‘I wasn’t sneaking. We were discussing business,’ Sebastian said.
His brother raised an eyebrow. ‘What business?’
It was on the tip of his tongue to confide in his brother, but Harry Dempster interrupted them.
‘There you are, Alder. Did I hear my sister inveigling you to London?’ Harry said.
Sebastian smiled. ‘Your sister is a difficult woman to resist, Dempster.’
‘As indeed is yours. You never told me that Miss Alder was such a beauty.’
Something in Harry’s tone and the raised eyebrows disquieted Sebastian. Even when they had served together, Harry had a reputation for womanising that was the scandal of the regiment.
‘I thought your taste was for married women, Dempster.’
Harry smiled. ‘Indeed, they tend to be far less trouble.’ He turned to Matt. ‘We haven’t met. Harry Dempster, an old comrade-in-arms to Lord Somerton. You must be Alder’s brother.’
‘Colonel Dempster?’ Matt cast Sebastian a quick glance for affirmation.
‘The same. My apologies for my absence. I had business in London, Alder. Anything of interest happen while I was gone?’
‘Just the arrival of my brother and sister,’ Sebastian smiled.
Matt drifted away to partner a pretty girl in a blue dress, and the two men wandered back into the gaming room, where Freddy had now accumulated quite a purse.
‘Never play cards with Lynch,’ Harry said in a low voice.
‘So your sister has warned me.’
‘He’s clever enough not to win all the time, but it looks like he has excelled himself tonight.’
‘Hopefully he is saving to leave Brantstone,’ Sebastian remarked drily.
‘If you’ll excuse me, I might join that other table,’ Harry said. ‘What about you?’
Sebastian shook his head. ‘I don’t gamble.’
‘I forgot. Something about your vicarage upbringing?’
‘No, more to do with years of not having the means, Dempster. The only opinion my stepfather ever voiced on the subject was to say, “Don’t gamble with money you can’t afford to lose” and I never had any money I could afford to lose.’
‘Sound advice,’ Harry said and drifted away towards a table of gentlemen engaged in a game of Commerce.
Sebastian accepted a glass from a passing footman and stood back in the shadows, watching Freddy. He wondered if he was imagining it, but it seemed to him that Freddy played with an air of desperation, as if he needed to win above everything. He made a mental note to enquire of Bragge how far the investigation into Freddy’s past had advanced.
In the coachreturning to Brantstone, Sebastian tried to ignore Fanny’s incessant babble about the evening. He lapsed into a reverie as he recalled the interesting conversation with Lady Kendall and tried to reconcile Anthony’s deadly secret with the public man.
‘ ... And then, of course, your friend, Colonel Dempster...’ Fanny said, nudging Sebastian.
At the mention of his friend’s name, Sebastian turned to look at her.
‘What about him?’
‘He is quite charming, cousin Sebastian. Didn’t you noticehow he escorted me into supper and ensured I had everything I needed?’
‘This Dempster, does he have expectations, cousin?’ Freddy asked from his shadowed corner of the coach.
‘Expectations?’ Sebastian enquired. ‘What do you mean?’
