Page 67 of A Devious Secret

Stephen held his glass up to a server to indicate he wished for another. He needed something strong to drink to get through this conversation.

Lord Graylocke arrived at the table and sat down. “I can’t believe that everyone started drinking without me.”

“Does your wife let you drink anymore?” Haddington asked with amusement in his tone.

Graylocke looked heavenward. “She takes no issue with me drinking as long as I do not take it to excess.”

Haddington shifted his gaze to Stephen and shared, “Graylocke showed up drunk to his own wedding and Beatrice was smart enough to send him on his way.”

“Why on earth would you show up drunk to your wedding?” Stephen asked in disbelief.

Graylocke frowned. “It was an arranged marriage, and I didn’t have the foresight to call upon Beatrice before our wedding,” he replied. “If I had, I wouldn’t have done something so foolish.”

Hawthorne gave Graylocke a pointed look. “I do believe I suggested you do so.”

Putting his hand up, Graylocke said,” I admit that I was wrong, and it took a lot of groveling for me to convince Beatrice to be my wife.”

“Groveling is acceptable when you are speaking from the heart,” Haddington remarked, holding his glass up.

“Regardless, I have never been so happy as I have been with my wife,” Graylocke said. “I wouldn’t change anything because the path I took allowed me to win Beatrice’s heart.”

A server walked over and placed glasses onto the table before he collected the empty ones.

Graylocke reached for a glass and took a sip. Then he met Stephen’s gaze. “I heard you were accosted in the museum.”

“Good heavens, do the gossips have nothing else to talk about?” Stephen griped. “I can assure you that I am perfectly fine. Can we please drop it and move on to something else?”

“I hadn’t realized you were so touchy about it,” Graylocke said.

Stephen sighed. “I apologize. I just want to pretend it never happened.”

Hawthorne leaned back in his chair and said, “We could discuss your growing attachment to my cousin.”

“Please, no,” Stephen muttered as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Surely there is something else we could discuss.”

“We could, but it is much more interesting to see you squirm,” Hugh said.

“I am not squirming,” Stephen contended. “I just do not want to discuss Gemma with you.”

Hugh’s brow shot up. “Gemma?” he repeated. “You are calling each other by given names now?”

“She gave me leave to,” Stephen responded. “But I can assure you that I am not being too familiar.”

“I hope not,” Hawthorne asserted. “She is family, and we protect our family.”

“I mean her no harm,” Stephen rushed to assure him.

Hawthorne considered him for a moment before asking, “What are your intentions towards her?”

“I… uh…” Stephen stammered out. He wasn’t ready to announce his intentions towards Gemma, especially not to hercousins. What if they told her and it scared her off? It was a chance that he didn’t want to risk.

“Surely you don’t consider my cousin a dalliance?” Hawthorne pressed.

“Of course not!” Stephen exclaimed. “I have the greatest respect for Gemma, and I would never treat her so distastefully.”

Hugh tossed back his drink before saying, “Just don’t give us a reason to challenge you to a duel.”

“I have no intention to.”