Darling Beast (Maiden Lane #7)(66)

The smile still lingered as he crept into the hall and gently shut the door behind him.

He caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look to his right. Had someone just disappeared around the corner at the end of the corridor? Or had the movement been imagined?

Apollo narrowed his eyes, thinking, but in the end decided that even if he’d seen someone, most likely it had been a servant at this time of the morning.

He turned in the other direction—only to find the Duke of Montgomery watching him.

He prevented himself from starting only by sheer willpower. “I hadn’t thought you an early riser, Your Grace.”

Montgomery cocked his head. “What makes you think I’ve slept?”

Apollo examined the other man. He was perfectly groomed in a bloodred suit, pumps, and clocked hose. His golden hair had been swept back into an elegant tail, the ends curled. Or perhaps his hair curled naturally. In any case, Apollo felt like a rat next to a sleek greyhound.

Not that he cared in particular.

“Have you?” he asked curiously, approaching the other man. “Slept?”

A secret smile curled the duke’s lips. “I find sleep a bore—especially when I might spend the nocturnal hours in more… pleasurable pursuits.”

“I see.” Apollo fell into step with the other man. He had no idea where the duke was headed, but he himself was bent on the breakfast room in search of strong coffee.

God, he hoped his uncle provided coffee for his guests.

“Morning is the best time to discover the inhabitants of a house sneaking out of bedrooms not their own.” The duke gave him an entirely too-innocent look. “As you were doing just now from Miss Goodfellow’s room. I now understand your ire yesterday at the unexpected sight of her.”

Apollo glared. “I’ll thank you not to spread my connection to her about.”

“Why would I do that?” Montgomery looked honestly puzzled and Apollo repressed an urge to punch the man in the nose. “What good is knowledge if one shares it with everyone?”

Anything he answered would only provide fuel for Montgomery’s scheming, so Apollo changed the subject. “Have you discovered anything of interest in your sneaking about, Your Grace?”

“Sneaking sounds so very… bad.” Montgomery sniffed as they descended the stairs.

Apollo looked at him.

“Very well!” The duke threw up his hands. “Don’t lose your temper, I don’t know if I could withstand your hamlike fists. I’ve discovered that Mrs. Jellett has a rather handsome, rather young footman she brings everywhere, that Mr. William Greaves has a valet who spent most of his youth in Newgate, that Mr. and Mrs. Warner, despite their newly wedded bliss, keep separate bedrooms—although I’d suspected that already”—the smile he gave was rather nasty—“and that Lady Herrick has a birthmark in the shape of a butterfly on her left buttock. Oh, and that said birthmark turns an interesting shade of lavender when slapped.”

Apollo stopped in the hallway outside the breakfast room and simply stared at his companion.

“What?” Montgomery looked irritated. “I defy any man to not take the opportunity when presented to slap a lovely arse.”

Apollo sighed and continued walking. “Anything else?”

The duke frowned for a moment before supplying, “Miss Royle dislikes me exceedingly.”

Apollo arched an eyebrow. “I’d think any number of young ladies dislike you.”

“Yes, they do,” the duke replied carelessly. “That’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is that I seem to care one way or the other. It’s rather fascinating, truth be told.”

Apollo rolled his eyes at the man’s vanity. “You’ve collected a quantity of knowledge, Your Grace, and none of it is in any way helpful to my case.”

“Ah, but one never knows,” the duke replied. “Knowledge has a strange way of becoming applicable at the oddest moments. It’s why I take care to gather any and all information, no matter how trivial it may seem at first. But never fear: we’ve only been at the house party for less than a day and I anticipate more discoveries today.”

Apollo’s eyes narrowed. “Why today?”

“Didn’t you know?” Montgomery had that look of amusement that Apollo was beginning to loathe. “Additional guests arrived late last night.”

And he threw open the door to the breakfast room, revealing Edwin Stump, his mouth full of toast.

But it wasn’t Edwin that Apollo stared at. There were two other people in the room—a rather plain but gentle-faced lady and, beside her, a big man with an olive complexion, a scowl twisting his features. He had one green eye and one blue.

Beside him Montgomery went very still before whispering, in a tone of delight, like a little boy offered a huge bag of sweets, “Oh, how utterly wonderful!”

LILY WATCHED FROM a chair later that morning as Stanford struck a pose and declaimed, “ ‘An’ if ever I see my daughter in such a position again, mark me well, gentlemen, I shall’… er…”

He sneaked a glance at Lily, who didn’t have to refer to the pages in her hand. After all, she’d written A Wastrel Reform’d. “ ‘Disembowel the deceiver,’ ” she said, supplying the rest of the line.