Page 4 of The Shadow of the Count
“Would you gentlemen care for a coffee or a snack?” asked a uniformed waiter in French, thankfully turning them to another topic, the safe one of food and drink.
“I would love coffee,” Peter murmured. “Do you want something, Yvgeny? I’m lucky enough to have my expenses paid until we arrive.”
“You do not mind?”
He shook his head and smiled. “Not at all, my friend. I would love to have someone to join me. Eating and drinking alone are depressing.”
“Then I would appreciate a coffee, yes.” He got a smile.
“A coffee and…profiteroles, please. With the chestnut cream.” That sounded decadent and something they could share to cheer them both up. Maybe Yvgeny wished him not to go to Castle Polidorus because he himself did not wish to go home. The man had said he’d wanted to stay in Paris, so maybe he felt as though all of his countrymen were backward.
How dangerous could one old count possibly be?
Two
Donnie paced the library at his friend’s London home.
Normally, he would revel in the ability to explore Lyle’s collection, which had been growing in his family’s extensive house since the late seventeenth century. Truly, it was a delight. But right now, all he could think about was Peter and how far away his lover was, in a land where he didn’t speak the language or know a single soul.
“I should have gone to Paris,” he groused.
His dear friend Lyle, who sprawled on a chaise, waved a languid hand. “You hate Paris, my love.”
“I do, but I hate worse that I let him leave me.” Why had he not insisted on going with Peter? He could have taken lodgings near this count’s castle and kept after Peter, wearing down his resistance.
“He needs a dowry to claim your hand, does he not?”
“That’s what he says.” He gave Lyle a dark look. “We’re not exactly aristocrats, he and I. We could come together with nothing and be fine. Dowry.” He clicked his tongue in disgust. “It’s ridiculous.”
“Ah, and live off the kindness of friends and family? Like me?”Those bright eyes went wide with false innocence.
“Stop it. Whose side are you on?”
“Yours always, dearest. Always. I’m simply acting as a distraction.” Lyle’s faux naivete dissolved into laughter. Silly man. Donnie did adore him.
“By enraging me.” He poured himself a brandy, then just held it. “I swear, Lyle. I know he’s the one for me. He knows it. I wish things—”
“Wishing is all good and well, but such affairs aren’t for men like us. Your brother can get away with it. As can I.” Lyle’s pink lips curved into a smile. He looked like a young angel, and his family had connections and money Donnie couldn’t even imagine. How they had become friends at school, he had no idea.
He was glad they had.
Lyle had always made him feel an equal in everything but money, and with his influence, he was generous.
He thought Lyle was lonely, and Donnie was not afraid of him at all. So their friendship worked out perfectly.
“You are so perturbed. You need to play dress-up and experiment. Your Peter seems incredibly uptight.”
“Oh, you. Just because he’s not a frivolous one like you.” He smiled to soften the words. He knew Lyle was caught in his place in life. Many of the old families were dying out, but Lyle’s family was still going strong, and still ruling with an iron hand.There were only so many things he was allowed to do, so Lyle played the idiot.
“Everyone needs a dilettante about to play with, don’t they?”
“Indeed.” He sighed, then sat across from Lyle. “Play chess with me.”
“I’d love to. Winner chooses the restaurant for a late supper.”
“Might as well show off.” He liked the ice creams and meringues at the Ivy. That would be his choice. Lyle’s would undoubtedly be the Royal or Simpson’s.
Wherever they ended up, he would be thinking of his librarian, traveling farther and farther away from London.
