“Yes. I suppose I enjoyed both those things, but then there was the matter of the wager.”
He winced and stepped farther into the dining room. “Not my finest hour.”
“No, but we won’t dwell on that. Mrs. Lawton said you had something important to discuss with me. Naturally that made me curious.”
“I like it when you are curious.”
So did she. “Never mind about that,” she said with a quirk of her head.
He regarded her with barely concealed amusement. “I wanted to know if you’ve seen or heard from Harper in the past couple of days?”
“I’ve seen him recently. He came over and had tea with me. We had a lovely visit both times except for—”
He walked toward her slowly, determined, until he stood inches away. “For what?”
“He was very concerned about the curricle ride with you—as most everyone seemed to be.”
Zane’s features relaxed, and he nodded. “I received my share of lectures about how irresponsible I was to be so uncontrolled when you were in my care.”
Brina huffed and folded her arms across her chest. “I really can’t fathom the stir it has caused. I thoughtHarper might really be on the verge of calling you out for endangering my life.”
“Maybe he should have. I’ve heard several comments maligning my lack of restraint.”
“Nonsense. Your handling of the horses saved us from crashing more than once.”
He smiled and accepted her praise without comment.
“I had to tell him I’m the one who encouraged you because I didn’t like being spied upon. The way everyone is acting, you’d think I was the first lady to ride in a carriage that was speeding along so fast.”
He lifted one dark brow. “Maybe you were. We were almost flying.” His voice lowered to almost a whisper as he continued, “More than that, I think everyone sees you as an angel, and I am the devil who is corrupt and leading you astray.”
Brina tensed and turned away from him. She didn’t like that characterization used for her. If people only knew what she’d done, they’d never call her that again. She wasn’t an angel. Far from it.
She looked over to the table. Realizing she hadn’t replaced the lid on the tin, she asked, “What was the particular reason you wanted to see me about Harper?”
He followed her over to the table and leaned a hip against it. “I wondered if he might have mentioned Robert during your visits. Uncle Hector said he hasn’t been home in a couple of days, which is unusual, so he’s worrying.”
“Does Robert have a place of his own?”
“No. Since he and Harper have been spending time together in the evenings, I was hoping he might have mentioned Robert was staying with him.”
“I suppose he could be, though it would be unlikely he’d stay with him for long. I’ve not actually been there, but my father has said that Harper’s room is quite small.If you’re concerned, I could send a note and ask him to come see me about this.”
The earl shook his head. “I’d rather you didn’t. Young men don’t usually want their fathers or uncles asking questions. Robert’s impulsive. He could be staying at someone’s house for a card party or other things.”
She could imagine what the other things might be for a man of twenty-two years. “That’s quite possible. Harper mentioned he’d gotten more involved in playing cards and hoped to be invited to join a club soon. He was quite excited about it.”
Zane straightened. “Did he happen to give the name of the person who invited him?”
“Not that I recall.”
“Can you think of anything else he might have said that was out of the ordinary conversation?”
“No but he was acting quite agitated. Harper is mild and usually hard to upset,” Brina offered, but didn’t want to say too much. She couldn’t come out and accuse Zane’s cousin of influencing Harper with his gambling. Not at this point anyway. Though there might come a time she’d have to say something. “It wouldn’t have been proper for me to quiz him about it. Men love their gaming. As we’ve mentioned, Lyon certainly enjoys his private club.”
“But it’s very exclusive, Brina.”
She returned the tin to the table after securing the lid, resisting the impulse to go further into this matter and say too much about what she really felt. “All men think their clubs are exclusive, do they not? Where or who Harper plays cards with is not any of my business. For now. Perhaps Robert’s shouldn’t be any of yours or his father’s.”
