A Dangerous Game (Regency Spies & Secrets Book 2), Laura Beers [i read books TXT] 📗

Jane’s eyes twinkled with merriment as she said, “It is true, but Emmeline and I were quite proficient at climbing the rocks by the stream that we found.”

“You are lucky you didn’t break anything,” Baldwin remarked.

“Perhaps, but we had the grandest adventures,” Jane declared. “Didn’t we, Emmeline?”

Emmeline smiled as she reached for her glass. “That we did.”

Jane shifted in her chair. “Madalene and I became dear friends at boarding school,” she revealed.

“I was quite envious when you left for boarding school,” Emmeline admitted, “but my mother preferred that I be educated at home.”

“That is because you were the only child,” Jane pointed out. “My mother was counting the days until I departed for boarding school.”

“That is not true,” Harriet declared as she lowered her spoon. “I love having my children near me.”

Jane laughed. “I may have exaggerated, but you must have felt some relief at my leaving for boarding school.”

“I knew you would excel in your studies, but I missed you dreadfully,” Harriet said.

Emmeline found herself growing nostalgic as she listened to Harriet and Jane banter back and forth. How she wished her mother were still alive.

Baldwin’s voice broke through her musings. “We are being rather rude to our guest,” he commented, wiping the sides of his mouth with his napkin.

“She isn’t a guest,” Jane corrected with a smile. “She is family now.”

Harriet smiled approvingly. “Well said, Jane,” she agreed, “but we should stop arguing and discuss something that interests Emmeline.”

With a smile on her lips, Emmeline remarked, “I must admit I thoroughly enjoy listening to everyone speak.”

“You do?” Jane asked.

Emmeline nodded. “Dinner with my aunt and uncle was always a quiet affair, and I dreaded eating with them.”

Baldwin held his glass up as he said, “I can assure you that you won’t lack for conversation here.”

“How wonderful.”

He chuckled. “Give it time,” he joked. “You might change your mind.”

“I don’t think I will,” Emmeline replied.

As Emmeline took a sip of her soup, she realized that the only thing that would have made this night better was if Oliver had joined them for dinner. Which was a ridiculous thought. He was free to do as he pleased.

“I can’t believe you married the chit,” Booth declared as he reached for his glass on the table in front of them.

Oliver gave him an exasperated look. “I believe we have been over this; multiple times, in fact,” he replied. “Yes, I married Emmeline.”

Booth took a sip of his drink, then said, “We may have, but I still find it rather farfetched.”

“And why is that?”

Putting his glass down, Booth remarked, “I didn’t even know that you held Emmeline in high regard.”

“Emmeline and I have always been friends.”

“Yes, but that is a far cry from wanting to marry the girl,” Booth declared.

Oliver picked up his glass. “That may be true,” he said, “but I couldn’t sit back and watch her marry the duke. She would have been miserable.”

“But she would have been a duchess.”

“Not everyone aspires for a lofty title,” Oliver pointed out.

Follett spoke up from the other side of the table. “Leave Radcliff alone,” he said. “He’s made his choice, and now he is saddled with a wife.”

“I wouldn’t consider it saddled,” Oliver responded.

“No?” Follett asked.

Oliver shook his head. “It has been rather nice to have Emmeline around.”

“You are fooling yourself,” Follet stated. “Emmeline will start making demands on your time.”

“I don’t believe that she will. We have come to an understanding.”

Booth huffed. “Women will change the terms of your agreement without any hesitation. They delight in causing havoc in our lives.”

“And how would you know this exactly?” Oliver asked.

Booth tossed back his drink and placed his glass back on the table. “I have watched my brother go through it, and he is miserable because of it.”

“Every marriage is different. Besides, I am at White’s with you, am I not?” Oliver asked, spreading his hands out wide.

“Just wait,” Booth muttered.

Oliver turned his attention towards Haskett, who was sitting next to him. “You have been rather quiet this evening. Is everything all right?”

Haskett leaned forward in his chair with a solemn look on his face. “I am just trying to make sense of what I am being told,” he replied. “You eloped with Miss Lockhart to Gretna Green in the middle of the night, and you truly believe your life won’t change because of your hasty decision?”

“It wasn’t a hasty decision.”

“No?” Haskett asked. “Because you didn’t even inform us of it.”

“I don’t tell you everything.”

Booth chuckled. “You most definitely do not,” he agreed. “You failed to mention that you were considering matrimony.”

“That was intentional,” Oliver said. “We couldn’t risk anyone learning of our plans to elope.”

Haskett grew quiet as a liveried server approached the table and asked, “Would you care for anything else to drink?”

“Another round, if you don’t mind,” Follett ordered.

The server tipped his head in acknowledgement as he left to do their bidding.

Haskett frowned. “I’ve heard that the Duke of Billingham is rather upset that you stole his betrothed out from under his nose.”

“I care little about what the duke thinks,” Oliver declared.

“You should,” Haskett replied. “He is not a man to trifle with.”

“Neither am I,” Oliver countered.

“But he could make your brother’s life miserable in the House of Lords,” Haskett pointed out.

Oliver reached for his glass and took a sip. As he lowered the glass, he replied, “I have no doubt that my brother can handle him. After all, the duke is a member of the Whig party and Baldwin is a staunch Tory.”

“I have heard that the duke is already searching for a new bride,” Booth said.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Oliver muttered. “Emmeline has a rather low opinion of him.”

“Then why did she agree to the engagement in the first place?” Haskett asked.

Oliver leaned to the side as the server placed a drink in front of him and retrieved his other glass. “She didn’t,” he replied. “Her uncle arranged the whole thing.”

Booth accepted the glass from the server as he said, “I can only imagine the ladies