Part 14 (1/2)
”You thought she was seeing another man.”
”She was.” He drew his brows together. ”You.”
Max ignored him. ”If I recall correctly, Sir's relations.h.i.+p with Eve, if only on paper, had begun to get somewhat heated.”
”Not at all.” Adrian scoffed.
Max stared for a long moment, then chuckled.
”What?” Adrian snapped.
”You, or perhaps I should say Sir, intend to seduce her, don't you?”
”I don't intend anything of the sort.” Adrian rolled his gaze toward the ceiling as if Max's charge were completely mad and not exactly what he had planned.
”You intend to try.”
”I trust my wife implicitly.”
”You said that.” Max's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. ”Nonetheless, you want to find out if her heart is truly yours or if she still harbors some affection for ...” Max grinned. ”You.”
Adrian snorted. ”That's absurd.”
Max raised a brow.
”Very well then, I admit it.” He glared at his friend. ”It's insane, isn't it?”
”That's probably the appeal. There's a fine line between incredible stupidity and brilliance. One you have walked in the past. But you've always been fond of those plans that can't possibly work and yet do. One can only hope this one works as well.” Max drew a deep breath. ”I do, however, feel compelled to be the voice of reason.”
”Go on.”
”You do realize, she might well be able to forgive you not telling her that you were Sir before your marriage, lies of omission and all that, but this, this is, well, deceit.”
”Regardless of what name I use, I am still her husband,” Adrian said in a lofty manner.
”You are trying to trick her.”
”No, I'm not. I just want ...” He shook his head. ”This question has been in my head since the beginning. I imagine I only suspected her of infidelity because of my own doubts. But I have no doubt Sir's efforts will be unsuccessful,” Adrian said firmly. ”And that will be the end of it.”
”You can lie to yourself but I know you too well.” Max fixed him with a firm look. ”I never thought I'd see the day that you, Lord Waterston, are afraid.”
”I'm not afraid. I have more confidence in her than I have in myself.” But deep down, somewhere in the vicinity of his heart, he was indeed afraid that, once again, he was wrong.
Max shook his head. ”You do realize this might be your most dangerous game yet.”
Adrian nodded. ”I admit, it's a gamble.”
”And if you lose?”
”I don't know. What I do know ...” Adrian blew a long breath. ”Is that, in this game, the stakes have never been higher.”
Chapter 11.
”Have you ever killed a man?”
Celeste looked up from her desk. ”Not that I can recall,” she said mildly. ”I have inflicted well-deserved bodily harm on one or two, but I don't believe I have ever killed one.”
”Pity.” Evelyn resumed pacing the parlor floor.
”Was that merely a casual inquiry or do you have something in mind?”
”Both.” It was a difficult decision. Did one strangle one's husband before dinner or after? Or perhaps in his sleep. No. Evelyn clenched her teeth. That would be too easy on him. Adrian needed to know why he was about to breathe his last.
Celeste raised a brow. ”Dare I ask if the intended victim is Sir Maxwell or Lord W?”
”As I haven't heard from Max in days, he is not currently at the top of my list of men who deserve to be murdered.” Evelyn narrowed her eyes. ”My husband, on the other hand ...”
Celeste stared. ”What has he done?”
”I am still too furious to talk about it.” She cast her friend an apologetic smile. ”Even with you.” It was hard to keep what she had learned from Beryl to herself. Adrian's actions were not merely infuriating but humiliating as well. How did one say aloud, even to one's closest friend, that one's husband didn't trust her? No, this was between Adrian and herself, at least for the moment. Besides, Celeste might have found a way to make Adrian's actions seem less objectionable than they were, although Evelyn couldn't imagine how.
”I see.” Celeste watched her pace the length of the room. ”I don't believe I have ever seen you this angry before.”
”I have never been this angry before.” And not merely angry but hurt. How could he think so little of her?
Looking at it rationally and knowing her own lack of patience, she decided against waiting until dinner. She had already waited entirely too long, but Adrian had been gone all afternoon. Little did he know that was a huge mistake in strategy on his part. It left her with several unoccupied hours in which to grow angrier, if that was at all possible.
”Indeed,” Celeste said thoughtfully. ”I'm not sure I have ever seen you angry at him at all.”
”Nonsense, surely I ...” Evelyn paused in midstep and stared at the other woman. ”You're right. I can't recall ever having been angry with him before.”
”Don't you think that's a bit odd?”
”Not at all.” Evelyn scoffed. ”We are perfectly suited to one another. There is scarcely an area in which we disagree. Occasionally, we debate but I don't remember so much as a minor argument.”
”It was only a matter of time then.”
”Apparently. In truth, our life together thus far has been practically perfect.”
”One can't ask for more than a practically perfect life.” Celeste cast her a pleasant smile.
”No, one can't.” Evelyn stared at the other woman. ”But he's certainly not perfect, you know.”
”He does seem perfect.”
”Hah.” Evelyn scoffed. ”He reads papers at breakfast while he eats. Sometimes I find myself watching him to see if he'll put his cup back in the saucer or spill it on the tablecloth.”