Rogue in Red Velvet. Lynne Connolly

they were chortling, their mouths wide with amusement. Several empty wine bottles stood outside the booth, waiting to be collected, and the elegant supper Vauxhall served to its patrons was scattered around, bits of wafer-thin ham dotted over the yellow and green paint.

      Julius frowned. “Why is that trouble? What is Lady Downholland’s niece to you?”

      Oh hell, Julius had noticed the extra venom in Alex’s tone. His cousin knew him too well.

      He’d better pay attention to what he said.

      Alex chose to tell the truth. If he couldn’t trust Julius, he couldn’t trust anyone. “I met her at the Downholland’s. At first I asked her to help me avoid Miss Stobart, but our acquaintance became much more than that. She wasn’t officially affianced, but I could offer her nothing. Or I thought I could not. After a few days? Her future was waiting for her. I came away. I like the woman a little too much. Now she’s signed her marriage contract, so I can’t lay claim, or even stake an interest.”

      He shrugged, making light of the matter that weighed his heart down worse every day. “It was a passing flirtation.” If he said it often enough, perhaps he’d eventually believe it. “I don’t want to see her married to someone who’ll treat her with less than respect.”

      Julius fixed him with a look far too perceptive, his blue gaze glittering with speculation. He turned back to the scene in front of him. “Alex, what do you see?”

      “A man disporting himself before tying the knot.” Alex curled his lip at the sight of the booth opposite.

      Dankworth had his hand down the bodice of the nearest woman, who was undoubtedly a tart, although dressed in the highest kick of fashion and not cheaply either. He was laughing uproariously at something one of his friends was saying,

      “I see desperation.” Julius was right. Dankworth was celebrating too hard, too feverishly, as if he had little time left. Despite his determination to keep his distance, Alex had learned some depressing facts about Dankworth. He had no right to interfere, but he wished he had.

      Alex grimaced, acknowledging the truth and reached for his wineglass. He took a sip and replaced it carefully. “He’s been playing too deep. He’s a regular player at Hell in Whites, and God knows how many more places. He’ll have to work hard to right his losses. He’s living on expectation. He’s a man of modest means, but as Downholland’s heir he can call on new lines of credit.”

      “I’ll investigate, shall I? Ask a few questions?” Julius leaned back and crossed his legs, the picture of elegance.

      “I already have. I asked Fox, who only leaves White’s to go to the House. Dankworth is consorting with the kind of man who’ll wager on anything, including if Lady Barrett’s next child is finally a boy.”

      “I had fifty on that one myself,” Julius shot his cousin a shamefaced grin. “After five girls, I doubt her ability to produce a son. I saw some bets of upwards of a thousand in the book.”

      “One of them might be his.” Alex jerked his chin in Dankworth’s direction. “He’s down far too much for a man of modest fortune. One more night and he’ll have lost most of what he has left then he’ll be punting on the expectation. He will gain Mrs. Rattigan’s estate on their marriage and no doubt he’ll receive some kind of allowance as Downholland’s heir.”

      “I see.” Julius poured himself another glass, his movements leisurely. “If I were you, I’d write a warning to Mrs. Rattigan. Tell her how matters lie. Then she can make her own decision.”

      Dankworth abandoned his booth and strode toward another. In the other booth, new entrants were settling, namely Miss Louisa Stobart and her family. Tonight was turning into the kind of evening Alex preferred to forget.

      Miss Stobart appeared to advantage, her gown a confection of white and pink designed to make her appear sweet. More like candied roses than a real living, breathing woman. But a voracious chaser, as Alex had reason to know. She’d returned to town as game as ever.

      Unbidden, a picture of Connie came to his mind, her hair tousled, cobwebs hanging from the sleeve of a severely practical gown. The only adornment she needed was the smile that melted his heart.

      She’d spoiled him for other women. Not even the most practiced courtesan would be able to raise Alex’s attention right now. His father favored Louisa Stobart but Alex couldn’t bear marrying a woman with no conversation outside the latest fashions and the people she knew, moreover, one with such a spiteful streak. Louisa wasn’t kind to anyone, least of all her friends. Her fortune gave her the leeway to say more than others, and at present society considered her a wit.

      Dankworth offered Miss Stobart his arm. She took it and stepped through the small opening separating her box from the dance floor. Now the picture of propriety, he promenaded around the edge of the area, stopping to chat with the various occupants.

      “He’s distancing himself from the raffish crowd he was with.” Alex watched the scene with distaste. What was Dankworth doing with Miss Stobart? He couldn’t court her. He was already betrothed.

      “He’s coming this way,” Julius murmured. “I suggest you make yourself scarce for ten minutes, Alex. Give me the field. Besides, he’ll know you’re angry with him. You’re not good at hiding that particular emotion.”

      Good advice. Alex slipped out of the door at the back of the booth. After a pleasant stroll around the gardens that helped to calm his wayward mood, Alex returned in better spirits.

      Julius met him with grim news. His face was as still and hard as stone. “Dankworth is announcing his engagement to Miss Stobart. He introduced me to the lady he has just asked to marry him.”

      “Why would he do that, when our family and his are at odds?”

      Julius shrugged, his well-cut coat settling back into place without a ripple. “I was charming to them.”

      Alex’s sick anger returned threefold. He’d kill the man. “He’s affianced to Mrs. Rattigan. They’ve signed the contract.”

      Julius’s mouth settled into a flat line. “But nobody in town knows that. I suspect he finds himself under the hatches and he needs something more than Mrs. Rattigan can give him. Is the betrothal well known?”

      “Not in London.” The Downhollands didn’t visit frequently and their estate wasn’t large enough to excite interest. Dankworth couldn’t marry two women.

      “I smell danger, Alex. He’s cornered and cornered rats become dangerous. The first thing is to warn Mrs. Rattigan. Tell her that we will investigate the situation and wait on her instructions. Suggest that she contacts Lord Downholland and if she trusts him, ask him to act on her behalf.”

      “I will most certainly write to her,” Alex said grimly. He would write it that night, as soon as he got home. And one to the Downhollands, too. Damn his local stint as magistrate, Lord Downholland should be attending his heir in town.

      At least Alex could ensure that Connie was in possession of the facts. She needed to act. And perhaps, if she decided to break the contract, Alex could repair the mistake he made. He should never have left the field for Dankworth, and had he known what a cad Dankworth was, he wouldn’t have done.

       Chapter 6

      “Letter for you, Missus.”

      Connie had long stopped trying to get her housemaid to stop calling her “Missus.” Saxton came from a family that had served the local gentry in these parts since records began, or so they had everyone believe. If Connie commented too strongly, they’d have called her “stuck up” and relegated her to the younger daughters and sons of the Saxton clan, the ones who needed training—a subtle kind of punishment that was just as effective as sitting in the stocks.

      Connie took the letter from Saxton’s hands—no salvers here, as at the Downholland’s—and used her butter knife to break the seal, which was so blurred as to be unrecognizable.