Damian’s gaze raked the names, then paused. “Aha!” He held out his hand. “Give me that pencil. You have my groom, but not my new man.”
Felix turned wide eyes on Damian. “You have a man? Since when?”
For reasons known only to himself, for years, Damian had resisted getting someone to oversee his wardrobe.
Damian pulled a face at Felix. “I’m twenty-four. I decided it was time.” He handed the amended list to Julian.
Julian took the list and glanced at it. “And his name is…?”
“Manning.” Damian pointed at the list. “I stuck his name near the other valets’ names.”
“Is he the man I saw in the corridor this morning?” Felix asked. “Middling height, early thirties perhaps, close-cropped dark hair, roundish face, and just starting a paunch.”
Damian nodded. “That’s him.”
Felix frowned slightly. “I have to say he appeared a little…well, not exactly rough but less polished than the usual gentleman’s gentleman.”
Julian snorted. “That’s probably why he suits Damian.”
When Damian merely grinned, Felix rolled his eyes.
“Where did you find him?” Julian half expected Damian to say at some boxing match.
“I’d mentioned to Gordon about needing a man, and he recommended Manning, who’s apparently a relation of some other gentleman’s gentleman Gordon knows.”
Julian tended to forget that Damian and Gordon, being cousins of much the same age, were friends.
“Well,” Felix said, “one can only hope the fellow will keep your coats in better state.”
“Not to mention your boots,” Julian added. Ignoring Damian’s reply, he initialed all the lists, then signaled to Damian to ring for a footman. “I’m sure Mama will be happy to receive these ahead of her deadline. As I’m relying on her to organize the logistics, I need to keep her sweet.”
After tugging the bellpull, Damian asked. “Are you finished with us?”
Julian shook his head. “Wait a moment.”
The footman arrived, and Julian handed over the lists to be ferried to his mother. Once the door had shut behind the footman, he returned his gaze to his now-attentive brothers.
Both read his expression and immediately grew serious.
“We have to consider,” he said, “the possibility that whoever has tried to attack me several times might well have been at the engagement ball as a guest. Consequently—”
“Whoever the blighter is, he might also be at the wedding.” Felix blew out a breath. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
Damian raised a hand and waved it. “I did.” He met Julian’s eyes. “You’ll need guards of sorts. I was going to suggest that we ask all the staff and everyone we trust to be on guard for any strange happenings, and if they see anything even minor that’s odd, they should tell Felix or me immediately.”
Felix was nodding. “You won’t be in any position to react quickly if anything untoward occurs.”
Julian grimaced. “Sadly, you’re right. I’m liable to be dancing or surrounded by guests.”
“Who will most likely be the very last guests you’ll want to know of any potential emergency,” Felix added,
“As much as I’d like to argue, I can’t.” Julian looked from Felix to Damian. “So in addition to the staff, who are we thinking of?”
They tossed around names, discussed, and decided.
“Keep it simple,” Julian stated. “Just say there might be someone—a guest, or staff, or anyone at all—who might try to cause trouble, and we’d rather not have any incidents disrupting the day.”
Felix nodded. “The staff will accept that, and our friends will, too. No need to be specific.”
