Wilks checked his own pockets again and then turned a furious glare at Jeremy. “Show me.”
“It’s just a handkerchief,” he promised, revealing it. “You can have it if you require one.”
But Wilks grabbed him roughly and tried to search Jeremy’s coat pockets. Jeremy p
rotested at the rough treatment as much as the stink of spirits on Wilks’ breath, loudly.
“Get off me.” Jeremy threw an arm out, connecting his fist with Wilks’ jaw accidentally.
Wilks stumbled back a step, but he wasn’t giving up. “Give it back!”
“What the hell is this?” Stapleton barked, stepping between them. “Gentlemen, control yourselves.”
It took Lord Milo and Lord Samuel to hold Wilks back from attacking Jeremy again. Wilks pointed at Jeremy, accusing, “He has something of mine. I am sure of it.”
Jeremy straightened his coat, checking the note was still safe up his shirt sleeve. “I have nothing belonging to you.” But he had something belonging to Fanny, and he did not want to reveal it here.
The duke folded his arms across his chest and looked between them. “An accusation of theft is a serious matter. What is it you think he’s taken?”
“I have no idea, your grace,” Jeremy promised. “He’s cup shot.”
“Am not! That man has something of great value to me,” Wilks insisted. But he looked around, taking note of their audience with blinking eyes. He straightened his coat and smoothed his hair, but since he could hardly stand still anymore, he gave credence to Jeremy’s accusation that he didn’t know what he was talking about. “I cannot say what it is but it is vital it is returned to me tonight,” Wilks insisted. “Who is he, anyway? Just an actor.”
“He is a guest,” Stapleton noted. “Just as you are tonight.”
Jeremy approached the duke, stopping as close to his side as he dared. He managed to drop the folded contract into Stapleton’s gaping coat pocket without him realizing it. “I don’t have anything that belongs to him, I swear.”
The duke’s eyes narrowed on Wilks. “An accusation of theft can be resolved easily right now. Mr. Dawes, would you have any objection to being searched a second time with substantially more dignity?”
Jeremy had nothing to hide anymore. “I have no objection.”
The duke frisked him quickly, efficiently, thoroughly, even patting his shirt front a few times and arms to be sure he’d nothing stashed inside his clothing. Satisfied he carried no paper; the duke declared the accusation false and made them shake hands. “Wilks, you were wrong, and Mr. Dawes was provoked enough to defend himself. That is the end of it. Wilks, go sleep it off and cause me no more trouble.”
However, the way Wilks glared at him alerted Jeremy that it wasn’t over. The man’s eyes almost glowed with hate. “Perhaps I misplaced it,” Wilks conceded.
“I’ll have my staff bring me anything they find.” Then the duke turned to Jeremy, frowning. “Inside. My library. Now.”
Jeremy complied, striding straight toward the duke’s library with a confidence he didn’t exactly feel. The duke was sure to follow, and then Jeremy would have to be damn quick to nick the contract back before Stapleton stuck his hand in his own pocket.
Fanny’s brothers caught up to him as soon as he reached the library doorway. They drew him across the room to the decanters. “Nice little fight you had brewing there, Dawes, or would have been if Father hadn’t interfered,” Lord Samuel complained.
“Wilks could do with being taken down a peg or two,” Lord Milo agreed, wearing a wide smirk of his own. Samuel poured port for the three of them. Milo, though, captured Jeremy’s hand and inspected his knuckles. “No harm seems to be have been done.”
“A pity some harm hadn’t happened to Wilks’ face,” Samuel muttered. “He’s traded off his looks and his title far too much in my opinion. No doubt someone will break that smirk off his face eventually. We were so hoping it would be you. What did Wilks want back?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“Must be some love letter he’s lost,” Milo murmured, teasing perhaps. “Did you know Wilks ruined a business deal of our sisters last year? Seduced her previous maid to find out her plans before anyone. Not that we could prove it then. The way he’s followed her about tonight leads me to think he’s meddling with her life again, or his father has set him to it. And then I saw him talk to you tonight like old friends.”
Jeremy frowned. “Why would Wilks seduce Fanny’s maid and not Fanny?”
“Fanny is too smart to fall for false flattery or let down her guard around men coming courting. The maid was foolish in the extreme to trust any promises he made her.” Milo pursed his lips. “Cost Fanny a fortune to unentangle herself from the project. But Fanny has a knack for turning everything things she touches into gold, so the loss was negligible in the end. She deserves better.”
“Yes,” Jeremy murmured.
Milo studied him. “We shouldn’t like to see her wings clipped by any man in any marriage.”
Jeremy agreed. “Nor would I. She is unlike any woman I’ve ever met.”