Gray watched as she slid into a narrow opening between two buildings.
Following, he kept to the shadows. Light from a streetlamp showed him a man was there, and the woman now concealed by his body.
He was about to leave, as surely it was just a liaison between a couple, likely a prostitute and client, when the man moved.
Not much shocked Gray these days, but seeing Olivia Nicholson did just that. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but by the man’s gesture, it was a heated exchange.
Gray slipped back out of the narrow opening but stayed close enough in case she needed help. He waited in the shadows.
Why was she here with that man? Surely she hadn’t been attending the theatre as the Nicholson family was in mourning?
Minutes later, the couple came out. Olivia Nicholson, with her hand pressed to her mouth, the man’s face a mask of despair. Without giving him another look, Olivia ran from him and down the road. The man just stood there watching her until she reached a hackney tucked in the shadows. Opening the door, she climbed inside.
Gray had learned to read people, and he knew when someone was distraught, and this man was that. Shoulders slumped, his eyes followed the hackney as it rolled away from them. He then turned and walked back to the theatre.
Gray followed and watched him go to the rear. He took something off the back of the cart and carried it into the theatre.
The game had suddenly changed again. Was Olivia Nicholson in fact involved in her brother’s death? He struggled with that but also knew he could discount nothing in this business.
He returned to the front and through the foyer. Running up the stairs, he reached the top. Gray was so deep in thought he bumped into a man.
“Watch out!”
“Apologies.” He retreated a step after nearly knocking him over. The man turned, and Gray bit back the curse.
“Grayson,” his father said, and it was only a name, but the tone was dripping with disdain. With him was Viscount Lester. The man who had broken his engagement to Ellen when the late Lord Seddon took his life.
Had she seen Lester?Was that why he’d thought her upset?
Gray knew men like these two. Belief that they were the best society could offer. Arrogant snobs who valued titles and wealth above all other traits. They both had lineages of power and wealth at their backs.
“Father.” He bowed.
“Why are you here?” his father demanded.
“I’m watching the play like you. However, unlike you, I am with friends and not my family.”
“Well, leave. It’s embarrassing that people are seeing my son. A detective!” He spat out the words.
“Your love warms me, father.” He looked to Lester. “Why does it not surprise me to find you with a man such as this one?”
“I saw you with her. You bring shame down on your family,” Lester snarled.
He controlled the surge of rage over this man acknowledging Ellen in such a disrespectful manner.
“Miss Nightingale and her family are worth ten of both of you. They are people who, through no fault of their own, were cast aside by society callously.”
“She is—”
“I will stop you right there, my lord,” Gray said in a hard voice. “I will not tolerate one word from you that is not dripping in compliments to Miss Nightingale or her family. They are my friends, and as such, I will not stand by and have them insulted by the likes of you.”
“I would expect the man you’ve become to keep company with such people,” his father shot back as he looked down his nose at Gray.
“Your son, do you mean?” Leo said the words, and Gray had not realized he was close until then. “An honorable man who earns an honest living, a concept I doubt either of you understand.”
“How dare you speak to us in such a manner, Lord Seddon!” Viscount Lester roared.
“How dare I.” Leo leaned into Lester, his face now inches from the man’s. “How dare you turn your back on my sister when she was at her most vulnerable.”
