“Hello, Nightingale.”
Bram put down his cue before he did something he would regret as Jackson Haldane walked into the room. The man had always made him feel irrational and angry.
“You left before I could greet you properly.”
“I don’t believe we have anything to say to each other, Haldane.”
He’d hated this man, and the feeling had been mutual.
Bram had been like any other young man during the season. He’d gambled, drunk too much, and had several other vices. But Haldane had taken everything to the extreme. He’d also wanted to beat Bram at everything he did. It had started in school when Bram had often bested him and had grown from there.
“I would like a word with you, Nightingale. I just want to clear things up. We never had a chance four years ago, as you left England. Now you are back, we shall obviously be seeing each other during the season.”
“We have nothing to say to each other.”
“You’re not still holding a grudge, are you?” Haldane laughed, but it did not reach his eyes. He was nervous. Good, he deserved to be more than nervous.
“A grudge?” Bram knew what he spoke of. He’d put it from his mind after leaving England, but he remembered now. He also knew why Ivy had reacted to seeing Haldane as she had.
A note had arrived for him at the Belton musicale four years ago stating his brother wished to speak with him urgently in a parlor. Opening the door, he’d found Haldane with a woman in his arms and a smug look on his face.
Bram had said something like, what is the meaning of this? Haldane had simply said “a bet is a bet. I win, as I have kissed—”
He hadn’t finished the words, as Bram had advanced. He’d told the woman to leave and kept his eyes on Haldane. She had scurried from the room. He knew now that woman had been Ivy. Then, he’d not focused on her, only on punishing Haldane but of course it had to be her. Timms had spoken of the bet earlier.
“For that night when I won the bet.”
“I don’t know about any bet, Haldane. I know that you were going to ruin that young lady’s reputation if anyone but I had arrived. I then ensured you told no one that you and she had been alone in that room.” He was pleased to see Haldane’s nose was still crooked from his fist.
“Look. I’d been drinking—”
“I drink. I don’t take advantage of women to win a bet while doing so,” Bram snapped.
“Miss Birdwhistle had been throwing me come-hither looks since she stepped foot in—”
“That is a lie.” Bram felt a sudden roaring in his ears. “She would not do such a thing.”
Ivy was the woman in that room.
“Of course she did. She wanted a match, and I would do. Since your untimely intervention she has shown no malice toward me for it. Indeed, it’s my thinking that she actually enjoyed my attentions, considering what she has become. It was a chaste kiss to win a bet, Nightingale. Shall we move on?”
Haldane’s mistake was in thinking Bram would agree. He didn’t. In fact, rage had him drawing back his fist and letting it fly. He caught Jackson Haldane on the jaw and sent him reeling.
“No, Bram!” David roared and grabbed his arm. He shook his cousin free.
“You,” he pointed down at Haldane, “better be gone by the time I return. Is that clear?”
“Your brother—”
“I said, is that clear!”
“I will see it done, Bram,” David said. “Leave the house now. I will sort it.”
“What is going on here?” Malcolm stomped into the room. “Back a day and already causing trouble, Bramstone.”
“Your guest”—Bram spat out the word—“took advantage of a young woman. I am sure you wish him to leave Nightingale Hall at once?”
Malcolm’s eyes went from Bram to Haldane, who was now standing.
