Page 49 of Married to the Lord

Miles searched his brother’s sincere gaze before relenting and stepping back. “If you let Augusta down again....”

“I can expect a beating?” Henry’s lips quirked.

“You know I am excellent at delivering them.”

“Too much practice in your past.”

Miles closed his eyes briefly. He would never win a fight with his brother when Henry had ended up being far too involved in Miles’s sordid history. “Just cease being a cad. You have not seen the hurt you caused Gus. It is not pleasant to behold, believe me.”

“Gus?”

“You know full well that’s been her nickname since childhood,” he said irritably.

“I do but I did not know you used it.”

Miles glared at his brother. “Does it matter what I call her? Concern yourself with actually spending time with your fiancée.”

“I told you, Miles, I have every intention of doing right by her. I just need to...see to some things.”

Miles folded his arms across his chest. “What things? Surely you have had enough damned years to put things in order.”

Henry made a frustrated noise. “Last time I looked, you are not our mother. Now, cease making yourself gray and flapping like an old woman.” Henry turned on his heel and strode across the room, pulling open a drawer in the writing desk that faced the south window. Withdrawing a bottle of liquor, he grinned. “I am awake now thanks to you so I shall be taking this to bed.”

Grinding his teeth together, Miles stepped aside. Apparently Henry would not listen to sense and he doubted he’d figure out what he was up to by mere discussion.

“Oh by the by, you did not, perchance, assign someone to follow me, did you?”

Miles scowled. That had been his next thought but as much as he wanted to know what the hell his brother was up to, he was not certain he would go as far as to stoop to such methods. “You really think I have the time to do such a thing?”

His brother shrugged. “I had a distinct impression I was being followed tonight.”

“Perhaps it was because you were in places you should not be?”

“God’s teeth, Miles, I was in a perfectly respectable area and I have little desire to report back to you about my every move.”

“We’ve never lied to one another, Henry.”

A flash of guilt crossed his face before being hidden behind a raised chin. “Simply because I do not wish to detail my whereabouts at all times does not mean I’m lying to you.”

“Does it not?”

“Anyway, I saw this chap several times. Gray-haired, scruffy looking. I think he had a scar.” Henry motioned down the side of his face.

Miles wrapped a hand into a fist. It couldn’t be, could it? Why would Nester be following Henry? God damn that Jenkins. He would never have set foot in the Bell Inn if the idiot had not been behaving so terribly. Miles tossed aside the thought. It had been years since he’d worked with Nester. There had been nothing stopping him from approaching Miles so why would he show a sudden interest in his brother?

“Sounds as though you are being paranoid,” Miles said as lightly as he could.

“With a brother like you hovering over me like a mama at Almack’s, can you blame me?”

“If you were not sneaking around, you would have no need for blame.”

“Bloody hell, Miles, I was not sneaking. I was simply...” He shook his head. “It’s too hard to explain and I can see well enough where your loyalties lie.”

Miles let his frown deepen. “What is that meant to mean?”

Henry laughed. “Is it not obvious? You would rather watch out for your beloved Gus than your own brother. Hell, if you care that much about her, perhaps you should marry her.” He snatched a glass from the side and hugged the bottle of liquor close. “Now, if you will excuse me, I am bone-tired and hankering for my bed. Perhaps you could be so kind as to tell your lackeys to leave me alone.”

“I have no lackeys,” Miles replied tightly.

“Whatever you say.” Still clasping the glass, Henry gave him a clumsy salute and paced out of the room.

Miles finally unfurled his fists and strode over to the windows to stare out over the gardens. He squinted into the darkness as though he might be able to see some movement or a flash of gray hair. After many moments of nothing, he moved away from the window. Why would Nester be interested in him after all this time? Henry was most certainly being paranoid, and if his brother was feeling such things, it had to mean he was doing something untoward, surely?

And why the devil did Henry have to say that about him and Gus? Now, he wouldn’t have a moment’s rest because all he would be thinking of was how much he wanted just that—to marry Gus and have her all to himself. He rubbed a hand over his face and smothered a yawn. What a royal mess this all was.

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