“Kitty can attest…” Garrick’s words died in his throat. He realized the unlikelihood of Kitty verifying his sovereignty over her. “My solicitor can provide documents, but it’ll take some time. Or we can let a magistrate decide tonight.” His tone turned sly.
“Call the—” the earl began in a growl, only to be cut off by Zeke.
“We’ll send a chaperone with you for tonight.”
“And then what, Zeke? It will take longer than twenty-four hours for James to attain the paperwork needed,” the earl growled.
“Likewise, for you to produce your betrothal contract,” Garrick snapped.
“It seems we are at a standoff,” Zeke said, arms open wide. “Shall we cut the—my fiancé in half?” His lips curved in a grim smile.
“I-I’ll go,” Kitty said.
“I’ll permit it on two conditions. One, the baron agrees to return with you first thing on the morrow,” the earl said, his eyes shooting daggers at Garrick.
“Of course,” Garrick replied. “And the second?”
“Afterward, we ride for Chissington Hall.”
“Chissington Hall?” Garrick asked.
“My seat—Derbyshire.”
Chapter Seven
Zeke waited with barely contained impatience for Lady Christine Hastings and her cousin, James, to board his rented carriage and vacate the premises.
No sooner did the earl cross the threshold into the gleaming marble foyer than Zeke pounced. “What the devil do you mean blithely announcing my engagement to that—”
“You’ll watch your tongue, Ezekiel Thurgood, if you know what’s good for you.”
Zeke frowned at his grandfather’s menacing tone. It almost sounded as if he was angry—withhim. “Perhaps we should continue this discussion in the upper parlor.”
The earl grunted his assent, and led the way.
The upstairs parlor was masculine, intimate, and as snoop-proof as they were likely to get in a house full of nosy servants. It boasted a well-stocked liquor cabinet, too.
Lord knew Zeke needed a drink now, if he ever had.
Once safely ensconced behind a closed and locked door, the earl set about retrieving the brandy decanter. Zeke turned up thetwo wall lamps flanking the lone, narrow window, bathing the room in yellow light. The window he left closed. Voices carried.
Not until they sat in two oversized armchairs, full snifters in hand and the brandy decanter in easy reach, did the earl broach his grievance.
“I asked you to leave it alone. I told you I’d give you the answers you sought in good time. Five months and change—that’s all we needed. Now, all may be lost.”
Zeke’s temper flared, but he kept his response measured. “It sounds as if you’re blaming me for the fact yourKitwas discovered hiding out under your roof.”
“In a word, yes.”
Zeke drummed his fingers on his knee. Narrowed his eyes. “Precisely how is it my fault?”
“Did you, or did you not, go to White’s this afternoon, and run your mouth about a certain boy in my employ, named Kit, who seemed oddly out of place?”
Zeke ran a finger under his cravat. The damned thing was a nuisance in the summer months. “I admit to doing so. Will you own the provocation?”
The earl’s jaw tightened. He took a large swallow of brandy before replying. “I will, damn my eyes. Kitty asked me repeatedly to stop taunting you, clever, intuitive girl that she is, but I listened too late. If I’d heeded her warning, and kept her hidden, specifically fromyourview, none of this would’ve happened. I just thought…I hoped… Never mind.”
His broad shoulders sagged and he looked like a man utterly defeated.
