Page 47 of His Sinful Touch

“The ‘lovely Miss Holcutt’ is a prig,” Con said flatly. “Surely you must have noticed. Though obviously it’s Miss Blair you’ve your eye on. Who is Miss Blair, anyway? Is she the reason for your turmoil?”

“I’m not in any turmoil.” Alex flopped down in one of the comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace, and Con settled into the seat across from him. “It’s Miss Blair who’s in a fix. And, well, I guess that means I’m in a fix, as well. It’s the damnedest thing, Con. I knew she was in trouble, just the way you and I do. I was sitting there in your office after you left the other day, and I felt this sensation of fear, even panic, and confusion.”

“Are you serious?” Con stared. “My God, Alex, what did you... How did you... Did you know who she was? What she looked like?”

“No, nothing like that.”

His brother nodded. “I understand. It’s simply there—inside your chest, really, more than your brain.”

“Exactly. I couldn’t have known who she was—she didn’t even know herself. She’d lost her memory.”

Con frowned. “Are you sure she wasn’t having you on?”

“I thought the same thing, but it was real.” He related their meeting and everything that had happened since then, from Sabrina’s bruises and their suspicions, to breaking into the empty house.

“Blast!” Con said feelingly. “I wish I’d been there. What a time to take off to Cornwall.”

“You’d have enjoyed it. Yesterday evening we met Miss Holcutt. She is the one who told us everything we know about Sabrina.”

“Con! I thought I heard your dulcet tones,” said a deep voice from the doorway, and the twins turned to see their eldest brother. Theo blanched when Con rose from his chair and turned to face him. “Good Gad, Con! What the devil are you up to—selling quack elixirs?” As Con started to answer, Theo waved it aside. “No. I think I’d rather not know.” He came to stand beside them and propped his elbow on the mantel. “What are you two discussing? The contretemps last night, I assume.”

“What contretemps?” Con asked. “Alex...I thought you said you weren’t in trouble.”

“We hadn’t really gotten that far,” Alex said. “And I’m not in trouble. Last night we ran into Miss Holcutt at Mrs. Dalhousie’s gala—you know how many people are at those. She recognized Sabrina and told us that Niles Dearborn was Sabrina’s guardian. And at that moment, Peter Dearborn shows up with his father saying Peter is married to Sabrina.”

“Married! She’s married?” Con’s eyebrows vaulted upward.

“That’s the contretemps,” Theo offered.

“The devil of it is that none of us know whether she’s married or not. All we have is Peter Dearborn’s word for it.”

“Well, there are times when haste is necessary,” Con began but stopped short at the flash of fury in his twin’s eyes. “Um, obviously not the case here.”

“She doesn’t trust him,” Alex said forcefully. “She’s frightened of him. If she is married to him, I don’t think it’s of her own volition.”

“You think he forced her?”

“Someone hit her. You didn’t see the bruises on her face.” Alex touched his own forehead and cheek, demonstrating the size of the marks. “It’s possible she was in some sort of accident, but the only bruises were on her face and a few on her arm—the size of fingertips.”

“Bloody hell.”

“My thoughts, exactly.” Alex leaned forward, looking at his brother searchingly. “You know Miss Holcutt. Do you think she could be in league with the Dearborns? It seems very fortuitous that all three of them showed up at the same time. Sabrina trusts her and is certain she’s a good friend, but I can’t help but wonder...”

Con let out a short bark of laughter. “Miss Holcutt? That woman’s incapable of even bending the rules, let alone being involved in something devious. She’s bloody beautiful, of course—hard to believe anyone with hair like that could be so prim and proper and stiff as a board, but she is. If these men suggested she join them in a conspiracy, no doubt she would have slapped them.”

Theo let out a bark of laughter. “Sounds to me as though you’ve had some experience in that regard.”

“Trust me, I have.” Con glowered at the memory. “Once, after we’d danced, I took her out on the terrace. I should have known—it was deuced difficult to persuade her to do even that. When I suggested we stroll through the garden, the woman slapped me! I hadn’t even tried to kiss her, but you’d think I’d ripped open her bodice. She said she knew my reputation, knew I was a roue. Which isn’t true! You know I’d never seduce an innocent. I wouldn’t have laid a finger on her...well, perhaps a finger, or two... But you know what I mean.”

“Terrible.” Alex smothered a smile. “I’m surprised you survived the embarrassment.”

“Oh, shut up.” Con gave in and laughed. “Anyway, the long and short of it is that Miss Holcutt is a prissy bore, but she wouldn’t lie.”

“That is the conclusion I was reaching, as well.” He sat back with a sigh.

“So what are you thinking? What are we going to do to protect Miss Blair?” Con asked.

Alex smiled faintly. He had known that whatever was happening, Con would be his ally, but it was nice to hear, anyway. “I’m not sure. If it comes down to it, if Dearborn is her husband and he hit her, I’ll sneak her out of the country, where he cannot find her. But—”