Page 106 of Give Him a Chance

Chapter Twenty

June 22, 1841

“Ialways knewthat it would take a special one to tempt my Lucy to give up the Chance name.” The Earl of Lindow playfully nudged Bertram with such force, the younger man almost fell off his chair. “And here you are!”

“Yes, here he is,” quipped Percy from the other side of the dining table. “Criminal—”

“Spy,” interjected Benjamin with a wink to Bertram that he was almost certain no one else noticed.

“And viscount!” added the countess enthusiastically.

“And a very good man,” added Lucy with a roll of her eyes. “Honestly, you lot, you’re so fixated on the wrong things!”

Laughter rippled through the dining room as Percy and his sister got into a quibbling match and Benjamin leaned across the table to pass the wine, the footmen having been dismissed as soon as the food had been served.

“No need for them to have the whole story,” Bertram’s future father-in-law had quipped.

Bertram laughed with the others as Percy and Lucy continued to bicker, a little dazed at the power of such merriment.

He was here with his family.

His family.

Dear God, he could barely remember his birth family. He had no memories of laughing around a dining table, no jesting with a sibling, no ease with a parent.

It was all so new…and yet so welcome. So warming.

Belonging.

“And I have to say, I never truly believed you were a dastardly criminal with no morals,” said the earl formally.

“Thank you, my lord,” Bertram said with a chuckle. “Even if I don’t quite believe you.”

The mock outrage in the man’s face was accompanied by laughter from his wife on the other side of the table.

“He has you there, Lindow, right enough! I, on the other hand—”

“Don’t even try to pretend you all knew the truth,” Lucy interjected, her hand moving to take Bertram’s as the room echoed with laughter. “None of us had any idea.”

“It was a shock to us all,” said Benjamin gravely.

Bertram worked hard not to roll his eyes. The man was pushing it a tad, wasn’t he?

After all, Lucy and he had been sworn to secrecy by Benjamin, who was apparently going to continue his clandestine activities as Obadiah Hovell—something he was certain he could keep from the rest of the family.

Now, it wasn’t up to Bertram to disagree with the man…but this Chance family did not appear to be the best at keeping secrets. From what Bertram could see, it surely wouldn’t be long before the scandal of Benjamin’s secret activities would be out into the light…

“So tell me,” said Percy, interrupting Bertram’s thoughts as he waved a fork toward his future brother-in-law. “What did you get up to? You know, as a spy.”

Lucy groaned. “Perce! You can’t be that dense!”

“What?” said the man, wide-eyed and looking around for familial support.

“You are being a tad tense, dear,” said his mother fondly. “At least ten percent more dense than usual, in fact.”

Bertram laughed with the others as the earl said, “You can’t honestly think that the man is permitted to reveal such things?”

“Yes, spying is, I would imagine, a serious business,” Benjamin said lightly, sipping his red wine. “Not that I would know much about such things, of course.”