Page 35 of Black Widow

The carriage lamp was dim, but there was enough light to see Worthing scowling at him. “What is the meaning ofthis?”

“We are long overdue for at talk, you and I,” hereplied.

“Whatabout?”

Gideon nodded at the key on his waistcoat. “That pin forstarters.”

“So this note was just a damned ruse?” Worthing closed his eyes and shook his head as he crumpled the paper in his hand. “I should haveknown.”

He ignored that. “Amelia claims she did not give it to you. Is thattrue?”

Worthing wassilent.

“I’mwaiting.”

The viscount straightened his waistcoat, sitting up straighter on the bench. “It was a gift from your cousin. I wear it as a keepsake of ourfriendship.”

“Why?”

“Whywhat?”

“Why did he give it to you?” Gideon said from between gritted teeth. “I know how much Martin valued that pin. I’m supposed to believe he just gave it toyou?”

Worthing paused a beat too long. “Actually, it was a forfeit. I claimed it after Martin lost a wager—a drunken dare when we were both in our cups on a wild night in Modena. I offered to give it back the next day, but he said a bet was a bet and insisted I keepit.”

Gideon narrowed his eyes, studying the minute details of expression Phineus had taught him to search for when he first joined the war office. Worthing was good, but he was not completely successful at masking hisanxiety.

The viscount was lying. But why would he bother over something soinconsequential?

Gideon let the silence stretch to the breaking point. Across from him, Worthing swallowed hard and reached up to cover the pin. At first, he thought the viscount meant to hide it from him. But Worthing didn’t cover it. He stroked it with his finger, the same way one would rub a rabbit’s foot for luck…orcomfort.

The gnawing feeling in the pit of Gideon’s stomach grew. Quite suddenly, the truth was there, blazing like a torch in hismind.

“Oh, bloody hell. Amelia called me a fool. She was right. You were never her lover.You werehis.”

Worthing tried to control his panic, but his eyes betrayed him. His expression was one of stark fear. “Don’t be ridiculous. I should call you out for such aslur.”

An overwhelming wave of sadness swamped him.Oh, Martin. Why didn’t you tellme?

Gideon answered his own question aloud. “He never told me because he thought I wouldn’tunderstand.”

Tears glinted in Crispin Worthing’s eyes. He opened and closed his mouth. “Would you have?” he whispered after a longsilence.

Gideon’s throat was tight. “I—I like to think so. I am surprised, of course, but if he had told me, well…I trust I would have found better words than I have now,” he finishedlamely.

Worthing acknowledged that with a tinynod.

Gideon splayed his hands open. “And his marriage? He and Amelia appeared to care for eachother.”

The viscount nodded emphatically. “They did! They loved each other…but it was more in the manner of closesiblings.”

Worthing put his hands on his knees and leaned forward. “Can you imagine what it was like growing up in that house? A boy with Martin’s temperament and an intelligent and sensitive girl like Amelia under the thumb of Sir Clarence? And let me tell you—Lady Montgomery was not muchbetter.”

“I know. I remember my aunt well,” Gideon said, letting himself sink into the cushions of thebench.

Worthing looked chagrined. “Of course. I forgot you spent some time under Clarence’s roof aswell.”

“Only to visit. I didn’t have to livethere.”

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