A Wicked Conceit by Anna Huber (e novels to read TXT) 📕

I smiled gratefully up at him, and seeing the warm regard reflected in his eyes, I felt my anger toward him thaw. I was well aware that I was wed to one of the most attractive men in the realm, though much of the time I didn’t dwell on such a thing. But once in a while it struck me with the same impact as it had the first time we met, making my insides melt and my knees a little weak. Though I would never have admitted it at the time, even to myself. I’d despised the way women seemed to turn fluttery and foolish at the sight of him. And while it was true that I’d never outwardly lost my senses, inwardly I was nearly overcome.

As I was now. His golden hair gleamed in the light of the chandelier overhead, a burnished halo to his bronzed features, finely sculpted cheekbones, and pale blue eyes. Eyes that communicated his love for me as much as the twinkle in their depths hinted at his anticipation of the plans we’d already set into motion for the evening.

“Oh, my dear. I do so love to see two young people in love,” Lady Soames gushed, recalling me to the fact that the receiving line had moved forward. “Oh, and you’re in the family way. How lovely.” She accepted my hand, pressing it between her own. The servant standing behind the chair bent forward to whisper my name. “You are very welcome to our home, Lady Darby. Oh!” she gasped as if just now recognizing who I was. “Yes, Lady Darby.” She smiled archly. “You must come to call. I have questions, so many questions.”

I smiled tightly, caught between amusement and embarrassment at her novel approach. Most of the ladies who gossiped about The King of Grassmarket either glared at me in disapproval—few of them daring to cut me direct because of my husband and father-in-law—or cornered me in an effort to pump me for information about Bonnie Brock. None of them had yet invited me to call. I hurried past her and Lord Soames, who squinted so pronouncedly I doubted he saw more than a blurry wash of color.

Gage took my arm, his social mask firmly in place as we circled the rooms dedicated to the Soameses’ soiree. We were some of the last people to arrive, and by any measure it was a crush. So much so that I feared we would never be able to find a place to confront Kirkcowan privately. That is, if Lord Henry could succeed in our plan. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how much trust Gage had placed in him, and he didn’t even know yet that Henry was his half brother.

When Gage returned to my side later in the evening after a second foray to the gaming room, a satisfied grin stretching his lips, I remarked on it.

“I take it matters are proceeding as planned.”

“Yes. Lord Henry is doing splendidly,” he tipped his head down to say, as he guided me away from a cluster of ladies with whom I’d been conversing. “Has Kirkcowan tugging at his collar and downing brandy faster than he should, which will only hasten matters in our favor.”

We both nodded at an acquaintance strolling past us on the opposite side of the corridor.

“You’ve entrusted Lord Henry with a great deal in this scheme.”

“I have,” he admitted in a voice that told me this wasn’t the first time he had considered that. “I suppose you’re wondering why.”

I nodded and then elaborated, lest he misunderstand. “Don’t get me wrong. I like Lord Henry. I believe I have since the moment I met him. He has a streak of honorability running through him a mile wide.” I jostled my elbow against his side. “Not unlike some people I know.”

He smiled at my gentle teasing.

“But until yesterday evening, I would have sworn you felt a marked distrust toward him because of all of that business at Sunlaws Castle and his role in escorting his brother abroad.”

“It’s true. I was still remarkably cross with him. With the duke’s entire family. But after speaking to him, I realized what an impossible situation he’d found himself in during our investigation. And in the end, he did the right thing and confessed to you what so troubled him, which helped you put the pieces together to figure out that Lord John was the culprit.” He lowered his head. “As for his escorting his brother abroad, Lord Henry apologized to me for the necessity of his actions but confessed he would still make the same choice. That he’d feared that without his calming influence his brother might do something drastic on the voyage.”

I looked up in dismay. “You mean . . . ?”

Gage nodded.

I swallowed. “And his other brothers aren’t precisely calming influences, are they?” Though I didn’t doubt their regard for one another, in truth, his other brothers would have been more likely to drive Lord John to take his life than the other way around.

“Given that, I can’t hold Lord Henry’s actions against him. Rather, I find them to be commendable.”

A pang of empathy tightened my chest imagining Henry trying to navigate such a dilemma. If he escorted his brother abroad, then Gage—the half brother he was anxious to confess his connection to and befriend—would be terribly angry with him, and might never give him the chance. While if he refused and stayed to speak with Gage, then Lord John might throw himself overboard into the sea.

I realized I couldn’t hold his actions against him any longer either, no matter what they had cost me. He had made the right choice. And I would give him no more grief for it.

“Mr. Gage?”

We both turned to face the footman addressing my husband.

“Yes?” Gage asked.

“Lord Henry Kerr has asked me to tell you he’ll be with you in five minutes.”

“Very good. Thank you.” He nodded, dismissing him.

A pulse of anticipation