The Secrets of a Scoundrel by Gaelen Foley Read Free Book Online Page B

weight that he hadn’t needed to lose.
    Jolly good thing he had a pair of suspenders among his belongings, he thought indignantly. Then he leaned closer toward the mirror, finally noticing the gauntness under his cheekbones, the sharp angles of his jaw, the hollows around his eyes.
    No wonder Edward seemed afraid of him. He looked as lean and hungry as a wolf. And yet he remembered that Lady Burke had not seemed intimidated. But then, she was Virgil’s daughter.
    “Waistcoat.”
    The footman bravely held it up and stepped forward; Nick slipped his arms in the holes.
    Edward next fetched his freshly ironed cravat, reaching out his arm to hand it gingerly to him from the greatest distance possible.
    “I’ll do it myself. I’m not going to kill you, Edward.”
    “Of course not,” the lad said abruptly with a nervous gulp followed by short laugh of relief. “Thank you, sir.”
    Nick eyed him warily. “What did they tell you about me?” he asked as he stood in front of the mirror tying his cravat.
    “Oh, nothing, sir.”
    “Something, surely?” Waiting, he glanced at the tongue-tied footman in the mirror.
    Edward plainly cast about for some polite escape from this question. “Oh, just some whispers in the servants’ quarters, sir. Nothing important.”
    “Humor me, please. I won’t hold it against anyone, I promise.”
    “Well, sir, one of the maids overheard Her Ladyship telling Mr. Mason that you had been trained by Master Virgil.” Edward shrugged. “Seeing the sorts of things that Master Virgil also taught Her Ladyship, we just put two and two together. That you work for the Order,” he whispered, wide-eyed.
    Not that I was in prison? He was touched she had shielded his reputation. “So Virgil came here to visit?”
    “Oh, yes, sir. Quite a lot. Her Ladyship and her father were very close.”
    Nick stared at him in fascination, absorbing this. Why, you old fox, with your secrets. It seemed their taciturn handler was growing even more mysterious in death than he had been in life.
    Just then, there came a knock on the door. “Lord Forrester?”
    Edward glanced toward it. “That’ll be Mr. Mason, sir.”
    “Come in,” Nick called just as he finished tucking in the tied ends of his cravat.
    The butler stepped into the guest chamber and clasped his white-gloved hands behind him, nodding politely. “Lord Forrester, allow me to present Dr. Baldwell, our local physician.”
    A little gray-haired man with stooped shoulders and a black leather bag stepped into the room behind him.
    Nick stared at the newcomer, instantly suspicious.
    “Her Ladyship has asked that Dr. Baldwell give you a brief examination to make sure you are in the best possible health,” Mason informed him.
    Nick looked at him in shock. “Has she indeed?” he retorted, bristling at this new request. “Whatever for?”
    Lady Burke herself appeared in the doorway, apparently anticipating his resistance. “Considering your recent living conditions, I want to make sure you’re well enough for duty.”
    “I’m well enough for duty!” He scoffed. “I don’t need some quack poking and prodding at me to confirm my health. No offense, Doctor.”
    “You will cooperate,” she informed him. “I cannot risk your passing along anything catching to my staff. Check him,” she ordered the physician, then shot him a no-nonsense look. “Cooperate, Nicholas. You gave me your word.”
    He narrowed his eyes at her. So he had.
    With that curt order, Her Ladyship left him scowling and gritting his teeth. But was it worth it to fight?
    One had to choose one’s battles, after all.
    “I didn’t give my word to agree to be inspected like a bloody farm animal,” he muttered more to himself than to them. He glared at Edward, who quickly scurried out behind the butler.
    Dr. Baldwell then proceeded to ask him all the usual impertinent questions that were part of taking down a patient’s history. The old, unflappable physician was no more affected by