being banished. Sentenced to live on foreign lands, and it will be all your fault.” Benedict pinned her with an accusatory stare.
Her breath hitched. Drake was in danger. Her heart flipped in her chest, as it always did at the mention of her brother’s best friend’s name. The man she’d fallen in love with as a teen and who had subsequently rejected her year after year. She’d sworn to bury her feelings for the man. Decided to pursue her passion for the stage, rather than hold out hope Drake might act upon the magnetic attraction that existed between them.
Minerva crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her brother. Benedict was the family heir and five years her senior, but it was she who had managed the family for years. She wasn’t about to relinquish her power simply because she was his only sister to remain unattached. “Banished? Where? By whom?”
“Drake has been ordered by the Head of the Foreign Office to board theQuarter Moonat first light, which is scheduled to depart for India.”
Minerva swallowed the groan that bubbled up in her chest at the mention of the Head of the Foreign Office. The leader of foreign affairs was a thorn in Minerva’s side. Always meddling and intervening in her schemes. “How is any of that my fault?”
The twitch of her brother’s jaw muscle was a warning sign. Whatever it was he was about to impart was, in his opinion, extremely serious, and it mattered deeply to him. “The Head of the Foreign Office gave him a choice. Challenge you to a chess match or leave.”
Her hands clenched into fists. The blasted challenge. She should never have listened to Drake and his idiotic idea to delay marriage.
Her mind screamed,Liar.Drake hadn’t exactly devised the challenge or the terms. The man had simply made a passing comment. A comment that she had interpreted to mean he wanted to offer for her hand, but he was simply not ready. It had been one moment of weakness, allowing her heart to rule instead of logic. She had learned her lesson. Never allow your heart to interfere with well-devised plans. She was done waiting for Drake.
Liar.
She ignored her wayward thoughts, stiffened her spine and resolve, and replied, “Again, I fail to see how any of this is my doing.” Knees weak, she stepped back to sink onto the edge of the bed. The reality of her brother’s news sank in. Faced with the choice of marriage to her or banishment, Drake had chosen a life away from everything and everyone he loved.
“You can not continue to reject someone repeatedly and not suffer the consequences.”
Minerva blinked and peered up at Benedict. “Whom exactly are you referring to?”
Her brother’s jaw clenched, another sign Benedict was close to losing all patience. “I’m speaking about the both of you. YouandDrake. The two of you have repeatedly declined offers from the Head of the Foreign Office.”
Bah. One would think the head of foreign affairs would have more important matters to occupy their time than devising a plan to punish either Drake or herself for their refusals.
Except if Benedict’s intel was correct, Drake was to suffer the consequences for the both of them. Blast it all. She couldn’t afford another diversion, not when she was amidst finalizing the details of her own scheme to explore her options for the future. Double blast. Drake shouldn’t be punished for her deeds. Her decisions. Her choices.
Benedict placed a hand on her shoulder. “I apologize. The thought of my best friend residing on the other side of the world has me panicked. I shouldn’t have been so harsh.”
Minerva stood, dislodging her brother’s touch. She was well aware that Drake was like a brother to Benedict. The two were inseparable. “No need to apologize. I understand how much Drake means to you.”
“To all of us.”
Benedict was right. Drake was like a brother to all the Malbury siblings—that was, with the exception of her. Brothers didn’t make your heart flutter or your pulse race. But that was in the past. For the last three months, Minerva had carefully avoided the man and steeled her heart against him.
She needed to redirect the conversation back to the conundrum. “What would you have me do, Benedict? Agree to join Avondale and his lot in conducting clandestine investigations?”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t have supported the idea. It’s too bloody dangerous for a lady.”
Argh. Her brother was such a male chauvinist sometimes.
Reining in her temper, she replied, “Tell me, why do you suppose the Head of the Foreign Office would even suggest Drake challenge me to a chess match? They must be aware of my declaration.”
“I’ve been mulling that exact question over and over since I left Drake’s dwellings.” Hands behind his back, Benedict began to pace. “Mayhap the Head of the Foreign Office believes Drake could defeat you. He marries you. They convince him to join, thereby gaining both of you as assets.Orthey wish to know which of the two of you they should continue to pursue.Orthey simply take delight in interfering in others’ lives.Or—”
