Notorious Pleasures (Maiden Lane #2)(25)

“Please refrain for all our sakes,” Caro said.

Griffin met Mater’s gaze, which was part amused, part exasperated.

“You shouldn’t tease your sister,” she murmured.

“But it’s so easy,” he whispered back before straightening and moving to take his seat.

“You’ve missed the fish,” Huff said.

His brother-in-law was a short, burly man. Caro had inherited the Mandeville height and stood several inches taller than her husband—a fact that mortified her to no end but that Huff didn’t seem to notice at all. Actually, Huff didn’t seem to notice much of what his wife did. Nevertheless, he was fond of Caro in an absentminded sort of way, and Caro was quite happy with her match since Huff was one of the richest men in England.

“Was it any good?” Griffin murmured back.

“Cod,” Huff said somewhat obscurely.

“Ah.” Griffin took a sip of the red wine that had just been placed before him. The social niceties out of the way with his brother-in-law, he really had no choice but to turn to Lady Hero. “I hope you are well, my lady?”

He’d seen her only hours before, but the clarity of her gray eyes was something of a shock nevertheless. He remembered her stubborn insistence that she help her home for orphan children, even if her brother disapproved of her endeavor. Then there was that moment after they’d visited Jonathan when they’d seemed to find a strange accord. His offer of a loan had been on pure impulse; he’d never done such a thing before in his life.

And it had felt right. He’d wanted to help her, share her burden with her. He didn’t care one whit about the foundling home, but her…

What was it about her? He found himself staring into those diamond-clear eyes, watching as the dark pupils at their center grew larger as she looked at him. He leaned closer as if to catch the exhalation of her breath in his own nostrils.

Oh, this was not good.

Beyond her, Thomas cleared his throat.

Lady Hero blinked. “I’m quite well, thank you, my lord.”

Griffin nodded and let his gaze slide past her. “And you, Thomas?”

“Fine,” Thomas clipped. “I’m quite fine.”

“Oh, good.” Griffin smiled briefly and took another sip of the wine. Maybe if he drank enough, this dinner would be bearable.

“I heard a terrible story yesterday,” Caro said as she took a prim little sip of wine. “An entire family found starved in one of those wretched hovels in the East End.”

“How horrible,” Meg said softly, “to starve for want of a bit of bread.”

Caro snorted. “Bread would’ve done them no good. It seems the entire family, including a suckling babe, supped upon gin and nothing else until they quite withered away.”

Griffin noticed that Lady Hero had set down her fork.

The Duke of Wakefield stirred. “I’m not surprised—I only wish I were. We hear these types of tragedies almost daily, and I fear we will continue to do so until gin is eradicated once and for all from London.”

“Here, here.” Thomas raised his glass at the head of the table.

Griffin’s mouth twisted. “How do you propose to do this, Your Grace, if I might be so bold as to ask? If the people want to drink gin, surely trying to make them stop is a bit like attempting to empty the ocean with a soup spoon.”

Wakefield’s eyes narrowed. “If we can shut down the distillers of this foul beverage, we will have won half the war. Without a supply, the poor will soon find some other healthier thing to drink.”

“If you say so,” Griffin murmured as he sipped from his wineglass. Had the duke ever worried about his family’s money? He thought not.

A plate of boiled beef was set before Griffin just as Megs said from across the table, “Huff was telling us earlier about a ghost that is said to haunt the coffeehouse he attends.”

“Nonsense!” Caro muttered.

Griffin raised his eyebrow at his normally staid brother-in-law. “A ghost, Huff?”

Huff shrugged his shoulders, sawing vigorously at the beef on the plate before him. “Ghost or spirit. Said to bang a drum incessantly at night. At Crackering’s Coffeehouse. Have it on good authority.”

“Inside the coffeehouse?” Lady Hero murmured. “But is anyone there after dark?”

“Must be,” Huff said. “Otherwise who would have heard him?”

Griffin caught Lady Hero’s eye and could’ve sworn the lady was suppressing a smile. He hastily looked to his own plate.

“I’ve heard there is a ghost or phantom in St. Giles,” Caro said somewhat surprisingly.

“Does he bang drums?” Griffin asked gravely.

Caro wrinkled her nose. “No, of course not, silly. He kills people.”

Griffin widened his eyes at his sister.

“With a sword,” Caro said, as if that settled things.

“Where did you hear this?” Mater asked.

“Oh, I don’t know.” Caro stared into space for a moment, a faint frown marring the creamy skin of her brow, then shook her head impatiently. “Everyone has heard of him.”

“I haven’t,” Megs said.

“Nor have I,” Griffin said. “I wonder if Caro is making it up?”

Caro inhaled, her face turning a rather dangerous pink.