“Filled your ears, did she?”
“She wants Philip drawn and quartered.” He paused on one of the steps so the servant got farther ahead of them. “It was unfortunate the others were there. Otherwise, I would have stood aside and let you at him.”
They reached the landing that led to the apartment. A forest of precious urns and vases stretched in front of them, placed on pedestals in rows that begged for accidents. “I thought he would sell these by now and get rid of this eccentric display that Uncle set out,” Kevin said.
Chase began negotiating his broad shoulders through the fragile display. “He concluded that it discouraged Aunt Agnes from intruding on him, which normally she would feel free to do even if he sent down word he was not receiving. Her ample bosom is not happy among these rarities.”
Kevin took a different path, one that brought him past a Chinese pot that he admired. They met up outside Nicholas’s door. The servant opened it and ushered them in.
Nicholas waited in his dressing room. He had not changed it at all since he inherited Melton House. Still the same carved chair near the window, which Nicholas favored for reading. Still the blue upholstered divan and chairs in a circle, where he entertained friends and the relatives he could abide.
Now he greeted them from where he stood near a window, looking out on Park Lane. “Thank you both for coming.”
“The hour is early,” Kevin complained. “We both know Chase is up near dawn, and I am often not yet in bed if I am occupied, but what causes Hollinburgh to be awake and dressed?”
Nicholas’s expression noted the emphasis on his title. “A matter of regarding the family’s honor. Which means Hollinburgh’s honor.”
Kevin thought that odd, mostly because Nicholas had not been especially glad to find himself with the duties of being a duke.
“I have almost made a decision,” Nicholas said. “I only need to know if either of you object.”
“Oh hell, you are getting married,” Kevin muttered. “Who is she?”
“You don’t have to make it sound like it is a sorry fate,” Chase said.
“Of course not. I am delighted for you, Hollinburgh. Who is the duchess-to-be?”
“Are you going to address me like that the whole time you are here?”
“I was summoned by Hollinburgh, so I am addressing him.”
“I don’t mean the title. I mean the sneering way you say it.”
“I never sneer.”
They both laughed. “You sneer so much, you don’t even know it is a sneer anymore,” Chase said. “Now, tell us what decision you are contemplating, Nicholas. I doubt it is marriage, because you have not expressed particular interest in any of the young ladies on the marriage mart this Season.”
“Which doesn’t mean one of them hasn’t captured him,” Kevin said.
“It has nothing to do with marriage.” Nicholas stood a little straighter. “I have long believed that Philip would find a better path as he got older, but it hasn’t happened. I made excuses for his wastrel ways and lack of honorable behavior, what with his father being a bad influence and his mother—well, all of that. However, after last night I have concluded that like many family trees, ours has a badly formed branch on it. I am inclined to saw it off the trunk.”
Kevin did not hide his astonishment. Nicholas, who had taken on the role of duke with much reservation, now intended to wield that power in a way rarely seen.
“Are you sure?” Chase said.
“No. Which is why you are here.”
That did not explain why Kevin was here, but he didn’t press the point.
“I’m not sure I can help,” Chase said.
“You can tell me what you meant last night when you said it wasn’t the first time.”
Chase did not look inclined to do that. After a long moment, he sighed. “Early on, during that family gathering that was held here after Uncle died, I came upon Philip importuning Minerva in the library. She had taken service so she could conduct a few discreet inquiries. He had backed her up near the fireplace and would not allow her to leave.”
“You mean she was making inquiries into us,” Kevin said. “Posing as a servant.” He began searching his memory of that house party to see if he remembered her being there.
“The point is that Philip had blocked her way out and was—” Chase’s jaw hardened and twitched, making him appear like the army officer he had once been. “He had grabbed her arm and was speaking of much more, and was telling her how no one would believe her if she complained. I stopped him, of course. Just as well.”
“So he is the kind who will press his advantage with his inferiors,” Nicholas said. “Not unusual, only he refuses to stand down when refused. He is too lazy even to seduce. He just assaults and uses his station in dishonorable ways. I daresay he has done worse than we know about.”
Kevin’s mind had settled on something else. “What did you mean, Chase, when you said just as well?”
“What he did not see was that she had found a poker behind her, with her other hand. One might say I saved Philip from Minerva, not the other way around.”
“Too bad.”
Chase ignored that. “What are your intentions, Nicholas?”
“I will no longer receive him. When I inform the rest of the family of this, they won’t either.”
“Which means almost no one will, once word gets out,” Kevin said.
“I will also let it be known that he has no expectations from this family, least of all from me. My will shall be changed so he is in no way a beneficiary, should there be anything to be had by anyone, which at the moment seems unlikely. If one of the aunts decides to indulge him, either while she lives or after she passes, that is her business. The question for this morning is, do you think I am being too harsh?”
“You will ruin him socially and financially,” Kevin
