Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Mason wasn't surprised he'd been called to the duke's manor. It had been a few weeks, and it was time to catch him up on what he'd learned. And Mason had done just that, over brandy and cigars.

"The Phoenix Society?" the duke asked. "That doesn't ring a bell."

"It's not meant to," Mason explained. "The idea is that nobody other than their members knows that name and knows what they do."

"So this is larger than I expected," the duke responded. "This isn't just some singular angry businessman. There's an entire organization behind this."

"It would appear that way," Mason said.

The duke stared into his brandy glass as he let out a puff of smoke that floated around his head.

"That's not what I like to hear," he eventually said. "This makes me afraid, I must admit."

"I'll get to the bottom of it," Mason said. "It isn't safe, but as long as nobody suspects me or that I am working for you, didn't be safe."

"Safe enough, I guess," the duke agreed.

Mason didn't know what to say. The news wasn't great. The gunman was still out there, and solving the case was proving to be more difficult than either of them could ever have imagined.

"I'd like for this to be over. You see, there is a new lady interest in my life. This is not the kind of world I'd like to bring her into," the duke said.

It took Mason by surprise. He'd known the duke was a widower but had always thought that he'd missed his wife so much he might never move on. It certainly seemed that way when he spoke of her so fondly.

"Oh?" Mason asked. "I understand. Don't worry, this case is my full priority. I'll make sure you can have a peaceful life for yourself and your new…endeavors."

"I'll be honest, I did not expect I would ever feel any interest in another woman again," the duke said. "But Miss Owen has taken me by surprise."

Mason nearly choked on his brandy. He had hoped he'd merely heard wrong, but he hadn't.

"She has a way about her, don't you think?" the duke asked.

Mason needed to choose his words wisely. There were only four people who knew exactly how much time he spent with her.

"I suppose," he answered.

"I've expressed my interest in courting her, you know," the duke said. "I took myself by surprise doing it, too. I just know that I can give her a good life. A woman as smart and interesting as she is could add to my life, I believe."

Mason knew exactly what the duke was talking about. Any day was better when she was around.

"She's yet to give me her answer, of course, but it is likely," the duke said. "At her age, I believe a husband like me is a good option. Our families get along well."

Mason had a hard time imagining Miss Owen with a man like the duke. While he was aware that he knew her in a different way to most people, he also knew how she felt about traditional married life.

She had told him just a few days before how she feared being caged. Then again, the duke was right. He would provide her with a good life. A wealthier life than Mason ever could.

The news disappointed him, though. It was easy to get carried away with life while out adventuring. He'd forgotten that despite her fears and the fun they were having, she would still feel the pressures of polite society upon her.

After Mason left the duke's house, he decided to take a walk to clear his head. The news of the duke and Miss Owen bothered him more than he liked. Until then, he'd successfully managed to ignore his feelings toward her, pretending that it was nothing more than just the taste of his next adventure.

But knowing that the duke was interested, and that she might be married to someone else someday, he found that he was jealous. Jealousy was a feeling he'd never experienced before. It made him feel sour inside, as if the world had suddenly turned against him.

It turned his stomach and took the color out of the world.

Ultimately, it didn't matter what he wanted. What mattered was what was best for Miss Owen. She deserved someone that could give her a comfortable life. Someone who would be there for her, and adore her.

He was a traveler. He knew that he would be distant in any relationship and that it wouldn't be fair on a wife. Besides, he had promised to never marry. And the reasons he had made that promise to himself still stood.

There was a great world beyond London. The way he lived was not suitable for just anybody. He could not expect a wife to simply go with him and enjoy the life he lived. Then, he would be a husband who was never around.

While he had felt that Miss Owen would be a good companion for him, he also knew that it was much to ask. It wasn't a simple or easy life to live. He knew that better than anyone.

He couldn't do it. Mason knew he was better off alone.

Miss Owen had seemed like the kind of woman who would be suited to that life, but when he thought about it again he remembered how they had ran from men that night. How she had pulled him through the bushes to safety.

He hadn't had that much fun in some time.

While they had successfully escaped, she had been in danger. He had taken her to a place that could have seen her thrown in jail if the constables arrived. She had not spent much time with him, but already he had put her at risk. While she had told him that she was having fun, he worried that she was not calculating the risks.

That was just what it was like being in Mason's presence. That was why he did most things alone. He had to rid himself of thoughts of her, something he found was near impossible to do.

