George nodded slowly. “So, you and the duke overheard the bribery taking place?”
“We did, and he was just as shocked as I was.”
“More shocked, I would think, since he must have recognised – just as I did – that the man offering the bribe was his dear friend Sir Roderick March.”
Selina stopped walking abruptly. She cast her mind back to the voices she had heard in the dusty darkness of that hidden passageway.
The memory of Malcolm’s breath against her ear threatened to distract her, but she pushed it aside.
She had not recognised the voice of the man speaking to Mr Griggs. Any passing familiarity had been masked by the rasp of a heavy cold.
“You must be mistaken,” she said. “Malcolm does not know who offered the bribe. There were so many men with political interests at the Whitbys’ ball that night. It could have been anyone.”
“But it was Sir Roderick. And I cannot see how Caversham did not recognise him. You do not know Sir Roderick well, but he has known the man since childhood. If I knew the voice, he cannot have mistaken it.”
Anger flared in Selina’s chest, hot and tight. It was not directed at George, exactly, but it cracked in her voice like a whip when she answered him. “You are extremely interested in the Twynham election for a man who has never before dabbled in politics. What were you doing in the Whitbys’ secret corridor, that you just happened to overhear Sir Roderick – if it was Sir Roderick – offering bribes?”
George sighed, looking genuinely sorry, which took some of the air out of Selina’s ire. “It was pure happenstance. I stepped into the corridor, as I said at the time, to avoid an awkward social encounter. I simply chanced to overhear Sir Roderick as I walked past the card room.” He let go of Selina’s arm and adjusted the cuffs of his jacket. “Besides, as it happens, I am taking an interest in politics. Anthea has so many noble causes. A poor sort of husband I’d be, if I didn’t support them.”
“Oh, George.” Selina touched a hand to the ribboned bonnet covering her hair, as though her unexpected show of emotion could have knocked it out of place. “I did not mean to speak so unkindly. Thank you for telling me your concerns. Perhaps I ought to accept Malcolm’s offer of a drive, so that I can ask him about everything directly. I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation.”
“You must trust your own judgement,” said George, offering his arm again. They turned by unspoken agreement back up the winding path to the house. “However, if it turns out that he has not been honest with you… Well. I would not wish to be on first-name terms with a man who had deceived me. And the offer is still there. I will not hesitate to teach him a lesson on your behalf. You must only say the word.”
“I will not tell Anthea you said that,” said Selina, managing a teasing smile. “She would not approve at all.”
“And I have not told her that I caught you and Caversham together in the corridor – though I think she would approve of that very much.” George winked roguishly. “I have never had sisters before. I am beginning to understand why your brother is so serious all the time. So many cares must take their toll on a man!”
“But only think of the improving effect we have had on your character!” Selina let go of George’s arm as they reached the house. “Now, I will go and see whether Isobel and Anthea have managed to raise Aunt Ursula’s spirits. If she is in good cheer, I will not feel any guilt in leaving her for an hour or so while I take the air with Mal–” She stopped herself just in time. “With Caversham.” She gave George a stern look. “Be polite to him in the meantime. If I come downstairs to discover you both shouting about pistols at dawn, I will have no compunction about bringing your wife’s wrath down upon your foolish head.”
George bowed ironically low. “That is a risk I wouldn’t dare take!”
As Selina went upstairs, she fought to ignore the feeling that her heart was beating a little off rhythm.
It shook her to know that her indiscretion with Malcolm had been noticed. George, at least, could be trusted with her reputation, but how many other needless risks had she taken in the meantime? Malcolm had managed to unravel her careful behaviour like the ball of wool he had sent tumbling to the floor the night he dined in her brother’s house.
The night he had touched her cheek and looked at her with an expression both yearning and haunted – an expression that she now knew meant that he wanted to kiss her. She had seen it again in the sunset on Lady Aldershot’s terrace last night. Something inside her was still trembling from the wonder of it.
Was he worthy of the risks she had taken? Or was he, as George insisted, only a rogue using her for his own political advancement?
A maid was leaving Aunt Ursula’s room as Selina arrived. She stopped the girl on her way past.
“Please take a message to the Duke of Caversham,” she said, her voice light
