Daffyd did, at length. He talked about how the renovations on the estate he’d bought were going, the way his lady was planning her garden, the problems with servants, from masons to housemaids. The only reason Leland’s eyes didn’t assume their familiar half-lidded bored expression was that he was genuinely happy for his half brother. Born of the same mother, Leland was an eldest son and heir to title and fortune. Daffyd was the illegitimate result of his mother’s fling with a wandering Gypsy, abandoned by her at birth and heir to nothing but hard work.
The two had met as adults and found they shared more than dislike for their mother’s coldness. They had the same quick wit, and for all the different upbringings, the same scruples. Both could also summon irresistible charm if needed: they’d had to in order to survive their equally difficult childhoods.
Finally Daffyd stopped talking and smiled sheepishly. “I’m a dead bore now, right? Serves you right for asking.”
“No, I let bores know when they fill me with ennui. It’s my specialty. I was actually listening. I’m pleased things are going well for you and Meg. Where is she, by the way?”
Daffyd’s smile was brilliant. “You’re the first to know. She’s home because she couldn’t stand traveling; she’s too busy being carriage sick on land that doesn’t move. Lee, she’s expecting our baby in the summer! That’s really what’s got me babbling. Me, a father! Can you believe it?”
“I can, and a damned fine one you’ll be. Congratulations!”
“Not yet!” Daffyd warned him. “Too soon. My Gypsy grandmother would have your head for saying that. When the babe cries out for the first time, telling us his name, then I’ll take your congratulations, and gladly.”
“I’ll be sure to be there to hear it, if I’m invited.”
“As if you wouldn’t be! I came to London to tell you and Geoff. I’ll ride out into the countryside to tell Amyas and Christian, when I’m done here. Letters are for you gadjes; I needed to see faces. I want all of you to come visit with us as soon as the house is finished. Why the frown? I thought you were happy for me.”
“When did you last hear from Geoff?” Leland asked quietly.
Daffyd’s eyes flew wide; he sprang from his chair. “What? He’s sick? I didn’t know!”
“No, no, sit down. He’s well. Gads, what a firework you are.”
Daffyd sat, but the viscount didn’t. He began to pace. That was so unusual that Daffyd frowned as he watched the tall figure range the room.
“No, Geoff’s healthy, wealthy, and wise, as always,” Leland said. “It’s just that… Damnation, the thing is that he’s lost his heart, if not his head. He’s met a female, Daffy, and he seems to be in love with her.”
“Well. Well, well,” Daffy said, sinking back into his chair. “What do you think of that?”
“Not much. Which is why I’m telling you before you see him and meet her. Although I think you may know her already. She’s from New South Wales.”
Now Daffyd scowled. “Not Millie Owens? Damnation. She’s the only one with enough gall to pursue him, unasked. She has the sensitivity of a brass monkey. Of course she’d follow him over the rainbow if she heard he came into money. But why would he choose her? It was only a brief affair, and I think he must have been drunk as a monkey at that, to start up with her in the first place…”
“It is not Millie Owens.”
Daffyd scowled. “Not Mrs. Parsons! No, it couldn’t be. She took up with Stanley Burns and was happy with him.”
“No,” Leland said. “He had no affair with this one; I believe she seeks to remedy that now. I didn’t know Geoff then, but I do know he’d never take up with another man’s wife-which this female was when you were there. Her name is Daisy Tanner.”
“Daisy?” Daffyd yelped. “Daisy Tanner? She’s here? Good for her. But wait-where’s Tanner?”
“Dead, and unmourned, I gather.”
“Of course not. What a thorough bastard that one was. But Daisy, she’s a darling, and just a girl! Her, and Geoff? Never. He was always kind to her because he felt sorry for her, but who didn’t? No, you’ve got windmills in your head and marriage on the noggin, brother, if you think anything would come of her and Geoff.” Daffyd chuckled.
“Whatever she was, she’s four-and-twenty now,” Leland said. “And extremely beautiful, charming, and, I understand, also now rich. Oh, she has a slight physical disability, too, which perhaps you don’t remember?”
“Daisy, disabled? Oh, too bad. I don’t remember anything like that.”
“Yes,” Leland drawled. “It seems she can’t stand without Geoff’s arm to support her, or see anyone else in the room if he’s there. At least, she seems unable to take her eyes off him. Her hearing is fine, though. Anything remotely amusing that he says makes her laugh. Geoff has noticed this debility. It appears to please him very well.”
Leland sat down opposite his guest and leaned forward, his eyes dark with concern. “Daffy, you and I are half brothers. Our fathers were different and neither of us was lucky enough to have one like Geoff. He is wise. But men of his age are known to let youthful lovers fool them into thinking they themselves are young. Sometimes such liaisons work well. Too often, they don’t. If she’s merely looking for a father, that mightn’t be too bad. He’s good at that, and even though I think he could have more from a wife, if that’s what he wants, there’s no harm in it. But is she after something else? Why would a young, rich, beautiful woman travel across the world to London, arrive, leave the docks, and then immediately-and I do mean immediately-seek out and try to captivate a man twice her age?
“I wonder, and I worry,” Leland said, frowning. “Because if she traps him in marriage and then finds a more suitable mate, for her bed, it would be devastating for him. You know that. We both have had experience with an unfaithful wife, if only at second hand. Our mama showed us how much joy there was in it for the innocent, didn’t she? We know too well the havoc unfaithfulness can cause. I worry, and wonder if this chit plans the same for Geoff. So, you know her. What do you think?”
“She’s not married anymore, Lee.”
“No, but she was, and she’s not an innocent by any stretch of the imagination, being both a widow and a convict. Her smiles and guiles are all for Geoff. He seems to love it. So, I ask you: What can be done? Should anything be done?”
“How long has she been here? Looks and smiles aren’t a contract.” Daffyd’s words were clipped. “Why do you think it’s serious?”
Leland shrugged. “She’s been here a week.”
His half brother interrupted him with a shout of laughter. “A week? She’s a daisy, in truth. But only God can achieve anything that serious in a week!”
“A week of luncheon together every day and dinner together every night; and the theater or the opera or the ballet every other night as well?” Leland said calmly.
Daffyd’s smile faded.
“She hasn’t gone out without him yet,” Leland continued, “because she says she doesn’t know anyone in Society, and he says he wants to make her comfortable until she does. She’s making herself very comfortable in his pocket, that’s certain. She’s delicious; I will say that for her. Her figure is nothing short of sensational. That golden red hair is spectacular, but somehow she manages to look more like an angel than a trollop. She has wit and charm. She’ll be your stepmama if this continues, I’d bet on it.”
“Not my stepmother,” Daffyd muttered. “He’s not my real father, though I wish he were.” He sat thinking. Then he studied his half brother for a moment. “And you? Have you been there each time, all this time?”
“Yes.”