“Just because he has taken your place in Delilah’s bed does not mean he was involved in murdering your father,” Drake said, sounding exasperated and shooting Zachary a look.“Your uncle was also among those Cornwall named.”
“Yes, but what reason would he have for killing his own brother?”Zachary shook his head.“I have always felt Conyngham was a shady type of character.”
“You have not,” Gregory replied, obviously amused.He shook his head and took a sip of his brandy, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the mantle beside Sebastian.“You do not even believe what you are saying.I agree, we should look into him, but what would his motive even be?It’s not as though he knew you would give Delilah her congé so you could marry someone else, and he could become her new lover.”
“And it is not as if he’s in love with her,” Christian added from his place beside Zachary in another wingback chair.“Conyngham is a rake through and through.I think he’s bedded more ladies of thetonthan I have.Not that I’ve been keeping score.”
“Of course not.”Sebastian shot him a bemused look.“I agree we should try to speak with all of them, if only because they might remember who encouraged Cornwall to issue the invitation.”
“Which may or may not mean anything, but at least it’s something we candoright now,” Christian said, echoing Matthew’s earlier thoughts.He shot Zachary a look as the other man began to open his mouth.“Iwill take Conyngham.Certainly,youshould not.”
“Very well,” Zachary said irritably, appearing very put out that no one was willing to jump on board his theory.Monkey Sinclair climbed from the back of the chair on top of his head and patted his forehead with a tiny paw.Sighing, Zachary reached up to encourage the monkey onto his hand instead.“Tiny menace.At least he’s not throwing food or my drinks now.He ran off with the scone from my breakfast this morning.I am starving.”
Drake glanced at the clock.
“You should all stay for supper, and we can discuss who will speak with whom.”
The others quickly agreed, so Matthew did as well, after a quick flip of his coin.He would have liked to have gone home to see his wife… but this was important.Besides, she had plenty of other company for dinner between his grandmother, her siblings, and her cousin.He would join her in bed later this evening.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Johanna
Getting ready for bed, Johanna tried not to feel put out that she had not seen her husband since this morning.After all, he was a duke.He was a busy and important man.The fact that he was also a very affectionate, amiable, cheerful sort of man did not change the fact that he had a multitude of responsibilities, and her presence in his life was both entirely new and in some ways unexpected.He’d been around the house the past several days already.
Yet she also could not deny that her heart jumped and her pulse raced with happiness when there was a knock on the adjoining door between their rooms before it quickly opened as Nettie was finishing up with her hair.Seated in front of the vanity, Johanna looked into the mirror and saw her husband appear over Nettie’s shoulder.
He was not wearing a dressing gown.Instead, he was in nothing but his linen shirt, which gaped open at the neck with the top button undone.Seeing him only partly dressed made the heat in her cheeks rise, and Nettie blushed as well, quickly averting her gaze as she dropped into a curtsy.
“Your Grace.”
“That will be all, Nettie,” he said, coming up behind them and holding his hand out for the hairbrush Nettie was holding.She dropped it immediately into his hand and scampered for the door before Johanna could say a word.
“Was she finished?”Johanna asked him, amused as the door closed behind the retreating maid.
“It does not matter; I am happy to do it for you,” he said, stepping into the place where Nettie had been before.“I am sorry I missed supper.There was some rather important business my friends and I needed to attend to today.”
“That is alright.”Though she wondered what the business was, she was not sure it was her place to ask him if he was not offering the information.Especially right now, as he was so intently focused on her hair.She did not want to trouble him as he tilted his head this way and that, before finally laying the brush against her silky strands.The sensation of the brush moving over her hair had abruptly changed in a manner she could not quite define.
When Nettie had been brushing her hair, it had been easy for Johanna’s mind to wander.Now that it was her husband doing so, she found herself acutely focused on the feel of the bristles moving through her hair, the long strokes tugging gently on the strands.She could feel them all the way down her neck and through the rest of her body.
Meeting his gaze in the mirror, she felt her blush creeping up her entire body and into her cheeks.As intimate as the many things they’d already done had been, there was something even more so about having him perform such a mundane, daily task—yet again, a task which no man had ever done for her.Not even her father.
“I hope everything is well,” she said finally, giving him the opening to talk about his business if he so desired.
“Well enough.Did you miss me today?”he asked in a low voice, his gaze steady on hers even as he continued to pull the brush through the long, pale wealth of her hair, the edges of his lips curved up in a smile.The change of subject did not bother her, though she remained curious.
Still, she could not help but take a jab at him since he had disappeared for the entire day after their wedding.
Johanna widened her eyes at him with an acutely innocent expression on her face.
“Oh, were you not about?”She kept her tone light and teasing, as if she had not noticed.
There was a long pause.She worried she’d overstepped and was about to apologize when the smile on his face broadened into a wide grin.His chuckle started low and turned into laughter after a few seconds, allowing Johanna the freedom to giggle as well.
“I did not realize you were so cheeky,” he said, wagging the brush he was holding at her in the mirror.“You’d best be careful, or I will use this on more than your hair.”
“What do you mean?”Her giggles stopped with her confusion.“Where?”What else could he use a hairbrush on other than hair?
