“Missed a stair,” Edwin mumbled.
Henley braced himself as Edwin leaned into him for support.“Did you, now?”he said, unable to keep the sarcasm from his tone.
“Cheeky, are you?”Edwin muttered, but the slur in his voice softened the words as he yawned.
“I thought you decided to stay in tonight,” Henley said, opening the carriage door.
Edwin paused, one foot on the step.Swinging his head—and his cane—he turned.
Henley angled his shoulder just in time, taking the blow with a wince.
He glared.“Was that necessary?”
“Was what necessary?Ah, you asked a question.”Edwin frowned.“I don’t rightly remember it, though.Dreadfully tired.Maddie really took it out of me, if you gather my meaning.”He gave a lusty grin and chuckled.
“I truly don’t want to know.”Henley gave him a shove upward.
Edwin took the hint and stumbled into the carriage, sprawling across the velvet seat and closing his eyes.Henley tugged on his coat sleeves, rubbed his shoulder, then entered the carriage, sitting opposite his brother.Swiping the cane, he rapped three times on the roof, signaling the driver.He dropped the object to the floor, giving it a silent glare.
Edwin’s face had already relaxed, a small snore building in volume.Henley leaned back, waiting for the inevitable crescendo as his brother slept off the night’s indulgences.He’d have one hell of a headache in the morning—just in time for the family gathering.
And he wouldn’t exactly have a choice.A grin tipped Henley’s lips as he considered what their mother and father would do if Edwin dared to sleep through Pere’s come-out.It would be entertaining, certainly—but it wouldn’t happen.
That was always the rub with Edwin.He didn’t suffer consequences.He’d apologize with a contrite expression, charm his way back into their good graces, and learn to better hide his indiscretions.
Because if one can’t be caught, one can’t be held accountable.
And, damn the man, he was bloody brilliant at covering his ass.Henley sighed deeply, a familiar ache yawning in his chest.He couldn’t exactly cast stones; he helped Edwin do it.It was penance of sorts, and for Pere’s sake as well.
Because while his brother was the expert at dodging scandal…
Henley was not.
And the only scandal that had ever stuck to the family name—was his.
Chapter Two
The scent ofroses hung cloyingly in the air as Henley took a seat in the white parlor, awaiting his now fashionably late brother.His nose twitched, and the memories from the previous night made the scent more of a stench than a perfume.
“Did you purchase London’s entire supply of roses, Mother?”Henley asked as Lady Devon adjusted a small bouquet of white blooms in the center of the table.
She shot a gentle glare in his direction, but answered, “I left two dozen at the florist down on Bond Street, just in case my two dearly loved sons decide to pursue a woman worth the effort.”She added an arched brow for good measure.
“A bit of a lost cause, if you ask me.I’d have just saved myself the trouble and bought them all.”Henley flicked invisible lint from his coat, though he’d never speak the words out loud, he’d been waiting for one lady to have her season, and it started this year.
“Hope springs eternal, love,” Lady Devon replied.“And someday you’ll need to find a wife.I intend to give you whatever aid I can.”
“If all it takes is roses, I don’t think I’ll have much trouble,” Henley responded, keeping the tone light.
“Roses are merely a first step.Let’s find a lady first, shall we?”
“I’d rather wait—play the mysterious rake and let the lady find me.”
“Because all ladies are looking for men of your reputation…” Her tone was light but pointed, like a well-placed stab—meant not to kill, but to remind him who truly held the weapons.
And, in London, weapons were words.Well-placed, brilliant, and cutting words that could proclaim one a god among men—or the very devil himself.
Which was why scandal was so delicious—and dangerous.
