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Half an hour earlier
Flint found his brother-in-law in the library. Addinggrove was sitting comfortably in one of the Chesterfield chairs in front of the fire, reading a book. He looked up with an easy smile as Flint approached him.
“Ah, Lambourn, come join me. The duke has excellent whisky on the table over there.” Addinggrove lifted his glass of golden liquid from a side table and took a sip.
Flint followed his suggestion and went to the small table by the wall that held the liquor. Several different bottles had been placed there, presumably for the guests of the house. Flint poured himself a finger of whisky and looked around the room. It was well-kept, even though it was clear from the way the room was built that it was old. Most of the walls were covered in bookcases from floor to ceiling; what was left bare of the walls was painted in a dark blue color. The carpet on the floor and the fabric of the furniture were white, which along with the blue should give it a cold feeling, but simply gave it the feel of a cozy ice cave.
“Has Sophia awoken?” Flint asked as he returned to Addinggrove, who put his book down once more.
“Yes, she is in our room.” Flint was about to ask whether she was sleeping again, but Addinggrove preempted the question. “Preparing for tonight’s dinner. You might as well learn now, Lambourn, that women take at least twice as long, if not thrice to dress for even the simplest dinner.”
Addinggrove sent him a knowing smile as if he had revealed a great secret to him. Flint sent a strained one back. He had always had an ambiguous relationship with Sophia’s husband. He was four years older than Flint, which meant that Addinggrove had been several years ahead of him at both Eton and Cambridge. Thus, he had always viewed Flint as the younger, the protégé that he needed to give good advice. Addinggrove had inherited his title and estate already at seventeen, and when Flint’s grandfather died, he had also wanted to coach Flint on how to best take on his grandfather’s responsibility. Flint had had to respectfully decline several times before Addinggrove finally understood, leaving a strained tension between them. Flint had lived with it, thinking that it would eventually peter out. But it would have made the current situation much easier if that tension had not been there.
“I will remember, thank you,” Flint muttered. “Actually...” he began but was interrupted when Sophia entered the room. Not dressed for dinner.
Well, he might as well tackle the two of them at once now that she was here.
“I was just...” he started at the same time as Addinggrove said:
“I thought you were changing.”
“I was just soaking in the tub for a while,” Sophia told him and sat down on the armrest of his chair. Addinggrove affectionately placed a hand on her knee.
Flint almost looked away from this show of devotion between them. It made him feel strange being witness to it. He cleared his throat and began again:
“I thought I might talk to you about...”
But Sophia started speaking only a moment after him:
“Have you seen the cellars, Flint? Hester told me that...” Her voice trailed off, as something caught her attention outside. Both Flint and Addinggrove followed the direction of her gaze. Flint felt something bubble in his stomach that desperately wanted to come out in a very disgusting way as he saw Lady Hester and Percy in the courtyard. They were simply walking side by side, talking. But of course, it was no simple conversation. Flint recognized it for that it was – courting. Despite Percy’s rather laissez-faire attitude towards this whole arrangement, he had at least bothered to invite Lady Hester on a walk.
Flint knew that his brother could charm a stone into life and that if he wanted to, he would most likely be able to seduce Lady Hester as well.
Lady Hester made a gesture with her hands as she spoke, and Flint wished that he could open the window unnoticed and hear what topics they were discussing. His rooms were facing the park and he would not be able to retire and listen to their conversation from there.
“I never understood why you thought the two of them would fit, Darling,” Addinggrove mumbled.
Flint realized that the other two were studying the couple – no, not couple, God forbid that they ever became a couple – but the two people strolling, followed by Lady Hester’s maid. Addinggrove and Sophia had both turned to face the windows and were unashamedly observing Lady Hester and Percy.
“I think Percy would be well-suited with her. It is time for him to settle down and he needs to find a lady that will help him do that,” Sophia stated.
Flint had heard the argument before but still did not believe it. He was not certain what it would take for Percy to settle down. If he was, he would have placed it in front of Percy a long time ago. But he felt certain that it was not Lady Hester. Percy needed someone who could inspire him to put his ways of gambling and debauchery aside, someone that he wanted to change for. Flint was not certain that Lady Hester would ever demand Percy to change. If the two of them married, she would most likely use half her dowry to buy a house next to the forest with the densest population of birds in all of England. Then she would let Percy have the other half and keep his own life in London, gambling and whoring as much as he wanted since there was no reason to try to change people that did not want to be changed. He could even envision the shrug of her shoulders she would give him when he questioned her about this. And he would, because if she married Percy, she would be his sister. The thought made him feel like casting up his accounts again. There were so many reasons why he needed to prevent a marriage between Lady Hester and Percy.
“What do you think, Lambourn?” Addinggrove’s voice was as jovial as the man seemed to be able to muster.
Flint looked at his brother-in-law uncomprehendingly. What did he think about what?
“Do you think that your brother and Lady Hester would suit?” Addinggrove asked with a crooked smile.
Flint looked back at the two of them in the courtyard. Lady Hester had linked her arm through Percy’s now. Flint willed himself to show no outward reaction at this, despite tasting bile in his mouth. Still, he said:
“Only time will tell,” in as easy a voice as possible. “If you will excuse me, I will go to my room and change for dinner.”
Both Addinggrove and Sophia bid him farewell with distant voices as their attention was clearly caught by something else. Flint hurried out of the library and down the hall. He tried the first door after the library, but that was closed. Then tried the next that was luckily open – the armory – and it had a window facing the courtyard. He hurried to the window again. Lady Hester and Percy had stopped almost exactly outside of the room that he was in. Flint felt his jaw go slack as he watched Percy gently stroke Lady Hester’s cheek. It was impossible to tell whether Lady Hester enjoyed the attention or not. Nevertheless, Flint knew that he had to end any chance of a marriage between the two of them. And since Percy would never take his advice on any matter regarding the opposite sex, Flint would have to convince Lady Hester that the two of them were completely and utterly wrong for each other.