The Duchess of Lux glared at Hamish. “What does that mean,dear brother?”
Hamish and Renard answered simultaneously, “Trouble.”
Danny smiled at the duchess. “Denisecanbe a handful.”
“Will she oppose our plan?”
“Conspiring to corner a killer?” Danny snorted. “She’ll offer to be the bait.”
“Sisters.” The Duke of Lux sighed.
“Women,” Hamish and Percy said together.
Charlotte smiled sweetly at her husband. “You’re welcome.”
“There will be danger involved.” Percy’s gaze stayed steady on Danny. “I can’t vouch for anyone’s safety.”
She heard the fear he didn’t voice, and her heart fluttered in her chest. He did this all for her, to keep her safe.
Shealsoheard the censure in his voice and knew he’d prefer to take all this on himself if it meant saving his friends the risk. And he would shield everyone else as much as possible when that was no longer an option.
Hamish voiced the group’s collective view. “We all know the chance of success.” His gaze went to his wife across the room. “None of us is safe until he’s dealt with.”
Camille said, “We must play this smart. We all know that slimy crumb-pot can slip through a crack.”
“He won’t slip through anything,” Percy said, his confidence filling Danny with hope and a suspicion he wasn’t telling them everything. She wasn’t the only one.
Hamish shook his head. “No, Percy. Not this time. Full disclosure or else.”
Danny saw her husband’s conflict to play out the threat with his usual humor or answer sincerely.
He chose the latter. “I’m going to ask the Merrys for help.”
Danny wasn’t the only one shocked.
Hamish froze filling his glass, the scotch decanter hovering above his glass. “The Merrys hate you.”
Percy snorted. “Everyone needs to stop saying that. I’m quite charming.”
A hand fisted on Danny’s chest. “You can’t go back to St. Giles. That Syd man said he’d kill you.”
Everyone turned when both Renard and Camille fell into simultaneous fits of coughing that sounded strangely like laughter.
Danny caught Camille’s guilty gaze, and a nagging sense of misplacement filled her mind.
Renard waved their questioning stares away and redirected the attention back to Percy. “What do you expect the Merry Men to do?”
“Run defense, blend in.” Percy indicated the walls around them. “Nic will have a record of the servants who come and go through the grand estates. Grandfellow will be no different. A small addition to a staff won’t be as suspicious if it is to a neighboring estate.”
“Like Bromley Estate,” Danny said, nodding. It wasn’t out of the question for servants to visit houses of neighboring lords who were in good standing with their masters. And Danny’smother was known to go through entire batches of housemaids when in one of her tirades.
“It could work,” she agreed.
“Then I’ll go,” Hamish said. “Markus will take the request seriously if I am the one to ask.”
Percy shook his head. “It must be me. For this all to work, I need to make sure the knives by my side won’t be the ones stabbing me in the back. I’ll have Syd and Zans work in the background and utilize the other members Nic won’t recognize on sight.”
Hamish relented, though he didn’t look pleased.
