Aquinas gave me a short nod. “I believe his lordship is in considerable pain, but the wound opened only a little. He refused to permit me to put in a stitch, so I packed it with Lady Hermia’s green salve and bandaged it.”
I glanced down at the tray and saw a pile of cotton strips, streaked with blood.
“Very good of you, I’m sure.” I looked up at Aquinas, but his face swam out of focus.
“My lady, are you quite all right? You have gone very pale.”
I blinked hard and swallowed. “Quite well, thank you. Brisbane left without his coat. I will return it to him now.”
If he thought it unseemly I would visit a bachelor in his rooms, he betrayed no sign of it. He merely inclined his head and went about his business. Portia had told me before that whatever I paid him was undoubtedly not enough, and once again I was forced to believe her. Discretion is an invaluable commodity in a servant.
I tapped at Brisbane’s door and waited a moment. When there was no reply I knocked, quite loudly, and he growled for me to enter.
I was not surprised to find he had flung himself into an armchair. He was sucking hard at the mouthpiece of his hookah pipe, drawing in great choking lungfuls of smouldering hashish.
I waved a hand, clearing the atmosphere just a little.
“Good heavens, Brisbane, you are as bad as Sir Cedric. I thought I would choke on the stench of his cigars this afternoon.”
Too late I realised I had betrayed myself. In spite of the narcotic fog, Brisbane’s wits were undulled. He looked up at me inquiringly.
“Sir Cedric indulges only in the smoking room,” he said slowly. “When were you there? And more to the point, why?”
I thrust his coat at him irritably. “I went to ask him about Lucy. I learned nothing of importance, save that he is a thoroughly nasty man. Here is your coat. You left it in the billiard room after that revolting display.”
He blew out a great exhalation of smoke. “Am I to deduce you blame me for what happened?”
I took the chair opposite, flopping gracelessly with my elbows on the padded arms. “I do. I do not believe for a moment you challenged Alessandro. It was entirely within your power to avoid such a confrontation by not accepting his challenge. And then to bait him—”
“I did no such thing.”
“You most certainly did. You pranced about, refusing to engage him. It was insulting. You patronized him and deliberately frustrated him to the point of rashness.”
Brisbane lowered the mouthpiece. “I never prance. I would not know how to begin to prance. And you are quite wrong in any event. I did challenge him.”
I sat up, staring in disbelief. “I do not believe it. Even you could not be so willfully stupid. That shoulder is not healed. You have a bullet wound scarcely a fortnight old—”
“I fell off my horse.”
“You do not ride! For the love of heaven, can we not have the truth between us?” I cried. “You were in Trafalgar Square during the riot and you were shot!”
Brisbane leaned forward, his pupils indistinguishable from the rest of his piercingly black eyes. “I. Fell. Off. My. Horse.”
“Oh, you are the most maddening man I have ever known. If stubbornness were water, I could sail on you to the ends of the earth.”
Brisbane resumed his pipe, giving me a sardonic smile. “Well, we have that in common at least.”
“Whatever do you mean? I am the most amiable of women.” I felt a little insulted. I had never thought of myself as stubborn, and it was hurtful of him to say so.
He laughed. “You might have been, a year or two ago. Now you are unmanageable as any March.”
“Then we ought to both be grateful it is not your task to manage me,” I retorted hotly.
An uncomfortable silence fell between us. I do not know what thoughts ran through his head in those moments, but I would have given my last farthing to know. He merely sat smoking, inscrutable as a pharaoh, while I hated myself only a little less than I hated him.
“Why did you challenge Alessandro?” I asked finally.
“I wanted to take the measure of him. Your brothers were feeling restless, so Lysander suggested a friendly bit of exercise with swords. And for my purposes, fencing is as useful as chess in learning one’s opponent.”