Jeremy let out a low whistle and turned to his brother. “Thought you could keep me ignorant of this one, I see.”
“No.” Noble did not look up. “I thought you should finish Cambridge. Why are you here, Jeremy?”
“Charlie told me you were here working on a new case. Thought I would drop by and see if you needed help.”
Noble finally looked up, the same exasperation and fondness in his voice present on his face. He looked…transformed. Like a human instead of something otherworldly and untouchable.
“No. Now go back to school.”
“We’re on break, remember?” He happily cut a piece of bread, his smile never dimming.
“So go bother your friends and get in trouble in Mayfair.”
“Done that plenty. I’m here to help you now.”
“I don’t need your help.” His eyes narrowed and he looked more like the Noble she knew. “Go home for break.”
Marietta shivered at his frosty tone, but Jeremy just looked amused. He glanced at Marietta. “Do you fall for that? All bark.”
He swiped a piece of bread into his soup bowl. “Why would I go home? Much better food here.”
“Can’t you get Mrs. Rosaire to cook for you there?” she asked, interrupting their banter.
Jeremy blinked at her for a second, then a slow smile crossed his face. It was just like his brother’s, but where Noble’s devastated her, Jeremy’s just made her feel like a co-conspirator. “Is that what—”
Noble made a sharp motion with his free hand and continued writing. Jeremy just looked amused.
“Is that what?” she asked.
Jeremy shook his head. “So, Miss Winters, may I call you Marietta?”
She could feel her eyebrows shoot straight up. But he was so earnest looking and compelling. Yes, these two were both trouble. She shuddered to imagine them together against an opponent. “Yes.”
“Excellent. Please call me Jeremy.”
“Now that introductions are out of the way, be on yours, Jeremy,” Noble said. She wondered what he was writing.
“Oh, no, no. This looks like much too much fun.”
Noble gripped his pen a fraction tighter. “We are going to Alcroft’s tonight. Another masquerade. You have an invitation. After that I expect only to see you at home.”
“I got straight marks this term.”
She could see a smile tugging at Noble’s mouth, but when he looked up he was impassive. “I expected no less, now be off.”
Jeremy smiled and gave her a wave. “I’ll see you both tonight.”
She waited until Jeremy’s footsteps receded. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“Now you do.” He continued writing.
“Do you have any other siblings?”
“No.”
“Parents?”
“I didn’t crawl out of Hell, if that is what you are asking.”
