“Do you think there’s the possibility that maybe he knows but doesn’t want to say?”
Griffin looked at Rath. “That crossed my mind. He’s always been an honest, unassuming fellow, but at this point I’m not going to discount anyone.”
“Surely he gave you more information than we have heard,” Hawk said. “Did he say how many men there were?”
Griffin shook his head. “Maybe four or five. He couldn’t be sure. When he turned to look at them, they were laughing and leaving the table. Some other gentlemen were just entering the taproom. Apparently the two groups mingled together and all he saw was a blur. He had no idea how long they had been there or how deep they were into their cups.”
“So he doesn’t know if they were serious or just talking to impress each other.”
“No. But either way, I will treat this the same. I can’t take the chance it was the bottom of a brandy bottle talking and not a true penchant to get at me.”
Rath’s dark brown eyes stared at Griffin as he asked, “So what are you going to do?”
Miss Swift came easily to his mind, and an unexpected calmness settled over him. He liked the tilt of her chin when she questioned him, her softly rounded shoulders that moved so gently when she walked, and the determined set to her beautiful lips when she wasn’t speaking. The enticement she’d stirred inside him had stayed with him and made him want to think about her.
Reluctantly, Griffin sobered. This wasn’t the place to think about the woman who had captured his attention by not trying.Trying?he thought with a silent chuckle. She not only didn’t try, she rebuffed him time and time again.
He stared at his friends with determination and said, “I will keep my sisters safe.”
“So do you think you should wait until next year for their debut?” Rath asked as he absentmindedly rubbed the condensation on the window with the knuckles of his gloved hand.
“I considered that, and while I would like to, it wouldn’t be fair to them. It’s all they’ve talked about for more than two years. And if someone is planning revenge, then they would only have to wait as well.”
“There’s probably any number of men who want to get even with us,” Rath said.
Hawk nodded.
“Sir Welby was certain none of the older bachelors were in the group,” Griffin added. “Though his eyesight has failed him, he feels sure he would have recognized the voices of men who’d been around White’s for years.”
“It looks as if there are some things we can assume,” Rath offered. “That at least one or more of them had a sister who made her debut the year we made the wager.”
“Or possibly a cousin or daughter,” Hawk added. “And there is the possibility that these fellows are jackanapes who simply want to be a part of mischief much like we used to do.”
“All could be true,” Griffin agreed. “And if brothers, they could be younger or older brothers.”
“We know there were twelve young ladies making their debut when we sent the notes, but I’m not sure I can recall all their names.”
“I’m certain I don’t,” Rath admitted. “Between the three of us we should be able to come up with most of them and with some reasonable possibilities of who might be plotting this retribution too.”
“If we don’t, you’ll have no way of knowing who is seriously interested in pursuing one of the twins to make a match and who would only be out to ruin her reputation or her Season.”
Rath inhaled loudly, deeply. “Lady Sara and Lady Vera had nothing to do with what we did.”
“That doesn’t matter to whomever is planning this,” Griffin said. “I’m sure they look at it as their sisters, cousins, or daughters were innocent too when we pulled our foolish prank. It’s been said that a man will wait forever to exact his revenge.”
Rath and Hawk looked at Griffin but stayed quiet. They knew what he said was true.
Hawk slowly drummed his fingers on his knee. “I thought there might come a day when we could actually live down that foolish time in our lives.”
“It’s not likely to happen now that Miss Honora Truth has decided that bringing it up would make the sales of her gossip sheet soar to the skies,” Rath muttered with a fierceness.
“Why didn’t we think about the fact that our sisters were going to grow up and become young ladies one day?” Hawk asked.
“That’s right,” Rath said to Hawk. “You have a younger sister too.”
“She’ll make her debut next year.”
Griffin, Hawk, and Rath hadn’t been dubbed the Rakes of St. James because of the work they did for the church, but Griffin could only answer for himself. From the time he left his studies and the strict environment of Oxford, he’d only been interested in whatever gave him pleasure. All else be damned. He had all the money and women he wanted, and he went through plenty of both. At the time, the future never entered his mind.
