Page 64 of The Dueling Duchess

“No, I really do understand what you are going to try to do and I wish you good luck with it—with her,” he added quietly, something like pity flickering across his face.

“I’m surprised you need me to watch Blade, er, Josephine. Haven’t you been keeping an eye on her?” In France it had seemed as if Blade and Elliot had engaged in spying as some bizarre sort of courtship ritual.

“Well, yes, but I can’t watch her all the time,” Elliot admitted.

“My God! Do you mean you have somebody spying on her?”

Elliot merely shrugged.

“You two.”

Guy and Elliot turned to Sin.

“What?” Guy demanded.

“Why can’t either of you just come out and do things directly? If you want Cecile, which I’m assuming is your motivation, why not beg her to forgive you and ask her to marry you?” Before Guy could answer, he turned to Elliot. “As for you. Just what went on between you and Blade last year? I’ve never asked because I’ve tried to respect your privacy, but you know everything the four of us were doing, so—”

“Not everything,” Guy interjected quietly.

Sin gave a soft laugh of surprise before turning back to Elliot. “Very well, so perhaps you don’t know everything that we got up to. But can’t you tell us if you are serious about this woman? We’re your friends, after all.”

Elliot hesitated so long, Guy thought he wasn’t going to answer.

But then he said, “Unfortunately—unlike you and Marianne and Guy and Cecile—there isn’t much to tell.” Elliot smiled faintly. “At least not what I think you’re hinting at.”

Sin’s cheeks flushed. “I didn’t mean to pry or ask about personal matters like—”

“I did,” Guy said.

Elliot laughed softly. “Suffice it to say there is no future for the two of us. At least not together.”

Guy and Sin looked at each other, their brows furrowed.

“Josephine is still very much a mystery to me,” Elliot said.

“You love a mystery,” Guy pointed out.

“Sometimes that is true,” he murmured, suddenly looking uncomfortable with the turn in the conversation.

“Well, back to me,” Guy said, earning a quick, grateful look from his more reserved friend. “Working for Cecile won’t be like it was the last time.”

“What do you mean?” Sin asked.

“I mean there won’t be any anonymity. The reason she agreed to hire me is because she knows I will send ticket sales soaring by assisting both her and Blade in their routines.”

“I can already imagine the satirical cartoons in Humphrey’s windows,” Elliot said.

So could Guy. He could only be grateful that his mother wasn’t coming to London any time soon.

“To what end are you doing this?” Sin asked.

“I want Cecile to forgive me and take me back.” Guy could not ignore the disbelief he saw on both his friends’ faces. He sighed. “I know you’re both thinking that she is still furious with me and will probably never forgive me.”

“Er, I’m not sure furious is the right word,” Elliot said.

“I’m not speaking out of turn by relating what Marianne has said on the subject,” Sin said. “Cecile never ceased being angry at you because reading about you with a multitude of females week in and week out for the past year kept her anger fueled and stoked.”

Guy grimaced. “Yes, well, there isn’t anything I can do about all that, is there? I already know how angry she is. Trust me—that was evident today.”