Chapter 6 #2
Jamie took the viscountess’s hand and pressed his mouth to her gloved fingers, his lips lingering just a moment longer than necessary as he looked up to meet the woman’s eyes for a long moment. A light rose color flooded the woman’s cheeks, and she smiled at Theo’s cousin with a hint of bemusement.
“Be forewarned, Althea, my cousin is renowned for breaking hearts. Take everything he says with a grain of salt.”
“Thank you, I shall do that,” the viscountess said with a laugh as she met Theo’s gaze. At her reply, Jamie glared at Theo, which made Althea laugh harder.
He had met the viscountess more than two years ago, and of all the women Theo had dallied with, Althea was the most intelligent and witty. While the viscountess had made it clear she wouldn’t object to taking their relationship beyond a simple liaison, she’d never made him feel pressured to do so.
Theo was grateful for that because he liked Althea.
Once their affair had ended, they’d remained friends, although he wondered how Genevieve might feel about his being friends with his one-time mistress..
As her laughter faded, Althea pressed her small, dainty hand over his arm to squeeze it gently.
“I was sorry to hear of your loss, Theo,” she said softly. “Peter was kind to me. I liked him very much. He was a good man, and the world is less bright without him.”
Althea’s expression of sympathy made Theo stiffen in surprise as he studied her face.
The sadness on her features made him believe Althea had known Peter better than he’d realized.
His best friend had always been a knight in shining armor for anyone who needed help, but Althea’s voice and expression made him think Peter had done something important for the viscountess.
Theo was about to query the woman further when he heard Genevieve’s laughter-filled voice behind him.
“You’re a rogue, Lord Ansbach. I’ve already danced with you twice this evening.”
“How could I know you would refuse me if I did not at least ask the question,” Ansbach chuckled.
The man’s distinct Germanic accent thickened his speech, and Theo suddenly wondered if Ansbach was capable of speaking English as if he’d been born here.
The count had attended school in England as a boy, but had returned to Prussia when he’d been thirteen.
He’d not stepped foot on British soil again until his arrival last year, some twenty years later.
The report Val had filed after his brush with death had indicated that the man who’d almost killed him had been English.
The earl had been blind since childhood, and his loss of eyesight had made his other senses stronger.
Of all the people who could detect accents, Val’s hearing was acute enough to distinguish the small nuances in an individual’s speech patterns.
But Val hadn’t mentioned Ansbach in his reports.
The real question begging an answer was whether or not Ansbach’s Eton education would have allowed him to disguise that thick Germanic accent when he wasn’t among the Marlborough Set.
Beside him, Lady Halliwell uttered a soft sound, and Theo turned his head to see fear flash across her face before she turned to Jamie.
“Lord Westbury, I believe you asked for this dance.”
Startled, Theo jerked his gaze toward his cousin, who arched an eyebrow.
They both knew no one had mentioned dancing, but Jamie smiled at Althea and extended his hand to the viscountess.
As his cousin guided Lady Halliwell toward the dance floor, they passed Genevieve and Lord Ansbach.
To his surprise, Theo noted a slight tremor vibrate through Althea as her arm brushed up against the count’s.
Although Ansbach’s attention seemed riveted on Genevieve, Theo noted how the count’s gaze flitted over Jamie and Lady Halliwell as he nodded a greeting.
From where he stood, Theo saw a small, foxlike smile touch Ansbach’s lips before it vanished.
If he’d not seen Althea shiver, he would have missed the Prussian nobleman’s almost feral expression.
But something about the man’s expression triggered an uneasiness inside Theo. When he’d joined the service soon after Peter’s death, he’d trained with Vincent, another of his Uncle Percy’s and Aunt Rhea’s wards. The older man had emphasized that Theo should always trust his gut.
Vincent had said it was an excellent resource that allowed one to see beneath fine clothes and polite, civil manners.
It was the body’s way of picking up on small signs that otherwise went unnoticed.
As Lord Ansbach and Genevieve stopped a few feet away from him, Theo forced a smile to his lips as he nodded at the count.
The man arched an eyebrow at his silence, then turned to Genevieve.
“My dear Miss Rockwood, it has been a sheer delight. Dancing with you is like dancing with a fairy.” The count bowed over her hand, then straightened. “Might I call on you tomorrow, my dear lady? I would like to further our acquaintance.”
