Merely the Groom (Free Fellows League 2)

“If we’d been fighting with swords, I’d be severely wounded or worse.” Colin managed a self-deprecating smile. “As it was, I managed to survive the verbal encounter with a bit of dignity and a small measure of my pride intact.”

Sussex shifted in his chair. “There’s no doubt that Miss Davies is the young lady who eloped to Scotland, then?”

“No,” Colin said. “There’s no doubt that she eloped with someone using the name of Colin Fox or that her father hired a very good Bow Street runner to locate him. Unfortunately, I was the first Colin Fox they found.”

“Happenstance?” Jarrod asked.

“Not bloody likely,” Colin replied. “But the other Colin Fox has proved more elusive than I. It’s as if he’s disappeared from the face of the earth.”

The Duke of Sussex inhaled deeply, then slowly released the breath. “It’s likely he has, for a while.” He looked Colin in the eye. “He’s probably gone to ground. Quite possibly for all eternity. You did kill the man who attempted to kill you. And it’s possible that the man you killed was the impostor Colin Fox.”

Colin took time to frame his reply. “The man I killed was a hired assassin. He had brown eyes. He couldn’t have been the impostor Colin Fox.”

> “He couldn’t have been the impostor because his eyes were brown,” Jarrod said, “and the impostor’s eyes are green like yours—”

“Blue,” Colin corrected. “According to Lady Davies, the impostor’s eyes are a nice shade of blue.”

“Then why are you marrying the baron’s daughter?” Sussex demanded.

“Because he chooses to believe that his wife and daughter might be mistaken,” Colin answered. “He chooses to believe that the impostor’s eyes might be a nice shade of grayish green. Like mine.”

“The baron intends that someone shall redeem his daughter’s virtue, and better the viscount he has than the rogue he doesn’t,” Griff summed up the situation.

“Exactly,” Colin confirmed.

Sussex frowned. “And now that the other Fox has disappeared, you’ve no way of proving he existed or that he eloped with Lord Davies’s daughter.”

Colin shot the duke a nasty look. “That’s right. But I don’t intend to prove he existed or that he eloped with Miss Davies. Attempting to prove it would put Miss Davies’s reputation at risk and endanger our mission. And that’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

“Point taken, Lord Grantham.” Sussex gave Colin a mock salute. “But it’s a pity that you’re assuming responsibility for someone else’s actions.”

“Isn’t that what life’s about?” Colin asked. “Isn’t that what we do nearly every day of our lives?” He shrugged his shoulders. “Bonaparte wreaks havoc on the Continent. We assume responsibility for protecting this little corner of the earth. My father gambles. When he doesn’t pay his creditors, I assume responsibility and make good on his debts. At some point in his life, nearly every man assumes responsibility for someone else’s actions.”

“And now you’re accepting responsibility for the actions of an impostor who used your alias in order to prey on an unsuspecting young lady,” Sussex said.

Colin took a deep breath. “I did what I had to do in order to squash Lord Davies’s investigation of Colin Fox.” He lifted his whisky glass and took a hefty swallow, savoring the fiery liquid as it made its way from his throat to the pit of his belly. “He’s not the sort of man to give up. And our confrontation wasn’t the sort of meeting I care to repeat any time soon.”

“Neither is tomorrow’s meeting, I’ll wager,” Sussex added.

Jarrod made a wry face. “I warned you that the baron would be a formidable opponent.”

“You were correct,” Colin affirmed.

“How much does he know?” Sussex asked.

“Very little about the impostor,” Colin answered, “but more than I would like about my movements during the past month.”

“Enough to endanger our mission?” Jarrod asked.

“Lord Davies and his investigator knew enough to endanger not only our mission and the Free Fellows League but every War Office operative under Colonel Grant’s command. Nothing I said would dissuade him from pursuing his investigation. He was willing to do whatever he had to do in order to find the man responsible for his daughter’s disgrace.” Colin raked his fingers through his hair. “Since I’m not able to produce another Colin Fox or explain why he assumed my identity in order to commit this crime against Miss Davies, it seemed that the best course of action was for me to simply accept responsibility for his actions.”

“Damnation!” Sussex exclaimed.

“My thoughts exactly,” Colin agreed.

“You’re innocent,” Griffin protested. “You had nothing to do with it. We can prove that.”

“At what cost?” Colin asked. “Exposing the Free Fellows League and the work we do? We can’t take that risk. Gillian—”