Truly a Wife (Free Fellows League 4)

Jonathan had grown into a strong, fine, principled man, who stood shoulder to shoulder with Jarrod and Colin and was only slightly shorter than Griffin and Daniel. He had never forgotten the kindness Shepherdston and the others had shown him and had been thrilled to finally be asked to take his place beside them in the League. Daniel knew that Jonathan would do almost anything in the world for Jarrod Shepherdston, including deliberately hindering his enemy.

“So, Johnny, what did you do?”

Jonathan stood up and gestured for Daniel to do the same. “Step into my bedchamber and I’ll show you.”

Daniel followed Barclay into his bedchamber and discovered that nearly every surface in the room was covered with men’s clothing of every description. The floor, the bed, the chairs, the tables, even the top of Jonathan’s massive armoire was covered in clothes.

Jonathan plucked a garment from the pile. “It’s a shame you didn’t come to borrow a waistcoat,” he said, tossing it to Daniel. “I’ve a few dozen of those to spare.”

Daniel caught the waistcoat. “As if I were desperate enough to borrow anything as gaudy as this.” He stared at the bold green and purple pattern, then tossed it back to Jonathan.

“Well, there are plenty of other garments from which to choose,” Jonathan continued. “As you can see, we’ve enough men’s clothing here to open a haberdashery.”

“Only if one’s tastes run along dandyish lines.”

Jonathan quirked an eyebrow. “In any other town, I’d say that might present a problem. But not in London.”

“Unfortunately, I have to agree,” Daniel replied, eyeing the room with a mixture of disgust and awe. “It looks as if you helped yourself to Lord Dunbridge’s wardrobe.”

“So I did,” Jonathan confirmed.

“It must have taken you a while to collect all this.” He swept his arm through the air.

“It took us hours.” Jonathan tossed Dunbridge’s waistcoat back onto the bed and motioned Daniel out of the bedroom, back into the main sitting room. Closing the bedroom door to keep from having to look at the mess, he followed him.

Daniel walked over and helped himself to coffee from the urn on the buffet, then turned and offered to refill Jonathan’s cup.

“Yes, thank you.” Jonathan handed Daniel his empty cup and saucer. “There are pastries from Gunter’s in the box by the urn. I picked them up this morning. I just got the coffee before you arrived, and I haven’t cut the string on the pastry box yet. Bring those, too, if you don’t mind,” Jonathan instructed, before adding, “Your Grace.”

Daniel brought Jonathan his coffee and the box of pastries, then made a second trip to the buffet to get his own coffee. He settled back onto his chair, set his cup and saucer on the table beside it, then reached for a pastry and propped his feet back up on the ottoman. He took a bite of a cherry tart.

“You were saying it took you and someone else hours to collect Dunbridge’s garments. Who was the someone?”

“Alex Courtland.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“People are not always what they seem.”

—Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 1729–1797

“Of course.” Daniel grinned. “Who else but Courtland would agree to help you with something like this?”

“Thank God he did,” Jonathan said. “Else I’d still be picking up clothes from Dunbridge’s lawn.”

“Surely you didn’t take all of his clothes?”

“How else were we going to be certain he wouldn’t appear at the dueling oak at the appointed time?” He grinned at his cousin. “And even then, we couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t go buck naked. Courtland wanted to tie him up, but I thought it better just to leave him as he was and with nothing to wear.”

“Imagine that,” Daniel said. “A dandy with nothing to wear.”

“Right,” Jonathan agreed. “The joke was on him. But Courtland and I didn’t count on the man having so many clothes. We were picking up clothes until the small hours of the morning as it was. I swear Dunbridge must have a thousand neck cloths and handkerchiefs.”

“I can’t believe you took his neck cloths and his handkerchiefs.”

“You saw it for yourself.”

And he wouldn’t have believed it otherwise. But Daniel had seen the mountain of linen on Jonathan’s floor. “Did you leave him with anything?”