“I’m afraid we have plans tomorrow, Lord Ansbach,” Theo interjected.
At Theo’s comment, Genevieve, and the king’s cousin, looked at him in surprise.
Biting down on the inside of his cheek, Theo cleared his throat as he clasped his hands behind his back.
“Forgive me, Genevieve, but Jamie indicated our presence at Lyndham House has been requested tomorrow morning.”
Ansbach narrowed his gaze at Theo, but he returned the man’s stare with a stoic look of disinterest. Lord Ansbach turned his head back to Genevieve.
“Since you’re not free tomorrow, perhaps—”
“I’m afraid Genevieve will be quite busy for the next few days, Lord Ansbach. Perhaps you might call on her next week.” Satisfaction loosened his muscles a fraction as the count slowly turned to face him, a scowl of frustrated anger furrowing his forehead.
“Forgive me, Selbourne, I did not realize you were Miss Rockwood’s chaperone and her personal secretary. If I’d known, I would have consulted you first.” The sneer in the man’s voice made Theo’s hands curl into fists behind his back.
“Genevieve is the ward of my uncle, Percy Rockwood. My uncle asked me to watch over her while I’m in town, as he’s unavailable to do so.”
“Forgive him, my lord. Theo has always been diligent when it comes to duty and family. I know he takes my father’s request quite seriously.
Although, I confess, he can be a bit overbearing when it comes to guarding my honor or that of other female members of the Rockwood family,” Genevieve said as she met his gaze with anger, then turned toward the Prussian count and smiled.
“If you will send me a note sometime in the next couple of days, I shall consult my diary and reply with a day that I am free.”
“You are as clever and gracious as you are beautiful, my dear lady,” Ansbach said effusively as he caught Genevieve’s hand and carried it to his lips once more.
When he released her, the count’s heels clicked noisily as he bowed toward Genevieve, then with a sharp nod in Theo’s direction, the man walked away.
Silence settled in the count’s wake, and he glanced at Genevieve.
Her mouth was thin with anger as she stared after the man, and Theo gritted his teeth.
How in the hell was he supposed to make her understand Ansbach wasn’t a man to be trifled with?
The memory of Genevieve’s laughter as Ansbach had whirled her about the dance floor reignited the territorial urges he’d struggled with the entire time she’d been with the man.
The strength of his emotions had been much more than just a need to keep her safe.
They’d run the gamut from irritation that she was dancing with Ansbach to fear for her safety, then straight into a possessiveness to guard what was his.
While the Secret Intelligence Service might not have hard evidence connecting the count to the Prussian spy ring, Theo knew Ansbach wasn’t a fool either.
The man had to know he was being watched, whether he was part of the Prussian network of spies or not.
Then there was Peter’s connection to the Rockwoods.
When Uncle Percy and Aunt Rhea had rescued Genevieve, Peter, and the others, they’d secured a royal license to change all their last names to Rockwood.
His aunt and uncle had chosen to make their wards officially part of the family to help ease their path through life.
It wasn’t a fact anyone in the family tried to hide, but the knowledge had become buried over the years.
In the days that followed Peter’s death, rumors had spread through the Marlborough Set like an unrestrained wildfire.
Even after C had planted a story in the newspapers about Peter’s reasons for being in the East End that night, the gossip had lingered.
At some point, someone had recalled that Peter hadn’t been born a Rockwood.
Theo was certain Ansbach had to have heard the gossip of where his best friend had been born, which meant the man knew Genevieve had also lived in the East End as a child.
If Ansbach was working for the Kaiser and even suspected Genevieve was working for the Crown, her life would be in even greater danger than it was now. The icy chill riding over him became a hard coating of ice on his skin, stiffening his muscles.
“I wish to go home.” Her soft words jerked Theo out of his thoughts, and he stared down at her in surprise. Genevieve eyed him coldly. “Don’t look so surprised, Theo. Why would I want to stay when you’ve managed to sabotage my efforts to learn more about Lord Ansbach?”
“I did not sabotage anything,” Theo ground out between clenched teeth.
Genevieve uttered a sound of incredulous disgust, then spun around and headed toward the exit.
Theo caught up with her in a few long strides and cupped her elbow in his hand, only to have electricity streak up his arm.
The shock almost made him yank his hand away from her, but he managed to stop himself in time.