Lady Beware by Jo Beverley Page A

Nicholas, but she was startled to be taken to their bedroom. Eleanor greeted her warmly, but she was sitting in a rocking chair feeding her baby beneath a large silk shawl. The occasional slurping noises were disconcerting.
    Eleanor sent her maid off for tea. “I do apologize. But when a baby needs to be fed it is most insistent about it.”
    â€œI suppose so,” Thea said, taking a chair, not knowing where to look. Eleanor matched her husband in being simply dressed. Her long auburn hair was still loose, tied back only with a ribbon.
    â€œYou must all be very happy with last night’s success,” Eleanor said, as if nothing was unusual.
    â€œYes, of course, though we won’t completely relax until we hear Dare has won the battle.”
    â€œHe will this time. Especially with Mara by his side.”
    â€œI pray so.”
    That wasn’t what Thea wanted to talk about, but in this situation she was tongue-tied.
    Eleanor drew her baby out from beneath the shawl and put him to her shoulder, rubbing his back. Thea couldn’t help but smile.
    â€œHe looks so stuffed and content.”
    â€œLike a drinker rolling home from the tavern, Nicholas says. Cross-eyed and burping.” Still rubbing the limp baby’s back, Eleanor asked, “Did you have some particular reason for calling, Thea?”
    Both Delaneys tended to directness.
    Thea plunged into her concern. “It’s about Lord Darien. Before Mara left this morning, she shared some concerns. He did Dare a kindness, but she sensed antagonism between the two men, and Dare mentioned some incident at school. She wondered about his motives.”
    â€œAh.” Eleanor brought the baby down into her arms. He was sound asleep. “Nicholas can tell that tale better than I. Would you ring the bell, please?”
    Thea did so and a nursemaid appeared almost immediately, clearly to take the baby. Eleanor kissed him and passed him over. “And ask Mr. Delaney to join us, please.”
    The tea arrived before he did and Eleanor moved to the sofa and poured.
    â€œDo you know Viscount Darien?” Thea asked as she took her cup and saucer. She badly wanted other impressions.
    â€œNot at all. He’s been in the army until recently, I gather, and out of sight since selling out.”
    â€œThe family reputation is awful.”
    â€œYes, but mine isn’t sterling. My brother is deplorable, but thankfully abroad.”
    Thea sipped. Had she landed among Darien’s allies? Had he been a Rogue? No. She might not know them all, but she knew their names, and he’d denied it himself. Sharply.
    Nicholas Delaney came in, looking curious.
    â€œThea’s wondering about the ill feeling between Darien and Dare,” Eleanor told him.
    â€œAh. Ironic that their names are now so similar when their natures are so different.” He took a cup of tea and sat. “May I ask why, Thea?”
    â€œMara St. Bride shared some concerns and warned me to be careful.”
    He took a biscuit off the plate. “She’s very astute. All the St. Brides are, despite their famous blissful nature. Bliss requires intelligent wariness. Yes, there was a problem, but it was a long time ago.”
    â€œCan you tell me what happened?”
    He thought about it, and then said, “Horatio Cave arrived at Harrow with every handicap possible except being a milksop. That, he certainly was not. But he was rough in manners and poorly schooled. I doubt he’d ever had friends of his own age and station, and quite simply, he didn’t fit in. Add to that his natural reaction to every affront was to fight, tooth and claw.”
    â€œPoor boy,” Eleanor said.
    Thea sipped tea. The poor boy was a man now, clearly over any such problems.
    â€œHe did a great deal of damage?” Thea asked.
    â€œMostly to himself. Physically, he was very different to the man you see now. He’s still not a giant, but back then he could best be