The duchess’s lips thinned. “And what of his sister? Has she graced us with her presence in town?”
“No,” Edward said, praying his mother hadn’t heard of the red-headed woman he’d been seen carrying through Mayfair.
“I haven’t seen her,” Charlotte added.
And then, with impeccable timing, William entered. “I say, have either of you seen Fiona? She said she’d be back by no—”
William stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Her Grace. “Mother,” he said coldly with a perfunctory bow. He didn’t cross to her. He didn’t take her hand.
“You were saying, dearest?” the duchess said.
“I was looking for Miss McTavish. Never mind.”
Edward shot William a murderous look.
“What?” William flinched under the glare.
Once again, Charlotte jumped in. “What I meant to say, Mother, was that I hadn’t seen Fionatoday. She’s residing at Mr. Asterly’s residence as is proper and her brother, Finley, whoisstaying with us, as acompletely separate person, is in a business meeting, is he not, brother?”
Finally, William twigged. “Oh. Yes. Finley. Lovely chap. I’ve never met a nicer man. Or a smarter one. Male, that is. Definitely a great addition tomankind.”
And for the first time, Edward wished his brother was a better liar.
“I’d like to meet this Finley,” the duchess said. “Since he comes so highly recommended.”
Edward was going to do everything in his power to keep Fiona out of his mother’s clutches. “As Charlotte said, I’m not sure he’s home.”
“Do you know,” William said. “I have somewhere to be.” And with the slightest of bows, he left the room. He wouldn’t return until well after dinner, once their mother had retired for the evening.
“You have yet to teach your brother proper manners, Duke,” his mother said. She turned to watch William walk down the drive, and with timing that rivaled Will’s in its travesty, Fiona, as Finley, passed him on the steps.
Will grabbed her arm and shook his head. His lips moved in some kind of warning, and Fiona, curse it, looked up at the drawing room window. Her face fell as she saw the duchess.
His mother picked up the bell from the table next to her and shook it with furious fervor in Fiona’s direction. There would be no escaping the meeting now. If Fiona didn’t join them in the drawing room, his mother would hunt her down.
Fi must have sensed that, because a moment later she stood in the doorway, her shoulders squared and her head held high.
Edward’s mother motioned her inside. “You’re Mr. Finley McTavish?”
“Aye, Yer Grace.” Fiona bowed, a move she’d become surprisingly fluid at in these past weeks. When she looked up, Edward was rocked by the sadness in her eyes. The defeat. His mother made people frustrated, furious, sometimes anxious, but not sad. Fi’s meeting with Chester might have done, though, if it had not gone well.
But before he could seek the truth from her, they needed to deal with the witch in front of them.
“Tell me the circumstances under which you came to reside under this roof, boy.”
Blast.If his mother started interrogating Fiona before they had time to get their stories straight, they would be in serious trouble.
“I told you, Mother,” Charlotte said. “I invited him to stay with us after he’d dropped off some doobywhatsit for Edward.”
“Aye. That’s exactly how it happened,” Fiona said.
“And your sister? What’s her purpose in London, if you’re here for business?”
“My sister…” Fi looked at Edward. “…is here to visit friends?”
The duchess’s lips pursed and her eyes narrowed. “And she no doubt drops by to visit her brother, who has been taken in by the most eligible bachelor in England. How convenient.” The cloying sweetness of his mother’s tone was a trap.
Warily, Fiona asked, “What, exactly, are ye implying?”
