Page 55 of The Wallflower Manifesto
“God, no,” Cresson said immediately, and then flushed pink again.
This time, even Silas laughed, a quick, raspy bark that he immediately covered with a clearing of his throat.
“Now, then,” he said, spreading out a few sheets from his folio. “The house in Reading …”
Abe endedup leaving the law office with Dom Raul, waving off Cresson, who broke away in the opposite direction toward Bow Street.
It took a full block before the men realized they were headed toward the same destination.
“Ahh, you are the detective myfofoPatricia has hired to watch her son,” Raul said, his eyes widening in realization. “You must be very prolific, Mr. Murphy, to be London’s first choice for such matters.”
Abe chuckled. “If only that were true.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, my entanglements just happen to match yours. Though, perhaps I should’ve let someone go on believing I’m that competent.”
Raul joined in on the chuckle, somehow affirming Abe’s feelings on the matter rather than laughing at his implied failures. The man, Abe decided, was dangerously charming.
“I have heard much about young Frederick,” Raul continued. “For my own sanity, I must believe that most of it is exaggerated.Such a young man .... well, Patricia is adamant that I do not meet him for some time.”
“She’s probably right,” Abe conceded.
The last thing Freddy needed as he climbed out of his unfortunate recent spiral was this paragon of what a noblemanshouldbe arriving in his face, seducing his mother. But maybe, after a time, a role model wouldn’t be such a bad idea.
“You are reporting on the young man today?” Raul assumed as they rounded the block toward Lady Bentley’s townhouse.
“I am,” Abe confirmed, though to be honest, he didn’t have much in the way of useful intelligence for Lady Bentley. He had been heading this way in the hopes of advancing his own seductions of a woman in that house, and he couldn’t rightly say that, could he?
Now he had to think of something to tell Lady Bentley about Freddy by the time they reached the stoop.
“I thought you would have an accent,” he said, both because hehadthought that and because Freddy was probably not a subject he should dive into with Lady Bentley’s suitor. “You sound like a native.”
Raul laughed. “Well, if you check my ancestry, I suppose I am somewhat of a native? My grandmother was English, and she did not tolerate anyPortinglêsin her presence.And of course, I did spend a portion of my education here in England.”
Abe nodded sagely, his brain clinging toPortinglêsand repeating it in echoing somersaults of Raul’s pronunciation.
“You, though, Mr. Murphy. You have quite a distinct brogue,” Raul pointed out. “Such a lyrical sound the Scots have.”
“Oh,” replied Abe, blushing like a maiden who’d just been called pretty for the first time. “I suppose I do.”
“I like Scottish words,” Raul continued. “Bairn. Gallus. Braw. It is practically its own language itself.”
Abe almost stopped walking, staring at the other man in open surprise. “It used to be,” he said after a moment. And then, “You must be a menace at dinner parties.”
This won a rich laugh from Raul as they approached the house.
Abe knew he wasn’t intimate friends with this man. He knew that logically. He’d barely known him an hour. But it was hard to feel like they weren’t getting drinks later and comparing life stories.
Stepping into Lady Bentley’s townhouse was the splash of cold water he needed before he fell completely in love with the man and ran off with him instead of Millie. Even the receiving foyer was so overwhelmingly, beautifully feminine that Abe instantly felt more at ease.
He could smell floral tea and the melted beeswax of the primal female urge to light far more candles than necessary. Yes. It was like a balm.
Lady Bentley and Millie were in a brightly lit sitting room together, appearing to have been wrapping up a military review of several fabric swatches. Both looked up in surprise at the pairing that had arrived in their house, delivered to them by a footman with what appeared to Abe to be a very bruised jawline.
He wanted so badly to make a joke about these ladies battering their staff, but he forced it down, allowing Raul to greet themboth first and trying his best to avoid the look of confusion on Millie’s face.
Because it hadn’t occurred to him until just that moment, that exact moment, that Millie was oblivious to not only Freddy’s presence in London, but also to his current living arrangement.
“Mr. Murphy!” Lady Bentley said, rising with a warm smile. “I was not expecting you so soon! Welcome to my home. I see you’ve met Dom Raul, how wonderful.”
“We were acquainted at Mr. Cain’s law office,” Raul put in warmly, reaching out to take her hands. “It seems Mr. Murphy and I have many overlapping interests. Sometimes the world is small that way.”
