Page 91 of From the Ashes
The general stormed past Doyle, almost knocking him off his feet. The tray he held wobbled dangerously, but he managed to avoid any of the drinks on it from spilling. Eastbrooke towered over Gillingham. He might be older, but he was far more physically imposing than the smaller man.
Gillingham backed up a step and gripped his walking stick hard. I would never forget how he'd used it on me as a weapon. Would he dare try to use it on Eastbrooke?
"You're a coward, Gilly," Eastbrooke sneered. "Weak. Amannever accepts defeat."
Lincoln stepped between them just as Lady Harcourt and her two stepsons appeared. "Not in front of the ladies," Lincoln said.
Eastbrooke stepped down but continued to glare at Gillingham from across the room.
Lincoln repeated his explanation for the dinner invitation for the benefit of the newcomers, and finally for Lord Marchbank, the last to arrive. "I hope your wives aren't offended," he said to Marchbank and Gillingham, "but I didn't want to alarm them with any talk of the supernatural, if it should arise."
Gillingham tried to hide his blush behind his glass, downing the contents in a single gulp.
Lord Harcourt checked his watch, frowned, then slipped it back into his waistcoat pocket.Yes, I wanted to tell him,it's going to be a long night.
"So you're now a gentleman of leisure," Andrew Buchanan said, raising his glass to Lincoln. "Congratulations. All the best fellows are. You ought to join me at the club. Or come with me to the races. It would be a lark. Bring Charlie." He winked at me.
Ugh.Perhaps he'd arrived drunk. His eyes certainly seemed glassy and he hadn't even finished his first sherry.
"Shut up, Buchanan," Seth snapped. "Nobody wants to go anywhere with you."
Buchanan's nose wrinkled. "You've become an egalitarian, Fitzroy. Allowing thehelpto dine with the honored guests, now, eh?"
Seth simply rolled his eyes.
"Stop it, Andrew." Lady Harcourt pressed her fingers to her temple. "This is trying enough without you making it worse."
"That's what happens when several of your paramours happen to be in the one room together. It becomestrying." He held his glass out to Doyle to refill. "Hurry up, man. I need the fortification if I'm to survive."
"Enough!" Eastbrooke bellowed. "Or I'll throw you out myself."
"I'd like to see you try, Old Man."
"Andrew!" Harcourt snapped at his brother. "Don't!"
Buchanan snapped his heels together and saluted, first at his brother then the general.
"Arse," Seth muttered.
The company broke up into small groups, although Lincoln remained no more than an arm's length from me as he conversed with Lords Harcourt and Marchbank. Seth remained on my other side, so close that I felt him bristle when Lady Harcourt sidled up to me.
She wore deep black with her usual plunging neckline that displayed her bosom and jewelry in all their perfection. She never ceased to dazzle me with her beauty and wealth, although nothing could hide the tiredness in her eyes, and the worry lines around her mouth. The gossip was taking its toll.
"That necklace is unusual," she said, reaching out to touch the orb. I pulled back, out of instinct, and she laughed. "I'm not going to steal it, Charlie. I simply wanted to admire it. It's interesting. Where did you get it?"
"It belonged to my mother."
"Oh? And the bracelet too? Are they a set?"
"Lincoln gave that to me."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seth's gaze shift from me to Lincoln. Lincoln didn't appear to be listening.
"And you didn't give it back when your engagement ended?" Lady Harcourt asked. "My dear, what sort of signal are you sending him? I know you don't have a mother to guide you through the proper etiquette, but I expect more from Lady Vickers. She ought to tell you that when a woman breaks an engagement, she returns all gifts."
"I didn't break the engagement, he did. And this bracelet was given to me only this evening. It was a gift from a friend, not a fiancé."
The odd little smile on her face froze. "I see," was all she said before moving away to speak to General Eastbrooke.
