“Came by about an hour ago with an older gent,” the stable owner said. “Never seen him before.”

That was odd. Caroline wasn’t expecting Gray to return until tomorrow, so he had no idea why she was at the townhouse with “an older gent.” He quickened his steps as he headed home. The four-block walk gave his mind plenty of time to come up with all sorts of distasteful possibilities. Caroline was a beautiful woman yet had no regular suitor, but maybe she was meeting someone on the sly.

He vaulted up the front steps and wiggled the doorknob. It was locked, and it took him a moment of fumbling with his key to open it. Voices from down the hall stopped the moment he stepped inside.

“Gray?” Caroline looked ill at ease as she scurried from the kitchen. She quickly masked it with a pleasant expression. “Welcome home! I thought you were coming back tomorrow.”

He said nothing as he strode down the hallway, determined to see the older gent before an escape out the back door was possible. But the man sitting at the kitchen table made no attempt to escape, merely rotated a cup of tea with a smug expression on his face.

Gray blanched in revulsion. “Do you know who this man is?” he demanded of Caroline.

“Everyone in Washington knows Dickie Shuster.”

“Yes, Gray, everyone in Washington knows me,” Dickie tittered.

“Get out of my house,” Gray said bluntly.

“Gray,” Caroline said in a warning tone, “Dickie is my guest, and this house is mine as well as yours.”

Papers lay spread out before Dickie, but he gathered them into a stack while sending Caroline a smarmy grin. “I’d hate to stir discord in the family. Perhaps we should simply scuttle the deal.”

Caroline clenched her fists, but her face remained calm. “That wouldn’t be in either of our best interests, would it?”

Dickie slid the papers into his satchel, a mournful look on his face. “My time is valuable. . . .”

“I’ll make it worth your while. Perhaps I can persuade the first lady to have tea with us after all.”

A delighted expression came over Dickie’s face. “Excellent! I shall look forward to the invitation with delight. Good day to you both.”

The way Dickie swaggered toward the front door made Gray’s teeth ache. Caroline followed, making pleasantries with Dickie on the front stoop for a few minutes before closing the door after him.

Gray leaned against the wall of the kitchen. A week of travel was catching up with him, and to be confronted with that man in his home was his limit. Dickie’s abandoned teacup still rested on the table. Gray didn’t even want to touch it, but he picked it up and dumped it in the trash. Then he braced himself for a battle with Caroline as she returned to the kitchen.

“What was that all about?” he asked.