“Wonderfully well,” Marcus said while rummaging through his notebooks and patient files without knowing what he was looking for. He needed to stay in motion. “I found out I’d misdiagnosed her left eye while in the midst of operating on it, learned some German, and nearly wound up getting shot when Grasmere showed up.”
“The earl threatened you with a pistol?”
“No. With a duel,” Marcus muttered with rising irritation. He tossed the books he’d grabbed aside in a messy pile and glared at Redding. “Apparently, her ladyship is but twenty years of age, as opposed to the one-and-twenty years she suggested in order to gain my assistance.”
“Ah.”
“Precisely.”
Redding knit his brow while studying the books Marcus had discarded. He picked one up and began leafing through it while Marcus wished he would soon quit his presence. He wanted to be alone.
“If Grasmere challenged you, how come you’re here?” Redding’s gaze snapped to Marcus. “Did you perchance win?”
Marcus clenched his jaw. “The duel never happened.”
“Hmm… That’s rather unusual. I mean, if Grasmere challenged you, you would have been honor bound to meet with him. So what on earth happened?”
“Lady Louise threatened him.”
Redding’s lips quirked. “Did she really?”
“It’s not amusing.”
“No. I can see that it’s not.” In spite of his serious tone, humor danced in the duke’s green eyes.
“Damn it all,” Marcus snapped. “I could have lost everything I hold dear because of her. Grasmere said he’d ruin my career for helping his daughter as I did, and by God, he’d have the power to do so if he put his mind to it. Everything I’ve worked so bloody hard for these past eight years would have been swept away. Gone. All because of...of...some self-serving chit with no regard for the consequence her actions might have on others.”
“She sounds like the worst sort of person imaginable,” Redding mused.
“No, she’s not. She’s just…”
“Just what?”
“I trusted her, but as it turns out, she was dishonest with me right from the start. And she coerced her brother and sister-in-law into playing along. Never mind the Winterlys.”
“Lovely people from what I hear.”
“The finest. They had no qualms about my past and were wonderful hosts.”
“And Lady Louise?” Redding murmured. “Did she have any qualms about your past?”
“She did not.”
“Fascinating.”
“What?” Marcus stared at the man he’d always regarded as a mentor.
Redding shrugged. He snapped the book he’d been leafing through shut and set it aside. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you this riled up before over anything.”
“Are you suggesting I have no reason to be angry?”
“No. I believe you have every reason. Especially if you’re smitten with her.”
“I…” Marcus stilled as the fire left him and a deflated feeling took over. He sank into a chair and stared at Redding. Then promptly shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
“Am I?” The older man regarded Marcus with the extra wisdom his ten additional years of experience gave him. “You weren’t this upset when the papers criticized you for choosing to study in Scotland. As I recall, they practically called you a traitor.”
“Why should I care when I knew they were wrong?”
