Page 2 of The Viscount's Code
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Anthony watchedthe angelic figure that was Hope Newfield run away from him, just like most women of her ilk were wont to do.
He scared them. He understood that and was fine with it, for he had no time to coddle a woman prone to such emotional theatrics.
If they were different people, however, the things he could do to cause that pink flush to wash over her face…. He wondered if it would travel over the rest of her body as well.
But that wasn’t for him to discover. Besides, if she knew what his family was suspected of, she would want even less to do with him than she already did.
He scoffed as he turned back to Ferrington. The man would one day become a marquess, yet he sailed through life without a care in the world, so opposite to Anthony himself, who felt the weight of it pressing on his shoulders with every step he took.
“You are to go to Newfield House, then?” Ferrington asked him, to which Anthony nodded.
“It appears so – if it can be arranged.”
“Interesting,” Ferrington mused, taking a sip of his drink and rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels as he looked around the room. “Haven’t been there in some time myself.”
“Do you have reason to?” Anthony asked, picking up on something in the man’s tone.
Ferrington shrugged, although the right side of his lip twitched upward. “I might have a care for a particular person there.”
“Oh?” Anthony wasn’t altogether interested, but it seemed like the natural progression of the conversation.
Ferrington leaned in. “I know I shouldn’t say anything, but Lady Faith has caught my eye.”
“Lady Faith?” Anthony choked out. He couldn’t see anything particularly attractive about the woman, who did nothing to hide the derision in her gaze every time she looked at him. He had an inkling that she believed the rumors that had followed him around.
“Yes, Lady Faith,” Ferrington said dreamily before sighing into his drink. “Unfortunately, she wants nothing to do with me.”
“You asked?”
“I did. Well, asked her for a dance once or twice, to walk with me another time. She continues to turn me down.”
“Why?”
Ferrington shrugged. “She will not say. She hasn’t been known to be courted by any man, however, so I suppose I cannot be overly insulted.”
“I see,” Anthony murmured, and while he didn’t care about Lady Faith’s interest in a husband, he wondered if her sister felt the same about suitors. Not that it mattered to him, for he would certainly not be pursuing her.
“So how do you know about solving these codes?” Ferrington asked, changing the subject.
“My father taught me,” Anthony said, waiting for the judgment to come, but Ferrington only seemed interested.
“How did he learn them?”
“He was a codebreaker in the war,” Anthony said, wishing Ferrington would finish this line of questioning. “He had hoped I would follow him into it, but…” Then all had come crashing down. “The need never arose.”
“Right. Well, an interesting skill, if not one that is often required.”
“True.”
“Who’d have thought Ashford would have need of it in some treasure hunt?” Ferrington continued.
“Who, indeed?”
Anthony had hoped his short answers would discourage Ferrington’s questioning, but the man didn’t seem affected by his responses at all.
“Well, best go congratulate the new couple,” he said with a cheerful smile. “Best of luck with the code! We shall all be waiting to hear how you make out.”
