A Gentleman Never Tells(22)
Brent was happy to do that since his brothers didn’t know he had already been to Bow Street and had hired a runner to gather information on Sir Randolph Gibson. Once Brent knew more about the fellow, he’d arrange for a time to meet with him, whether his brothers wanted him to or not. As his mother once said, “What they don’t know can’t hurt them.”
“Tell us about this more pressing matter of what happened in the park this morning,” Matson urged.
“Yes,” Iverson added. “We’ve been getting bits and pieces of this outlandish story everyone insists you are involved in.”
“Though, to me, it doesn’t sound like anything you would be caught up in.”
“Right,” Matson said. “I would believe it of Iverson but not you, Brent. What’s going on?”
Brent made the last loop of the bow in his neckcloth and turned to face his brothers. “Damnation, I have no idea. She’s with me one moment, and the next thing I know she’s crying for help. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t get to her.” Brent noticed Iverson’s eyes getting bigger, and Matson rose up and swung his feet off the bed. Brent kept talking. “I searched all over that damn park and tried to find her, but I haven’t seen any sign of her yet. It’s dreadful to even think about it, but I can only hope a wild animal didn’t get to her.”
“Damnation, Brent,” Matson said, “what the devil did you do to Lady Gabrielle?”
“You think a wild animal attacked her?” Iverson said. “Hell’s gates, Brent, what is the matter with you? Why did you leave a defenseless woman alone in the park?”
“And what were you doing in the park with her in the first place?” Matson asked.
“I think we know the answer to that,” Iverson said. “From what I heard at White’s an hour ago, Brent was the wild animal who got hold of her.”
“What? No, no, stop.” Brent blew out a breathy laugh. “We are talking about two different females here, Brothers.”
“What’s gotten into you?” Matson asked. “You met with more than one woman in the park?”
“That’s so unlike you,” Iverson said with a wicked grin. “London must be having some kind of strange effect on you and, whatever it is, I hope I catch it.”
“But what happened to your vow never to touch a betrothed or married woman?” Matson asked.
Iverson chuckled. “I guess that oath is out the window now.”
Matson rose from the bed. “Brent, you know better. She’s a duke’s daughter and engaged to an earl’s son.”
Brent shook his head. His brothers could make the biggest mountain out of the smallest amount of dirt. He was determined not to let them frustrate him. He’d already been there today with Prissy and Lady Gabrielle, and he wasn’t going there for his brothers. He picked up his light brown waistcoat with fabric-covered buttons and put it on over his crisp white shirt. Thankfully, the waistcoat hid the black heel mark on the front of the shirt made by Matson’s boot.
“My hope is that Lady Gabrielle is still engaged to the earl’s son, and my vow has not changed. At the time, I had no idea Lady Gabrielle was betrothed.”
“How you talked her into meeting you in the park is what I want to know.” Iverson said. “I never seem to be quite that lucky with ladies of quality.”
“And who is this other woman who was crying for help and might have been attacked by a wild animal?” Matson said. “That’s rather gruesome, isn’t it?”
Brent sighed. Why couldn’t they ask their questions one at a time? “I didn’t arrange to meet Lady Gabrielle. It was quite by accident. And the other female is not a woman but a dog. Prissy was with me, but when I was—” Brent suddenly found himself reluctant to say more, so he stopped.
“When you were what?” Matson urged with a grin and sat back down on the bed again.
“When he was in the middle of the best part,” Iverson said with another wicked gleam in his eyes.
“I mean no such thing, you beast. Damnation, Iverson, contrary to whatever lewd and scandalous comments you may have heard in the boisterous backrooms at White’s, nothing happened between me and Lady Gabrielle this morning. And as a gentleman I’ll say no more on the matter.”
“Forget Lady Gabrielle for the moment,” Matson said, “because obviously she is safe at her home by now. What I want to know is where Prissy is at the moment.”