Meg drew in a little breath, then turned and slipped from the room, leaving the two men alone.
James slung an arm around Graham’s shoulder. “Port?”
If Graham had been dull when Meg was around, now he grinned and the man James had known nearly all his life returned. “I’d prefer scotch, truth be told.”
“Scotch it is.” James laughed as they made their way down the hall to the billiard room. Once inside, James moved to the sideboard to make the drinks.
“Since we’re not rejoining Margaret, would you like a game?” Graham asked.
James nodded without looking at him. “We haven’t played in an age.”
He heard Graham placing the balls into position and turned to hand over a drink while Graham traded him for a cue. They each took a drink and set them aside before James said, “You first, mate.”
Graham put himself into position and took his shot. As he did so, he said, “What’s on your mind?”
James arched a brow. “On my mind?”
Graham straightened. “You have that look. I know that look.”
James rolled his eyes. “You and Meg aren’t married yet. Can’t pull the concerned older brother act yet.”
“Why not? I’ve been doing it over ten years already.”
James half-grinned as he took his own shot, his ball striking both Graham’s cue and the red ball. “Canon,” he said softly.
“I saw it,” Graham responded with a slight annoyance to his tone. He had always been competitive. It was why Simon didn’t play with him anymore. “So what’s the problem?”
James leaned his cue against the edge of the table and sighed. “Has Meg spoken much to you about this Emma Liston we were discussing at supper?”
Graham froze, leaning over the table for his shot. “In truth, Meg and I don’t speak about much at all.”
For a moment, James’s focus on Emma faded and he stared at his friend. “Is there something wrong between you two?”
Graham took his shot, but he hit it too hard and it banked off the edge of the table and missed both his targets. He let out a low curse before he straightened up and glared at James.
“Of course not,” he snapped. “Everything is fine.”
“Fine,” James repeated slowly.
Graham nodded. “Of course, we’re planning a wedding, aren’t we? And we’ve been friends for years. It’s a good match, we both know it.”
James wrinkled his brow. Neither Meg nor Graham seemed very pleased about their position, which wasn’t what he’d ever intended when he suggested the engagement so very long ago.
“Graham—” he began.
“You asked about Miss Liston,” Graham interrupted, turning his back so that it was clear the other subject was closed. “Why so interested in her?”
James pressed his lips together. For now, he would let the topic of the engagement go, but he made note to talk to Meg about it, for she might be more open. “She helped Meg and me with a…situation with Mother at the Rockford ball last week.”
Graham turned and his eyes were now filled with concern. “A situation. Was she…”
James nodded. “Very. She’s been having a rough go of it as of late. A few days ago at Meg’s party and again tonight, which is why she didn’t join us.”
Graham shook his head slowly. There were few people who knew the full ramifications of Lady Abernathe’s issues with drink. Graham was one of them, Simon another…and now Emma Liston.
Funny how Emma didn’t seem out of place in that intimate list of his closest friends. Even though he hardly knew the girl at all.
“Emma Liston is a wallflower,” Graham said, his voice becoming sharper, more business-like. “Her grandfather is a viscount. He and my father were cronies, which does nothing to recommend the man, as you know.Herfather is estranged. A bad egg, as they say.”
