Annabel’s eyes sparkled brighter than when they’d been on the dance floor. “She’s invited me to tea with her charity circle.”

“I always find it wise to yield to the worthier opponent.” Jasper’s tease was only a half measure. He knew from personal experience that his young cousin was formidable.

Richard’s crooked smile and raised eyebrow gave him a moment’s pause, however. Apparently tea meant whiskey in some way.

“What exactly—”

“Lord Ramsbury, Lady Ramsbury?” Garret Spaulding joined their circle. “May I congratulate you on your wedding.”

Jasper took the young man’s hand and then his measure. His gaze was direct and sincere, his grasp strong. “Thank you, Spaulding.”

“May I have the next dance with the bride?”

When Annabel nodded, Jasper swallowed his pride and watched her go. He’d had to marry Annabel to dance with her. All Spaulding had to was ask.

Pull yourself together, man. He’s being kind, and she’s doing her job—and having fun while doing it. You need to do yours.

“Into the breach, Cousin.” He kissed Amelia’s cheek. “Thank you for inviting her to join you.”

“You say that now.” Richard chuckled as they shook hands.

Amelia discreetly punched her husband in the arm and led him away, laughing. “As though you mind.”

Jasper watched them go, sharing their laughter alone. He’d need to warn his wife about his cousin’s odd, and lucrative, pastime before tomorrow.

For now, he focused on the row of young ladies on the far side of the ballroom, watching the party pass them by. Society required that he make sure as many as possible had a pleasant memory from the evening.

“Jasper?” The feminine squeal was accompanied by thin, long fingers on his arm and a cloud of perfume. “Have you grown bored of married life already? I was telling Grace just this afternoon over tea that I didn’t expect home and hearth to hold your interest long.”

Gwendolyn Harris, Viscountess Granville, had long enjoyed being the most beautiful lady in the ton. She used her husband’s money to bolster that impression, though it wasn’t for his benefit. Tonight her red silk dress was trimmed with a cloud of lace that kept her respectable until she and one of her many partners were on the dance floor or outside in the garden.

“It’s lovely to see you, Gwennie.” Jasper lifted her almost boneless hand to his lips. He knew better than to consider her weak, especially given the brittleness of her smile, which made her clinging to him that much more annoying. He curved his lips into a smile. “But I hope you didn’t wager on my happiness.”

“I wouldn’t be so gauche as to revel in your unfortunate circumstances,” Gwen said as she smirked at the ladies flanking her.

The hell she wouldn’t. She’d screamed the house down when he called off their affair. It was difficult to sleep with a woman if you admired her husband.

“Not unfortunate at all. Lady Ramsbury and I have been enjoying life in London a great deal.” He stepped back and bowed to the lady and her companions. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Are you going to leave me on the edge of the dance floor awaiting a partner?”

A young man stood just behind her, staring at Jasper with raised eyebrows. Jasper nodded to him as he increased the distance between himself and Gwen. “I believe you have a more eager gentleman in the wings, Lady Granville.”

Annabel was still on the floor, this time with the Duke of Chippenham, and she looked far from pleased about it. The man had a reputation for drinking heavily and a love of cigars.

Just as Jasper reached the row of ferns and the young ladies guarded by their chaperones, a commotion drew all eyes to the dancers. He turned just in time to see Annabel march from her partner, leaving him to limp from the floor alone.

She kept moving, leaving the room with Lady Carmichael hurrying behind. All Jasper could do was stand and watch. “Spaulding should have known better than to hand her over to Chippenham.”

“And you should know better than to think he had a choice,” Lord Carmichael said as he walked away. “I’ll get you a drink. We may be here awhile.”

They were on their second round when Lady Carmichael returned, her eyes flashing lightning. “She’ll be down in a moment, once she’s calm.”

“What happened?” Jasper asked. It had to be something the duke had done. Annabel was far too proper to leave the floor in the middle of a dance.

The lady glared across the room. “He made her an offer that a lady should never hear, much less repeat.”

“I see.” Jasper stood. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll wait for her at the stairs.” He’d replaced Chippenham in Gwendolyn Harris’s bed. It was a fair wager than Chippenham wanted some of his own back.

“You can’t throttle a duke in public, Ramsbury.”

He nodded to Carmichael. “Given his limp, I believe Annabel defended herself quite well.”

He couldn’t understand, much less explain, the need to ensure she was well or, if not, to whisk her away without the stares and gossip that dogged them both.

There were many things he’d expected from their marriage. The most obvious was that there were more people in the house. New maids, his sisters-in-law, his wife at the breakfast table. The creak in the floor as she moved through her adjoining suite. He’d even expected the locked door.

He hadn’t reckoned with being comforted by it. If Annabel had been willing to share his bed from the first night, he would have suspected her protestations to be a fraud. Worse, he’d have wondered how far she would be willing to go to gain the information Spencer had sent her to learn.

Jasper gave up waiting and began climbing the stairs toward the ladies’ retiring room. He hadn’t expected the compulsion to tell her every detail of his day, as though it would prove to her that he was not visiting whichever mistress he was rumored to have. He found himself smiling as he listened to her guide the younger girls through their lessons or when she asked his mother for advice.

At the top of the stairs, he looked for the best place to hide, certain she would be there. A flash of blue caught his eye, and the pearls in her hair caught the candlelight.

The same light bounced from Reginald Spencer’s almost-bald head.

“What do you mean you’ve found nothing?” Spencer bit out in a whisper. “My man in Cardiff says Yarwood was there just last week with so many coins it was a wonder he could walk.”

“Between fittings, social calls with Lady Lambourn, and learning how to run the household, I am not in a position to lurk outside doors and listen at keyholes,” Annabel replied with just as much venom.

Despite the circumstances, Jasper was proud of her for holding her own. Still, he slipped into the shadows and approached on quiet feet.

She drew a deep breath. “If you would care to know, there is a speculation scheme afoot to cheat foolish gentlemen by—”

“Unless the gentleman is Ramsbury, I care nothing for ton gossip.” Spencer’s eyes narrowed. “Have you fallen for your husband’s appeal as well as his pocketbook?”

Jasper tightened his fingers into a fist. Annabel’s wardrobe bills had been meager in comparison with Mother’s and the girls’—and they already had updated closets. Her frugality spoke of some sort of loyalty.

Didn’t it?

She snapped her closed fan against her skirts. “How dare you ask that when you are well aware of why and how I came to be in this position.” Even from his hiding place, Jasper could see her knuckles whiten. “If I am a poor and useless wife, he will not trust me. If Jas—Lord Ramsbury has no faith in me, I will not find the answers you seek.”

Spencer pulled his tailcoat straight. “So long as you remember the stakes should you fail.”

“As though I could forget them.”

He walked around her but stopped at her shoulder. “Find me my answers, Lady Ramsbury.”

“I will find the truth.” Annabel’s spine was straight, and the tilt of her head reminded Jasper of the night she’d scolded him at his own dance.