Alastair’s eyes darted from Olivia to Breckenridge and could make no sense of what passed between them. Clearly, it was a matter to which neither wanted to make him privy. He latched on to the part he could comprehend. “You were dealing faro, Olivia? You?”
Still regarding Griffin, Olivia answered Alastair’s query absently, “A game or two, now and again.”
“Now and again?” Alastair snapped to attention, wearing indignation like a regimental uniform. He jutted his chin in Breckenridge’s direction. “You permitted my sister to stand at the gaming table and deal faro?”
Griffin shrugged as if the matter were of no consequence. “It was faro or vingt-et-un. I determined that faro was the better choice.”
Alastair shot to his feet and took a step forward before Breckenridge’s arched eyebrow stopped him in his tracks.
“You wish to say something?” asked Griffin. “Issue a challenge, perhaps?”
“I…um, I…No, that is…no.”
Olivia pressed the fingertips of her right hand to her temple and massaged the ache that was building there. “Sit down, Alastair,” she said quietly. “Be glad of his lordship’s perverse sense of humor, else you would find yourself counting off ten paces at dawn.”
Without conscious intent, Alastair’s hand went to his throat. He sat. The smattering of freckles across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose were more pronounced against the paleness of his complexion. “You should not have been dealing faro,” he said. “What Father says about you—”
Pained, Olivia cut him off. “Perhaps not. But you were not here to make your argument, were you?”
Griffin was careful not to show the least expression as Alastair’s neck seemed to shrink inside the stiff points of his collar. It was entirely possible that Olivia’s brother would seek refuge inside his frock coat like a turtle ducking into its shell. He cast his glance in Olivia’s direction, saw her stricken countenance, and followed the direction of her gaze to Alastair’s naked right hand.
Olivia’s voice was hardly more than a whisper, thick with disappointment and heavy with the ache of unshed tears. “Oh, Alastair. What have you done with the ring?”
He was immediately defensive and not a little petulant. “Done? Why should you think I have done anything?”
Olivia merely stared at him.
“Stolen,” he said, deflating slightly. “It was stolen from me.”
Olivia found it was possible to feel sorry for her brother. She asked Griffin, “Might I have some moments alone with Alastair, my lord?”
Griffin looked from one to the other, hesitating only briefly before he nodded. “Of course. I will wait outside.”
Olivia had not imagined he would give over his study to them, but that she and Alastair would make their way to her room. Her lips parted in advance of her protest, but his rather kind, compassionate smile kept her silent. That, too, was unexpected.
When he was gone, she stood and moved once more to the foot of the chaise. Alastair, as a matter of course, made room for her beside him. “Did you mean to simply leave me here?” Alastair was long in replying, which she supposed was its own sort of answer. “I see.”
He shook his head. “No. You shouldn’t think it was ever my intention, Olivia. Not at the outset.” He darted her a sideways look. “But after Father refused me, and as the days passed with no turn of fortune that would have helped me make good on my losses, I reasoned my way into believing you were better served in Breckenridge’s care than in mine. I have not done well by you, sister. I do not imagine that will change.”
“How can you say that? You have been my savior, Alastair. You rescued me.”
“You must stop saying that. You cannot know how I wish it were true, but you have always been willing to give me too much credit, and I have been too willing to accept it.” He stopped her protest by laying one hand over hers and turning in to her. “I am not yet the man you would like to believe I am. That is why I am invariably a disappointment to you. No, do not say it isn’t so. Hear me out, Olivia. I know differently because I am a disappointment to myself as well.
“I have not had much success at managing my obligations since I left university. London presents one temptation after another, and you have seen for yourself that I am ever drawn to take another bite of the apple.”
“You are young yet. You should have as many bites of the apple as you wish without having the burden of a sister who has no place in your society. It has been too—”
“It has been my failure,” he said quietly, squeezing her hand. “Mine. Not yours. I look at you now and I find myself moved to make all manner of promises that I will see to your welfare and keep you safe. I would mean every word right up to the moment that I was distracted by the turn of a card or the turn of an ankle. You are my elder by only three years as the calendar would have it, but we both know who protects whom in this odd bargain we’ve struck.”
Olivia swiped impatiently at the tears that welled in her eyes. “I am neither as clever nor as resourceful as you would have yourself believe. It simply makes you feel better to think so.”
“I had not considered that, but perhaps you are right. That should give you pause, Olivia. You would do well not to depend upon me.”
“I understand.” And she did. Alastair was asking to be relieved of the responsibility of her. She slid her hand out from under his. “I regret making things difficult between you and Sir Hadrien.”
“Do not even think it. It was perhaps my finest moment, standing toe to toe and telling him that I would have you in my life.”
She could not manage the careless smile she’d hoped for. Her mouth trembled at the edges. “And now you will not.”
