“No, Lady Kilmartin!” Hardwick chortled. “Heh heh heh. Good one, there, Kilmartin.”
Michael signaled for another drink. He was going to need it.
“Wore blue the other night, she did,” Hardwick said. “Everyone saw.”
“She looked quite lovely,” Trevelstam added.
“Indeed, indeed,” Hardwick said. “Good woman. I’d go after her myself if I weren’t already shackled to Lady Hardwick.”
Small favors and all that, Michael decided.
“She mourned the old earl for how long?” Hardwick asked. “Six years?”
As the “old earl” had been but twenty-eight at the time of his death, Michael found the comment somewhat offensive, but there seemed little point in attempting to change Lord Hardwick’s customary bad judgment and behavior at this late stage in his life—and from the size and ruddiness of him, he was clearly going to keel over at any time. Right now, in fact, if Michael was lucky.
He glanced across the table. Still alive.
Damn.
“Four years,” he said succinctly. “My cousin died four years ago.”
“Four, six, whatever,” Hardwick said with a shrug. “It’s still a bloody long time to black the windows.”
“I believe she was in half-mourning for some time,” Trevelstam put in.
“Eh? Really?” Hardwick took a swig of his drink, then wiped his mouth rather sloppily with a handkerchief. “All the same for the rest of us when you think about it. She wasn’t looking for a husband ’til now.”
“No,” Michael said, mostly because Hardwick had actually stopped talking for a few seconds.
“The men are going to be after her like bees to honey,” Hardwick predicted, drawing out the bees until it sounded like it ended with four Zs. “Bees to honey, I tell you. Everyone knows she was devoted to the old earl. Everyone.”
Michael’s drink arrived. Thank God.
“And there’s been no whiff of scandal attached to her name since he died,” Hardwick added.
“I should say not,” Trevelstam said.
“Not like some of the widows out and about,” Hardwick continued, taking another swig of his liquor. He chuckled lewdly and elbowed Michael. “If you know what I mean.”
Michael just drank.
“It’s like…” Hardwick leaned in, his jowls jiggling as his expression grew salacious. “It’s like…”
“For God’s sake, man, just spit it out,” Michael muttered.
“Eh?” Hardwick said.
Michael just scowled.
“I’ll tell you what it’s like,” Hardwick said with a leer. “It’s like you’re getting a virgin who knows what to do.”
Michael stared at him. “What did you just say?” he asked, very quietly.
“I said—”
“I’d take care not to repeat that if I were you,” Trevelstam quickly interjected, casting an apprehensive glance at Michael’s darkening visage.
“Eh? It’s no insult,” Hardwick grunted, gulping down the rest of his drink. “She’s been married, so you know she ain’t untouched, but she hasn’t gone and—”
“Stop now,” Michael ground out.
“Eh? Everyone is saying it.”
“Not in my presence,” Michael bit off. “Not if they value their health.”
“Well, it’s better than saying she ain’t like a virgin.” Hardwick chortled. “If you know what I mean.”
Michael lunged.
“Good God, man,” Hardwick yelped, falling back onto the floor. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Michael wasn’t certain how his hands had come to be around Hardwick’s neck, but he realized he rather liked them there. “You will never,” he hissed, “utter her name again. Do you understand me?”
Hardwick nodded frantically, but the motion cut off his air even further, and his cheeks began to purple.
Michael let go and stood up, wiping his hands against each other as if attempting to rub away something foul. “I will not countenance Lady Kilmartin being spoken of in such disrespectful terms,” he bit off. “Is that clear?”
Hardwick nodded. And so did a number of the onlookers.
“Good,” Michael grunted, deciding now was a good time to get the hell out. Hopefully Francesca would already be in bed when he got home. Either that or out. Anything as long as he didn’t have to see her.
He walked toward the exit, but as he stepped out of the room and into the hall, he heard his name being uttered yet again. He turned around, wondering what man was idiot enough to pester him in such a state.
Colin Bridgerton. Francesca’s brother. Damn.
“Kilmartin,” Colin said, his handsome face decorated with his customary half smile.
“Bridgerton.”
Colin motioned lightly to the now overturned table. “That was quite a show in there.”
Michael said nothing. Colin Bridgerton had always unnerved him. They shared the same sort of reputation—that of the devil-may-care rogue. But whereas Colin was the darling of the society mamas, who cooed over his charming demeanor, Michael had always been （or at least until he’d come into the title） treated with a bit more caution.
But Michael had long suspected there was quite a bit of substance under Colin’s ever-jovial surface, and perhaps it was because they were alike in so many ways, but Michael had always feared that if anyone were to sense the truth of his feelings for Francesca, it would be this brother.
“I was having a quiet drink when I heard the commotion,” Colin said, motioning to a private salon. “Come join me.”
Michael wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the club, but Colin was Francesca’s brother, which made them relations of a sort, requiring at least the pretense of politeness. And so he gritted his teeth and walked into the private salon, fully intending to take his drink and leave in under ten minutes.
“Pleasant night, don’t you think?” Colin said, once Michael was pretending to be comfortable. “Aside from Hardwick and all that.” He sat back in his chair with careless grace. “He’s an ass.”
Michael gave him a terse nod, trying not to notice that Francesca’s brother was watching him as he always did, his shrewd gaze carefully overlaid with an air of charming innocence. Colin cocked his head slightly to the side, rather as if, Michael thought acerbically, he were angling for a better look into his soul.
“Damn it all,” Michael muttered under his breath, and he rang for a waiter.
“What was that?” Colin asked.
Michael turned slowly back to face him. “Do you want another drink?” he asked, his words as clear as he could manage, considering they had to squeeze through his clenched teeth.
“I believe I will,” Colin replied, all friendliness and good cheer.
Michael didn’t believe his fa?ade for a moment.
“Do you have any plans for the remainder of the evening?” Colin asked.
“None.”
“Neither do I, as it happens,” Colin murmured.
Damn. Again. Was it really too much to wish for one bloody hour of solitude?
“Thank you for defending Francesca’s honor,” Colin said quietly.