Page 57 of A Dangerous Engagement

Felicity heard it too. He was speaking very loudly—he’d obviously had too much to drink. She sighed, remembering her humiliation.

“I haven’t thanked you,” she whispered.

Mr.Merrick brought another stool a couple of feet in front of her and sat down. “For what?”

“For coming to my defense tonight at dinner.”

“Mr.Ratley is a toad.”

Felicity covered her mouth, but her heart was still too heavy to laugh.

“What kind of man speaks that way about his fiancée?” Mr.Merrick’s voice was tight, his whisper gruff. “And he’s too half-witted to realize he was being disrespectful.”

Felicity felt the sting of embarrassment all over again. It seemed so much more humiliating knowing Mr.Merrick had seen her kissing the man.

“You probably should not have done it,” Felicity said, “as it might throw suspicion on us and jeopardize your mission.”

“Please know, Miss Mayson, I wish I could have done more, and I certainly would have said much more ... were we not in the situation we are. Please forgive me.”

Her heart leapt inside her. But then it crashed back down. This was the kind of man she’d always hoped to marry. But ... there was still the same issue that made all the handsome, eligible gentlemen reject her—she had no fortune.

Philip’s chest tightened again at the awful, helpless feeling of not being able to properly defend Miss Mayson’s honor. And yet, she was right. He shouldn’t have even said what he did, as little as it was.

“There is nothing to forgive, and I thank you for your words, for they were decent and kind. You are a man of noble character, Mr.Merrick.”

Was it noble to be glad she was here at this house party, because he might never have gotten to know her otherwise? Somehow, knowing she was in the world made him feel less cynical.

“I had seen you somewhere before,” she said. “I realized it the day you arrived.”

“Yes, and I had seen you before.”

“I think it was at a ball.”

“You were talking with Mrs.Langdon and Lady Withinghall, before she married the viscount.”

“And probably not dancing.”

“I saw you dance once or twice. You were wearing a blue dress. I remember you very distinctly.”

Her lips were parted as she stared at him. A moonbeam streamed through the window and lit her face enough that he could see her expression. His breath stuttered in his chest at how ethereally beautiful and delicate she looked. To think that she was forced to let that oafish Mr.Ratley kiss her and touch her ... If only he could save her from that. But he should be careful not to give Miss Mayson the impression that he was in love with her. She was far too beautiful to want him. And as the fourth son, he had no fortune to keep her in the style to which she seemed accustomed—not to mention that her two close friends Lady Withinghall and Mrs.Langdon were quite wealthy. She would not want to marry so far beneath them. And a man who had yet to distinguish himself, who was little more than a clerk at the Home Office, was certainly far beneath them.

“Were you a spy then, when you were at the ball?”

“I’ve been working at the Home Office for four years now, but I have not done a lot of spying. When I was able to infiltrate Lady Blackstone’s group of revolutionaries, they gave me this assignment.”

“How did you infiltrate it? Did you know Oliver Ratley?”

“I did not. The Home Office had been informed by someone who frequented the Black Boar Inn that a group was meeting there and taking illegal oaths. Lord Sidmouth sent me to investigate. I hid behind a partition in the back room where they were meeting and discovered Lady Blackstone and Mr.Ratley were the leaders. I wrote up a seditious tract and had it printed, then a few days later I tracked Mr.Ratley and struck up a conversation with him. Before long, I began talking of the injustices in our country, then I gave him my tract. He invited me into the group, introducing me to the other members. I promised to buy weapons for the revolution, and they asked me to be one of the leaders.”

“That was a very clever strategy.”

He shrugged. “Lord Sidmouth never believed that this group was as dangerous and well established as they are. We certainly had no idea they were so organized and had operatives all over the country, or stashes of weapons in at least fifteen locations. When I am able to give them this information ... well, let’s just say, I’m hoping for a promotion.”

“Oh.”

“But of course, the main thing is that we will have saved our country’s government.”

“And many Members of Parliament—my dear friend Lady Withinghall’s husband is in the House of Lords. How horrible if he should be assassinated. And the poor royal family.”