The Rebellious Rake (The Notorious Nightingales #4)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

F lora retired to her room, exhausted after the night’s events. She’d thought the inquisition with her brother would take place in the morning; she’d been wrong. There was a knock on her door as she pulled back the covers, ready to fall into the bed.

“Open the door, Flora.” The tap was soft but insistent. She knew Charles wouldn’t leave if she ignored him, he’d just keep knocking, as he’d done that many times before. Walking back across the cold floor, she opened the door.

“Can we not do this in the morning, Charles?”

“Absolutely not. You can’t expect me to sleep knowing you’ve been gadding about London alone and, from what I gather, getting into trouble.”

“It was not deliberate,” Flora muttered, going back to her bed and climbing in. Charles closed the door and followed. “Besides, I am an adult and can look after myself.”

“Yes, yes, I understand that, as you’ve told me many times, but I still want all the details,” he said. Now without his jacket and waistcoat, he settled himself on the opposite side of her bed. He placed a piece of paper on the bedside table, which Flora guessed was something to do with their investments. Charles then pulled up the covers. Both of them leaned on the headboard, facing each other.

The only male Thomas sibling and therefore adored by both his parents, Charles could have turned out obnoxious and self-obsessed, which had been in the cards for a while, until Flora had pointed out that just because he wore trousers did not mean he was any better than her. Plus, they both knew who was actually the most intelligent between the two of them.

Madeline was a lot older than Charles and Flora, so it had been the two of them who’d grown close over the years.

When it was decided Charles would be educated in a manner befitting a gentleman, and Flora would not receive the same, she had demanded he share what he learned with her. She’d spent a lot of time seated outside the room set aside for his lessons, listening. He’d also allowed her to read all his books after she’d threatened to make his life miserable should he not.

“Are you in London because something happened to Mother, Charles?”

“She is fine.” He dismissed her words with a wave of a hand. “But more debts have come to light.”

“Really? What for this time? Mother refurnished the entire household and has yet to pay for the furniture?”

It was not until their father passed that the Thomas siblings realized just how much debt their parents had accumulated and how little funds or prospects they had to pay them or, for that matter, survive. Because their father had been the local vicar, most were willing to turn a blind eye to the unpaid bills. That all changed with his untimely death.

The late Reverend Thomas had constantly assured his children he had enough money for all their needs. Fools that they were, they believed him. Both she and Charles had felt betrayed when they’d learned the depth of the debts their parents had accumulated, especially as it was now up to them to pay them.

“Mother borrowed a substantial sum from Cousin Herbert, and he would like it repaid in full now that Father has passed. If we cannot pay the debt, he magnanimously said he’d take you as his wife and consider it repaid.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Of course I said yes, as your brother and guardian?—”

“I need no guardian,” Flora snapped, glaring at him. “And you did not say yes.”

“But he is such a wonderful match for you.” Charles smirked. “Handsome?—”

“He is cross-eyed with a large beaky nose,” she hissed.

“Tsk-tsk, Flora, I had not realized how shallow you were. To not do this for your family, I am shocked.”

“Cease!” she snapped. “I know you are teasing me, and I do not find it funny.”

“I’m sorry, but you are so easy to do that to. I quite missed it. I said no, of course, and then told him in straight, concise words that I would not allow my pet hamster to wed him.”

“If you had a pet hamster,” Flora said, mollified.

“Exactly.”

She sighed. “Our parents were hopeless people, Charles, and we are equally hopeless for not realizing what was going on. I will never be so reckless with money again. How much is the debt for?”

The amount her brother said was not staggering but would eat into the money they had saved from their investments. Not all, and there was still enough should they wish to stay in London and put a deposit down on a house .

“I had to pay it, Flora.”

“Of course, and I want us to never be indebted to that… that?—”

“Sniveling excuse for a man who has the intelligence of a snail?”

“That!” She pointed a finger at her brother.

“As we are not like our parents, Flora, we are not penniless. You and I have seen to that.”

When they realized what their situation was, Charles had taken the small amount he’d had and decided to try his hand at investing. Flora had walked in on him one day in their father’s office and asked what he was doing. He’d tried for evasion, she’d broken him down, and the rest was history. As it turned out, Flora had a very good instinct for investing, and Charles was excellent with numbers. They made a good partnership, no matter how hard it was for her brother to acknowledge Flora’s brain rivaled, if not bettered, his.

“What else brought you to London? You could have penned those details in a letter.”

Her brother looked down at his hands, and she knew what he was about to tell her wasn’t something she wanted to hear.

“What is it?”

“There are a few more reasons I came, actually.” He looked at her, and all traces of humor were gone. “But first tell me about what happened to you this evening. Leo said you’d had a fright but were excessively brave.”

Flora told him because he would not let up until she did, and if she wanted the rest of his tale, she would need to tell hers first.

“Dear God,” he whispered when she’d finished. “You should not have been out walking in the dark alone in London, Flora,” Charlie censured her.

“Yes, yes, I have been told that more than once this evening. I doubt I will have the chance to again. But had I not been, then it was unlikely Mr. Hellion would have survived.”

“That’s all very odd, don’t you think? I can’t believe the man is a shady character if he is friends with our cousins, but if that is the case, why did someone attempt to abduct him?”

“He’s not a shady character, from what I gather, but who knows what is in his past.”

“We all have murky pasts,” he said, waggling his brows at her.

“Hardly murky,” Flora protested. “And now tell me the rest, Charles. Please. Because we both know London is not your favorite place to visit, so something more serious than Cousin Herbert brought you here.”

“I’ve been thinking I should possibly try harder to like it here.”

“You should. It has many wonderful things, and I am happy here.”

“You can convince me.” He smiled, which changed him from manly to boyish before her eyes. Many of the women in the village had voted Mr. Charles Thomas the man with the sweetest smile, which he’d loathed. Flora, of course, had loved it, and she constantly brought it up.

“Tell me, Charles,” Flora said. She knew her brother was withholding something from her. His eyes kept shifting to the top of her head.

“Very well, but try not to interrupt until I have finished.”

She nodded, and Charles took a deep, steadying breath, which did nothing to calm the nerves that had been building inside her.

“That idiot you loved who couldn’t keep his trousers up dallied once too often with someone’s daughter, and now Lord Lockwood is no longer welcome in Willow Hill. It seems the new vicar found him in the vestibule with his daughter. ”

“Good Lord, really?” Flora had to say she was not unhappy about that. While her heart had been bruised for a while, she’d realized her love for Lord Julian Lockwood had not been as deep as she’d originally thought. The pain of his perfidious actions had dulled quickly; the shame of her gullibility had not.