Perhaps Michael was not as villainous as some involved, but he was complicit because he’d known and done nothing to stop the beatings and torture. Therefore, he would always be the enemy as far as Toby was concerned.
“Yes, well, it is not everyone who can do something as physical as fencing, Michael,” Jamie said.
“Indeed, there is a certain set of skills required, and not everyone can master them,” Anthony added.
Michael’s eyes narrowed at the deliberate insults.
“Indeed, I believe gambling is more your thing?” Toby added.
“And chess,” Anthony said. “Not as stressful on the heart.”
It was rare they came out and deliberately annoyed someone from their time at Blackwood, but that did not mean they hadn’t sought revenge. In fact, they had. Calculated and deliberate, they had gone after those who had harmed them in subtle ways that would never lead back to the three of them.
“I can fence quite admirably,” Michael protested, his pleasant expression slipping slightly. “I just do not have the time to do so right now.”
“Of course you don’t.” Toby sounded smug. “Don’t let us hold you up.”
“Good day,” Lord Michael said with a stiff bow.
“Rat-faced bastard,” Toby muttered after the man had left.
“You know, we’ve never really looked into his affairs. The man appears to keep his nose clean, and I’ve not heard his name linked to any business dealings. Perhaps it’s time we dug deeper?” Anthony said.
“Agreed,” both Jamie and Toby added.
Jamie wandered off to do more stretches and Anthony to speak with someone else, and Toby moved to watch two more fencers do battle. He stood behind a group of men he wasn’t well acquainted with but they were on nodding terms.
“I’ll court her because she’d come with a title and wealth, butthere are others I’d prefer,” one was saying.
“Oh indeed. Miss Little is exquisite, and it won’t be a hardship to take her to bed, but she’s not going to come with as much money as others.”
“Close your eyes when doing the deed, Bilcoe.”
This caused raucous laughter among the three men. Toby didn’t think he’d ever been like that… hoped he and his friends had never discussed a woman as if she were a commodity to acquire. Yet, he knew that was the way of things. A woman in society had one role. To marry and marry well. But he would not have that expectation for Florence, Toby vowed. He would see her happy in whatever choice she made. There would be no marriage to a man just because it was expected of her.
“Not that I’ve seen them, you understand, but I believe she has nice breasts. It’s the hair that worries me,” one of the men said.
“Indeed. It suggests a fiery temperament even if there has been no evidence of one.”
“Still, a duke’s daughter is not to be sneezed at, even if she is a little long in the tooth.”
Toby pushed upright off the wall, as he went through all the duke’s daughters currently in London. There were only two. One who fitted the hair comment.
“I saw her limping once. I wonder if there is an issue with her limbs.”
“She squints too.”
“Late to society and still unwed. You have to wonder why?”
“If the hair is a problem, you could just make her wear her bonnets all the time, even in the bedroom.”
That anyone would not love Liberty’s hair enraged Toby. It further enraged him they spoke of her limping as if it was a fault. The squinting too, all of which had come about due to her accident Edward had said.
“I shall have to give it some thought. The money and title would be welcome, but I’m unsure I could spend the rest of my life with her.”
“You’ll have a mistress, so once you have an heir, you need never lay with her again.”
The rage was swift and fierce and robbed Toby of his sanity. He stayed where he was behind them, attempting to calm down. It didn’t work, which was something else that seemed to have changed inside him recently. His emotions flared out of control with ease, especially if there was a threat or insult to someone he cared about.
