Page 24 of Whiskers and Wiles

“Yes, I am well aware,” Lawrence said, still smiling, but perhaps a bit less. “I am the very last of the family consulted in any matter whatsoever. You all think me too frivolous and empty-headed to value my opinion on things.”

A twist of guilt immediately filled Waldorf’s gut. “Wedovalue your opinion,” he reassured his brother.

“No, no, I understand,” Lawrence said. “I am just an artist, whereas you all have taken far more important things upon you. Cheese and reptiles and espionage, for example.”

Waldorf stared flatly at his brother through the mirror. Now Lawrence was simply toying with him. Waldorf could tell by the twinkle in the man’s eyes. In fact, Lawrence was an astonishingly talented sculptor whose works were on display in museums throughout Europe. He had been their mother’s favorite as well. She had seen his artistic talent early and had indulged it with art lessons and an abundance of whatever supplies he’d needed for all of the artistic disciplines he favored.

If he were honest, Waldorf had been a bit jealous of the attention Lawrence had received when they were boys.Hehad been the baby, after all, and?—

Waldorf blew out a breath through his nose. There was no point in sulking over the very thing he resented his brothers of accusing him of being.

“Yes, Kat was at the party the other night,” he said, finishing with his hair and putting his brush down to face his brother. A few of the bristles fell out of the brush, and Waldorf pressed his lips together as he noticed. He’d have to tell Bambridge to purchase a new one, but only after the man was no longer a fountain of snot. “Yes, we had a lively discussion over supper. And yes, I drove her home. But only because it was raining, she did not have a carriage of her own, and Lord Headland was there, attempting to badger her into allowing him to drive her home.”

Lawrence’s expression suddenly went from teasing to serious. “Headland is back?” he asked, walking with Waldorf as he departed his room.

“Headland never left,” he said in a grim voice, walking to the stairs. “The man has been active in politics in East Anglia for all these years. He’s a minister for East Anglia.”

“I have not seen him at social events, or even attending lectures or exhibits of any sort,” Lawrence said as they started downstairs.

“I’ve no idea why not,” Waldorf said. “I only know that his wife recently passed, and now he appears to be searching for the poor woman’s replacement.”

“Which would explain his renewed interest in Kat,” Lawrence said, nodding in thought.

“He will not have her,” Waldorf said, stopping halfway down the stairs and whipping to face his brother with a glare.

Lawrence jumped in surprise, then smiled all over again. “You seem extraordinarily vehement for a man who callously dismissed the woman twenty years ago.”

Waldorf heaved a heavy breath and continued down the stairs. “It was a misunderstanding. And I am not vehement.”

“You are, and I would say it was beyond just a misunderstanding,” Lawrence said.

Waldorf stopped at the foot of the stairs to face him once more. “I believed Kat had betrayed me.”

“Based on weak evidence and the say-so of unreliable sources,” Lawrence said, nearly laughing with incredulity.

“I witnessed her kissing Headland with my own eyes,” Waldorf grumbled, walking on to the front parlor, where he’d instructed Humbolt, Godwin House’s butler, to leave his coat and hat earlier. “I saw them.”

“Correct me if I am wrong, dear brother,” Lawrence began, entirely too amused with the situation, “but did Kat not tell you Headland had accosted her?”

Waldorf sighed, dropping his shoulders entirely before he could reach the parlor. “Yes, I was a blithering idiot,” he said. “Ireacted on impulse and wounded pride. It hurt to think someone I loved so dearly could betray me so severely.”

“You always were more fire than ice back in those days,” Lawrence said, stepping ahead to fetch Waldorf’s hat and coat while still remaining in Waldorf’s sight. “Thank God you’ve gained more sense with age. Though not much, if the reports of the conversation at Lady Thistlewhite’s supper are to be believed.”

Waldorf snatched his coat from Lawrence, glaring at his brother’s teasing grin. “I felt provoked.”

“Like any captured bear would feel,” Lawrence said with a pretend serious nod.

Waldorf’s brothers were forever teasing him that his overgrown whiskers made him look like a bear, particularly when he was in a foul temper.

“You must think of the advantages of this turn of events, though,” Lawrence went on, handing Waldorf his hat once his coat was on. Waldorf sent him a questioning look, so Lawrence continued with, “You and Lady Kat have resumed your acquaintance. You have a chance before you to right the wrongs of the past.”

Waldorf frowned as he considered the possibility. Supper had been a disaster, he could admit, but the carriage ride after had been monumental. And not just because they’d nearly thrown caution to the wind and indulged the rampant, carnal feelings that evidently still existed between the two of them.

No, the carriage ride had been a profound turning point for him because in it, both he and Kat had expressed feelings that neither of them had spoken about in twenty years. He knew there were far more things that need to be said and much more discussion about the past to be had, but it was as if he’d been given a tiny peek into a room filled with treasure, a room hehadn’t dared to breech for fear that there was a dragon guarding the treasure.

“I cannot do a damned thing about the past now,” Waldorf grumbled. “I broke things between myself and Kat, and they’ve remained broken for too long. Fissures like that only grow with time.”

Lawrence made a doubting sound and shrugged, then stepped back into the parlor. He surprised Waldorf by returning with his own coat and hat.

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