Page 53 of The Duchess Debt

“Yes.” This time when Gabe looked up, he fixed a gaze on him that brooked no misunderstanding. “Ifyou earn it.”

“I would expect no less.”

Gabe tossed down the receipts and crossed the room to the side table to refill his drink, not bothering to offer to top off his brother’s. “What can I do for you, then? I thought you’d be abed until dinner, sleeping off last night’s drunkenness, gambling, and whoring.”

Adam wisely let that bait slide past. “I’ve decided to book passage on a ship to the Bahamas after your wedding.”

Relief sank through him, as warm and welcome as the brandy sliding down his throat as he took a long swallow. He returned the decanter to its tray and turned to face his brother, knowing the second shoe was about to drop. “And you want me to pay for it?”

“Of course not!” But his expression of indignation was immediately undercut when he added, “Although I wouldn’t turn down such a kind gesture.”

Gabe’s mouth twisted as he returned to his desk, standing behind it. Easier that way to leap across the desktop and grab Adam by the throat, if necessary. He set down the glass and reached for the stack of unpaid household bills. “Fine. It will be a welcomed wedding gift.”

Adam blinked and quirked a confused half-smile. “But I’m the one who’s supposed to be giving you a gift.”

“Oh, but you are,” he muttered and turned his attention to the bills. “Contact my accountant in Canterbury. Bennington will make all the arrangements for your passage.” He glanced up sternly. “Butonlyfor the passage. You’ve already been paid out your allowance.”

“You don’t trust me any longer,” Adam said wide-eyed, feigning insult.

“You’re wrong.” He tossed a handful of receipts onto the desktop. “I never fully trusted you before.”

Adam said nothing for a beat, then grudgingly admitted, “That’s understandable.” Adam nodded, accepting that. “I’ll also be going through all the things I left stored here while I was in India, to take with me what I’ll need and perhaps sell off what I won’t.” He eased back again in his chair. “Since it’s raining and cold, it’s a good day to stay inside and rummage through the attic.”

“Good idea.” He focused his attention on the bills in his hand and scanned each one before tucking it at the bottom of the stack in his hands.One less reason for you to come back again.

“Do you mind if I take some of the empty trunks rather than buy new ones?”

“Not at all, but ask Verity first,” he mumbled, preoccupied by both the bills and his brother’s presence in his study. “She’s planning on taking up residence in Brighton for the summer once the wedding is over. She might want them.”

Gabe stilled when he saw the bill from Mrs. Swenson, Helena’s dressmaker.

“What’s the matter?” Adam asked. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“No,” he murmured as he read over the bill in detail and added up the total in his head to double-check the final figure. “Just the tick from the mantua maker.” He frowned. “It’s not what I expected.”

Adam laughed. “You’ve been widowed so long you’ve forgotten how much blunt women can rack up on dresses and fripperies.”

“That’s not it.” He took the current account book down from the narrow set of shelves framing the large window behindhis desk and flipped it open. He ran his finger down the ledger page and found the amount he’d authorized to Helena. “The bill Mrs. Swenson sent is for less than the amount I approved for Helena’s trousseau.”

“A frugal wife? Then I think you should elope with her immediately.”

Gabe didn’t find Adam’s teasing amusing. The amount was for much less than what he and Helena had agreed upon after their second negotiations regarding her wardrobe and wedding gown. And far,farless than the amount Bennington had transferred to Helena to pay the accounts.

Money was missing.

As if reading his mind, Adam offered, “Perhaps Helena kept the difference without telling you.”

Gabe’s gaze darted up to pin his brother, every muscle in his body tensing. “Are you implying my fiancée is dishonest?”

“Not at all.” He held up his hands in defense. “Everything has been happening so quickly with your wedding that perhaps she just hasn’t had time to return the extra funds yet. That’s all. I’m certain she didn’t pocket it.” He grimaced into his glass. “I’m very fond of Helena. You know that. I’d never imply anything unkind about her.”

“You mean like when you said she wasn’t good enough to be a duchess?”

Adam had the decency to wince. “That was five years ago, and it was Wentworth’s doing, not mine. Both Wentworth and I were young and stupid then. We cared more about rank and reputation than about what truly matters in life.”

“Good to know you’ve had at least one revelation during the intervening years,” Gabe muttered. He folded the bill in half, as if dismissing it. “Mrs. Swenson simply forgot to account for all the items.”Unlikely.The woman was tighter with a ha’pennythan the governor of the Bank of England. She would have made certain every pound and pence was billed for.

“That’s it, I’m certain.” Adam swirled the cognac in his glass and mused, “After all, I’d hate to think that Helena is more like Clarissa than what you give her credit for.”