Page 64 of A Bachelor’s Lessons in Love

Blackstone nodded once. “Good. Then you understand why I must ask: what explanation can you offer me that satisfies the matter?”

Edward squeezed his eyes closed. “None.”

Blackstone sounded confused. “None? What can you mean?”

Opening his eyes and focusing them on the bright gaze of the other man, he spoke in a firm voice. In a final one. “None.”

The viscount considered him for a long, long moment. Then, at last, he sighed. “That is unfortunate. But you may change your mind—I will give you a fortnight to come up with a satisfactory explanation or reason why I should not doubt your integrity, Colonel Halstead. Consider your reputation. Consider those under your protection⁠—”

Edward inclined his head stiffly. “If there is nothing else, my lord, I will take my leave.”

Blackstone waved him away, standing and pacing to the window in evident discontent.

It was a relief to rise and stride from the office. He did not look back.

But the moment he stepped out into the club’s main hall, the weight of what had just transpired settled heavily over Edward. He had not spoken in his own defense, but how could he? The story was not his to tell. There were others with reputations that could be ruined, lives hurt. And now, there might be tangible consequences.

The familiar comfort of Blackstone’s Club felt different now. Tighter. Smaller. Edward moved toward the exit, retrieving his hat and gloves with uncharacteristic urgency. Stepping out onto the pavement, he let the tepid London air wash over him.

For the first time in a long, long while, Edward did not know what to do.

* * *

Felicity should have been watching Daphne. She knew it. She had promised to keep a closer eye on her niece since the event in the garden, and yet her attention kept drifting to Edward on the other side of the ballroom.

Something was wrong.

He was not himself. He was too quiet, too measured. His usual sharp attentiveness was there, but his mind was somewhere else entirely.

“The Colonel seems broody,” Mrs. Norman said at her side, from behind her fan. “Is anything amiss, my dear?”

“I cannot think so,” Felicity said, forcing a smile. Mrs. Norman might be a friend, but she was a recent one, and a lady could never keep some matters too close. “My, but Miss Norman looks lovely. That shade of yellow makes her hair look as though it is spun from gold.”

Mrs. Norman let her change the subject, and soon she went away to speak to someone else leaving Felicity free to fret over the colonel again.

Felicity had spent the better part of the evening stealing glances at him, trying to read the tension in his jaw, the way his hands curled into loose fists at his sides. He appeared to be avoiding the gentlemen he had previously spent evenings speaking with. Most inexplicable.

Her first thought that something was amiss had been at Briarwood, and she meant to ask, intending to pull him aside and demand to know what troubled him so deeply.

But she had waited too long, and now they were in a public place. The Assembly Rooms. Edward had a friend who asked for a favor, and the favor meant vouchers for this evening at Almack’s. Looking glasses everywhere reflected the candlelight from the chandeliers and sconces, the windows above open to let the warm air drift out and encourage cool air to come in.

Truly, it was a wonderful achievement for a woman of Felicity’s age and background. Even if it was the only time she entered Almack’s for the Season, most would see it as a triumph. But she could hardly think on that with thoughts of Edward’s solemn expression on her mind.

But there was nothing to be done about it, presently. She took in a deep breath, nearly coughed on all the perfumes that entered her lungs at once, and turned her focus back to Daphne…and could not find her among the dancers.

Felicity’s breath caught as her gaze swept the room quickly. Daphne—where was she, she could not have—then her heart slowed a moment. There. Her niece was not far, only a few steps beyond the main gathering, standing near the gilded looking glasses along the wall.

And she was not alone. A man stood too close, his body angled toward her in a way which appeared casual, but Felicity suspected was anything but.

Mr. Richard Arnold.

Felicity’s stomach twisted. Though the gentleman was, Daphne was not smiling. Her posture was poised, but there was a stiffness in her shoulders that Felicity recognized all too well.

She instinctively started forward, but Edward was already moving. He had been across the room mere moments ago but now, he was here. He cut through the gathered guests with precision, his every movement controlled but deliberate. He and Felicity arrived near Daphne at the same moment.

Mr. Arnold did not appear to notice him at first, but when he did, his easy smile faltered.

“Mr. Arnold,” Edward said smoothly, his voice quiet but full of unmistakable authority.