“Do you two feelanyconnection toward each other?” Gray asked. His brother seemed surprised at that question and drew back a fraction. When he didn’t answer immediately, Gray moved closer. “I only ask because despite my feelings regarding Miss Fitzgilbert, one cannot deny she has a certain beauty. Though I think her sister is far prettier.”
Lucien’s gaze narrowed. “Celia is lovely. No one could state otherwise.”
Gray watched his brother’s face. There was no passion there, hardly even the barest interest, despite his claim of his fiancée’s loveliness.
“I hear told from both Mrs. Wilde and Felicity that Miss Fitzgilbert is also clever.”
“Indeed, she is that.” Lucien’s lips pursed and he folded his arms. “What the hell are you about, Gray? Are you trying to convince me of Celia’s better attributes now? What happened to warning me off?”
Gray put his hands behind his back and widened his stance. “I only want you to see that when you speak of her, when you speaktoher, there seems to be no connection. You could be talking about a stranger with as much passion as is in your voice when you mention Celia.”
“And your point in all this?”
“Don’t youwanther?” Gray asked. “Isn’t there some part of you that craves touching her? And if the answer to that is no, doesn’t that make you question the success of this union?”
Lucien shook his head. “I’m not about to walk around here with a cockstand for my future wife. This is a ludicrous conversation and I refuse to have it. Celia and I will wed, this is the end of it.”
He was going to walk out, Gray could see that. The topic of desire had done nothing except make him think of Rosalinde and the heated longing she inspired in him. But it also made him think about her confessions to him in the garden. And her grandfather’s unintentional words earlier.
“Look into their father,” Gray said.
Lucien had already passed him, but now he stopped in the doorway, posture stiff. He didn’t turn. “I beg your pardon?”
“Celia and Rosalinde’s father. He’s a mystery. And I have heard implications that he may not have been entirely proper. Look into it.”
Lucien faced him now. His older brother’s mouth was drawn down into a deep frown. Unmasked disappointment was slashed over his face and Gray flinched at the sight of it. It cut like a knife and filled his every pore with deep regret. He’d rarely ever seen such judgment in Lucien’s eyes. Such censure.
“You would truly sink so low?” Lucien asked, his voice barely carrying in the quiet room.
“To protect you?” Gray jerked out a nod. “I feel I must do so if you are unwilling to protect yourself. I’ve already set the wheels in motion to do so. When Folly arrives tomorrow, he will likely bring a packet from my investigator on that very subject.”
“You involved Folworth in this?” Lucien’s expression darkened further. “When?”
“I don’t know. A month or more ago. And before I left London, I asked him to collect the investigator’s information before he and Marina came.”
“You are a bastard, to put him in the middle of your inquiries. To make the inquiries at all is bad enough,” Lucian spat.
Gray flinched. It wasn’t as if he liked doing this. “Folly is not in the middle. I mentioned my concerns and asked him to do me this favor. He doesn’t know what the packet contains, but even if he opened it, which he won’t, I doubt there is anyone either of us trusts more. He’s an old friend and one who understands the stakes.”
Lucien’s cheeks reddened slightly, and Gray knew he was thinking of that terrible night on the terrace too. “And what good do you think it will do?” his brother croaked.
“You are protecting our name, not just rebuilding it,” Gray said. “If there is something in those notes that will threaten that name, I would assume you will at least have toconsiderchanging your plans.”
Stenfax shifted and a great exhaustion crossed his face. Gray frowned at the sight of it. His brother looked not just annoyed, but truly troubled.
“Lucien—” he began.
His brother lifted a hand to stop him. “Enough. You want me to look at evidence you collect, I will. But I make you no promises. You need to stop this foolishness, Grayson. Before you do something that cannot be undone.”
He said nothing else, but strode from the room. Gray watched him go and sighed. “Lucien, that’s exactly the mistake I’m trying to keep you from making.”
Rosalinde took a long breath and forced her gaze away from Gray’s. He sat at the opposite end of the table from her, next to his mother and sister. Of course, he had been stealing glances her way all through supper, but that was no reason to ogle him.
Especially since each time she did so, she saw Celia stiffen slightly up the table. Her sister had hardly spoken to her since her revelation of their affair earlier in the day, but Rosalinde could tell she was deeply troubled.
She forced her attention to the man at her side. Lord Stenfax had been an extremely quiet companion for nearly an hour. Even now he had a faraway expression, like he was lost in thought.
Rosalinde observed him while he was distracted. He was a well-favored man. Not as hard as Gray, nor as intense, but with handsome features. There was a slight sadness around his eyes and in the downward turn on his lips. She could well see why he had been considered such a catch, despite his family’s financial issues.
