“You can’t give her a book,” Amelia hissed from somewhere behind him. “It’s not proper.”
He frowned at that. “How would you know?”
“Because Gabriella confirmed it after I read about it in that etiquette book she provided. You cannot give her a gift unless you’re engaged to be married. It simply isn’t done.”
“That’s just plain idiotic.”
Amelia expelled an exasperated breath behind him, and then Juliette’s voice carried across the shop, “I think it’s very romantic.”
Raphe pushed back a bit of laughter while the shopkeeper came to a halt, his hands going straight for a burgundy spine. He pulled the volume out and offered it to Raphe. “This was published last year in Philadelphia. We just received it a couple of weeks ago.”
“American Entomology, by Thomas Say.” Raphe flipped the book open and took a sharp breath. The book was filled not only with names of insects and their descriptions, but with vividly colored drawings. “I’ll take it.”
The shopkeeper beamed. He took the book from Raphe and went to wrap it up. Amelia held her brother back. “Are you sure about this?”
“It will make her happy,” he told her simply. “That’s all that matters to me.”
“You care for her.” She searched his face and suddenly flung her arms around him in a tight embrace that almost knocked him over. “I’m so happy for you, Raphe. So very happy indeed.”
“Amelia.” He peeled her off of him. “I like her well enough. Let’s stick with that, shall we?”
“You’re buying her a book about insects.” He walked away from her as she spoke but she happily followed. “It’s obvious that you’ve been paying attention to her interests.”
“It’s been difficult not to, considering the fact that she went crawling about the floor of our parlor in pursuit of a spider.”
“Oh, come off it, Raphe. You’re not the sort of man who’d pursue a woman for anything less than love, much less think of marrying her, as you suggested doing.”
“You don’t know that,” he muttered.
“I’m pretty sure I do,” she countered.
“I need some air.” All this talk of love and romance was putting him off. So he left Richardson to take care of his purchase and stepped out onto the pavement.
“Matthews?”
Halted by the familiar use of his name, Raphe turned toward the man who’d spoken and immediately stiffened. “MacNeil.”
The Scotsman stared at Raphe with interest. “Ye disappeared withou’ a trace, ye did.”
“I had a family matter to see to.” Which was true. In a way.
“Guthrie’s been lookin’ fer ye.” Crossing his arms over his massive chest, MacNeil studied Raphe’s appearance with shrewd eyes. “Looks like ye’ve come into some blunt.”
“I paid my debt to Guthrie,” Raphe said, not wanting to offer a more detailed explanation.
The Scotsman nodded. “Aye. So ye did. But if ye think that’s made ’im ferget yer bargain, yer’re mistaken.” The door to the bookshop swung open again and Raphe’s sisters, accompanied by Richardson, stepped out. A distasteful smirk pulled at MacNeil’s lips. “I’ll leave ye with that thought. ‘Ave a good day, Matthews!”
“Who was that?” Richardson asked as Raphe watched MacNeil disappear down the street, blood thundering in his ears while shards of pain threatened to split his skull.
“An old friend,” Raphe ground out. He could feel his muscles bunched tightly together in his shoulders, and realized that he’d been poised to fight the man if the need had arisen. Thankfully, it had not.
“Do you think he’ll be trouble?”
Expelling a ragged breath, Raphe turned his attention more fully on his secretary. “I don’t know. MacNeil works for Guthrie.” Glancing at his sisters, he added, “Perhaps we can discuss this further once we get home. Let’s enjoy the rest of the day, shall we?”
With a stiff nod, Richardson abandoned the issue. Still, it seemed to hover over them like a dark cloud while they drifted from shop to shop, purchasing handkerchiefs, fans and bonnets. It was three in the afternoon by the time they arrived home after enjoying delicious ices at Gunther’s. Amelia and Juliette were in excellent moods, completely oblivious to the heavy thoughts that weighed on Raphe’s mind.
“Brandy?” Raphe offered Richardson once the two of them had removed themselves to Raphe’s study.
