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

Oliver clenched his jaw. “I’m afraid you wouldn’t understand my reasons.”

“I am not a child anymore, Oliver.”

“I am well aware of that.”

“Then please do not treat me as such,” Jane asserted.

Oliver leaned to the side and placed his glass onto a side table. “My reasons are my own, and I have no intention of sharing them with you or anyone.”

Jane stared at him for a long moment before saying, “You are a fool.”

He grunted. “I see that we are back to the name calling.”

“You willingly let your wife leave Hawthorne House, and you are doing nothing about it.”

“Emmeline said she would return, and I am taking her at her word.”

Arching an eyebrow, Jane asked, “What if Emmeline is having a deliriously enjoyable time in Whitstable and decides not to return?”

“That is her choice,” he grumbled. “I will not force Emmeline to reside with me.”

“I don’t understand you, Brother,” Jane said. “You have changed so much these past few years that I hardly know who you are anymore.”

“I am the same person.”

Jane shook her head. “After Charlotte left you, I have watched you make one horrendous decision after another.”

“That isn’t true,” he argued.

“My friends have distanced themselves from me because they don’t want to associate with the sister of a rakehell.”

Oliver frowned. “I hadn’t realized that my actions were affecting you.”

“Frankly, you have noticed very little about me since you left Oxford.”

Oliver met her gaze and held it. “Is that why you hold me in such disdain?”

Jane pressed her lips together as she seemed to ponder his question. Finally, she spoke. “I don’t hate you, if that is what you are asking. But I do believe you are throwing away your chance at true happiness with Emmeline.”

“In what way?”

Jane came around the chair and sat down. “I know that you married her to save her from marrying the duke, and I find that admirable. But I have seen the way you look at Emmeline, and I know you hold her in some regard.”

“I do,” he replied, seeing no reason to deny it.

“Then why don’t you cast off your rake persona and attempt to make your marriage real?”

“It is not that simple.”

“It should be.”

“But it is not.”

“Why?” Jane asked.

Oliver turned his gaze towards the fire in the hearth. “Emmeline doesn’t trust me,” he said. “She has told me as much.”

“Then earn her trust,” she encouraged.

“I can’t give Emmeline what she wants,” Oliver said. “She is asking too much of me.”

Jane eyed the empty glass as she inquired, “You would rather continue living as you are and drink yourself into oblivion?”

“It is better this way.”

“Better for whom?”

Oliver shifted his gaze towards the fire. “Leave it, Jane,” he growled.

She considered him for a moment, then asked, “What changed between us? We used to be so close growing up.”

“That we were,” he agreed.

“After father died, Baldwin left, and you disappeared, as well.”

“That isn’t true. I escorted you and Mother to balls, soirées, and even house parties,” he defended.

“Just because someone is standing next to you, doesn’t mean that person is truly present.”

Glancing over at her, Oliver asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“Your eyes were always alert, as if you were watching everyone in the room but us.”

Oliver shifted uncomfortably in his chair, knowing his sister spoke the truth.

Jane continued. “I know that may sound ridiculous, but it was how I felt.”

“I’m sorry that you felt that way. It was never my intention to make you feel any less important than you are to me.”

Jane offered him a sad smile. “Thank you for that.”

“I am not a perfect man, but I am trying to do what’s right.”

“How is that possible when you aren’t fighting for Emmeline?” she asked in a soft voice.

Oliver let out a deep sigh. “You must trust me when I say that Emmeline is better off without me.”

“I don’t believe that to be true,” Jane said, rising, “and I think, deep down, you don’t believe the rubbish you are saying either.”

As he watched his sister walk slowly towards the door, he called after her. “I would like things to change between us,” he remarked. “Truly.”

Jane stopped and turned back around to face him. “As would I, Oliver, but these things take time. There is no easy fix between us.”

“I understand.”

“But I will try to avoid making so many disparaging comments,” she hesitated, “assuming your actions do not infuriate me.”

A smile came to his lips. “I can accept that.”

“I am happy to hear it.” Jane’s lips twitched as she glanced over at the darkened window. “Will you be joining us for supper this evening?”

“I believe I shall.”

“That will make Mother very happy,” Jane replied before she departed from the room.

Oliver stared at the empty doorway, pleased at the progress he had made with Jane. That was the first time they’d had a real conversation since his father had passed away.

His brother’s voice broke through his musings. “That was rather touching,” Baldwin declared as he walked into the room, closing the door behind him.

“You overheard that?” he asked.

Baldwin nodded. “I did.”

“Do you have no shame in eavesdropping?”

Smirking, Baldwin said, “About as much as you do.” He walked over to him and handed him a letter. “Corbyn asked me to deliver this to you.”

“Why didn’t he deliver it personally?” Oliver asked as he fingered the corners of the paper.

“Corbyn entered my coach as I traveled home from the House of Lords,” Baldwin revealed, “and he mentioned he had a meeting with one of his informants.”

Oliver chuckled. “Corbyn has a way of appearing at the most inopportune times.”

“That he does.”

Unfolding the paper, Oliver read the note and shared, “Corbyn has a new assignment for me, but it will take me to the peninsula. He says that I am to leave soon.”

Baldwin stared back at him. “Are you sure you want to leave your wife at this time?”

Leaning forward, Oliver tossed the paper into the fireplace as he remarked, “I hardly think she will miss me.”

“Will you not at least inform Emmeline that you intend