“Lord Quinn will be with you shortly, my lord,” the butler said.
Luckily, it was not too early to start drinking. No one would have blamed him for adopting the standards of a dedicated debauchee and drinking directly after reading the tattle hours ago, and not stopping.
Matthew wasn’t one of those. Nonetheless, his reputation, careless actions, and poor judgment had got him deep in the suds. And even though he and Purity had been partaking of a relatively tame act compared to some things he’d done in a garden, his fiancée was going to pay for his previous behavior. She would be held up as yet another in a long line, which simply wasn’t the case.
“A glass of your employer’s claret, please,” he asked Quinn’s butler before the man disappeared to tell him he was waiting.
Ten minutes later, glass in hand, Matthew was still brooding over having made an enemy of Lady Varley, while wondering what he’d ever done to harm her husband.
“Here I am,” Quinn announced unnecessarily as he entered, already holding his own glass of wine in one hand and a full decanter in the other. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I assume I look presentable for having hurried with my toilette.”
Matthew rolled his eyes. “I could not give a fig how you look. Did you see the paper today?”
“I did, which is why I’ll forgive you for coming over uninvited and demanding my best claret.”
Matthew wasn’t in the mood for his friend’s teasing, but since he was about to be in a group, he would need to change his disposition.
“Do you know, I think nothing would have ever shown up inThe Timesif I hadn’t rebuffed Lady Varley. She paid me a visit recently.”
“Do tell,” Quinn said. “The former Lady Tupmoure sought you out at home, did she?”
Matthew nodded. “I told her I wasn’t interested in taking up with her.”
Quinn winced. “Why would you be? Purity is a true diamond, and Lady Varley is more like a colorful paste gem. Regardless, women don’t like to hear the truth. If I were you, I would have mixed giblets with her, clothing on if you were in a hurry, and sent her on her way with a smile.”
“I didn’t want her, clothing on or off.”
“Youcannotbe the Fox,” Quinn said.
“I am no longer the Fox,” Matthew agreed. “I am an engaged man, and damn lucky to boot having made an agreement with Lord Diamond. This type of public cackle could certainly sour a father on giving away his daughter. I can only hope it hasn’t sconced the engagement.”
“Lord Diamond knew whom he was accepting as his son-in-law. He doesn’t seem the type to get ruffled.”
Matthew hoped Quinn was correct, but his anger still swirled inside.
“The next time I see Varley, I am going to call him out.”
“No,” Quinn said, pouring them both another glass, “you’re not. I imagine you’d name me as your second, and I hate the sight of blood. Besides, you could be killed or kill the man. How will either help? You cannot leave your lady alone to face anyscorn that may come from the titillating column while you go to meet your maker or to languish at Newgate.”
Quinn was right, but that didn’t stop Matthew from imagining what he might do the next time he spotted his sandy-haired nemesis. Surely, no one would blame him for landing a nosegay or even a full floorer.
“Didn’t you have something to do with Varley’s engagement splintering so fabulously a week before he was to wed the fortune of his dreams?”
Quinn’s words filtered into Matthew’s savage thoughts.
“I did not! As I understand it, the fortune-in-question caught him enjoying himself more than any man should in a cupboard. What has that to do with me?”
“I am not friends with Varley, you understand,” Quinn said, “but when you went to the Continent, he was at the club telling everyone how you had caused his ruin. He was drunk as David’s sow, sucking the monkey for a fortnight straight before he sobered up. Most of us assumed you’d done your usual prank and taken the fun out of his wedding night before he could get the bride to bed.”
Matthew heard this with growing horror. “None of that is right. I did no such thing. I can barely recall Varley’s blasted fiancée.”
“Lady Penelope Cadmium. My sister knows her.”
“Well, bully for your sister, but I’ve never laid eyes on this Cadmium woman. Why would Varley blame me?”
Drinking the wine too quickly, he choked and swore loudly.Again, Varley’s fault!
“Without your biting off my head,” Quinn said, “I must remind you that you can’t blame anyone for believing Varley and thinking you had something to do with it. After all, you do have a way of mucking up other men’s happiness, including mine.”
