“Let me be clear on one thing,” Abby said when they had placed some distance between themselves and the Carmichael women. “If either of you bring home a woman like that strumpet the Duchess of Render, I will make your life miserable.”
“Young ladies do not speak that way, Abigail,” Michael said before Gabe could explode. “It is beneath you.”
“As women with loose morals like the duchess are beneath you. You do realize, don’t you, that as your sister, I hear things. People don’t attempt to hide your promiscuous behavior from me; no, indeed. They say it just loud enough so I can overhear.”
That silenced them.
“For instance—”
“I’m not sure we need a for instance.”
“I know that you had an affair with the Countess of Blythe, Gabe,” she said, ignoring his words, “and that you, Michael, bet Mr. Brownly you could get Lady Trainer into your bed just days after her husband had left to visit France.”
“I feel ill,” Michael rasped. “You have changed. Before you would never have been so indelicate to have mentioned this.”
“I am attempting to bring you all into line. After all, you take a thorough interest in my life, so I shall now do so with you.”
“God save us all,” Gabe muttered.
“Ah, the tea shop,” Abby said, feeling decidedly better now she’d managed to put her brothers on the back foot.
Chapter 16
Daniel had found himself wedged between the twins looking at the very straight backs of Lords Levermarch and Ryder as they left the fencing salon.
Of course, he had spent time with such men before; however, he’d usually been with Oliver or in a business capacity. This was neither of those. This was just Daniel and four noblemen.
“Look alert. I spy three Sinclairs and a Huntington,” Alex said.
Daniel found three men and a woman standing in the street looking up at a building ahead of them. He knew who they were, as Oliver had once pointed them out to him, but had no dealings with the family. He remembered hearing Thea say there was something just a bit odd about the Sinclairs. Whatever that meant.
The men in his posse changed direction, which meant Daniel did too, as he was still wedged between the twins, and soon they were standing behind the Sinclair family.
“I believe it’s called a building,” Will said, joining Lord Sinclair. “If you wish me to elaborate, I could add to that it also has windows and a roof.”
“But is it sound, Ryder, that is the question,” Mr. Cambridge Sinclair said, casting a glance over his shoulder. The glance passed briefly over Daniel before moving on.
“Does it need to be?”
“Very much so,” Mr. Huntington said.
“We are going to use it an as office,” the young lady said. He could tell by her coloring, the dark hair and green eyes, that she too was a Sinclair. Huntington was the only one of different blood. Married to a Sinclair, if his memory served, which it usually did. Thea had said it was rather odd how the Sinclair family seemed to always marry someone of Raven blood. The only Raven he had knowledge of was a duke. Daniel retained facts about people in case they may be of use one day.
Maxwell Huntington was a powerful man with a vast empire. This he also knew, as he’d come across his name often in business dealings.
“This is my youngest sister, Miss Somerset Sinclair.” Lord Sinclair made the introductions. “I think you all know each other except for Mr. Dillinger.”
Daniel bowed. Clearly the man knew who he was also.
“Still providing fodder for society’s more nefarious gossips, I see, Sinclair. In fact, I believe your cousin has recently wed the duke’s half brother and they have also moved into your street,” Alex said.
“I cannot help who my family wed or where they live, Hetherington, and if they are gossiping about us, they are leaving the rest of you alone,” Lord Sinclair said.
“There is that.”
“What is the office space for, Somer?” Ben asked the question.
“We, my twin sister and younger brother, Warwick, are starting up an investigative service.”
She said the words calmly, as if she were about to embroider the edges of a handkerchief. Daniel was shocked. Looking around, he saw no one else was.
“Wonderful. I will send clients your way if I find anyone in need. Are you specializing in any particular field?” Finn asked with interest.
“Not to start with,” Somerset Sinclair said. Daniel guessed she was about seventeen or eighteen years old, and clearly of noble birth. So why then were