Page 98 of Affair

“There was certainly a great deal of sound and fury,” Anthony agreed. “But it signified nothing. The ball is still in my pistol.”

“You don’t need the blood of young Norris on your hands. We both know he’s not your customary quarry. He was not himself when he challenged you.”

“I will grant that it was out of character for him.” Anthony looked thoughtful. “And I will agree that there would have been no great satisfaction in lodging a bullet in him.”

“I am pleased to hear that.” Baxter made to move toward the carriage.

“One more thing, St. Ives.”

“Yes?”

Anthony eyed him from beneath half-closed lids. “You are here this morning, I suspect, because the new Earl of Esherton asked you for help in saving his friend’s life.”

“What of it?”

“Rumor has it that the old earl left you in charge of his fortune and told you to keep an eye on young Hamilton.”

“Your point, Tiles?”

“Your half brother got what should have been yours. You are in an ideal position to destroy the inheritance that was denied to you.” Anthony’s hand tightened into a fist. “Why have you not done so?”

Charlotte’s words echoed in Baxter’s head.Anthony Tiles has obviously allowed the facts of his birth to set him on a path that is almost certain to destroy him. Thank God you have carved out a different destiny for yourself.

He looked at the man who had once been his companion, perhaps even a friend, and sensed a truth that he had never before confronted. His father had not bequeathed him the title but he had given his bastard son something of himself. Anthony had not been so fortunate.

“I will not say that I have not reflected on the past at times,” Baxter said slowly. “But perhaps I have avoided the temptation to dabble in serious vengeance because I discovered a more absorbing interest.”

“Ah, yes, your passion for chemistry.” Anthony’s mouth curved derisively. “But to my mind there is nothing so interesting as revenge.”

“Take some advice from an old acquaintance. See if you cannot find something more amusing than the gaming hells and dueling field. You grow too old for this kind of thing, Tony.”

“I pray you will not lecture me. It is bad enough that you have interfered with this morning’s entertainment.”

“No need to play the complete cynic.” Baxter glanced toward the carriage, where Hamilton and Norris waited. “I’m well aware that you took the noble path in this fiasco. I doubt that you are concerned with my thanks, but you have them.”

“Excellent.” Anthony’s smile was distinctly wolfish. “I may find a use for your gratitude. But I assure you that it is misplaced. I never trouble myself with noble behavior. No profit in it for a bastard.”

“Then perhaps you have simply grown more weary of your current pursuits than you know.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“From where I stood it was possible to see that you aimed slightly high and to the left. Had your pistol not failed you, the bullet would likely have gone past Norris’s ear, not through his chest.” Baxter raised his brows. “I do believe that my involvement in this affair was unnecessary.”

Anthony gave him an odd look. Then, without a word, he turned and walked back toward his phaeton and his self-imposed loneliness.

Baxter watched the other man mount the stylish vehicle and drive off into the fog. He had a sudden image of Anthony gradually becoming a ghost.

Baxter’s insides clenched.That could be me.

On the surface he and Anthony seemed very different. Tiles filled his life with feverish excitement and risk. Baxter preferred the orderly, self-contained world of his laboratory. But they had each in their own way built walls to seal out the emotions that could make them vulnerable.

Those same walls ensured that they would be alone the whole of their lives.

Always in the past Baxter had resented and resisted those who had dragged him temporarily out of his laboratory to undertake some irksome family obligation. When his tasks in the outside world had been accomplished, he had been relieved to retreat back into the predictable, well-regulated gloom of his personal realm.

But this time he was not so eager to return to the comfort of his flasks and crucibles and blowpipes. He no longer wanted to be entirely alone.

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