Then again, she knew his devotion to what he considered his duty. Perhaps he viewed helping her as his duty, although if that were the case, she despised the thought. She was not his to feel dutiful towards.
More than anything, she disliked him being so much in her thoughts.
“I see I was mistaken,” George said, a dent in his cheek from where she suspected he was biting it to keep from laughing. “Very well. Have out with it.”
“I have a favour to ask.”
“I won’t ask you to marry me,” he said sternly. “No matter how handsome you think I am.”
She paused partway through removing her gloves and smacked him across the arm with one. “Be serious.”
“Very well. I’m serious as the grave. What’s this favour?”
“I would like you to host a house party and invite Mr Vincent Knight.”
The laughter in his eyes was replaced by confusion. “Knight?”
“Yes. And if possible, I would like the house party to be more than a week.”
For a long moment, he was silent, and she could almost feel the way he turned her request over in his head, debating her reasons, its merits, whether it was within his power to grant.
“Why?”
“Is it not enough that I’ve asked you to?”
“Not in the slightest,” he said crushingly. “Why would I put myself out?”
She smiled despite herself. “You are the son of a rich viscount, a man of thirty, still unwed, with an ill father and a title to inherit. It is within your interests to promote a match, and what better way than to invite all the candidates to your home?”
“Perhaps this has escaped your notice,” Comerford said, “but Knight is not aspiring to my hand.”
“No. That would be my favour.”
“And why,” he said, elbows on his knees as he observed her, “do you want a man on the edge of thetonto be invited to what I assure you will be a legendary party?”
She considered for a moment, weighing her desire to keep her secrets close to her chest against the need for an ally. Henry had already vowed to help her, for better or worse, and George was his closest friend. If they hadn’t already discussed her situation, no doubt they would soon.
“Very well,” she said, making her decision. “But what I tell you is not to leave this room.”
“Naturally.”
“Knight is blackmailing me.” She watched as shock and anger bloomed across his expression. “The details are not important, but he has some proof, which I would like to tempt him to bring with him. If he believes me to be remaining in London, that should be incentive enough.”
“But, I gather, you will not be remaining in London?”
“No. But my entrance will be an unpleasant surprise, no doubt,” she said. “Once there, I’ll search his rooms and relieve him of any evidence he has brought.”
George narrowed his eyes. “That sounds dangerous.”
“Perhaps. But I doubt he would dare do anything to me.”
“He’s already blackmailing you,” he pointed out. “A man desperate enough to do that is perfectly capable of doing more.”
“Then I shall be careful,” she said impatiently.
“I won’t let you put yourself in danger, Louisa.” He pinned her with a sharp gaze, his usually playful expression all seriousness. “If that’s your goal, I won’t have a hand in it.”
“What will it take for you to agree?”
