Page 32 of The Missing Maid
‘You will have to excuse my brother,’ Percy said, after a particularly earnest compliment had made Harry’s cheeks growwarm. ‘He tries to make up for his terrible looks by blinding a woman with outrageous flattery.’
Harry laughed. ‘I see. So I’m not prettier than a whole garden full of roses?’
She took some satisfaction in seeing Percy hesitate, if only for a moment. ‘Even a stopped clock is right twice a day,’ he said expansively. ‘It doesn’t mean you should buy it for your mantelpiece.’
James leaned closer. ‘I’m afraid Percy was dropped on his head as a baby. He talks utter nonsense most of the time. Please accept my heartfelt apologies.’
Harry glanced back and forth between them. ‘Are you always so terrible to each other?’
Percy grinned. ‘Always. He makes it so easy.’
James reached out to top up Harry’s wine glass, an action that caused Oliver to frown. Although seemingly engrossed in conversation with Rosalind Goldsworthy, Harry had no doubt he had been following the chatter across the table and she had the distinct impression he didn’t like either of the Finchem brothers much. Whereas Harry herself was finding them quite refreshing.
‘My mother tells me you work in London,’ James said. ‘Something to do with banking.’
‘That’s right,’ Harry replied, taking a sip of wine. ‘I like to stay busy. Do you work?’
‘Only on his golfing swing,’ Percy observed. ‘But he’ll tell you he’s in the shipping business to try and impress you.’
James smiled. ‘It’s the family company, dates back to 1741. We import and export all over the world. If you’re ever in need of silk for a dress, let me know.’
‘Don’t tell my mother that,’ Harry advised. ‘She will never leave you alone.’
‘I’d be happy to help,’ James said. ‘Especially if it gives me a chance to speak to you.’
There was a snort from Percy. ‘I work in the family business too. If you want to avoid my brother’s toe-curling efforts to woo you, then take my card.’
Harry wasn’t sure whether it was the wine or the effect of being conversationally bounced between James and Percy but she found her head was spinning by the time dessert was served. After coffee, everyone began to drift towards the drawing room for brandy. There was talk of a card game but Harry excused herself and slipped through the tall double doors that led to a paved balcony overlooking the gardens. The night was blessedly cool, sending goosebumps blossoming across her skin even as she drank in the chilly air. The gardens were blanketed in darkness but she knew the view well enough to imagine the topiary hedges and fountain that sat at their heart. Somewhere in the distance, an owl hooted, punctuating the faint clink of crockery from beyond the doors as the staff cleared the dining room table. Harry absorbed the quiet, even as the fresh air intensified the fizz of alcohol in her veins. She couldn’t stay out here for long, but perhaps it would soothe her frazzled nerves enough to rejoin the fray.
Gradually, the clinks and rattles subsided and Harry guessed the dining room was empty. She was just about to go back inside when the door creaked behind her and a figure stepped out. At first, they were silhouetted in the light and she couldn’t make out who it was. The height told her it was a man – one of her brothers, perhaps, sent to find her? But then the figure spoke and she recognised Percy Finchem’s playful tone. ‘I wondered where you’d escaped to,’ he said, pulling out a silver cigarette case and offering it to her. ‘Are you hiding from James, by any chance?’
She shook her head, both at the question and the offer to smoke. ‘Not at all. I just needed some air.’
He lit his cigarette, the flare of yellow briefly illuminating his face. He had the same brooding good looks as James, the same straight nose and strong jaw, but she now realised his eyes were blue instead of brown like his brother’s. Which of his parents had given him those? she wondered, then realised she was staring. A little flustered, she took refuge in small talk. ‘Do you spend much time in the country?’
‘Not if I can help it. I don’t mind the occasional visit, especially when the company is so captivating.’ He paused to blow out a long stream of smoke. ‘But I can’t see myself ever living in the family pile. There’s nothing to do, apart from drink, and I can do that in the city, where at least they know how to make a decent Manhattan.’
Harry couldn’t totally disagree – she had left the comforts of Abinger Hall for the bright lights of London when she was only a little over twenty-one. But unlike Percy, she could see herself returning to Abinger when she was older. Her Aunt Valeria had done exactly that after refusing to marry and she seemed perfectly happy with her horses. ‘It’s not for everyone,’ she agreed.
‘Luckily for me, I won’t inherit the old place,’ Percy went on. ‘That’s my brother’s doom and he’s welcome to it.’ He fixed her with a speculative look. ‘Have you ever been to New York? Now that’s a city.’
Harry considered the daily newspaper articles about America, where prohibition was causing all kinds of unintended consequences. ‘Not much chance of a cocktail there.’
Percy gave her a sly grin. ‘Oh, but there is. You just need to know where to go. And there’s something deliciously dangerous about a speakeasy. It makes one feel alive, knowing the door could be broken down at any moment.’
There was something in his voice that surprised Harry, a darker edge that belied his amiable exterior. She cocked her head. ‘That, and the chance that the alcohol might kill you.’
He laughed. ‘Of course. What’s the point of living if you always play it safe?’
Spoken by someone who had never had to worry where his next meal was coming from, Harry thought dryly. But she could hardly point the finger there – she’d never had to face hardship either and besides, she wasn’t sure it really mattered. You didn’t have to be wealthy to understand the thrill of danger. ‘I think there’s a time and a place for a calculated risk,’ she said, as Oliver’s insistence that she stop her investigations floated across her mind. ‘Sometimes the end justifies the means.’
‘You’re so right,’ Percy murmured and she was startled to realise how close he was. ‘I mean, aren’t you taking a risk just by being out here alone with me, under the stars?’
Her heart thudded in her chest as she met his gaze and it wasn’t only the truth of his words that made it beat faster. She could smell his cologne mingled with the smoke from his cigarette and it belatedly occurred to her that perhaps James was not the most seductive of the Finchem brothers after all. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘Am I?’
For a moment, she thought he might kiss her. For a moment, she almost wanted him to. But he simply smiled. ‘Not at all, Harry. There’s nothing dangerous about me.’
She wasn’t sure whether it was the gleam of moonlight on his white teeth, or the breath of wind that blew his dark hair across his forehead, but there was something lupine about his expression then that made her shiver. ‘But you’re cold,’ he said, with sudden concern, and shrugged off his dinner jacket to drape it around her shoulders. ‘Come on, let’s get you back inside.’
