“So you’re one of the Brooke sisters,” Kirkland said as he offered Callie his hand, his eyes thoughtful. “Knowing that makes your husband’s mysterious and alarming past rather clearer.”
“And rather less alarming,” Callie remarked as she shook his hand. “He and I got into mischief together with great regularity. We thought we’d lost each other forever, so I must thank you for sending him off to rescue the widow.”
“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” Kirkland said with a private smile. “I’ve experienced that myself. But I regret that I’ll lose your particular talents for future missions, Gordon. Marriage does tend to make a man want to stay closer to home.”
“It has already had that effect on me,” Gordon agreed. “Why would I want to go someplace where Callie isn’t?”
“True, not to mention that you’re going to be too busy to wander off to far places.” Kirkland’s expression was wry. “I just heard the news. I’m not sure whether to offer congratulation or commiseration.”
“If you mean my marriage, definitely congratulation,” Gordon said, puzzled.
Kirkland’s brows drew together. “You haven’t heard? You’ve just become the seventh Marquess of Kingston.”
Gordon gasped, feeling as if a swinging spar had slammed into his midriff, stopping his breath and leaving him too numb to feel the pain. Callie grabbed his left hand hard, anchoring him to reality. “Richard!” she whispered urgently. “Richard!”
Her warm hand was a lifeline, but he was still so shaken he could barely speak. “I’ve spent half my life getting as far from Kingston Court as I could,” he said unevenly. “Now . . .this.”
“Come in here,” Kirkland said as he took hold of Gordon’s other arm and steered him from the reception room across the front hall to his private study.
Callie maintained her grip on his left hand. When they were safely inside Kirkland’s study, she guided him to a sofa set at right angles to the massive desk. There she knelt before him and caught both hands. “Talk to me? Please?”
He saw that she was terrified and trying to conceal it, so he made a huge effort to pull himself together. He squeezed her hands, not letting go, and looked up at Kirkland, who had poured brandy and was offering it to him. “Take this,” his friend said quietly.
He took one hand back from Callie and sipped the brandy. The burn helped clear his wits a little. “How can I have inherited the title? Lady Agnes said that my father had died a year or so ago and my oldest brother, Welham, inherited. Even if he died unexpectedly, there’s my second brother, Julian.”
Kirkland had poured two more brandies. He gave one to Callie and indicated the sofa. “You sit, too. You can still hold his hand.”
She gave a crooked smile as she settled beside Gordon. “You have the air of a man used to dealing with shocking news.”
“For my sins, yes.” Kirkland took a nearby chair. “To answer your question, your brother Julian died in a riding accident not long after your father’s death. Taking fences while drunk, I think.
“Welham . . .” Kirkland hesitated. “He died just a few days ago, perhaps by his own hand. The official explanation is an accident while cleaning his guns. He loved guns and had a lot of them, so no one who knows him found that improbable.”
“Did he leave a note to suggest it was suicide?” Gordon asked, impressed as always by Kirkland’s sources of information.
“Not that I know of, but if there was one, the family wouldn’t want it made public.” Kirkland glanced at Callie before continuing. “There have been recent rumors that he wasn’t fond of females. That his tastes ran in a different, illegal direction.”
“You needn’t mince words around me, Lord Kirkland,” Callie said. “I know what you mean, and I must say it surprises me. Growing up, every girl in our part of Lancashire learned not to get caught alone by Welham. He was known for being a groping brute. He tried to do things to me, but luckily I’m better at standing up for myself than many girls.”
Kirkland’s gaze sharpened. “Interesting. Perhaps his bad behavior with females was to conceal his true preferences. Or he might like both genders.”
Gordon frowned. “If he liked both, he shouldn’t have to kill himself over it.”
“Perhaps he had become a drunk and it made him so unbalanced that in a moment of misery, he decided to end it all,” Callie suggested.
“That’s a possibility,” Kirkland agreed. “Another is that he was rumored to be on the verge of betrothing himself to a well-born and very wealthy young lady. Perhaps she changed her mind and that upset him badly. We may never know why or how he died. But like it or not, and it seems you don’t, the title and estate come to you.”
Gordon exhaled roughly. “I should have stayed in America and pretended I was dead. I’m sure my next younger brother, Eldon, would enjoy being Lord Kingston a great deal more than I will.”
The faint sound of a piano playing floated into the office and Kirkland cocked his head. “I need to go upstairs to the music room. Laurel and I planned to play several duets together. Did you bring a carriage? If not, would you like one of my people to drive you home now?”
“Thank you, but I’ll be fine. My brain is starting to work again.” Gordon sighed. “I suppose that the first step is to visit the family lawyer and tell him I’m alive. I don’t imagine I can just stay invisible and hope that no one notices me.”
“By this time, too many people know you’re alive. If you like, I can go with you to the lawyer’s office tomorrow morning to vouch for your identity in case there’s any question. Lady Kingston, I assume you’ll go with him?”
Callie looked blank. “Lady Kingston? My mind hasn’t moved that far!”
Gordon smiled a little. “I outrank you, Kirkland, since you’re a mere earl.”
