The Bad Luck Bride (The Brides of St. Ives #1)(59)
“I hadn’t realized you were so well-schooled in investment,” Lord Hubbard said finally. “I suppose I assumed you were in India working solely on the famine relief.”
“While I have become involved in relief, my lord, I fear business is what initially sent me to India. It was those very investments that have made me so concerned about the famine. India is an excellent education, I assure you, in both the good and the ills that come from progress.”
“Enough about business,” Lord Northrup announced. “I fear the ladies are growing bored with all our talk of numbers and such.” The ladies in question were not even within range of hearing, and Henderson guessed it was actually Northrup who was bored.
“I would expect, Northrup, that you would be particularly interested in such a discussion, given your financial state,” Lord Berkley said without inflection. It was an unforgivable thing to say in public, particularly in front of the father of the woman a man hoped to marry, but Berkley held his bland smile even when Lord Hubbard gave him an outraged look. My God, Henderson hadn’t known he’d had such a brilliant ally in Berkley until that very moment. Why he’d decided to help him, Henderson couldn’t say. He only knew he planned to make certain Lord Berkley was aware of his gratitude.
“I say, Berkley, that was not well done,” Lord Hubbard said.
Lord Berkley looked slightly shocked to be called out on his rudeness. “I do apologize, Northrup. I had no idea it wasn’t common knowledge. I fear I’ve spent far too much time in America. Such discussions of financial failures are quite common over there. Why, men brag about how much money they’ve lost gambling. It’s almost a badge of honor.”
“Sir!” Hubbard said, clearly appalled.
To which Berkley gave another confused look. “I was apologizing,” he said, sounding contrite and slightly perplexed at Lord Hubbard’s continued censure.
“I can assure you, my lord,” Northrup hastened to say, “I have incurred no debt.”
“Not recently,” Lord Berkley said silkily, and Northrup’s cheeks turned ruddy.
And that was when Lord Hubbard seemed to realize that Berkley wasn’t being uncouth, but rather crafty in his revelation of Northrup’s financial state. Henderson saw the moment irritation became begrudging respect for Berkley’s behavior, as Lord Hubbard narrowed his eyes and gave Berkley an assessing look. Henderson could almost see Lord Hubbard’s thoughts forming, that Lord Berkley was actually helping to save his daughter from a man who was in financial difficulty, that he should be grateful for the information even if it had been delivered a bit discourteously.
Northrup turned to Lord Hubbard, his expression slightly panicked. “Lord Hubbard, I can assure you—”
“No need,” Hubbard said, holding up his hand to stop Northrup’s entreaty. “There’s not a man among us who hasn’t incurred some sort of debt.” He smiled at the younger man, but Henderson noted the smile could only be described as grim, and for the first time, Henderson believed he might actually have a shot at marrying Alice.
*
After Henderson and Lord Berkley left, her father and Northrup were unusually quiet at dinner, and Alice couldn’t help but notice there seemed to be a tension between the two men. Where before the two would exchange droll stories about this or that acquaintance, on this night they were strangely silent.
“What did you think of Lord Berkley?” Elda asked to no one in particular.
“I didn’t care for the man.” This from Northrup at the very same moment Richard said, “I found him enlightening.”
Elda laughed. “Now those are two very different assessments.”
“I think he was hiding a deep intelligence behind his charm.” The look on Alice’s father’s face was priceless after Christina made this pronouncement. It was almost as if he had never realized how very perceptive his younger daughter was.
“Indeed?”
Christina looked slightly embarrassed to be the focus of Richard’s attention. “I sensed that behind everything he said there was some deeper meaning, something we were not privy to. Not disingenuousness,” she said thoughtfully, trying to come up with an explanation for her assessment. “Rather as if he were trying to hide just how intelligent he is. Though I cannot imagine why.”
“Perhaps he simply isn’t intelligent,” Northrup said on a laugh, and Alice felt a twinge of pity for him. It had been clear throughout the afternoon that her parents were enthralled with Lord Berkley. It would be a difficult task for any man to be noticed when Berkley was in the room. Which made it even more perplexing why Alice’s attention throughout the day had been on Henderson.
Every time he laughed, each time he moved near her, her face grew warm and she felt a thrill go through her. With all of Berkley’s charms, it was Henderson who seemed to have some sort of hold over her. It was almost as if sharing that incredibly intimate night with him had somehow created a bond between them. Even now, even with Henderson back at his hotel, she could feel the pull. Had some sort of spell been cast on her that night, turning her into the wanton creature that sat with her family and almost-fiancé at the dinner table but could only think about what it felt like when Henderson had kissed her breast? Could only fantasize about a way it would be possible for that to happen again?