Neville nodded. “Since I did not wish to leave my brother alone in the city, I sent John to my mother in Brighton.”
“Brighton?” Harbury tilted his head. “Ah yes. Aunt Jane said she intended to take up permanent residence there.”
“She says she prefers Brighton society to that of London.” Neville looked away, knowing if he did not, Harbury would guess correctly they’d had a falling out. “My brother, however, does not. In fact, he begged to come with me to Ravenswood. I felt I couldn’t be bothered.” He winced. Not wanting John to interfere with his chance to spar with Millie had been a foolish reason to send him away. “My concerns, at the time, were frivolous.”
“Frivolous?” Harbury scoffed. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
“True, nonetheless.” Neville sighed. “While John was staying with my mother, he met with some trouble in the form of a young woman. The result is that he, or at least someone of his description, is being sought by a Justice of the Peace in Goathurst, a small Somerset town a few miles as the crow flies from Brighton.”
Harbury’s second sharp inhale was a slice to an essential vein.
Neville forced himself to continue, “I believe the charges—bribery and abduction—are false. But his description, and the accusations against him, were published in theBrighton Chronicle and Weekly Gazette.”
“His description, but not his name?”
“No.”Not yet.“For reasons I do not yet understand, the lady who accused him gave a false name to the Justice. But since John was seen by others, the description is accurate.”
Harbury whistled. “Is John even old enough to embroil himself in such a mess?”
“He’s eighteen and a budding knight errant,” Neville wearily replied. “He swears he was trying to rescue the girl, not abduct her. In fact, he claims to be in love. He’s even made himself ill as he’s been so worried, he’s been unable to properly eat.”
Harbury’s gaze softened. “I know something about youthful infatuation. What, exactly, did the girl tell the Justice of the Peace?”
“She said an Andrew A. Mann lured her to the inn by giving her his ring to prove his good intentions. But then, after she had given him her virtue—”
“Did John—?”
“No,” Neville replied. “At least he claims he never insulted her person. But she told the Justice that after he ruined her, he told her his real intent was to install her in a London brothel.”
“Well, now Iknowshe must be mistaken. What would young John know of London brothels?”
“Not a thing,” Neville replied, relieved Harbury immediately grasped the discrepancy. “Nor will he, while he is under my guardianship. Except for his time in Brighton with my mother, since my father’s death, he’s either been in my care or at school. And not once has he given either me, or his schoolmasters, cause for grief.”
“Well, then. Surely, we can provide a character reference, and prove the villain was someone else.”
Neville shook his head. “There’s the problem’s crux. John was, in fact, with her at the inn. Worse still, the ring she described is John’s ring, too.”
“Rings tend to look alike.”
“John’s ring belonged to my father, and has the initials A. A. M. engraved inside.”AAM, for Ambrose Augustus Merriweather, the Christian names Neville shared with his father.
“The initials fit the false name—Andrew A. Mann,” Harbury mused.
Neville nodded. “I gifted the ring to John myself. And the girl not only described the look of the thing, but she also remembered those exact initials. However, she said she lost the ring.”
“Suspicious. What is John’s side of the story?”
Neville set down his drink. “According to John, he came across Miss Temperence Wilson in the park the day before the incident. She was alone, and she was weeping. Before approaching, he looked for a chaperone, maid, or groom—anyone he might notify of her distress, but he didn’t see anyone close at hand.”
Harbury nodded. “Rules are not as stringent in smaller cities.”
“They aren’t,” Neville agreed. “Seeing her without protection, and fearing for her safety, he decided to approach.”
“She enticed John into her troubles by telling him that her parents were forcing her to marry a man she loathed. Had I been there, I may not have been able to stop him from getting involved, but I would have insisted he verify her story.”
But he hadn’t been there.
He’d been with Millicent, crossing invigorating verbal swords. And for one too-brief moment on a damnably memorable night, savoring the feel of her breath on his neck and her breasts against his chest.