Chapter Fifteen
“I didn’t mean to lose my temper,” Thea said as she let Emma and Marianne into her bedchamber.
“You had every right. Tremont was being quite boorish,” Emma declared.
The understanding in her sister’s eyes caused a threatening prickle behind Thea’s own. Emma might be overprotective, but she could always be counted on to take one’s side.
Thea refused to give into tears. “I amnotas delicate as he believes.”
Surveying the chamber, Marianne chose the chair at the vanity, her skirts draping gracefully as she sat. “All considering, I think your sensibilities are proving rather hardy. I daresay not every lady would handle the news of Tremont’s past with such equanimity.”
Em sat on the bed and patted the coverlet beside her.
Curling up next to her sister, Thea admitted, “It is shocking. But also not altogether surprising, if that makes any sense.”
As difficult as it was to conceive that Gabriel had been involved in espionage, it also sort of... fit. In some ways, she felt relieved because now things made more sense. His carefully controlled façade, the restless power beneath. Why he guarded his passions and secrets so tightly. Recalling the way he’d dispatched Rathburn and his deadly accuracy with darts, she wondered what other hidden skills he possessed.
She didn’t find the notion so much disturbing as intriguing. His aura of enigma, of potent self-containment, had always fascinated her. The discovery that he’d done his duty for his country added to her admiration of him. There were so many layers to his complexity, and she wanted to peel them back, one by one, to get to the true heart of him. To the powerful lover in the carriage and the tender suitor in the billiards room.
Dash it all… I’m falling in love with him.
Unfortunately, the tingling revelation was dampened by a healthy dose of annoyance. Why did she have to love a man who’d rejected her time and again? Who couldn’t seem to make up his mind about her?
Emma pursed her lips. “The shoe does sort of fit, doesn’t it? Spies must be rather cold-blooded to do their work, and I’ve always thought that Tremont was a bit of an iceberg.”
“Only insofar as he has hidden depths beneath the surface.” Despite her irritation with Gabriel, Thea jumped to defend him. “He might not wear his emotions upon his sleeve, but he is a man of deep feeling. I wouldn’t care about him otherwise.”
“Does he returns your affection, my dear?” Marianne said gently.
“We came to an understanding the night of the masquerade.” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “At least, I thought we did.”
Emma’s gaze narrowed. “Did Tremont take advantage of you?”
“No. In fact, one might say the opposite occurred,” she said truthfully. “I may have taken advantage of him.”
Her sister’s brows inched upward.
“It’s always the quiet ones,” Marianne said. “Has Tremont proposed?”
“Before he was attacked, he said he wanted to discuss our future. Now he’s acting as if we’re no more than polite acquaintances.” Her frustration bubbled over. “From the start, he hasn’t been able to make his mind up about me, and ithurts. One minute he wants me, the next he’s pushing me away.”
“Most aggravating,” her sister-in-law agreed. “Although, in this instance, I do believe he’s trying to do the noble thing and protect you from his past.”
“I don’t care about his past. I care abouthim.”
Emma sighed. “Then I suppose we’d best put our heads together and get him out of this mess.” She wrinkled her nose. “Despite assertions to the contrary, I’ve personally found that the female perspective always comes in handy during investigations. Especially when one of the suspects is a woman.”
“And all the suspects are members of theton—of which I am an expert,” Marianne added.
Thea had never loved the other two more. “What do you know about Lady Blackwood, Marianne?”
“As a matter of fact, Pandora does have rather mysterious beginnings.” A line formed between Marianne’s brows. “As I recall, she showed up in Society about a dozen years ago, claiming to be the daughter of one Henry Hudson. Hudson had held a minor title and been an adventurous sort—you know, the kind who lives abroad, digging up things. As far as anyone knew, he and his wife Flora had died during an expedition years ago. No one knew they had a child, but apparently Pandora had been raised at a finishing school on the Continent all these years. She furnished proof that she was indeed the Hudsons’ legitimate offspring and, as it happened, the last remaining member of that family.”
“How can you keep all that in your head?” Thea said, amazed. “You’re like a walking copy ofDebrett’s.”
Lips curved, her sister-in-law continued relating the facts. “Within weeks of her return to England, Pandora met and married Blackwood. Theirs was a whirlwind courtship, but Society was willing to overlook it due to Blackwood’s status and position in theton. Nonetheless, there were whispers about his impetuousness—especially when his heir arrived a scant eight months after the wedding.”
Thea recalled the genuine affection she’d witnessed between the Blackwoods. She bit her lip. “Do you think Lord Blackwood has any inkling that his wife was a spy?”
