Jonathan declined, knowing the long meal ahead of him at Waverly’s table.
“Now then,” Waverly said like a man getting down to business.“Ashworth tells me you’re the man to consult about the North Sea approaches.Something about French privateers and patrol routes?And needing to get our army some solid and safe directions into the interior.Of course, as important to most of Britain, we need to uncork the stoppage of those European goods we’ve all come to depend upon.”
“Colonel Ashworth is kind and also correct.”Jonathan moved away from the offending map before he said something regrettable.He leaned his thighs against the man’s own desk and folded his arms.“Most recently, I’ve been surveying our eastern coastline for the Quartermaster-General’s Department.That work is ongoing, but I understand my services could be more useful on the Continent.”
“Yes, indeed.Can’t be too careful, what with Bonaparte prowling about.”Waverly gestured with his glass vaguely northward.“The Continent’s gone to hell, if you’ll pardon my language.Half the old European families fled to England.The other half’s collaborating with the French.”
“The situation is complex.”And Waverly was exaggerating.
“Complex.”Waverly snorted.“That’s one word for it.I call it a damned mess, with incompetents running around getting rich however they can from this ongoing war.Present company excepted, of course.Also, the King’s German Legion, they seem solid enough.Met a few at the Spencer House affair last week.Decent sorts, for foreigners.”
Jonathan thought of Henrik von Ostenfeld, ready to fight alongside the British Army.Then a beautifully feminine pair of blue eyes came to mind, ones that saw through pretension with uncomfortable accuracy.“The KGL has proven itself time and again in service to the Crown.”
“No doubt, no doubt.”Waverly heaved himself to his feet.“Well, come along then.Dinner should be ready.My sister’s joining us.Just arrived from Bath yesterday and already devouring gossip water by the bucket with her friends.And young Pepperill will be there.Fine fellow.Something in shipping, I believe, or is it banking?”
He frowned.“One of those mercantile things.Good family, though.His grandfather was a baron.”
The dining room was exactly what Jonathan had expected — obscenely ornate, overwrought, and decorated with more gilt than good taste.Far worse than his mother’s, and he and his brother teased her mercilessly.There would be no teasing today.
Lady Waverly, a thin woman with sharp eyes and sharper jewels, presided at one end of the table.The “fine fellow” turned out to be a whey-faced man with political ambitions and very little knowledge of anything beyond his own prospects.
Jonathan endured the soup course, featuring the ubiquitous white soup — ground almonds, cream, egg yolks, and chicken stock — while listening to Pepperill explain trade policy.The man had the confidence of someone who’d never actually engaged in trade.Lady Waverly offered pointed observations about the declining standards of London society.Lord Waverly ate steadily and said very little.
It was, in short, exactly the sort of dinner Jonathan had learned to tolerate as part of his social obligations, as a member both of Parliament and the aristocracy.
His tolerance was stretched when Lady Waverly turned her attention to him.
“Lord Bowen, my brother tells me you create maps in your spare time.How very ...practical.”Her tone suggested she was not being complimentary.
He was chewing a gristly bit of beef and had to take a moment to set down his fork and sip the wine.“I find the work satisfying, my lady.”
“I’m sure you do.”She dabbed her lips with her napkin.“Though one does wonder why the eldest son of the Earl of Castleton troubles himself with such mundane things.Surely your family’s position affords you more elevated pursuits.”
“Perhaps you would better approve of my younger brother.He is an extremely capable barrister.Personally, I can think of no more elevated pursuit than making sure we all know our way around the realm and abroad, when necessary,” Jonathan said evenly.“And thus, I make myself useful in a way that suits my interest and my skills.”
“Useful.”The word seemed to amuse her.“How very modern of you.”
Pepperill leaned forward.“I say, my lord, didn’t I see you at that KGL gathering at Spencer House last week?Frightful crush, wasn’t it?Though the champagne was first-rate.”
Jonathan could only wonder how the man with very little to recommend him had wangled an invitation.“I was there, yes.”
“Indeed, you were.”Pepperill grinned, sharing his mirth around the table by looking at everyone in turn before directing his attention back to Jonathan.“This talk of maps has brought it all back to me.I witnessed you getting an impertinent earful from some foreign woman.Hanoverian, if I’m not mistaken.”
Jonathan’s fingers tightened on his fork.“You are, in fact, mistaken.She was from Holstein.”
“Regardless, it was shocking to see her trying to get the better of you.Even going so far as to disparage one of Lord Spencer’s displayed maps.As if the gilflirt didn’t realize her own ill-manners at making a scene.”
Jonathan leveled him with his coldest stare and watched the man flinch.“It was nothing but a misunderstanding, one quickly resolved.”He hoped that was the end of it.
“Oh, I heard about that,” Lady Waverly said with sudden interest.“Lady Ashworth told me the entire story.But she said the young woman was meek as a titmouse when introduced to her.”She smiled thinly.“Apparently, her ire was only directed at you, Lord Bowen.How mortifying it must have been.”
“I deserved her indignation if nothing else, for a thoughtless remark.Moreover, the map was of her homeland, and she could see the errors,” Jonathan said.“Miss von Ostenfeld was quite right on all counts.”
“How gallant.”Lady Waverly’s tone suggested disapproval regardless.“Yet one does wonder at a female from another country parading her education and her opinion so publicly in our capital city.It smacks of indecency.”
Jonathan wasn’t prepared for the sudden fierce need to defend Lise, like someone had stoked his gut with hot coals.“On the contrary, my lady,” he said through gritted teeth.“I found Miss von Ostenfeld’s knowledge impressive and her manner entirely appropriate to the circumstance.”
“Did you indeed?”Lady Waverly’s eyebrows rose.“How progressive of you, my lord.”
