Eventually the meal came to its end and the parties rose, talking and laughing as they moved off to their post-supper enjoyments. The men would go take port and play a round of billiards. The ladies were meant for sherry and cards. Selina linked arms with the Duchess of Crestwood and they walked together, while Derrick found Barber and fell in beside his friend and partner.
“Find out anything of interest?” Barber asked.
Derrick pursed his lips, trying not to be distracted by the twitch of Selina’s hips beneath that gown. “Not really. I tried to make some headway with Grimes, but he didn’t seem in the mood to talk. Apparently my serving in the army with the duke’s bastard brother doesn’t elevate me to the status of one worthy of polite conversation.”
Barber let out his breath slowly. “Well, some will judge us. We knew that when we came.”
“Aye,” Derrick muttered.
“It seemed you were getting on well with Miss Oliver,” Barber suggested, dropping his voice.
Derrick stared straight ahead for a moment, then allowed himself to look at Barber as they entered the billiards room. Roseford was pouring the port for his friends, his face bright with pleasure as he moved like a honeybee from flower to flower.
Somehow Derrick didn’t think he’d have the same expression if his host knew Derrick’s inappropriate thoughts about Selina.
He cleared his throat. “She is a friendly enough woman.”
“Hmmm,” Barber murmured, and Derrick knew the tone. The men had been friends long enough to call each other on their nonsense. He waited for Barber to do so, but they were interrupted as Roseford reached them with his port.
“This is a thirty-year port,” Roseford said as he handed over a glass of the rich liquid to each man. “My father would hate that we’ve opened it and so I do it with glee. Enjoy, gentlemen.”
As Roseford flitted off to his next guest, Barber sipped the wine. “Oh, that is good. A fine flavor.” Then he turned to Derrick and held his gaze for a moment. “Be careful, mate.”
Derrick gripped his glass a fraction tighter. He knew what Barber was referring to, who he meant when he made that admonishment. But he shrugged. “I’m always careful. The job is to be careful, isn’t it?”
“Except when it isn’t,” Barber said with a smile at the quip they liked to make to each other. “Only I’m not talking about the job. You don’t often show your thoughts on your face, Huntington. It makes you excellent at what we do. But tonight, for a moment, I saw those thoughts when you were talking to Miss Oliver. Who can blame you? She’s a great beauty and seems to have an…interesting set of beliefs when it comes to life, if the rumors are to be believed.”
“Well, I’m not here for whatever you think you saw,” Derrick said through gritted teeth. “So it doesn’t really matter in the end, does it?” Before Barber could respond, Derrick leaned forward and tapped his glass against his friend’s. “To the case.”
Barber held his gaze for a moment, then nodded. “To the case. May we find our Fox swiftly and collect our blunt with pride.”
Derrick laughed, and then they were approached by some of Roseford’s friends, so they were not able to speak on the subject of that case, or of Selina, any longer. A good thing, perhaps, because Barber’s advice was still ringing in Derrick’s ears.
Be careful.
Yes, that was exactly what he should do. Only he wasn’t feeling careful, not when it came to Selina. He was feeling something else entirely.
And he needed to push past that and forget about it before it disrupted not only his case, but his life and the control he had cultivated in every corner of it.
Chapter 5
Because the weather was divine, the next day Selina found herself out on the expansive lawn watching her brother’s friends play what she assumed they believed was a rousing game of bowls. At present Robert’s ball was closest to the jack and he was crowing about it rather mercilessly, to the great amusement of his friends.
She had never been a fan of bowls. In truth, she never felt fully comfortable with these sorts of games. Her life had not required she learn about them until she was much older and trying to pretend to fit in, rather like she was doing now. So none came naturally. Give her a deck of cards and she could dazzle anyone, and probably end up with their money in her reticule, too.
But roll a ball down a green with any skill?Thatfelt foreign.
Vale stepped up beside her, the perfect image of a companion if ever there had been. Only Vale had slept long into the morning and certainly hadn’t helped with hair or clothing. The act of companion was just that…an act. Not that Selina expected more. She’d learned to take care of herself long ago and preferred it, truth be told. If one depended on someone else, they would surely be let down.
“Well, you did not lie,” Vale said. “Derrick Huntington is, indeed, a very handsome man.”
Selina jerked at the statement, for it forced her attention back to the man she’d been trying to avoid for the past day: Huntington. God, even when she just thought his name in her head, it was a drawn out purr of every syllable. He stood on the opposite side of the lawn, observing the game just as she was, not participating. Unlike his partner. Mr. Barber seemed to be enjoying himself very much, as he stood watching the game, speaking to the Dukes of Crestwood and Sheffield intently.
“I’m afraid he is, indeed, intolerably good looking,” Selina said with a theatrically sad shake of her head. “It’s almost unfair. I mean, that jawline. It’s practically poetry.”
Vale chuckled. “I won’t argue that point. He’s very well favored. But…is he competent?Thatis the real question.”
Selina sighed. She had spoken to Huntington twice and neither time had she been able to fully question him, drill into his mind. To have done so either in the library or in the dining room would have only sparked his suspicions. However, there was still a clear answer to the query. One the man carried as easily as his broad shoulders or his dark, annoyingly soulful eyes.
