“By all means,” Leo chuckled. “Barge in like you own the place.”
“Like we need to announce ourselves to each other.”
“I do!”
“Because I am married, Leo. You can’t barge into my house.”
“Of course. We all know how you usually occupy your time when Abigail is around, after all.”
“Being vulgar is not your color,” Edwin said, eyebrow raised. “But accurate.”
Leo shook his head as he got up to pour them some brandy. He beckons at the armchairs in front of the fireplace, and they take their place in comfortable silence. Both men look at the fire, lost in their thoughts for a while.
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Edwin said out of the blue. “Or do you plan to be fashionably late?”
Leo looked up at his friend, and he frowned.
“Did you come already drunk, Ed?”
“I merely asked when you are getting ready. I wanted to catch you before you left to discuss if you needed something.”
“For the love of… What are you talking about, Ed?”
Edwin turned his body to his friend fully with a perplexed look on his face.
“Leo.”
“Edwin. I don’t think in all the years we’ve known each other and the weird, preposterous things we have done together, including chasing an ostrich on foot, that there has been a weirder exchange between us.”
“The Covington Ball.”
Leo’s body stiffened, and his jaw ticked. He glanced at his desk. Among the papers was a heavy, cream-colored envelope.
“What of it?” Leo drained his glass.
“You are attending, of course.”
“I have never attended that ball. Are you demented? Should I send word to Abigail?”
“Abigail sent me. Leo,” Edwin said, carefully, realizing with dread the truth.
The Duke looked up, hearing the tone in his friend’s voice change. The next thing coming out of Edwin’s mouth is going to be something Leo will hate.
“Leo, Bridget invited Prim to the ball.”
Leo got up in a slow, deliberate uncoiling, like a predator rising from a crouch. He set his glass down on the mantel.
“Explain.”
“Abigail said that yesterday Bridget ambushed Prim at Madame Sybil’s.”
Leo’s hands curled into loose fists at his sides, the only outward sign.
“Go on.”
“She requested a private audience,” Edwin said carefully.
“Tell me Prim didn’t-”
