"I assumed as much. I am also counting on the fact that very few people recognize me on sight."
"There is little risk of your being recognized by even the handful of people who do know you, sir." Felix's expression was wry. "You are obviously not planning to move in polite circles and no one would think to look for you in that small house in Ibberton Street."
"That little house is just what I wanted, Felix. It is a residence perfectly suited to the requirements of a family of modest means from the country. As long as I avoid the clubs and fashionable haunts, I should be able to move about London with complete anonymity."
Felix chuckled. "You could probably ride unnoticed in Hyde Park so long as you took your three young charges with you. People see only what they expect to see. I assure you no one will expect to see the Viscount Chillhurst acting as a tutor."
"Precisely." Jared was relieved that the intelligent, pragmatic Felix actually saw some logic to the crazed scheme. His own judgment, Jared knew, was no longer to be trusted. "We should all be quite safe."
Felix slanted him a questioning glance. "Safe from what, sir?"
"Disaster," Jared said.
"What sort of disaster?"
"Why, discovery, of course," Jared said. "There is always the threat of being found out in a situation such as this and I fear the consequences. It is much too soon."
Felix began to look concerned again. "Too soon, my lord?"
"Yes. Wooing a siren is a tricky business, Felix, and one in which I have had no experience whatsoever. I would not want the entire project to come crashing down around my ears before the proper groundwork has been laid."
Felix heaved a sigh. "If I did not know you better, sir, I would say that you have become as odd as the rest of your family."
Jared laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "A chilling thought."
"Indeed. No offense, my lord."
"Do not concern yourself, Felix. I am hardly likely to take offense at the truth. No one can deny that my family does have a certain reputation for producing Originals."
"Yes, sir." Felix hesitated. "Perhaps I should just mention one thing that you may wish to bear in mind."
"What is that?"
"Demetria Seaton is in town. She is Lady Beaumont now, you know."
"Yes, I know." Jared kept his voice even.
"I have heard that Lord Beaumont is in London seeking yet another cure for his small, but apparently rather persistent problem."
"Still cannot beget himself an heir, I take it?"
"It never ceases to amaze me how well informed you are, Chillhurst, considering the fact that you almost never come to town. You are quite right. The on dit is that Beaumont cannot even consummate his recent marriage."
"Indeed?" That fact was hardly likely to bother Demetria, Jared thought.
"Apparently even the presence of the lovely Lady Beaumont in his bed is not sufficient to help him overcome his impotence," Felix murmured.
"A pity. But I suspect that Lady Beaumont is not entirely unhappy with the situation," Jared said.
"Again, you have the right of it, according to rumor." Felix watched the kite dart about in the air overhead. "If Beaumont fails to do his duty by his title, Lady Beaumont will inherit his entire fortune."
"Yes." She would no doubt shower a good portion of the funds on her damnable brother, Gifford, Jared thought. Unlimited access to money would make him even more obnoxious.
Gifford was Demetria's only blood relative and she doted on him. As far as Jared was concerned, her over-protective attitude toward her younger brother had had the effect of turning him into a spoiled, willful, hotheaded rakehell who would likely one day get himself killed.
Jared grimaced as he recalled the evening three years ago that Gifford had issued a challenge. The demand to meet for pistols at dawn had come less than an hour after Jared had ended his engagement to Demetria.
Gifford had been beside himself with fury. He had claimed that Jared had humiliated his sister and he had demanded satisfaction.
Jared had refused, of course. After all, he had still been a logical, reasonable man in those days and he had reacted accordingly. He had seen little point in risking his neck or young Gifford's in a duel that would resolve nothing.
His refusal to meet Gifford on the field of honor had only served to further enrage the younger man. Gifford had labeled him a coward.
"As Beaumont is nearly seventy and in poor health," Felix said, "there is every likelihood that his lady will find herself a very wealthy widow at any moment."
"Especially if Beaumont hastens his own demise by too much vigorous activity spent pursuing a course of treatment for impotence."
Felix smiled coolly. "It will be interesting to see if Beaumont finds a cure for what ails him."
"I wish him the best of luck," Jared said.
"You do?" Felix glanced at him with ill-concealed surprise. "I would have thought that you might be interested to hear that Lady Beaumont may soon be a free woman."
Jared shrugged. "Her freedom, or lack of it, is no longer a matter of concern to me."
"No? She is more beautiful than ever, I am told. And the rumors of a lover died down long before Beaumont married her."
"Did they?" Jared asked without much interest. The subject of Demetria's lover was one of the few topics he had never discussed with Felix. Jared had, in fact, not discussed it with anyone at all.
He knew there had been speculation after he had abruptly ended the engagement, but he had refused to acknowledge the gossip.
"If Lady Beaumont has a paramour these days," Felix continued, "she does an excellent job of keeping him out of sight."
"She would need to do so," Jared said coolly. "Beaumont would hardly countenance his wife having a lover when he, himself, has not yet managed to procure an heir."
"True enough." Felix paused. "Regarding the other matter."
"Nothing new has turned up, I presume?"
Felix shook his head. "I fear I have not uncovered any more information. It must have been the vessel's captain who arranged the fraud. He was the only one who could have done it."
"I would prefer to have proof before I dismiss him."
Felix shrugged. "I understand, sir, but in cases of this sort, it is almost impossible to discover proof. That is the difficult thing about matters of embezzlement. Very hard to follow the trail."
"So it would seem." Jared watched the kite soar and listened to Ethan's and Hugh's cheerful shouts of encouragement. "Let us wait a while longer, Felix. I am not prepared to take action against the captain just yet."
"As you wish, sir."
"Bloody hell," Jared said softly. "I do not like this business of being deceived. I do not care to play the fool."
"I am well aware of that, sir."
There was a moment of silence while both men watched the boys and their kite.
Jared slipped his watch out of his pocket and noted the hour. "You must excuse me, Felix. I have an appointment soon and I fear it will take some time to persuade my charges to bring their kite back to earth. I must be off."
"As you wish, Chillhurst. I am available, as always, in the event that I am needed."
"I do not know what I would do without you, Felix." Jared inclined his head in farewell and set off across the park to collect Ethan, Hugh, Robert, and the kite. It was almost four o'clock, time to fetch Olympia from the Musgrave Institution.
It took Jared nearly twenty minutes to collect the boys, the kite, and a hackney. He glanced at his watch twice as the hired carriage clattered through the crowded streets.
Robert tore his glance away from the fascinating sights outside the hackney's window. He saw Jared slip his watch back into his pocket for the second time. "Are we going to be late, sir?"
"I trust not. With any luck the lecture will carry on longer than anticipated."