As they passed out of the double doors and into the night air, Andover said, “Care to hazard a pony, then, that you can speak to Nerissa without her husband by her side?”
Bryght laughed. “The secret of my success is never betting against a certainty. The man would have to be dead to permit it. I am hisbête noire.Heaven alone knows why.”
“The fact that you have rutted with his wife?”
“So has half London before he grew suspicious. I could almost pity him.” They summoned a waiting link boy and headed a few streets away to the Willoughbys’ house.
“Not Nerissa, then,” said Andover. “Jenny Findlayson? You seemed rather cool toward her.”
“I begin to think we would not suit.”
“Thank the lord for that. Who then is your current amorous interest? Anyway, I thought you were chasing after Upcott’s sister.”
“Chase? Is that in my nature?”
“It’s not in your nature to attend these events, nor to buy virgins.”
Bryght met his friend’s eyes ruefully. Andover had made no previous remark about the strange event. “Touché.”
“So, do I get an explanation?”
“Novel wagers amuse me.”
“It is not a matter for discussion?” Andover hazarded.
“How perspicacious you are.”
“Don’t bite my head off. If you must become the talk of the clubs, it’s not my fault. The general opinion gives you the accolade for finesse.”
“Could it be otherwise?”
After a few moments, Andover said, “So? What has become of the fair Amazon of Dresden Street?”
“Her brother has left London and she is safe in the bosom of her family.”
“Speedy work, even for you.”
“I had little to do with it.”
They turned the corner into the street where the Willoughbys had their house. “So,” Andover mused, “we are now interested in Nerissa’s cousin, Miss St. Claire. She seems unlikely to create scandals, but I see no wager in it. What is to prevent you from speaking with her?”
“My conscience. You heard her. I am not to intrude upon her in any way unless I can prove I did not lie.”
Andover laughed. “I’d forgotten that. She seems to have taken you in dislike.”
“She labors under misapprehensions.”
“Does she? Can you not prove you spoke the truth?”
“Of a certainty, but it amuses me to choose when and where to claim my forfeit.”
Andover glanced at Bryght. “What’s the attraction there? She seems rather strait-laced. She is too forthright to be pleasing, and is rather lacking in curves.”
“Do you think so?” said Bryght with faint amusement. “Strait-laces can be loosened, and I find forthright quite attractive. For example, I have a fatal weakness for women who try to shoot me.”
Andover burst out laughing. “Fatal indeed! When did that happen, and why the devil would she do such a thing?”
“She told me to stop, and I had no mind to.”
