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“What do you need me for?” he asked with foreboding.
“John has been sent to America on a diplomatic mission by the wretched Foreign Secretary. It’s all over this dreadful slave trade business. Certain powerful interests in the American south are angry about us policing the Atlantic and trying to enforce the abolition. All of which you would know if you got your head out of a horse’s arse occasionally and paid attention to what was going on in the world! When was the last time you attended Parliament?”
“Lord, I don’t know, last year some time?” he said ignoring the insult. “I would hardly pick John as the conciliatory type. What was Castlereagh thinking?”
“It might surprise you to know that John volunteered. He feels quite strongly on the subject.”
“Oh. Well, all power to him. I did vote in favor of the bill, if it’s of any interest to you.”
“So I should hope. Appalling business. Anyway, I digress. With John away, I need a male escort. It won’t do for it to appear that Sophie has no man overseeing her interests. You can chase away the fortune hunters. You know she has a substantial dowry from John’s mother.”
“Well, actually that might prove problematic. You see I’m getting married in a fortnight.”
“What?” Leticia stared at him. “So, the rumors were true, just not the lady involved!” she clasped her hands. “So, who is she?”
“Lady Ava Layne,” he said woodenly.
“Oh, my dear, that is marvelous! She will suit you admirably!”
That was the last thing he expected her to say. “You think so?”
“Of course!” She rose. “Now give me a hug, I’m tickled pink! Ava is a delight!”
He rose and obliged his sister with a hug and kiss to her cheek, somewhat bemused.
“I am getting an invitation to the wedding,” she said resuming her seat.
“Yes, of course!” he said with a guilty start. “It’s being held at The Castle, a small private ceremony, just family and close friends.”
She cocked her head at him and said shrewdly. “This is all very sudden. To my knowledge there has been no notice in The Gazette, and in fact the rumors were that Ava was all set to marry Haldane and then that she had run off with Lannister. Which, mind you, I didn’t credit. Troubridge would never allow it. There is a big juicy scandal at the center of this, I can feel it. What happened, little brother? And don’t try to fob me off, for I won’t believe you.”
He sighed and rubbed his face.
“The long and the short of it is that I have been in love with Ava for two years, but I was of the belief that she had outgrown her schoolgirl infatuation for me.” He flushed. “I was also fully aware of the age gap between us and that Robert wanted her to marry someone younger, a man without my—reputation. When he told me that he had secured a match for her with Haldane, it seemed the perfect solution. I knew I needed to marry—the title and all that. So I asked Isabella Mortimer.”
“She refused you?”
“She said she would think about it, and I went to Ravenshaw to set it to rights—I’ve neglected the place shamefully. But Ava knew of my offer to Isabella. She followed me!” He shook his head. “She is heedless of convention, incredibly brave, and the most determined woman I’ve ever met—except for you, Letty. Robert and Sarah arrived almost at the same time as Ava did, and everyone decided marriage was the proper course of action. The notice should appear in The Gazette any day now. Robert needed time to inform Haldane first.”
“What a tale! And you are happy?”
“Yes. I don’t think it has fully sunk in yet. I miss her like the devil.” He knew he had a foolish expression on his face, and couldn’t help it. Thinking of Ava reduced him to a state of internal mush.
He wished he could remember more of what had transpired between himself and Ava between climbing into bed with her naked and being woken roughly by Robert. But the amount of alcohol he had consumed had fuddled his senses and left gaps in his memory. He did remember kissing her, but nothing else.
“Well, you can escort me and Sophie to your wedding. It won’t hurt her prospects to have you respectably married now. In fact, the more I think about it, the better this seems. Ava can show Sophie the way of things, which will relieve me of my duties a little.” It struck him again how tired she looked, and he frowned. Was she ill?
“I believe you are more than capable of chasing the fortune hunters away. Half the men in London are terrified of you, anyway,” he said.
She sniffed. “If you weren’t my brother, I’d box your ears for that insult!” But her eyes twinkled, and he knew she was joking.
He grinned at her. “Then I’m glad I’m your brother.”
“Are you? We hardly see each other from one year’s end to the next. Would you like some tea?”
“Why not?” He had no plans for later except to go to his club. He could spare another hour for the sister he never saw, as she said, from one year’s end to the next. And he really needed to tell her what he had discovered at Ravenshaw.
She rose to go to the bellpull, and the sunlight streaking through the window drew attention to her belly through her high-waisted gown. That would explain why she looked so tired.
