Page 18 of Rescued from Betrayal
“Thanks for your vote of confidence.”
“Anytime, my friend.”
Nathaniel sat on the window seat. “Are you both finished picking at one another?”
“No,” they both said in unison.
“But please proceed while I have the upper hand,” Al said.
“Yes, it will simply give me time to come up with an equally stinging insult forAlgenon,” Eddie grumbled.
“Using my full name is insulting enough.”
“Not for this.”
“Ladies, ladies, your bonnets are both beautiful, so let's stop bickering over whose plumage deserves more admiration.”
They all turned to John, dumbfounded by the witty remark. Nathaniel snickered and before he knew it the whole room was filled with laughter.
It took a few moments for them all to get control, but when the room quieted Nathaniel rose from his seat and approached the fire. With the flames as his backdrop, he told them of Mr. Fairchild’s deceit. If he had thought Eddie angry before, it wasnothing compared to the pure hatred that now filled his eyes. Al jumped from his seat and grabbed the smaller man about the waist before he could leave Nathaniel’s room.
“Eddie, stop. Storming through London to exact your revenge on Mr. Fairchild will do no good. In truth, it will likely harm everyone involved.”
“The man tried to force himself upon my sister!” Eddie strained at Al’s hold and John stepped in front of the door to block his way should he break free.
“But he did not, thanks to Nathaniel.”
Eddie stilled, his gaze shifting. His shoulders dropped and Al let him out of his hold. He took a deep breath, straightened his back, then came to stand in front of Nathaniel.
“I owe you an apology.” They stared at one another. “And my thanks. You rescued my sister from an unthinkable future. As much as I would like to think my uncle could have saved her from being coerced into a marriage with a man who had abused her, I know how hard it would have been to prove she was not a party to his advances.” Eddie stuck out his hand.
Nathaniel grasped it. “Had my sister still been alive, you would have done the same.”
Eddie hung his head. “I am not so sure.”
With his other hand, Nathaniel patted him on the back. “You would have. However, let us hope that none of the rest of you ever get caught in such a precarious position as I now find myself.”
“Here, here,” Al said. “I have great hopes that Nate here used up all our bad luck and we shall all go on to find much more agreeable matches.”
“Are you saying my sister is not agreeable?”
Al held up his hands. “Do not revert back to an angry chicken on me. It was simply an observation of the state of things between Nate and your sister. If you have not noticed, they arenot on the friendliest of terms. Which is exactly why I suggested you take some time to think over your madcap advances on Nate. Melior would be more likely to spit in his drink than to agree to a clandestine meeting.”
And that was the crux of the problem. Nathaniel sighed. What kind of sweet torture had he resigned himself to? He would be tied to the woman of his dreams forever, and she despised him.
“What I cannot decipher,” John said, “is why your sister was in the cloakroom in the first place?”
Eddie blinked at him. Nathaniel had wondered the same thing. It was evident when he’d come upon her and Mr. Fairchild that she’d not been at all willing to receive his attention, so why be sequestered with the man?
“Perhaps she lost her way to the ladies’ retiring room,” Al suggested.
Eddie snorted. “Hardly. Her sense of direction is impeccable and she has been to the Durhams on several occasions. She would not have lost her way so easily.”
“Is it possible that she may have been searching for something among her things?”
A shake of Eddie’s head dismissed the question. “She’d have had a footman fetch it for her.”
Something pulled at Nathaniel’s mind, but it was too unthinkable to be mentioned. He needed to shift his friend’s attention away from Melior before they stumbled upon the same idea he had. “It is of little importance. What’s done is done.”
