Beyond A Wicked Kiss by Jo Goodman Page A

he received his information from me. You can depend on the accuracy of my accounts."
    "What I depended upon," West said without inflection, "was your silence."
    Uncharacteristically at a loss for words, Blackwood offered silence now.
    West eyed the whiskey decanter on the drinks cabinet and realized he had not the wherewithal to go there. He could not recall a time when he had been so lacking in energy, so boneless as he was now. The events of these last three days had conspired to tap both his strength and the soundness of his judgments. "He had not earned the right to know what I was about." In spite of surging emotions, his voice remained remarkably steady. "I thought that had always been understood between us. It was not for you to say, but rather for me. The duke should have addressed his questions to me."
    There was no point, the colonel decided, in stating what they both knew to be true: West would not have responded to any question put to him by his father. Blackwood remained silent, offering no defense for his actions.
    "You have nothing at all to say?" West asked.
    "Save for an apology, I can think of nothing that you will wish to hear on the matter."
    West waited, but the colonel's apology was not forthcoming. "Then you do not regret it?"
    "I regret that I did not listen to my own counsel and inform you that your father was making inquiries."
    West's eyes narrowed faintly as he regarded his mentor. "Why not?" he asked. "Why not trust your own judgment? Isn't that what you demand of us?"
    "It is." His smile was rueful. "I can do the wrong thing for the right reason as often as any man. It is only in hindsight that any of us can know how wrong it truly was."
    "And what of speaking to the duke about me? I have not heard you offer any regret for that."
    By saying nothing, Blackwood said everything.
    "I see," said West. He slumped more deeply in the chair so that he was almost reclining now and stretched his long legs before him. "Did you never wonder at the consequences?"
    "Of course I wondered what you would make of it. I had hoped you would endeavor to understand."
    "Understand? What I understand, Colonel, is that he's made me his bloody heir. He wouldn't have done that if he thought I was only a clerk in the foreign office. That's what I understand. You filled him with nonsense about some instrumental task I performed in Wellington's camp and—"
    "Nonsense?" Blackwood bristled at the idea he ever spouted such. "I spoke nothing save the truth. I did not tell him one-half of what you were able to accomplish for Wellington at Fuentes de Onoro and Aluera. A year later you were in Madrid ahead of the army, taking considerable risk out of uniform."
    West turned one hand over in a gesture that communicated both modesty and indifference. "I moved documents. Wellington moved an army. My contribution was—"
    "Essential," the colonel said.
    "I was not fishing."
    "And I am not flattering. I am speaking the truth."
    West wanted no more of this conversation. He knew what he had done was important work and he was proud of it, but he did not consider it more or less singular than the contribution made by others. He roused himself enough to come to his feet. Ignoring the decanters of whiskey and brandy, West walked to the window instead and drew back the heavy velvet curtains. The rain had finally turned entirely to sleet and the tattoo against the window was sharp and steady. He wondered about the road to Gillhollow, how difficult the travel might be for a coach and four. He wondered if Ria had gone on alone or taken her place with Tenley and his family. He wondered...
    West allowed the drapes to fall back and turned away. Belatedly, he was aware that the colonel had wheeled his chair around and was watching him closely, seeing something more than he had ever meant to reveal. West plowed his fingers through his hair, discomfited by the scrutiny, out of patience with himself for lowering his guard. "You were saying?"
    "Indeed,"