***

"You've been strangely quiet this evening," Ethan said as he took a bite of his dinner. "Something on your mind?"

"I guess," Mason said. "I'm not sure I want to talk about it."

The gentleman's club was bustling around them. A day of good weather had left everyone in London with the urge to be out of the house.

Ethan put his utensils down. "Mason, I tell you everything. You can speak to me about it. I don't like you this way, I'll be honest."

Mason thought about it. He'd always found it helpful to get the words out of his mind and into the world. But this felt different. What was on his mind was something so unlike him. Something he had always said he would never be interested in.

"It's Miss Owen," Mason said, finding the courage to speak about it.

"What about her? Has she done something?" Ethan asked.

"You could say that." Mason took a large sip of his drink. "She's proven herself to be the perfect kind of woman for me."

Ethan's eyes stretched wide. "That is something," he said. "I never thought I'd hear you say something like that."

"I never thought those words would leave my mouth," Mason confessed. "But I find she has me captivated."

Mason went on to tell Ethan for the first time, in detail, about the night they had spent together with the boxing matches and running from the Lordsmen. Ethan listened intently, looking around from time to make sure that nobody else was listening.

"That is surprising," he said quietly. "What will you do about it?"

"Likely, nothing," Mason said. "I don't know what to make of these feelings, and I have no idea what to do about them."

"What would you want from her?" Ethan asked.

It was a good question. Mason had been too afraid to take his thoughts that far. That was why Ethan was such a good friend. He was always the more logical one, the son of a mathematician. He had a way of piecing things together that just made more sense.

"I suppose I don't know entirely," Mason said. "I would want her to come with me and share in my endeavors. I'd like her to share my memories with me and fill the quieter days."

"You'd take her all around the world with you?" Ethan asked.

"I would hope to," Mason said. "I think she'd do well at it."

Mason felt no better having spoken about it. In fact, he saw the look in Ethan's eyes and knew he had told him too much. Ethan would be bothering him about it for weeks. Mason turned back to his food.

"The investigation is going well," he said. "I've updated the duke on it all. I still am no closer to finding the gunman, but I know that I am on the verge of uncovering something important. Something that is greater than all of us."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Ethan said. "That sounds like it requires more than just you and Miss Owen to solve it."

"Who do we trust in all of this?" Mason asked. "There's no way of knowing who is in this society. It could be anybody. Who knows how long they've been working together? They have to be operating with men of power to get away with it."

"I suppose," Ethan said. "It just seems so dangerous."

"It likely will only become more dangerous," Mason said. "Who knows where this will take me, but I'm too far in to pull out now. Not until I'm sure that the duke is safe. I know better than to try and stop you."

Ethan gave him a nod. It was a warm night, and they decided to go for a stroll after dinner. They walked along the river, past the Bounty Inn. It reminded Mason of the first night, that Miss Owen had gone with him.

The first night he realized that she would not easily back down from a challenge.

"You know you won't get off the hook so easily," Ethan said with a laugh.

"What are you talking about?"

"What you said about Miss Owen," Ethan said. "I think you should tell her how you feel."

Mason's stomach did a flip just thinking about it. There were many things he had done in his life and lived through, but he wasn't sure he could manage a rejection from her. And he couldn't be certain that she felt the same way about him.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Mason said.

"You'll never know if you don't try," Ethan said. "You need to decide if it is worth the risk."

"It's funny to hear you say that," Mason said. "All things considered."

Ethan stopped a moment in his tracks. "All things considered?" he argued. "What exactly do you mean by that?"

"You and Miss Harper, of course," Mason said. "I see how happy you are after you've seen her. You've expressed some feelings toward her to me before. Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

"That's different," Ethan said. "It seems more likely for you and Miss Owen to be together than for me to be with a lady's maid."

"She's more than that. You said so yourself," Mason said.

"Of course she is," Ethan responded. "But convince my family of that one if you're brave enough."

"I shouldn't have told you about it," Mason said.

"Don't be that way," Ethan said. "I'm only trying to help."

Mason didn't want to hear it. He was already confused by his feelings and what it meant to him and his life. Ethan's suggestions did nothing to put an end to it.

"You have advised me to do something that you are not brave enough to do with Miss Harper," Mason said.

There was tension between the friends then and they walked the rest of the way with stilted conversation. It wasn't Ethan's fault. Mason knew that. He needed to understand his feelings and what that meant for him.

He'd never experienced anything like it before, so he felt as if he was without any idea what to do and he didn't like the way that felt.