Free Deadly Engagement: A Georgian Historical Mystery (Alec Halsey Crimance) by Lucinda Brant Page A

monster; and I don’t use that word lightly, my boy. What that poor girl had to endure…” She mentally shook herself and shivered, a glance at Alec who was staring at her in a penetrating way. “Oh, it is not my place to tell you the sordid details of her marriage!”
    “I thought… In public there was never any hint of discord between them,” Alec stated, the shocked surprise evident in his voice. “On the few occasions I happened upon them at a public function I received the impression she was determined to show me just how happy she was in her marriage. And there was that incident at the Drury Lane Theater when—” He frowned at the Duchess. “Are you certain?”
    The Duchess wondered, not for the first time, at the complete ignorance of the male brain to the workings of the female mind. “Did it never occur to you, given the history between the two of you, that her behavior was a grand display for your benefit?” she asked patiently. “After all, she could not allow you to see just how miserable she was, that would be admitting defeat and you know Selina, she is particularly stubborn.” She put aside the tea dish; out of the corner of her eye observing Alec whose frown had deepened, and shook out her petticoats as she stood. “I will let you mull over that revelation in private. And if you want to know anything about Jack, speak with Selina. I’m off to visit Meg. Perhaps I will learn something about Jack if she’s in the mood for confidences. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. You are coming to the celebrations, aren’t you? And you must stay. I’ll have your old rooms made up.”
    “I give you fair warning, Olivia. I can’t promise I’ll be on my best behavior.”
    “It would be a very dull affair if you were, my boy!”
    Alec grinned and pinched her chin “You wicked woman.”
    She looked up into his handsome angular face and voiced her thoughts. “Emily and Selina are both fools,” she murmured and quickly moved away, fiddling with the strings of her reticule. “Are you certain you don’t want me to have a word in Grenville’s ear?” she asked in a matter-of-fact voice. “His wife, a silly hen of a woman, is a Romney, distant, but a Romney nevertheless. I know he will do anything for me. If I let it be known you wish to be an Ambassador…?”
    “Ambassador? No, Olivia, I thank you,” he said, amused by her sincerity and took the yellowed letter she had produced from her reticule and held out to him. “What’s this?”
    “It’s Mrs. Hendy’s letter of introduction for one Thomas Fisher. In his hurry to go after you the foolish boy left it behind.”
    “Have you read it?”
    The Duchess smiled mischievously. “Of course I’ve read it!”
    “And…?”
    The Duchess shrugged her shoulders. “It won’t help you know anything more about the boy, if that’s your meaning by smirking at me! He’s from Delvin, to be sure, but he was sent away and apprenticed out when he was twelve. Mrs. Hendy wasn’t too happy about that circumstance and she asks that should the boy need a protective arm he apply to you. Nothing more. A mystery. You read it and see.” She touched Alec’s arm. “Are you quite sure you don’t want me to speak to Grenville?”
    “Quite sure,” he assured her. “It’s not that I don’t aspire to such dizzying heights. However, I will get there under my own sail or not at all.”
    “You too are very stubborn!” she complained, going out of the room before him. “All the fault of that uncle of yours. He’s filled your head with republican nonsense.”
    “Don’t be too harsh on him. He is much maligned. And not the ogre you th—”
    “I don’t think him an ogre!” the Duchess retorted. “He’s—He’s—”
    “—very civil over a dish of tea?” Alec suggested lightly, and at the bottom of the staircase kissed her outstretched hand. “Don’t worry, Olivia, I won’t tell a living soul you took tea with a devout republican—”
    “I