Page 81 of Her Tempting Traitor
It was such a strange thing to say that Gabby glanced at her brother, who stammered, “Th-The llama?”
“Indeed.” Lady Zilphia patted her lips twice more. “We need a few baby llamas cavorting about, Dickie dearest. They are just sofluffy. I would like a half dozen, please.”
“But Jerry—” began Hunter.
Their host thrust himself to his feet. “I’ll order a whole herd of llamas! We need more females!”
“And a few males who arenae Jerry,” muttered Hunter with a smirk as he focused on his breakfast once more.
“And a few males who aren’t Jerry!” bellowed Sir Dickie as he jogged from the room. “My wife wants a half-dozen baby llamas!”
In the sudden silence, Gabby wondered if she ought to have mentioned the telegram in her pocket, the one the maid had delivered that morning after she’d snuck from Cassian’s bed to dress herself.
Oh well, she could always tell her hostess instead. “Milady, you ought to know?—”
“Oh, I am well aware a half-dozen baby llamas will take some time, my dear,” the older woman said with a sly grin. “But my sweet pea needed a new project. I hope poor Elizabeth will have time to recover.”
“I think…” Gabby began slowly, glancing over Lady Zilphia’s shoulder to where the elephant was being walked across the lawn by one of her handlers, “that her life is about to become far better.”
“All thanks to you, my dear,” Lady Zilphia smirked. “Iknewyou were so much more than a mere secretary to that idiot brother. Excuse me, Hunter.”
Hunter shoved a bite of potato into his mouth so he didn’t have to answer.
Gabby opened her mouth to correct Lady Zilphia’s guess, and explain about their upcoming trip, but a commotion from the hall stopped her words before they could even be uttered.
“Gabrielle Lindsay!” came Cassian’s roar as he strode into the breakfast room, his hair still wet and his cane gripped tightly, allowing him to walk so quickly. “Lindsay!”
Both Gabby and Hunter shoved themselves away from the table and turned in alarm as Cassian stamped over to her with a fierce glare. “Yer uncle is Bull Lindsay!TheBull Lindsay, darling of Society, dashing debonair, and owner of The Lindsay Group Detective Agency!”
Hunter folded his arms across his chest. “Bull is the darling ofeveryone. It’s why he’s so good at his job.”
Cassian ignored him to lean over Gabby. “Bull Lindsay, younger brother of Rourke Lindsay, thefooking Duke of fooking Exingham…excuse me, Aunt Zilphia.”
“Oh, eggs and ham sound delightful,” the older woman announced primly. “I believe I would like some, without the fooking, please.”
Gabby, though, was watching Cassian in concern. “I—I had not realized it was supposed to be a secret?”
“Your uncle is the brother of aduke, Gabby,” he growled. “That meansyeare the niece of a duke!”
“Aye,” drawled Hunter with a glare. “That is generally how these things work.”
Gabby glanced between her brother’s anger and Cassian’s…despair? What was this emotion eating him up? It looked like fear. And she had never been a person who could ignore a being’s pain and fear.
With a slight growl of her own, she took Cassian’s hand and tugged him over to the side, away from the table and away from her brother. She tipped her head back to study the man she loved.
“Uncle Rourke and Aunt Sophia were the ones who raised us, Cassian. They met when he hired her to be ourgoverness, remember?” She’d told him this, had she not? Hmmm, perhaps she hadn’t used their names. “But we are not their children.”
“Ye didnae tell me who yewere,” he all but moaned.
“Yes, I did. I told you my name.” When he’d declared his love for her, she’d insisted on hearing herrealname from his lips, and told him the truth then. And there were precious few people in the world who knew aboutGather.
“Ye told me yer name, but no’ who ye reallyare.”
She frowned in confusion, and he must’ve been able to read it, because he scooped up her other hand.
“Gabby, ye’re the niece of a duke!”
“So? My other uncle is an illegitimate, irreverent scamp only five years my senior who started a detective agency.”
