Reece shrugged off his hand. ‘Will you or won’t you act for me?’
‘Surely if you explain that was in the heat of the moment, the wine – ’
Reece snarled something that made the other man flinch. ‘Very well, if you must. Robins – will you join me?’
Luc stepped forward. ‘Monsieur le Comte, I will act for you. It seems you may not have any friends close by.’
‘And I.’ James joined him and they handed cards to the opposing seconds who were still looking bemused until a question from Luc had them scrabbling in pocket books and producing their own.
‘Tomorrow then, gentlemen? I would be glad to offer you coffee at about midday if you would care to call at Albany?’
There was a lot of formal bowing then Luc, James and the Count turned and strolled off across the lawn. I got up and skirted round the edge, aiming to meet them on the far side. Somehow I thought it could only inflame matters if Reece saw me with the Franklin brothers, let alone the Count.
‘You are acquainted with Miss Lawrence, I believe,’ Luc said when we finally met.
‘But of course. I am delighted to meet you again, Mademoiselle.’
‘Count.’ I managed the bare minimum of a smile and a bob before I turned on Luc. ‘What the blazes do you think you are doing? You promised not to challenge him!’
‘And I did not.’
‘You are acting as second for someone who has. I’m furious with you.’
‘Have I committed some faux pas in accepting the kind offer of these gentlemen?’
‘This gentleman – ’ I stabbed a finger at Luc, ‘was going to call out Reece for making a pass at me. He agreed not to for various reasons and now he’s involved with the man again.’ I glared at all three of them equally and realised with a jolt that Luc was looking far paler than usual. ‘And you should be resting. Take that damn hat off and let me look at your head.’
They all blinked at the language, but Luc did sit down when I prodded him in the chest. He took off his hat and I peered at the back of his head.
‘Not bleeding,’ I admitted grudgingly. ‘Have you got a headache?’ He shook his head. Carefully. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘You are hurt, Monsieur?’
‘Someone hit him with a cosh on Friday,’ I said. ‘He should have stayed in bed.’
Luc growled and the Count raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. Elegant but affected and probably infuriating for the man on the receiving end. ‘Is that something to do with the unfortunate Mr Coates? That is why you came to our office the other day, is it not?’
Yes, the Count was intelligent and, no doubt, in intelligence. Translator my foot, I thought.
‘A friend of a friend,’ Luc said and replaced his hat gingerly.
‘Was it murder?’
‘No. We believe suicide. What drove him to it is another matter.’
‘Blackmail, no doubt. I suspect that the accusations that young fool Reece threw at me were because I had, in some small way, taken Coates under – what do you say? My wing, that is it.’
‘You knew he was – ’
‘In what way – ’ James’s question cut across mine.
‘I sensed it. I may have been wrong.’ The way in which he did not look at James when he replied made the tension curl in my stomach. Just my imagination… ‘And he seemed unsettled in his work, interested in mine. I do more than simple translation, you understand. I also look at information about foreign nationals in this country. He implied that he was intrigued by that line of work.’
‘So you told him about it?’ Luc asked.
‘A very little. No detail, no names, you understand. It is all very sensitive. But he was a young man with some promise, his French was good and he had some Spanish and Italian, although those needed work. There might have been possibilities for him.’
‘Who – ’ Luc began, then broke off. ‘What the devil is it now? One of Reece’s seconds is heading this way.’