Much Ado About Kissing (Howertys #4)

Chapter 4: Garden Conversations

"Spying on your wife again?"

Marcus turned from the window overlooking the garden to give his friend Gabriel Winter an annoyed look. Watching Rain had become a habit of his since returning home. Like the rest of her family, his wife loved the outdoors, and she would spend a lot of time out in the garden. She'd even set up a little outside parlour with seats and a table so she could take her tea there. As was often the case, she was out there now, tending to the rose bushes.

Winter put away some of the files they had been going through for the Rose Agency with a look of amusement on his face. Marcus did not appreciate it. The previous night had put him in a rather foul mood. Accompanying his wife to a ball had been a tiring endeavour. Their kiss, however, had been pleasant. More than pleasant. Which was a problem. How was he to seduce his wife if he turned into an uncouth youth in her presence, shaking in his breeches at the thought of touching her?

Sitting down in his chair, he pushed the papers he'd been working on to the side. Maybe it had been too long since he'd been with a woman. That could explain his reaction to Rain last night. He had never been a rake or even close to it, preferring to keep to himself, but he was not celibate. In the past, he had kept a mistress, but the moment he had decided to find himself a wife, he had ended their arrangement, and she had moved on to her next patron. He believed in the sanctity of marriage and would never seek relief outside of the marriage bed. Even if he was not allowed in said bed. He had seen enough of that behaviour from his father, and he refused to follow in the previous duke's footsteps.

After the late duke's passing, he had found evidence of payments to various mistresses and establishments. His father, the man who had preached about their duties and the weight of their responsibilities, about how Marcus must act properly at all times, had been nothing but an adulterer and spendthrift. No, he would never be that. He was careful both with his money and his relations.

"Winterbourne?"

He looked up to see his friend watching him and he realised he had missed something. "Yes?"

"Have you heard anything more from Thomson at the War Office?" Winter asked.

"He came by yesterday upon my request. They have a lead. It appears someone may have seen the traitor in a village a day's ride from here. He will update us once they have investigated."

Winter leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "I cannot believe they have been this careless. To allow an agent to make off with a list of spies. It beggars belief."

"It is odd, indeed."

"Do you think perhaps he wasn't alone?"

Marcus frowned as he ran through the details they knew so far, which admittedly weren't many. As they were no longer employed with the War Office, Thomson only offered as much as he absolutely had to. "Possibly," he finally said. "If no one noticed anything off about him, perhaps he was not the one in contact with the seller. Someone else may have been the go-between."

"I will feel much better once the man is apprehended and can be questioned. And the list returned. If that list ends up in the wrong hands..."

Winter didn't need to finish the sentence, they both knew what might happen. Their former colleagues would be in imminent danger if their covers were blown. On a personal level, if their past involvement was revealed, people seeking revenge could target them or their families. Marcus had been a key person in cracking many of the enemy's coded messages that had given them significant advantages, and they had uncovered a handful of enemy spies because of his findings.

"We must assume the War Office is doing everything they can," he said. "There is nothing we can do at this point."

"I hate feeling like my hands are tied behind my back," Winter grumbled.