“All right, you can tell, Eva, but not Georgia. She’s a terrible gossip.”
The duke grunted.
Simon ate more pie and drank more ale while he thought about what to say, and Daniel did the same, watching Simon’s every mouthful.
“I’ll give you two more minutes, and then I’m pummelling it out of you,” Daniel said, once again pointing his fork at Simon.
“Didn’t your father spend a considerable amount of money teaching you not to wave your cutlery around whilst eating, your grace?”
“One minute.”
“I was just getting the words right in my head.”
“The annoying habit you have of thinking everything through before you speak has long since lost its charm for me, Kelkirk. Therefore I beseech you in this instance to speak the first words that come into your head.” Daniel once again slouched back in his seat, ale in hand.
“Tsk tsk. Slouching, too, your grace.”
“Remember that I have a new rapier, Kelkirk. It would not pay you to antagonize me.”
“When I was late for our lunch meeting at the club the other day, it was because I bumped into Claire…literally.” Simon went on to tell Daniel about his meeting with Claire and subsequent sore jaw.
“Good god!” The duke looked stunned. “And you have no idea why she was there?”
“None, and when I questioned her, she looked scared, Daniel, and that was more worrying, as, to the best of my knowledge, nothing scares Claire Belmont. In fact, she is always just so.”
“Just so what?”
“Composed, immaculately attired, well spoken–you name it.” Simon waved his hand around.
“She wasn’t always,” Daniel said quietly. “There was a time when she was wild and unruly, and then her brother died.”
“Anthony?”
The duke nodded, his face solemn. “He was everything to Claire. There were four years between them, and unlike Mathew, who had duties ahead of him, Anthony always had time for Claire, and she adored him. We were friends, all three of us, and we used to run wild through the pastures of our homes. Claire was younger, of course, and although we tried to leave her behind, she always found us, and because Anthony loved her so much, he let her stay.” Simon watched the emotions move across his friend’s face as he remembered. “And then he went away to war and got wounded and when he returned, like so many, he was a changed man.”
“He died five years ago, I believe?”
The duke nodded. “Six months after returning home, he was dead.”
“Yes, and it was Claire who nursed him to the end.” Simon could imagine her sitting at her brother’s bedside for hours doing all the things that he needed with endless patience. He’d seen her compassion with others and the tender way she was with Georgia. It was just him she was impatient with.
“Her mother told me, when I called to inquire after Anthony, that he did not sleep–couldn’t sleep–as the pain in his side was too much to bear. The bullet was lodged inside, and the doctors said if they removed it, he would die.”
“But he died, anyway,” Simon added softly. “And Claire lost the brother she loved most.”
Daniel looked into the depths of his drink before speaking. “I had drifted away from her by then. I had you and our friends,” he added, shooting Simon a look to make sure he understood. “I called to see her, but she didn’t want to see me, and I tried once more, but she was still deeply upset, so I left her alone. It was only after I married Eva that we became re-acquainted.”
They were silent for a while as they both thought about Claire, each in their own way, and what she had suffered.
“Daniel, Claire knows you are her friend and always have been, and now you have given her Eva, too. I would not feel too badly for what has been, my friend.”
“I hope you’re right, Simon, and now we need to think more on why she was in that street and how to go about getting the information from her.”
“You’re taking her to Stratton, so that would be as good a time as any to start questioning her, Daniel.”
The duke nodded. “Eva can get the information from her. She only has to smile and people usually tell her everything.”
“Besotted fool,” Simon said with no malice, and Daniel smiled.
Rising, the duke put some coins on the table. “Come, I need to think about his some more, and as I do my best thinking while I’m moving, it’s time to teach you a lesson in fencing.”
Snorting, Simon followed him out the door. The day had grown darker as rain clouds threatened, and he guessed by nightfall, there would be a deluge, which would turn the streets to sludge. Shuddering at the thought, he fell in beside Daniel as they made their way across the road.