Page 326 of From Rakes to Riches

“Pardon?”

“Sneaking into Cresthaven.” His brother picked a sliver of tobacco from his tongue.

“Are you following me?”

“No.”

Raphael narrowed one eye at him. “Then what wereyoudoing at Cresthaven?”

It was Gabriel’s turn to look away. “I had business nearby.”

“No, you bloody didn’t.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Gabriel made a dismissive gesture. “It said on the police records that Felicity Goode was in the police wagon with you, but that wasn’t her. It was her twin.”

Raphael didn’t have to feign indignance this time. “How can you tell them apart? You’ve spent all of five seconds in their company.”

“Felicity doesn’t speak like Mercy.” Gabriel’s voice changed in a way that sparked a dark and painful knowledge in Raphael’s gut. There was a reverence there. Something that echoed in his own hollowed-out soul. “She doesn’t move so sharply through the world. So decisively. Her steps are...careful. Her words are soft.”

Raphael narrowed his eyes at his brother. It couldn’t be... “You were at Cresthaven last night watching Felicity Goode? Forshame,you voyeur!” He nudged at him with an elbow.

“Iamashamed.” Gabriel refused to be mollified. “I can’t help but wonder if I feature in any of her nightmares.”

“I’m certain she’s forgotten you even exist,” Raphael said over a derisive noise.

That didn’t seem to make it better.

“This isn’t...guilt, is it, brother?” he accused. “You like her. Youwanther.”

Gabriel had looked at women before, but he’d never watched them. Not like this. He seemed to have come to terms early in life with the fact that his face condemned him to the life of a monk.

“Two brothers tempted by two sisters.” Gabriel made a grunt that might have been humor or grief. “It’s all rather Shakespearean, isn’t it? One of the tragedies, in our case.”

“I’d never love Mercy Goode,” Raphael claimed, wondering why he still felt as though he were lying to his brother. “It wouldn’t be safe for her. But...I didn’t want to leave without...” He couldn’t seem to finish his sentence.

“You’re not being cruel to her, are you? Didn’t leave her with promises that will break her heart?”

That Gabriel even cared surprised him more than he could express.

Ultimately, he shook his head. “No. She is in no need of entanglements. That woman has made it abundantly clear, a man would only get in her way.”

Gabriel nodded, taking a deep breath of the crisp air, turning his face to the sky to let the rain plink against his mask.

“Don’t worry about Mercy and Felicity Goode,” Raphael advised, though whether to Gabriel or himself, he couldn’t quite figure. “They have a fierce bond, unshakable trust, and a future together.”

“As do we,brother. As do we.” Gabriel turned to him and clasped his shoulder in a rare show of fraternal affection. “Enjoy your last few weeks as the handsome one, Rafe. Or should I say, Remy? I’ll see you in Antigua.”

Raphael could only bring himself to nod.

Turning, Gabriel conquered the steps to the grand building with an almost jubilant jog, taking two at a time.

The next words were lost to the soft sound of the rain as it pattered against the cobbles of the streets that would become his grave.

“Goodbye,mon frere.Vive la vie.”

Live life.

13

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