‘Paris, I think. Trying to steal the entertainments from that French club he keeps talking about.’
‘And while we are here behaving like gentlemen, he has a beautiful courtesan in one hand and a glass of France’s finest brandy in the other,’ Fred finished, unsure whether he felt envy, or relief that the job had fallen to someone else.
‘I wonder, do you have the heart to continue as part of the management? Now that you are married…’
‘I am as committed as I ever was,’ Fred said firmly. ‘We agreed that we would keep the place running, so that it might be here when Nick returns.’
‘Or to honour his memory,’ Jake added, expressing the doubt that they both secretly shared.
‘The club was his idea. He had the greatest stake in the place,’ Fred reminded him. ‘If he is alive, we must see to it that his investment is thriving, when he returns.’
‘And I will burn in hell before I allow Bowles to take over that empty chair,’ Jake said, frowning. ‘He was bothering me about it again last month.’
Fred shook his head. ‘The fellow is a loathsome little toady and I like him no better now than I did at Oxford. But just as important as his lack of character is the fact that he has not a feather to fly with. He was forced to run for the country, one step ahead of his debt collectors.’
Jake smiled. ‘It is no less than he deserved.’
‘Should Bowles return, I have no intention of leaving a second empty chair at Vitium et Virtus for him to aspire to. I assure you, my recent marriage will have no effect on my activities,’ Fred said, feeling more trapped than ever by both the club and the woman.
‘Of course it won’t, my love.’ His wife was standing before him, hands on hips. Fred hoped he was the only one who could hear the irony in her voice as she announced her affection for him. ‘No matter my opinions on the subject, I expect you will be just as firmly attached to Vitium et Virtus as you are now.’
‘If you have opinions on the club, you should refrain from mentioning them in public,’ he said automatically. ‘You should not even know that the place exists.’
‘Then I will pretend that I have not heard people whispering about it, everywhere I go,’ she said, shaking her head in disbelief as if he were the one who was naïve.
Then she leaned towards Jake and said in a conspiratorial whisper, ‘Is it true that husbands and wives arrive there together and go off with others as easily as changing partners in a dance?’
‘I would not know,’ Jake said with a wink. ‘I am not married.’
‘I do not think I should like to find out from experience,’ she replied.
The remark surprised him. Did it arise from actual loyalty, or was she merely feigning devotion?
Then she finished, ‘One husband is more than enough for me.’
Before Fred could respond, she smiled at the Duke and asked, ‘Are you also preoccupied with that club, even tonight, Your Grace? The room is full of young ladies, eager to stand up with you.’
In response, Jake turned pink about the ears and his answer had a slight hesitation that almost sounded like nerves. ‘I thought we agreed to be on familiar terms. You need not bother with the formality of a title if we are to be friends.’
‘Jacob, then,’ she said, smiling even more brightly.
When had they agreed on familiarity? As far as Fred knew, they had not known each other at all before the wedding. Despite his desire to see his friend be happy, it made him uneasy to see the easy smiles that passed between them after so limited an acquaintance.
‘Do you mean to hold up the wall with my husband, Jacob? Or do you plan to dance?’
‘We are not the only men in the room,’ Fred said, trying to catch her eye and remind her of the black mourning gloves his friend was wearing, even at his own ball. ‘Surely they can find someone else.’
‘I believe I have danced with nearly every other man in the room,’ she said. ‘Now, it is only manners that I should dance with our host.’ She gave Fred an appraising look and held out a hand to him. ‘Unless you have changed your mind and wish to reclaim me.’
He stared at it for a moment, but made no move. For all the bravery he had shown in battle, why did he hesitate now?
It did not matter. He had waited too long to give his answer and she’d turned back to his friend, holding out her hands. ‘Your Gr… I mean, Jacob, will you dance with me?’
His friend hesitated for a moment, then smiled back. ‘I had not planned to stand up. But a single dance with an honoured guest is not so very shocking. And I know better than to refuse such an opportunity.’
Was this a dig at him? It was too late to tell. The pair was already gone, arm in arm, to take their place in the set for the next dance.
They made a handsome couple and it was clear that dancing did Jake good. His step was light and he chatted easily with Georgiana as they moved down the row of couples. It was just the sort of thing Fred would have hoped for the fellow a week or two ago. Why did it annoy him now? And why was he feeling the same tightening in his guts that could no longer be attributed to indigestion?
