“For luck,” Richard whispered. His lips met David’s, and then they were kissing in fierce, passionate silence, freed by darkness, in the open street without fear or shame until David almost forgot he had a burglary to commit.
Chapter 16
Richard went to see Lord Maltravers the next morning.
He had never liked the man. Maltravers was a fleshy, red-faced brute a couple of years Richard’s junior but so puffed up in his own consequence he might have been twice the age. His tailoring was expensive but poorly commanded; his coats were overtight in the wrong places; and that day there was a spot of gravy on his cravat. David would never have permitted Richard to be seen in such a state.
Philip sat by the Duke of Warminster in the House of Lords, and it was impossible to avoid Maltravers in society, so Richard had always felt obliged to maintain a civil manner with him. Maltravers rarely bothered to reciprocate. As the eldest son and heir of a duke, he outranked Richard and liked to show it.
“Well,” he said as Richard took his seat. “You wanted to see me.”
“Yes, I did. You engaged my former valet yesterday.”
“Is that what this is about?”
“What else? He was a good servant to me for some years, and since I understand you were not pleased with him, I wonder if you will cancel the contract. It is clear he will not suit you.”
“Your former valet is a damned insolent sneak,” Maltravers said. “He shall come back to this house, as engaged, and I shall teach him some manners.”
“How thoughtful of you. When I do not care for a servant’s manner, I simply dismiss him. You have made your dissatisfaction quite clear, my lord, so it seems reasonable that you should end the agreement.”
“He signed a contract,” Maltravers said obstinately. “I shall damned well hold the fellow to it.”
Richard leaned back in his chair. “My lord Maltravers, are you quite well?”
“What was that?”
“It is not my habit to deal with my former servants’ affairs. But Cyprian fled to my household for shelter after you assaulted him. The doctor feared that you might have cracked a rib, so brutally did you attack the man. And he tells me—I can scarcely comprehend this—that you did so because he would not swear to a series of extraordinary allegations against your own brother. My lord, your actions are disturbed.”
Maltravers went a satisfying shade of purple. “Disturbed? It is not I who is disturbed. My accursed brother—”
“Ash is a good friend of mine.”
“I know that. And I know he has told you about this.”
“About what?”
“About his vile acts and what you must do!”
“I am not aware I must do anything, and Ash has told me nothing at all,” Richard said. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Maltravers’s mouth dropped open as he visibly worked that out. He would have to assume that Ash had been stalling him, wasting time. The blackmail had failed; the hoped-for political coup was slipping through his fingers. Richard could see his face darkening. “I told Gabriel to tell you that I intend to prosecute your man Mason, Harry Vane’s accomplice, for high treason, and you must not stand in my way. You had better speak to Gabriel at once, Lord Richard, or your cousin will face his just deserts.”
“Why on earth would I speak to Ash about any such nonsense? What is this?”
“I will tell you. Gabriel is a damned sodomite.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“A sodomite,” Lord Maltravers repeated. “He and that wretch Webster are engaged in unnatural acts of the most abominable kind.”
“I find that profoundly unlikely.” Richard struggled to keep his tone calm. He wanted to shout, to demand what the devil Maltravers knew of love or nature or anything. “I know them both well, a great deal better than you do. This is a nonsense, and—Lord Maltravers, I beg of you, stop this. Ash has never done you wrong, and he is your brother. Harry is a fine young man, Mason is a reformed character, and your quarrel with Francis Webster should have been left in the schoolroom. Don’t pursue this, my lord. Wipe the slate clean, let them all be, and, I promise you, it will be for the best. For everyone.”
“For the best?” Maltravers said incredulously. “Sedition and immorality, sir?”
“There is no sedition, and you have no need to concern yourself with Ash’s morals. He is an excellent fellow. I ask you again, Lord Maltravers, don’t stir up this trouble. You will do no good to anyone.”
Maltravers sat very straight. “I shall do as I see fit, sir. Mason will hang, and Gabriel can take the consequences of his own acts.”