Joyful glared at her. “It ain’t right.”
“I promise,” she said. “We will do nothing beyond the pale. The way we feel about each other right now, you might return to find us both dead, but we will not be compromised.”
With one eloquent glare at Beau, Joyful complied. It occurred to Pip as she waited for her friend to leave that she was feeling calmer than she had for the last twenty-four hours. Was this what it felt to have the upper hand, she wondered. Because for at least these few minutes, she did. It wasn’t a familiar feeling. Not at all.
The door clicked shut and Beau turned to her. “Brat…”
She shook her head. “Me first.”
Rather than continuing to crane her neck, she walked over and took the other
armchair, waving Beau back down. He looked even more thunderous, but he sat.
“Well?” he demanded. “Why would you act like a sneak thief in another
woman’s room? Tell me you weren’t planning some kind of petty revenge. I won’t have it, Brat.”
She sighed, rubbing at the headache that had been building since she’d battled the dust underneath that bed. She’d have to tell the duchess, she was afraid.
First, she had to deal with Beau. “You can finally be done with calling me Brat, I think. By now I hope you know that I have the plans from the library, which you could have asked for any time in the last twenty-four hours. Well…” She gave that little dismissive wave again. “Ihadthem.”
He looked, if anything, more thunderous. “What do you mean,hadthem?”
“Have a little patience.”
“Are you finally going to explain?”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you finally going to listen?”
He scowled. “This isn’t a game, Pip.”
She laughed again, a harsh rueful sound. “Considering the fact that this marriage is probably the worst thing that could happen to me, believe me, Beau, I know. I believe I am learning not to be quite so impulsive about my thoughtful gestures.”
He straightened, his frown impressive. “What do you mean by that? You’ve wanted this marriage since you were ten.”
“Wanted marriage to a man who will begin our life together resentful of me and only grow more so over the years? Who would have complete control over me, and is already thinking of ways to punish me? How quickly were you thinking of dropping me at Delamere with your aunt and uncle, Beau? Were you going to wait at least a week before taking up with Pamela again? After all, you seemed to not be able to forego her on the night before our wedding.”
He looked away. “You don’t understand.”
“No, I imagine I don’t. So let me just answer your questions and we can both find our beds. In a few hours we shall be very busy.”
Beau considered her for a moment, his head tilted as if he were gathering input. “You aren’t acting at all like yourself.”
“Maybe you didn’t know me as well as you thought. Although how, I don’t know. I have been under your nose since I was three. Now, do you want to know about Pamela?”
“You mean you weren’t planting a booby trap for her?”
She considered him for a moment. “You really don’t know me, do you?” With a sigh, she reached into her bodice for the papers and held them up. “I was searching for the real plans. The ones you copied in the library were fake. They were left there as a trap to draw out the spy at the house party. That being you, of course. The real plans were left in Pamela’s room. I’m not certain who was to pick them up.”
“That’s absurd.”
“It may be. But it is true. I heard two men talking about it out on the balcony earlier in the evening. I tried to catch you alone to warn you, but Pamela was attached like a limpet.” Standing up, she tried to pass over the papers. “By the way, who is the silver-haired man?”
Beaux followed to his feet. “Lord Burke?”
She nodded. “He was the one giving the orders.”
That stopped Beaux cold, his hand still inches from the evidence. “Don’t be ridiculous, Pip. He’s a member of the Privy Council.”
