Chapter Seventeen #3
They all laughed at that. Adam even smiled ever so slightly.
Lampton sketched a brief bow of acknowledgment.
It seemed they’d brokered a peace. Had they done so a few days earlier, Linus might have taken advantage of some additional free time to spend with Arabella.
That, however, would only have further fueled the gossip now hovering about them.
He would not cause her more distress. He would keep his distance and both their reputations intact. No matter the misery of denying himself her company, he would do what he must for her.
q
“Lieutenant Lancaster, thank you for coming.”
Linus stopped in the doorway of a small sitting room. He offered a brief bow, his attention a little pulled. Lady Lampton had sent a note requesting a brief audience with him. Seeing Persephone in the room as well was unexpected.
“Please have a seat.” Lady Lampton motioned to a straight-backed chair placed on its own, facing the two wingback armchairs the ladies occupied.
He offered no objections, though he harbored plenty of suspicions. “What can I do for you?”
“You were at the river today, I believe.” The countess, with her stiff posture, unyielding gaze, and firm, frilless tone, was surprisingly intimidating.
“I was,” he said.
The ladies exchanged the briefest of glances before turning their attention to him once more.
Persephone spoke next. “Tell us about the eels, if you would. We have heard some very strange rumors.”
Ah, lud. They knew about the fight, at least some of it. And, it seemed, the ridiculous plan to blame the fish had been carried out.
“All I will say is that fish are not very bright.”
Lady Lampton was undeterred. “Which one swore you to secrecy, the eel or the minnow?”
“I have fought plenty of battles,” Linus said. “I stay out of them whenever possible.”
“Both,” Persephone said with a crisp nod.
There was no keeping secrets from his sister. There never had been.
“He promised me he would behave.” Persephone’s lips tensed in frustration. “I simply wanted one gathering where he didn’t send everyone fleeing in fear.”
“Believe me, Lampton was not fleeing.”
That brought curiosity to both ladies’ faces, though only Persephone seemed surprised.
“Philip is more than capable of defending himself,” Lady Lampton said. “I imagine he held his own against the attack.”
Though he was likely being a little disloyal to the gentlemen, Linus felt compelled to explain things a bit better to the ladies. “At the risk of interjecting where I’m not welcome, Lady Lampton, your husband was not the one attacked.”
Now they both looked shocked.
In for a penny, as the old saying went. “They have been at each other’s throats since before this house party.
Things boiled over at the river. There was an argument.
Adam expressed concern that Lampton is at times neglectful and causes misery.
” Linus looked fully at Persephone. “You know Adam’s feelings on that. ”
She nodded, both weariness and pride in the gesture. “He never could bear for anyone to be hurting without rising to their defense. He does not always pause to think before rushing in.”
“Well, he didn’t this time either. Lampton took umbrage at the insinuation and belted him. Adam, being Adam, slugged back and . . .” Linus shrugged.
“Why did you not stop them?” Persephone asked.
“For one thing, they would have torn me to pieces. For another, they are grown men; they don’t need me to play nursemaid.”
“The current state of their faces says otherwise,” Persephone answered drily.
Lady Lampton, who hadn’t spoken in a while, eyed him closely. “Who was it your brother-in-law accused my Philip of mistreating?”
For a man who’d bemoaned being an overlooked outsider in this gathering, he’d certainly been pulled into the thick of it.
“I would rather not say, Lady Lampton.”
“Come out with it, Lieutenant,” she said. “If something upset my husband enough to result in today’s fiasco, I have a right to know what it was.”
From now on, Linus intended to fully embrace his membership in the club of misfits and leave everyone outside of it to sort their own difficulties. He and Arabella would be perfectly happy not navigating these treacherous waters.
“I should warn you,” the countess pressed, “I am both determined and impatient, and I’m not afraid to use your sister to get the truth out of you.”
“I will happily help,” Persephone said. “I want to know what accusation Adam flung at him. Whom did he say Lord Lampton was mistreating?”
Linus slumped in his chair. How had he found himself in this situation? “Lady Lampton,” he said. “Adam said he believed that Lampton was making his own wife miserable.”
Persephone turned to Lady Lampton, who had paled even as her brow had drawn down in confusion. The countess’s eyes held worry, pain.
“He ought not to have said that.” Persephone set her hand on Lady Lampton’s. “He means well, but he doesn’t always know how to help.”
Linus slipped quietly from his chair. He met Persephone’s eye and motioned silently to the door. She nodded.
Stepping into the corridor, he sighed his relief even as he cursed his own recklessness in placing himself in such an awkward situation. Perhaps home, with its emptiness and loneliness, would not be such a bad thing after all.