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“She never seemed like the sort who would do such a thing.” Charlotte fell back against Sophie’s pillows.
“If Grandfather meant for me to marry Hellsburg, I’d run even further away than Scotland,” Sophie said.
“Yes,” Charlotte agreed with a laugh. “I’d expect that fromyou, but Arabella always seemed like she was afraid of her own shadow.”
“If we were raised in the same house as Grandfather, we might be the same way.” And the truth of that stung Sophie’s heart. She and her sisters were rather close with all of their cousins, all except for the one set that probably needed their support more than any of the others. Elliott, the now deceased Lord Gillingham, Lady Arabella and Lady Priscilla. The three of them had only ever had themselves all these years. Oh, it wasn’t a decision Sophie had made, none of her cousins had made any sort of decision in that regard. But Grandfather was the worst sort of bully and very early on, her parents and aunts and uncles had all decided, either together or separately, that keeping their distance from Grandfather’s favorite set of victims would keep the rest of them from incurring his wrath as well. It had been an act of cowardice, one Sophie hadn’t truly appreciated until recently. “And now Priscilla is the only one left, Charlotte. She’s lost everything in so short a period of time, her father, her brother, and her sister. We have to be there for her.”
Charlotte agreed with a nod. “She hasn’t really lost Arabella, though.”
No, Arabella was still alive, just not in England any longer. “I can’t imagine Grandfather will allow her sister to step one foot in Chatham House after taking her future in her own hands and eloping.”
Charlotte heaved a sigh. “We should head over there tomorrow. The poor girl. I can’t imagine being all alone in the same house with only Grandfather and Hellsburg for company.”
Sophie couldn’t either. “Right after breakfast,” she agreed. “No matter what Mama says about it.”
CHAPTER 4
“You have a key?” Chase whispered as Gabe let them into Weybourne House.
Gabe shrugged. “With the hours he keeps, he certainly doesn’t make his staff wait up for him.” And as Gabe had been staying at Christian’s home, or rather his grandfather’s Mayfair home, for the last fortnight, his friend had thought that Gabe having a key to the place made the most sense.
He led Chase from the foyer into the closest parlor and then lit a pair of lamps, casting a warm glow around the room. Then he gestured to a sideboard in the far corner. “Feel free to help yourself to a drink.”
But his friend shook his head. “And end up on the same path as Gillingham? I’d better keep my wits about me going forward.”
Not that Chase would ever be confused with his souse of a cousin, and not that it mattered to Gabe one way or another, not really. After encountering Sophie, there was no wayheintended to remain sober tonight, even if he was drinking alone. “You are an abysmal liar, by the way,” Gabe said as he started for the sideboard, knowing Christian had a very nice bottle of whisky in the mix. “Samuel the pageboy?”
Chase snorted. “Why do you think I always tell the truth?”
“And Christianstillshared his secret with you?” Gabe retrieved the decanter of whisky and splashed a healthy amount into the tumbler.
“He couldn’t really hide it from me. I spotted him behind Drury Lane one evening, in the middle of dealing with some cutpurse. We shared a room at Eton for years. I’d know his voice anywhere no matter what sort of mask he was wearing.” Then his friend shrugged. “He showed up at my door the next morning, asking me to keep my silence.”
Which Chase would do. He might be an abysmal liar, but he was the most loyal of friends. “So as long as no one specifically asks if you know the identity of the Covent Guard, his secret is safe with you?”
“I’m sure I’ll regret holding my tongue when he ends up dead someday, but I gave him my word.”
And Christian might very well end up dead someday, considering how he spent his evenings. Unfortunately, it was quite obvious that there was no dissuading him from his current path. A more stubborn man did not exist, and he was most definitely on a mission, no matter how dangerous or detrimental to his own safety that particular mission might be. With all that was going on in the world, none of it made any sense to Gabe. There was no reason to borrow trouble. “Do you know why he’s doing this?Whyhe’s on this crusade?”
Chase nodded and a frown marred his brow. “Like you, he returned home from the war to find he was heir to a title that never should have been his.”
“I’m not heir to anything.”
His friend snorted. “Unless Clayton marries and produces a legitimate heir, which seems highly unlikely while he’s instilled at Rosewood or even at Oakcliffe, youwillbe Northwold someday. It’s just a matter of time.”
Just the mention of his brother made Gabe wince. He hated seeing Clayton in such a state, covered in lesions and completely out of his mind. Even so, he’d visited his brother every day since arriving in London, even if Clayton didn’t recognize him, and even if Clayton screamed at him to leave. He had to make certain that his brother was unharmed and was as whole as possible before he could be moved to the private asylum in Derbyshire. After all the death and despair he’d witnessed during the war, watching his brother suffer in such an awful way was the worst thing he’d ever seen.
Gabe tipped back his tumbler and let the whisky burn its way down his throat.
“Actually, with my uncle and cousin gone, I suppose I’m in the same boat as the two of you now,” Chase said softly. “Heir to something I never should have been.”
“It’s unsettling.” Gabe started across the room and dropped into a chair across from his friend. “But I’m not contemplating donning a mask and throwing daggers at thieves and other unsavories in Covent Garden over it.”
“But if there was a way for you to destroy syphilis, you’d do so.” Chase heaved another sigh. “I watched my father slowly die of consumption, and if there was a way to eradicatethatdisease from the Earth…” He shrugged. “Neither you nor I have an avenue to deal with our suffering, but Christian can focus his entire fury on those thieves and other unsavories, as you call them,.”
Gabe frowned at his friend, as that didn’t make any sense at all.
Chase must have interpreted his expression correctly, as he asked, “You don’t know what happened to them? His family, do you?”
