Page 62 of The Dueling Duchess

“I can count the number of times I’ve come to visit you two on one hand,” Sin said. “So, it seemed that this might be a momentous occasion and I should get here on time.”

Guy turned to Elliot. “Have we really had him here so rarely?”

The shorter man nodded and handed Guy his drink. “I think we prefer Staunton’s fine brandy and far more comfortable library to our humble offerings.”

Guy laughed. “Elliot is right, Sin—you do have superior taste in spirits. But I wanted you to come here today because—well, it feels a bit like the end of an era.”

“You’re still determined to move out?” Sin asked.

“Yes.”

“I don’t know why you won’t stay at Staunton House. There are so many bloody rooms, there might very well be families living there whom I’ve never seen.”

Sin had extended this same offer repeatedly over the past weeks.

While Guy appreciated the gesture, he could not, in good conscience, accept. Especially when Sin was a newlywed. Besides, one did not impose on one’s wealthy friends if one wanted to continue being friends.

Elliot cut him a quick, sympathetic glance that said he understood Guy’s reluctance to take advantage of their rich, generous friend.

Elliot had survived on the meager allowance of a younger son all the way through university. The moment he’d gotten out, he’d found himself a job. He would never sponge off a friend’s generosity.

“I see you two exchanging glances,” Sin said. “I can almost understand why you don’t want to accept my offer of somewhere to stay while you find your feet, but I cannot comprehend why you refuse to take my advice and have this—this interloper investigated to verify the truth of his claims.”

While Guy appreciated Sin’s support, the other man’s words left him more than a little exhausted.

“Barry is the heir, Sin. He had my uncle’s papers, his signet, and he knew all sorts of details about our family and his father’s history here.”

“Papers can be stolen and those stories are things he might have heard anywhere.” Sin turned to Elliot. “Tell him—this is your mé-tier.”

“What? Long-lost relatives?” Elliot asked with a humorous look, which he quickly masked when he saw how serious Sin was.

Elliot turned to Guy and made the offer he’d made six weeks ago, when Barry had first arrived. “Are you sure you don’t want me to engage somebody to check into this for you?”

By somebody he meant one of his cronies from the Home Office.

“I’m sure.”

“Lord, Guy! He could be anyone.”

“Possibly, but have you seen the man, Sin?”

Sin nodded, his expression grudging. “Yes.”

“And he looks a great deal like me, doesn’t he?”

“There is a resemblance.”

“A resemblance?” he repeated. “The man could be my twin.” A fact which upset Guy more than he wanted to admit.

It had been unnerving to sit across from somebody who might have been his double, to watch the expressions flitting across Barry’s face and know exactly what he was thinking.

Lord, he was an irritatingly smug-looking bastard! Guy couldn’t believe that more people hadn’t punched him in the face if his smirk was that annoying.

“I still think it is worth investigating,” Sin said.

“I need to move on, Sin.”

The other man held his gaze for a long moment and then sighed and nodded. “I can understand that.”