“I am,” she said, taking umbrage at his words and facing him again.
“Then perhaps it’s just you aren’t telling me all of it. Why is it so hard for you to trust me?” he asked sharply.
“I don’t appreciate your tone, my lord. Even if I don’t tell you everything I know, it doesn’t make what I do say less true.”
He averted his gaze and muttered something so low she couldn’t hear it, but was certain it was a curse word. Whether or not it was obscene she didn’t know.
When he looked back at her, anger dominated his face. “I need to know everything if I’m trying to help my cousin.”
“And I am trying to help mine,” she said just as hotly, folding her hands tightly across her chest. “If you want to know all the truth, it’s that I don’t think Robert is a very good influence on Harper. He had no problems enjoying young ladies and staying away from excessive gambling until he started gaming with Robert, and I wish they weren’t friends.”
“Is that so?” He gave a short derisive laugh. “It just so happens I think the exact thing about Harper. He could very well be the one who has been leading Robert astray.”
“What?” she exclaimed more loudly than she should and leaned in close to him. They stared at each other, equal in passion about their cousins. “I’ll have you know that Harper is a gentleman and has never done anything wrong in his life. He’s only recently started gambling, sir—since spending all his time with Robert, who was obviously taught everything he knows by you in Paris and Vienna.”
Zane’s grimace hardened. “Fine. Don’t tell me,” he retorted and leaned back in the seat with bounce. “I’ll talk to Harper.”
“Heavens, no!” She reached over and placed her hand on his upper arm as if worried he might try to immediately leave the carriage. “You mustn’t do that. Ever. Harper would never trust me with anything again. Promise me you won’t mention this conversation to Harper or Robert, and I’ll tell you.”
His expression softened. “All right, but tell me everything you know.”
Zane listened attentively as Brina relayed her last conversation with Harper. “So it seemed suspicious a young man would fall and injure himself so badly—but it could be true. Except Harper recently showed signs of bruising.”
Nodding, Zane offered, “It sounds like they both might be gaming at a house or club where ruffians play.”
Brina closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. That is not what she wanted to hear him say. “What can we do about it?”
He shook his head decisively. “There is no ‘we’ in this, Brina. I am already looking into this.”
“Zane, you must promise me again that you won’t go to Harper’s to talk to Robert.”
He gave her a conciliatory smile. “I might get angry with you from time to time, but I won’t go back on my word to you. You should know that by now.”
Yes, to her detriment, she was learning just how seriously he took giving his word.
“Besides, if Robert is staying out of sight while his bruises heal, for now he is safe. That gives me time to find out what’s going on.”
“If Harper is mixed up in any trouble, will you tell me?”
His eyes swept down her face and lingered on her lips. “Of course, I will.”
“Thank you. I’d want to—”
“My lord, Mrs. Feld, how are you on this lovely afternoon?”
Brina looked over to the carriage that had driven up beside them to see Zane’s uncle, Mr. Sylvester Browning, and his brother and his wife smiling at them.
She heard Zane mutter another oath under his breath, and she smiled. When he didn’t go to family, they came to him.
After a short chat with the Brownings and a lengthy ride through the park with more than a few nods, waves, and calls of greeting to people they knew, the earl’s carriage rolled to a stop in front of the abbey. The large stone building with its plain wooden door stood out like a stalwart beacon among all the smaller buildings surrounding it. There was nothing notable about it other than its size. A small sign out front read THESISTERS OFPILWILLOWCROSSINGS. The good work that went on inside for the poor made it a formidable and a majestic place to Brina.
Zane hopped out and reached to help her down onto the pavement. “This isn’t a part of London I’m familiar with,” he offered as he looked around the street.
“I wonder why. No gaming hells nearby?” she offered with a smile, knowing it wasn’t a busy section of London for shoppers or many businesses.
“If you keep teasing me in such an attractive manner, Brina, I’m going to have to go against my better judgment, that of my uncles, and the entirety of my family and most of the ton, and kiss you right here on the street.”
“You wouldn’t.”
