Griffin caught the mocking glint in Christian’s eyes as he moved to pour Maystone a brandy. As if the other man found Bea’s somewhat imperious behaviour towards him amusing. Or, more likely, Griffin’s reaction to it...
As far as he was concerned, this situation had already caused more than enough of an upset between himself and Bea, and he did not intend to tolerate much more of it. His scant patience had come to an end.
He moved stiffly away to stand before the window once he had handed over the glass of brandy to Maystone. ‘I assure you, I am nowhere near as tolerant of this situation as Bea!’
‘Griffin!’
‘Griff!’
He scowled as he was simultaneously reprimanded by both Bea and Christian.
‘Rotherham is perfectly within his rights to feel irritated by my request for secrecy.’ Lord Maystone sighed deeply once he had swallowed a large amount of the brandy in his glass and some of the colour had returned to his cheeks. ‘It is—’ He broke off as Pelham returned with a tray carrying the second decanter of brandy, the pot of tea also in evidence. ‘This is something of a lengthy tale, so I suggest we all make ourselves comfortable by sitting down and having tea or a brandy while I tell it,’ he suggested heavily once the butler had departed at a nod from Griffin.
Bea continued to sit on the chaise beside the older man as Griffin first poured a cup of tea for her and placed it on the table near her, before replenishing Lord Maystone’s glass, and then pouring brandy into two more glasses for himself and Christian, those two gentlemen then taking up occupancy of the chairs on either side of the fireplace.
There were several significant things she had now remembered that she needed to discuss with Griffin, but perhaps those things would become clearer to her, to all of them, once Lord Maystone had told his lengthy tale.
She believed there was something else beneath Lord Maystone’s obvious pallor and fatigue. Possibly an air of despair? Or perhaps even grief?
‘Firstly, my Lady Bea,’ Maystone began wearily, ‘let me apologise to you for your having innocently become involved in this situation.’
She squeezed his arm reassuringly. ‘I do not believe that it is your apology to make, My Lord, but that of the people responsible for my abduction and imprisonment.’
He grimaced. ‘Nevertheless, I might have done something to prevent it. I am not sure what,’ he added distractedly, ‘but... Are you aware that I work within the Foreign Office?’
‘I am, yes.’ Bea gave Griffin a sideways glance from beneath her lashes.
Maystone nodded. ‘Then I must also reveal that both Rotherham and Sutherland have for some time kindly assisted me in my less public work for the Crown.’
‘I am aware of that also, Lord Maystone.’ Bea turned away from Griffin’s scowl to give the older man a reassuring smile. ‘I am sure that you can appreciate it was necessary, for my own protection, that I be made aware of it?’
‘I am sure Griffin acted only for the best.’
‘I was the one to inform Lady Bea of the reason for my hurried presence here, not Griffin,’ Seaton interjected decisively.
Lord Maystone’s brows rose. ‘Indeed?’
‘Could we just get on with this?’ Griffin glared his impatience over the delay; he just wanted to get this whole sorry business over and done with.
So that he might talk alone with Bea.
So that he might apologise for upsetting her earlier.
So that he might be alone with her.
He had always enjoyed Christian’s company in the past, and the same was true of Aubrey Maystone, but here and now they both represented a deepening of that barrier between himself and Bea that he found so intolerable.
‘Of course.’ The older man sighed as he turned back to Bea. ‘Several months ago there was a plot to assassinate the Prince Regent. A plot that was effectively foiled, my dear,’ he added as Bea gasped and raised a hand to her throat. ‘With the aid of Rotherham, Sutherland, and several other worthy gentlemen.’ He nodded. ‘After which, most of the perpetrators were found and arrested.’
‘But not all?’
Griffin had long appreciated Bea’s intelligence, and he could see it had not failed her now either, and that she was beginning, if not completely, to understand the restraints that had been placed upon his own conversations with her this past week.
‘Not all, unfortunately,’ Maystone acknowledged heavily. ‘We have all of us been attempting, these past few months, to find those of the plotters who have infiltrated society itself. Do not be alarmed, my dear.’ He placed a reassuring hand on Bea’s arm as she drew her breath in sharply. ‘I am sure you are perfectly safe here with both Rotherham and Sutherland to protect you.’
Griffin sincerely hoped that was the case, although he still suspected—and feared—that Jacob Harker was in hiding somewhere within the district.
It made no sense to him, with Bea now free and able to talk of her captivity, to assume that the other man would have completely disappeared from the area. Finding Bea, and possibly silencing her once and for all, would now be Harker’s mission. After all, he could have no idea that Bea had suffered a temporary loss of her memories following the trauma of her abduction and frightening escape.