Gentlemen's Agreement by Ellie Thomas

Author:Ellie Thomas [Thomas, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2023-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

With similar circumspection, Jo waited until mid-morning before calling at Piccadilly to account to Ben and return what remained of his stipend, correctly surmising that, by then, Edward would have departed to the hospital. Jo discovered Ben in his armchair in the sitting room, wearing his dressing gown and a broad grin.

Accepting the proffered cup of coffee from Cribbins, Jo shared his observations of the night before at Watier’s, Ben’s eyebrows rising at the revelations.

“Well, I can truthfully tell the colonel that in this instance their suspicions were unfounded. Thank God that task was left to us rather than someone official.”

“I feel exactly the same,” Jo said. “What Beaufort and Gerrard were up to doesn’t harm anyone, and it’s no one’s affair but their own.”

“I imagine they thought they’d be safer planning a swift assignation in a private club than risking a raid at a Molly House,” Ben mused.

“And nine times out of ten, they’d be correct. I know Beaufort is in Colonel Graham’s sights and our young Frenchman, merely by association. I have to say, my first impression was that he was merely guilty of infatuation rather than anything more sinister.”

“I trust your instincts and will fudge my official report accordingly. Heavens knows I’ve had enough practice over the years. So we can safely say that apart from what we might expect, there were no unusual occurrences?”

“It all sounded perfectly normal to me. No whips, ropes, or scourges as far as I could tell.”

Ben’s mouthful of coffee went down the wrong way, and as he started to splutter, Jo teased, “What, shocked, are we? You’ve spent far too much time out of London in the past year. You’ve become thoroughly rusticated.”

Recovering, Ben rolled his eyes at his friend’s schoolboy humour. “Talking of Beaufort, are you and Percy attending the Fforde’s divertissement tonight? I’m only mentioning it as Beaufort is invited.”

“We are. I thought it better to discuss the specifics of last night with Percy while we’re there to make our conversation appear more spontaneous.”

“You’re getting rather good at this. Colonel Graham will be poaching you from the charity before we know it.”

“Nonsense. Ben, I appreciate the vote of confidence, but do you have to sound quite so astonished?”

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