Alone again, Gavin sat in the nearest chair, his mind busy. A footstep at the door caught his attention. Ben stood there. He frowned.
“I just saw Perkins. He does not look well.”
Gavin shrugged.
“And I’ve had a conversation with Mother.” Ben entered the room. “She told me you have ordered Jack to leave. What I gathered from what she isnotsaying, you used a manner similar to how Father sent me away years ago.”
Uneasy, Gavin rose.
“What the devil at you doing, brother?” Ben asked. “You even canceled the meeting we’ve spent weeks setting up for Jack. Why?”
Gavin’s first instinct was to shut Ben down. No one had ever dared to question their father. He stood still, struggling within himself.
“You are a better man than this,” Ben said, his voice losing its censorial tone. “Do you not recognize what losing Jack again means to our mother? I mean, I had no problem with shutting down the meeting. No one was interested in hearing the Americans carry on. Without your support, most of them consider Jack one step away from being a traitor. But I was led to understand this was Jack’s decision.”
“It wasn’t. I decided.”
“And you have decided the time has come for him to leave as well?”
“I didn’t know you were so damn close to him,” Gavin shot back.
“I thoughtyouwere.” Ben took a step back. “You have been behaving funny lately, Your Grace. One moment you are a true leader and in the next, a petty despot. There is an air in this house today, even amongst the servants. Something has happened and they are not proud of it.”
“Are you done?” Gavin kept his voice neutral. Ben’s words were sharp darts.
“Apparently. Let me know if you need me, Your Grace. My wife is indisposed and I need to take Mother to her.” Ben bowed and left just as Henry came to the door holding Gavin’s hat and coat.
“Your horse is waiting outside, Your Grace.”
“Thank you,” Gavin said.
He prayed he did not find Jack with Lady Charlene. He did not know what he would do if that were true.
Less than a quarter of an hour later, he knocked on the door of the house on Mulberry Street.
The maid answered. He recognized her by her green eyes. Witch’s eyes, he thought. They were hard to forget.
She was wearing a blue day dress that appeared nothing like the costume for a maid she had been wearing. She had also not donned her mobcap. She was a redhead. That surprised him. Her hair color was unique, rich, warm.
At the sight of Gavin, she started and then made a graceful curtsy. “Yes, Your Grace?”
“I am here to see Lady Charlene and Lady Baldwin. It is a matter of some urgency.” He took off his hat and started to enter the house but she didn’t move.
“Lady Baldwin is not here,” she said. “And Lady Charlene is still abed.”
“Please wake her. I will wait for her in the sitting room.”
Still the maid did not move and so he stepped forward and she had no choice but to step aside. “I will be in here,” he said, pointing to the sitting room.
“I don’t believe this is correct, Your Grace,” the maid said anxiously.
“I’m not worried about correctness right now. There is a situation afoot and I must see Lady Charlene immediately. Will you fetch her, or must I?”
Those words coupled with the right tone had the maid closing the door. “One moment, Your Grace,” she said. She hurried up the stairs.
Gavin paced the length of the sitting room, his hat in his hands. He had not yet decided how much he should or should not say to Lady Charlene. Obviously, thankfully, Jack was not here.
However, at some point, he realized if he was ever to have peace again, he would have to tell Lady Charlene that he had asked Jack to leave. Yes, that was the term he would use. He’daskedJack to leave and Jack had agreed—
