Free Candice Hern by In the Thrill of the Night

arms."
    "Instead of your arms?"
    "No! Nesbitt's."
    "The man is dead, for God's sake."
    "I know. But she will always be his woman to me."
    "She'll be in some other man's arms soon enough. Which should be of no consequence to you, as your arms will be full of the beautiful Clarissa."
    "Touché."
    Adam emptied his own cup and looked about for Alfred, the head waiter. He found him serving a group of older men seated nearest the hearth. Wearing old-fashioned bob wigs and buckles on their shoes, the men looked like a scene out of his father's time. They passed around several long-handled clay pipes, and one of them toasted a muffin on a stick held over the fire. Adam would not have been surprised to learn these same old chaps had been holding down that spot in the Raven for forty years or more.
    He caught Alfred's eye and nodded, then turned back to Rochdale, whose brows were lifted in amusement.
    "I do wish you didn't find this business so damned entertaining," Adam said, but couldn't hold back a smile. "It was tough going, I tell you, dealing with that list."
    "You're in love with the woman. Always have been."
    Adam snorted. "What rot. She was my best friend's wife, for God's sake. I admire her more than any other woman I know, but I am not in love with her."
    "You don't want any other man in her bed, then, because you admire her so much?"
    "I worry that she'll be hurt, that's all."
    "I think you want her for yourself, and now that you can't have her — because, I remind you again, you have the lovely and innocent Clarissa — then you don't want any other man to have her. Sounds suspiciously close to being in love with her, if you ask me."
    "Well, I don't ask you, and I am not in love with her. I'm just watching out for her best interests, as Nesbitt asked me to do. I promised to look after her."
    "I still say you should stay out of it. And certainly stop talking to her about it. Whoever heard of a woman having such a discussion with a man, anyway?"
    "We've always been candid together. We're friends."
    Rochdale snorted. "For now."
    "What do you mean, 'for now'?"
    "If you think Clarissa is going to allow you to continue in close friendship with a beautiful woman like Marianne, then you'd better think again. That tie is going to be cut, whether you like it or not."
    "Damnation. I hope you’re wrong. That would be ..." Impossible to imagine .
    "You know, old chap, it might be the best thing of all if Marianne became linked with another man. It might stave off any bridal jealousies."
    "Perhaps. Marianne is bound and determined on this course in any case."
    Alfred approached with a steaming pot of coffee and refilled their cups. In an Oxbridge voice, he asked if they wished for anything more to eat. Rochdale declined and sent him away. Adam watched the tall, straight-backed figure as he retreated, and marveled that he managed to keep such a pristine appearance in a bustling coffeehouse. The man was always well dressed in a smart black coat, knee breeches, black silk hose, and a spotless white cravat.
    "What do you suppose is his story?" Adam asked.
    "Rumor is that he was once a gentleman, but lost his fortune on the Exchange."
    "Really? Poor old sod. Well, I suppose it is better here than debtors' prison."
    "Indeed." He shot Adam a speaking glance. "We must all make hard choices from time to time."
    Adam looked at his friend and nodded. "Yes, we do. And yes, I have made mine."
    Rochdale raised his cup in salute. "Good man." After taking a drink of the hot brew, he said, "What do you think set Marianne off? Why this sudden resolution to find a lover? Why now?"
    "I don't know, but I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with the other women in the Benevolent Widows Fund. She told me once how they all decided to remain widows rather than seek remarriage. I'm wondering if they have perhaps all decided to seek lovers instead."
    "Egad, you don't suppose the rest of them are on the hunt as well, do you?"
    "It's quite possible. I