Page 77 of A Fearless Heart
Gabe looked up and toward a man approaching. Cady noticed a slight tightening of his mouth.
“Who’s that?” Cady whispered.
“Viscount Nyle. My eldest brother. We seem to be awash in brothers today,” he muttered back.
“Gabriel, I had no idea you were in town,” the man said with a smile as he reached them. “You are truly terrible at keeping the family apprised of things, you know that.”
“Just arrived, and haven’t had the chance to look you up yet,” Gabe said. There was an awkwardness between the men, and Gabe was so rarely awkward with anyone that it stood out. Then Gabe looked back to Cady. “My lady, have I permission to introduce my brother?”
“Certainly,” Cady said, too surprised to say no.
“Then may I present Lord Gerald Courtenay, Viscount Nyle.” He then turned as he said, “This is Lady Arcadia Osbourne, daughter of the late Lord Calder.”
“How do you do,” Nyle said, bowing very precisely. “I never know what surprises my brother has in store, but to keep a lovely lady like you secret in the middle of London truly raises the stakes.”
“In truth, I spend most of my time in Kent,” she said. “But eventually, a lady must go to London for one reason or another.”
The man chuckled. “Very true. There’s no place like London. And are you staying in town long?”
“I haven’t decided,” she said, which was perfectly true.
“Well, say it will be at least a week. I’m having a little party for my birthday at our home in town, Summersby House. The appearance of a mysterious young lady will add so much luster. I’ll have an invitation sent round.” He then nodded to Gabe. “And you’ll be there, of course, since you’re in town after all. I expect no less from my little brother.”
“Honored to be considered,” Gabe said dryly.
Nyle raised his fingers to the brim of his hat and gave another little bow to Cady, then continued on through the park.
“So that’s my brother,” Gabe muttered once they were alone again. “We’re not as close as you and Trevor.”
“I gathered as much. He does seem to have the air of heir about him, doesn’t he?”
“Gerald’s been groomed for it since the day he was born, and he can’t wait for the day he steps into the even greater title of Lord Hargrave. Not that our father shows the slightest sign of vacating the post anytime soon.”
“Will you go to his party?”
Gabe closed his eyes as if in pain. “I suppose I have to. My invitation was more of an order.”
“Would it be more tolerable if I attended? If I ever actually receive an invitation myself.” The thought of a party was intimidating, but on the other hand, it might be a chance to meet Gabe’s friends and family.
“You’d actually go?” he asked.
“Well, you’re right that I need to pretend to be doing silly feminine things while in London. A party qualifies. And then I can help distract you that evening. After all, you’ve helped me. I should return the favor.”
“Cady, you don’t have to do this.His‘little parties’ are anything but. It will be loud and crowded and full of people you’ve never met and never want to meet.”
“If I need to leave, then I’ll leave. And you’ll be there to protect me, won’t you?”
He nodded. “Count on it.”
Chapter 28
Gabe returned to his ownhome in the city. It was a collection of rooms on the second floor of a house near St James which he’d purchased shortly after leaving the army. He never thought much about the space, since he was so often gone. But now when he walked in, he was struck by the barrenness of the whole apartment. Yes, there was furniture and all the usual trappings—curtains and pictures on the wall. But everything had come with the place. Gabe thought it all looked fine at the time, and saw no reason to replace it.
But none of the things had anything to do withhim. That landscape of the seaside done in pastels? He had no idea where it was done, or if it was accurate. The wooden chair at the small dining table? He couldn’t say who the etched initials on the chair belonged to. Was it a previous owner? Children who once lived there? Was is to mark an heirloom that should have stayed with a family instead of being sold off to a stranger?
He’d been living in the wake of other people’s lives for years. Even when he wasn’t pretending to be someone else for an assignment, he wasn’t being himself either. At Calderwood, he’d seen how Cady’s laboratory was filled with her life’s work, as well as small reminders of her everyday life—a chipped teacup, the shawl that once belonged to her mother, the stack of books and journals she constantly referenced.
Gabe had none of that. He had a chair with someone else’s initials carved onto it.
