Worse, he felt like Simon might be right.
He entered the house and Grimble rushed to greet him. The butler’s face was pale and he looked apologetic. James steeled himself for whatever trouble had been caused by whichever houseguest.
“I hear you’ve been looking for me, Grimble,” he said, forcing his tone to be even as he shrugged from his heavier outer coat and handed it off to the servant.
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry to disturb you with this, sir. I had no idea what else to do.”
James wrinkled his brow. Grimble was normally cool as anything, but his stammering words and sweaty brow put James on high alert.
“I’m certain whatever it is that has happened, we can work it out. Tell me what’s amiss,” he said, making his tone calmer to reassure the man.
Grimble clenched his hands together in front of him. “We have an arrival, Your Grace. And he was insistent he must join the party. It took everything in me to convince him he must wait for your approval. But he’sveryloud, sir, and increasingly demanding, and I—”
James held up a hand to stay Grimble. “Who?” he asked. “You said an arrival, but we are certainly not expecting anyone else at the party. So, who is it who has intruded?”
“Mr. Harold Liston, sir,” Grimble ground out.
James straightened at the name. His lips parted in surprise. “Miss Emma Liston’s father?” he breathed.
Grimble nodded once. “Yes.”
“Do Mrs. Liston or Miss Liston know that he has arrived?” he asked, thinking of Emma’s quiet confession on the dancefloor, of her palpable fear when she talked of this very man not twelve hours before.
Grimble swallowed hard before he said, “It is still very early and I did not think they’d yet be up, sir. Though Mr. Liston was demanding he and his trunks simply be taken to his wife’s chamber.”
James ran a hand through his hair. “It would give the woman an apoplexy. But they must be told. Have someone go up and fetch them. I assume Mr. Liston has been put in a parlor?”
“Yes, sir,” Grimble answered.
“Good, then he isn’t roaming the house. So have the Liston women brought there as soon as they are able. The servant sent does not have to say that Mr. Liston is here. Have the person who escorts them knock twice and I will join them in the hall and tell them this news myself.”
Grimble didn’t seem at all surprised by this strange directive. He simply nodded. “I shall, sir. What else can I do?”
“Just tell me where Liston is,” he said.
“The blue room.”
James strode off from him without another word, down the long, twisting hall until he reached the blue room. Even before he got there, he heard the intruder inside, moving around and talking very loudly to himself.
James set his shoulders back and pushed open the door. As he did so, a man turned from the fireplace and looked at him. James could see the resemblance right away. Emma had inherited those eyes from her father, though Liston’s were not as alive nor as kind as his daughter’s.
“The Duke of Abernathe,” Liston said, the slight slur to his words telling James that the man was drunk despite the early hour.
Of course, James wasn’t one to judge. His own mother was likely still in her stupor, as well. But then, she hadn’t intruded upon a private party, nor was she threatening anyone at present, unlike James’s unwanted houseguest.
“You should fire that butler of yours,” Liston continued. “Rude bastard. He wouldn’t allow me up to see my own wife.”
James lifted his chin. “You have no quarrel with my butler. Grimble has done exactly as I would wish him to do. As you were not on the guest list for our party, he was not about to give you access to the home or our guests until I had approved it.”
Liston straightened up and glared at him. “So I must gain your approval, then, boy?”
James’s nostrils flared and he moved forward a long step. “Do not forget yourself, sir, nor the disparity of our rank. I am the Duke of Abernathe and I shall be treated as such, or you shall be removed in a matter that you won’t find comfortable.”
Liston seemed to consider that statement and inclined his head. “Certainly, Your Grace. I apologize for my rudeness. I have just been made to wait for over half an hour and I would only like to see my family.”
James clenched his hands at his sides. Liston was doing what he could to make himself look good. James knew better what the truth of him was.
“Mrs. Liston and your daughter will join us shortly,” he said softly. “But as they are guests in my home, I am responsible for them. I must ascertain what your intentions are in coming here.”
