My Lady Scandal by Kate Harper Page B

was cold, damp and miserable, a fine drizzle misting the air.
    Happily, the Marriotts had not ventured out into the rain, but instead had taken refuge in the orangery at the side of the house. Grif had not opened it for the party as it was too damp to truly enjoy, but they slipped inside with the easy familiarity of people who were used to slipping places and he followed after a minute, moving silently so as not to alert them.
    He was late coming in to the conversation, but not too late.
    ‘ – must know. And I do not like it.’
    ‘Damn,’ Perry muttered, sounding chagrined, ‘I am sure I was not favoring it. Perhaps when I was dancing…’
    ‘Is it very painful?’ The concern in her voice was immediate. Grif wondered what they had gone through in their lives to have forged such an obvious bond.
    ‘I have a hole in it,’ Perry pointed out, laughter in his voice, ‘it is still a little delicate.’
    ‘Fool! But seriously, Perry. Carlisle knows something. He must, or he would not have said what he did.’
    ‘More like he saw that it was stiff,’ Perry protested. ‘Truly, Nell, there is nothing he could know. How could he?’
    ‘I am not sure. But the man is a deal more acute than he appears.’
    Perry gave a snort. ‘Carlisle seems like a nice enough fellow, I will give you that, but he is a dandy; as rich as Croesus and like the rest of them, concerned only with his own amusements.’
    ‘I think you underestimate him.’
    ‘Even so; we are safe, Nell. They may hunt around as much as they like, but there is no sign that we were the ones on the road on Tuesday night.’
    ‘Yes.’ Grif heard the sigh in Nell’s voice. She sounded… tired. ‘Still, it is just as well we have given it up.’
    ‘True enough. Buck up! You know what Father used to say; a pair of twos can beat a full house any day. It is all how you play your hand. Have you seen anything interesting tonight?’
    ‘Indeed I have. Two very interesting things.’ From his place behind the wall of flowering orchids, Grif’s ears pricked up. It was a relief to know that the two Marriotts had forsworn their life as highway robbers, a profession that was becoming more and more hazardous. But what were they up to now?
    ‘Jewelry?’
    ‘Lady Abbington and the Countess of Belmont.’
    Perry gave a crow of laughter. ‘What a termagant you are! Did they cross you?’
    ‘They did not dare! But they are both such dreadful creatures and so very rude. I will feel positively noble relieving them of their wretched baubles.’
    There was a pause. ‘We do not have to do this, Nell. There are options.’
    ‘Options!’ That one word spoke volumes. ‘And what might they be, pray tell? Leave England, once again? And do what, Perry? Return to the life we once led? We agreed; we are done with it. We have dreamed of this for so long. Happiness… I want a chance at happiness.’
    There came a sigh. ‘I know it; very well. But I think you should let me do the taking.’
    Nell chuckled. ‘With your shoulder? I think not. Besides, I always could out climb you. Come along now, it is time we were returning to the party and saying our farewells. It feels as if it has been a very long night.’
    Grif listened as the pair made their way from the orangery, drawing back into the shadows as they disappeared out the door. He waited for a minute, giving them time to make their way back and then followed, deep in thought.
    What to do now? As reassuring as it was that his pretty pair of protégés were no longer haunting the highways, it appeared that they had come up with another plan to fund the restoration of their fortunes.
    Lady Abbington and the Countess of Belmont.
    Both profoundly tedious women with an impressive cachet of jewels.
    A sensible man would bow out of this affair while his moral rectitude was still intact.
    Grif thanked God he was not a sensible man and that he possessed no moral rectitude.
    He had not been this entertained in years!
     

 
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