Incognita (Fairchild Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

out twice to Suffolk, but never made it all the way to Bagshot’s door.”  
    “She was determined to have him,” Alistair said carefully. Confiding his suspicions of Bagshot’s perfidy to Jasper was a simple matter, but he wasn’t certain he could mention them to his uncle. Jasper might deceive most with his sophisticated airs, but Alistair knew the jealously guarded secret of his cousin’s private convictions. He might ogle bosoms and flirt and tell warm stories, but if Jasper had ever pursued a flirtation to its natural conclusion, Alistair didn’t know of it. Jasper would expect Tom Bagshot to love his sister honestly, but Lord Fairchild’s example suggested he would be satisfied with kindness and circumspection. Indeed, their world expected nothing more from husbands, who frequently got away with even less.  
    “He’s indecently wealthy. Nothing to complain of, I suppose, though it all smells of the shop. I hear rumors of mills in dockside taverns though. Fellow’s a real bruiser, apparently.” Lord Fairchild’s forehead creased and he stared with bleak eyes at the ugly landscape hanging on the opposite wall. “A violent man. Suppose one day he hits her?”  
    Alistair swallowed. It wasn’t something anyone liked to speak about. “Would you take her, if she came back?”  
    “God, yes.”  
    Shamed by his own feelings—hadn’t he taken secret pleasure at the prospect of shattering Sophy’s illusions, of paying her in kind for the pain she’d given him?—Alistair spoke. “I’ve seen him on occasion. Once with a dark-haired woman. The wrong sort, of course, but she seemed more affected than he. It was a chance meeting, one I’d temporarily forgotten. I was about to find Jasper, to tell him of it.”  
    His uncle’s face closed, hiding distress that seemed all the greater for being buried out of sight. “When was this?” he asked.  
    “Earlier in the season, the night Sophy and I went with Lord and Lady Arundel to the masquerade ball,” Alistair admitted, loath to mention that mistake. If he hadn’t agreed to escort Sophy and her older, legitimate sister to that vulgar spectacle, Sophy would never have crossed paths again with Tom Bagshot, and none of this would have happened.  
    “Fairly recently then.” Lord Fairchild rubbed his cheek. “I can scarce get Jasper to speak to me. You’ll tell him? See what you can find? There’s little we can do, but if Sophy needs help—”
    “I’ll speak to him,” Alistair promised.  
    Lord Fairchild’s lips twitched but they were incapable of forming a smile. “I seem to always be thanking you of late. You’ve been terribly decent about all this. I wish you knew how sorry I am.”  
    “It’s nothing,” Alistair said, uncomfortable with undeserved gratitude. He hid behind a quick swallow of brandy, forgetting it was vile.  
    “Tastes like horse piss, doesn’t it?” Lord Fairchild said, as Alistair grimaced.  
    Alistair could only nod, glad he was spared the indignity of blushing. The economies forced on the family by his eldest brother were becoming even more shameful.  
    “Cyril’s a careless fellow,” his uncle said, neutrally, like he was commenting on the weather. “Another reason my wife liked the match. You were always her favorite nephew. She worries about your future.”  
    “She needn’t,” Alistair said.  
    Lord Fairchild leaned back in his chair, carefully preparing his words. Alistair braced himself. A charitable offer was coming. He could feel it.  
    “I could help. Buy your next commission or help you find a place in the foreign service if you’re tired of the army.” Lord Fairchild looked up from his steepled fingers to meet Alistair’s eyes. “You held up your side of the bargain. I owe you something.”  
    “Don’t be ridiculous,” Alistair said. If there was one thing he couldn’t abide, it was pity.  
    “Think about it,” his uncle said.  
    He ought to. Now that he’d lost Sophy and her