is not an hour passes, Phoebe, that I do not remind myself of that,” Finn drawled.
“Oh lord, I hope they do not mean to bring trouble with them.” Thea was looking over Daniel’s shoulder, so everyone did the same.
The three eldest Deville brothers had arrived at Vauxhall Gardens. Oliver got to his feet, and Daniel did the same, but to put a hand on his brother’s arm.
“You will sit and not make a scene, brother. I won’t have it, not here with our friends and family around.”
Oliver’s jaw clenched, eyes focused on the men seated across from them.
“Now,” Daniel said softly.
Oliver yielded, sitting as Daniel forced him back into his seat.
“I’ve never seen anyone besides Thea control him. Very impressive,” Will said.
“He’s soft, really. Our mother could bring him to heel with food.”
“Not in the early days.” Oliver held Daniel’s gaze as he whispered the words so only he could hear. They would have done anything to have full bellies once.
He glanced at the Deville brothers and saw the eldest was looking his way. He’d exposed himself to them the day he’d saved Abby, and they both knew it. In the normal course of events, he’d never call her anything but Lady Abigail, and yet that day he’d called her Abby, and there had been desperation in the way he’d done so. The Earl of Raine wanted to know why.
Daniel gave them a steady look. He saw Abby in her brothers. The color of hair or eyes, the shape of a cheek.
“Will you walk with me through the gardens, Mr. Dillinger?”
Dear Christ. Miss Spencer had approached when he wasn’t looking. Daniel didn’t know everything about the social nuances that governed polite society, but he did know it was not done to approach a man as she was. The woman was clearly desperate, her actions dictated to her by her father. Daniel shot the man a look of displeasure. Lord Spencer merely raised his glass and smiled.
“I’m terribly sorry, Miss Spencer, but my brother-in-law is to walk with me,” Thea cooed in a voice he’d never heard before.
“Very well,” Miss Spencer snapped. “Perhaps next time.”
“A word of caution, if I may, Miss Spencer.” Thea leaned in to speak to the woman quietly. “A woman’s reputation, once lost, is rarely regained.”
Miss Spencer drew back with a loud gasp.
“Have a care, Daniel, she will compromise you into marrying her if she can,” Lady Levermarch said, watching Miss Spencer’s hasty retreat. “Her father should be shot for forcing his daughter to behave in such a way.”
“Old windbag,” Ben said.
“I’m sure there are others who she would be better to chase,” Daniel said.
“People of noble birth, do you mean?” Thea asked.
Daniel ignored that comment.
“But you are the most handsome of the Dillingers, so her offspring would be tolerable,” Thea teased him.
“It’s lucky my ego is not fragile,” Oliver said.
They talked, laughed, and ignored the men behind them. More guests arrived, and he found himself relaxing even as he watched the path to see if she arrived.
Is Abby still on that boat? Surely she is safe?
“We must move now, as the tightrope performance is about to begin, and Leandra is simply the best to watch. Last time it was as though she danced across,” Ben said.
The rope was suspended above them, and the woman he now knew as Leandra poised at one end in a glittering costume.
“Not sure I’d want to make money with the eminent threat of plunging to the earth upon me at any given moment.”
“It’s called excitement, Ben,” Daniel said.
“Is that what they’re calling it? Abject terror was my definition. I loathe lofty heights.”
“Just as well you haven’t reached them then.”
“There is that.” He wandered away to find his wife.
Daniel had noticed that people who loved their spouses were always looking for them. Just a brief moment of connection and then they could continue on with whatever they were doing. He’d always found it endearing, if a little odd.
“I owe you an apology, Dillinger.”
Daniel found Lord Raine at his side. His brother was up ahead, thankfully, and had no idea the earl had approached.
“I realize now were it not for your quick reactions, my sister would have been injured.”
The apology did not sit well on the man. His scowl was fierce.
“Thank you, my lord. I hope you have found the culprit?”
“I have not, but rest assured, I will.”
“Excellent.”
“I think my sister knows you, Dillinger. As yet I am unsure why, and due to the incident, I will not ask you to clarify that.”