Chapter 25
Crack! The billiard ball struck another then rolled across the table. Gabe could only muster a grim smile at his excellent shot.
“Why so morose this morning, Spencer?” Lord Pondridge said before throwing back another two fingers of brandy.
“I’ll wager it was a woman.” Lord Sheffield laughed, his extra chin jiggling. “Miss White held out on you last night, eh? That woman…” he sighed. “She has a way of bewitching a man.”
“Indeed, she does,” Pondridge replied. “Why not avail yourself of the other ladies in residence, Spencer, and let one of the fellows here have a go at Miss White. They’re all eager enough.” He grinned.
“I’ll second that!” Lord Hale said from his position by the fireplace as he tugged on the bell pull.
Gabe’s jaw tightened and his stomach churned. Even while playing billiards with other, potentially traitorous men, he could not escape Mary and his disturbing experience of last evening.
“I’ve already promised Miss White to Reddington and Boxton for this evening,” he said. “You gentlemen will have to wait your turn.”
“Lucky bastards,” Sheffield wheezed.
A nervous-looking maid appeared in the doorway.
“Ah yes, there you are,” Hale boomed. “Have one of my footmen come here at once.”
The maid curtsied, and with a mumbled “right away your lordship,” she was gone.
“Small maids in this house,” Hale grumbled. “No good for anything; can’t even take a man my size atop them.”
“Aye,” Sheffield pulled a cigar out of his waistcoat’s breast pocket. “If you can’t tup them, what’s the point?”
“Of course, if they’ve got a big mouth…” Hale wiggled his eyebrows and the three men laughed.
Gabe felt ill.
“You called for me, your lordship?”
Gabe looked up to see Sir Bramwell Stevens standing in the doorway, wearing Hale’s vomitus green livery and a powdered wig.
“Yes, Smithe. Have my horse saddled, will you? I have the urge to ride.”
Stevens bowed. “Right away, my lord.”
Gabe bent to take his turn at billiards, hardly noticing where the balls ended up. He needed to speak with Stevens to tell him what he had overheard last night. If something were to happen to him or Mary while he was exchanging the documents or while they were on their return journey to London, someone needed to pass the information along to Hydra.
Soon enough, Mary would come up with a distraction and Gabe would make the exchange. Until then, he must wait, and what better to do while waiting than speak with his comrade.
“Please excuse me, gentlemen,” Gabe bowed to the room.
“Off to see if you can repair whatever damage you did last night, eh?” Pondridge grinned.
Gabe returned his grin and added a wink before he made his escape.
* * *
Mary’s halfboots crunched over the gravel as she walked along the garden’s path. The sun shone brightly in the early June morn, birds chirped gaily, and the flowers were open, lending a fragrant, floral scent to the air.
She’d spoken to Lord and Lady Kerr’s gardener, but aside from the fact that the Kerrs preferred their flowers arranged a particular way and they had a short temper with their staff, Mary had not learned anything. After that brief discussion, Mary had ventured over several hills until she’d reached the castle ruins that Lady Kerr had informed Gabriel about.
Despite her curiosity, Mary did not venture inside, but turned and made her way back to Kerr house. The afternoon meal would soon be served, and shortly thereafter, Mary would put on her second performance. She just hoped that they made the exchange before she was forced to fend off Reddington and Boxton’s advances.
A frown caught her by surprise as her thoughts wandered again toward Gabriel. He would surely not approve of her wandering across the estate and questioning the gardener on her own.
