Gabriel couldn’t help the shudder of relief that racked him.Dom was all right.He’d made it through.Across the table, Uncle Roman’s gray eyes met his, and for a single instant they were in perfect harmony.
“That will be all, Spofford,” Gabriel said lightly.“You may show Mr.Bridges to the kitchen and give him some supper, if he likes.”
Gabriel took a sip of port.The heavy sweetness of it lingered on his tongue, as sweet as the taste of victory that lasted until Fitz said, with his characteristic air of earnest foolishness, “Well, isn’t that a turnup for the books?Do you know, Sir Colin, Lady Lucy mentioned earlier today that you had a wild theory about The Gentle Rogue and who he might be.Care to share it with the rest of us?”
Biting back a grin, Gabriel silently begged his friend’s pardon.It never paid to underestimate Fitz.He always knew more about what was going on than he seemed.And now, with one seemingly innocent question, he’d forced the issue into the open.
Sir Colin would have to admit, before witnesses, that Gabriel could not be The Gentle Rogue.
He transferred his attention to the agent of the Crown, expecting him to look furious or befuddled or frustrated or even blank, as he’d looked all evening.
But no.Gabriel’s heart constricted oddly at the faint air of satisfaction that emanated from Sir Colin.
“I do have a theory,” he said, eyes gleaming.“And tonight has convinced me, as never before, that I am correct.”
“What do you mean?”Uncle Roman demanded.
“You know what I mean,” Sir Colin said, a hint of reproof coloring his tone.“You participated in tonight’s theatrics.I commend you, by the by.I would not have taken you for an actor.”
“How dare you, sir?”Truly, no one did frosty superiority like Uncle Roman.
“I dare because I am the king’s man,” Sir Colin replied placidly.“I bear his sigil.I speak with his voice.And with all the authority vested in me by His Majesty, King George: Gabriel de Vere, Duke of Thornecliff, you are under arrest.”
The room erupted.
“I say,” cried Fitz, sticking his elbow in the butter dish in his agitation.
“That’s absurd,” laughed Gabriel.
But it was Uncle Roman’s bellow of, “Over my dead body,” that brought the proceedings to a standstill.
Strangely warmed by the show of support, Gabriel focused on Sir Colin.Who, it must be said, looked only slightly shaken by Roman’s fire-breathing fury.One had to give the man credit for not being a coward, though Gabriel was starting to think he might be a simpleton.
“Leaving aside the fact that it is, on the face of it, ludicrous to accuse a duke of robbing people for petty change and trinkets,” Gabriel said, arching a brow, “how on earth do you make out that I could have robbed anyone this evening?I was here, with you, the entire time.”
“Yes,” Sir Colin agreed.“But your cousin, Mr.Dominic de Vere, was not.”
Fuck.
“My cousin and I are estranged,” Gabriel said carefully.“As you seem to already know.What would make you expect him to be here?”
Sir Colin held up one finger.“You and your uncle are also supposed to be estranged, yet here he is.”He held up a second finger.“And I saw Mr.de Vere yesterday at The Prancing Pony, conversing with your betrothed, Lady Lucy Lively.They seemed on friendly enough terms to merit the favor of an invitation to dine tonight…or perhaps, for your cousin to do you a different sort of favor.”
A sensation overtook Gabriel like having a sack flung over his head, suffocating and instantaneous blackness.“You’re mad.”
“Am I?”Sir Colin tutted.“I’m not the one who asked my cousin to dress up in my highwayman costume to rob innocents along the Bath Road to establish my own alibi.Your Grace.”
Fitz cried, “Preposterous!”as seawater flooded Gabriel’s mouth and lungs, choking him, but his hands were tied.He was going to drown.Stars burst behind his eyelids.
It was all over.They’d failed.
Gabriel was going to hang for crimes he couldn’t even remember committing.
A tap at the door broke into the stifling, silent staring contest between Gabriel and Sir Colin.The agent of the Crown glanced quickly at the doorway, then did a double take, his eyes going wide and shocked.
Feeling as though he was moving through molasses, Gabriel turned slowly to see Dominic stroll into the dining room, impeccably attired in a well-cut suit, not a hair out of place.
He certainly didn’t look as though he’d been riding hell for leather over hill and dale for the past two hours.
