Nick’s nostrils flared. “Yes. And I do not want to know how you came to know that.”
“I want to know why you didn’t bother to tell us that Jeffery Wells owed some dangerous bookie!” Elizabeth cried. “Don’t you think that’s key information in investigating hismurder?”
Nick bore down on her, leaning over the couch with arms crossed. “Youare not investigating anything. Did it ever occur to you that it would be the work of a few hours, if that, to discover who you are, where you live, and that you are employed by the government? What would Alfie have made of learning you work for a minister and you were poking around in his things? You took information from a dangerous man, one whose allegiances are available for purchase, and the current highest bidder opposes the sitting government.”
Surprise rioted through Saffron—what was Nick implying?
Elizabeth let out a frustrated scoff. “How the devil was I supposed to know that?”
“You are supposed to have nothing to do with this!”
“Then why are you spying on me? Why are you following me around? How else would you know we’d be at the cabaret, let alone in the gaming room? And where did you get the bloody bobby getup?”
“I was not spying on you,” Nick said sharply. “There are a great many more important things on my mind than the shoddy places you spend your time, Eliza.”
Elizabeth went bright red, but with a great effort, she forced a patient tone. “I am trying to help, Nicholas. If it weren’t for me—”
“I don’t need your help.”
“So you’re willing to accept—invite—Saffron’s assistance, but not mine? Am I not educated enough for you?”
“In this case, no,” Nick said bluntly. “You’re meant to be at home. In bed. Preferably alone, though at this point that’s probably too much to ask.”
Saffron stared at him. He wasn’t speaking through any identifiable mask; he merely seemed tired and irritated. But she couldn’t believe that Nick would be so tactlessly disrespectful to his own sister.
“Nick,” she said in a softly scolding tone, stepping forward in a half-hearted attempt to encourage him to stop towering over Elizabeth.
“No,” Elizabeth snapped, pushing to her feet. It forced Nick to step back, and she stood so they were nearly nose to nose. “How right you are, Nick. Itistoo much to ask for me to behave like a good little girl. Are you sure you’ve been out of touch with our parents? You sound exactly like them. I’d wager you’d like me to put on a virginal white gown and command me to stand perfectly still while men three times my age sniff around me. Maybe you could hold my lips back so they can inspect my teeth like I’m a damned horse for sale!”
Withholding a wince at the increased volume of Elizabeth’s growing rant, Saffron did her part and glared at Nick. He showed no reaction whatsoever.
“If I wanted my family to judge and scold me like I’m a child, I’d go back to Bedford. I’m too old for this by far.” She let out another frustrated groan, her shoulders bunching. “How stupid I was to believe you’d be any different from them. That you might believe inme, might agree that I should live my life howIsee fit. How idiotic I was to think you might have been more like Wesley.”
Silence fell as Elizabeth’s voice broke on her brother’s name. Saffron went to her side, took her hand and squeezed it.
Elizabeth let out a shuddering breath. “You may exit my life now and stay gone from it this time. Better I have no brothers than one who’d use me, only to censure me for trying to help.”
Nick’s jaw worked, but his voice was cool when it came out. “I see. I will do just that if that is what you truly want. But tell me, should I extricate myself entirely, or would you prefer to keep your job with Lord Tremaine?”
Elizabeth went stiff. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Nick shrugged. “Consider it a parting gift.”
He left the room, and a moment later, the front door shut quietly behind him.
CHAPTER34
Saffron entered the kitchen warily the next morning, unsure what sort of mood Elizabeth would be in. A moment after Nick left, she’d let out a rage-filled shriek before stomping off to her bedroom and refusing to emerge, even after Saffron attempted to get her to talk by offering wine through the bedroom door. Elizabeth had opened the door just long enough to snatch the bottle before closing it again.
“Good morning,” Saffron ventured, sitting in her customary seat at the kitchen table.
“Good morning,” Elizabeth said. She slid a hot plate of eggs and roasted tomatoes onto the table before Saffron.
Unsure of what else to say, Saffron offered, “Jeffery Wells owed Alfie Tennison close to a thousand pounds. It was in a ledger in the back office.”
Elizabeth took the topic in stride. “Based on Nick’s not-so-subtle comments last night, Alfie seems be involved in shady politics.” She sat down, poured herself a cup of coffee, and inhaled its steam rather forcefully. “But not the sort he suggested, necessarily. In the gaming room, I saw a woman from one of my more radical literary salons. She likes to get on her soapbox and is in favor of the ‘burn-it-all-down’ approach rather than the ‘change-over-time’ strategy, or the ‘complain-but-do-nothing’ attitude that so many of my dear friends languish with.” She took a sip of coffee, and her eyes took on a speculative gleam. “I got to thinking—what better way to destroy a government than to use their own discoveries against them? Theradicals could get hold of some science experiment from the Path Lab, use it to a deadly end, reveal the government was the one to create it, then incite the people to overthrow the government.”
Saffron reached for the coffeepot. “If we’re going to speak about government coups, I need coffee first.”
