Sins 0f An Intoxicating Duchess (Steamy Historical Regency Romance)

by Violet Hamers

  “I have to reload,” Reuben replied, reloading. Jasper pulled his own pistol, aiming for Reuben. He turned when Lady Leah growled, grabbing the pistol from one of the masked men.

  “I always have to do everything myself,” she said, cocking it, then aiming it at Jasper.

  Jasper didn’t quite know what to do—to shoot a lady? Unthinkable.

  * * *

  Selina and Thomas and the men of the law who were accompanying them arrived at the World Tree.

  “No!” she yelled, as she rode Aphrodite out of the woods, like an avenging warrior queen of old. Leah, clearly surprised, aimed the pistol at Selina, instead. Looking down the barrel of a pistol for the first time in her life, Selina’s mind paused. She was like a scared deer.

  Jasper lunged at Leah, knocking the pistol out of the way, just as Leah pulled the trigger.

  Selina froze, feeling the air around the bullet hit her cheek as the bullet rushed by her, close—almost too close for comfort. Aphrodite spooked, dancing about.

  She exhaled a sigh of relief. Jasper turned to her, his eyes wild with fear. She smiled at him.

  “I’m all right,” she assured him. Her fingers clutched at Aphrodite’s reins and mane. “Shh, girl,” she soothed, patting the horse’s sleek neck. The mare tossed her head, exhaling loudly as she calmed.

  The men of the law were already surrounding Reuben, who was sulking, and Leah, who was in tears. In all the hustle, the two other men had vanished.

  Thomas was eyeing her from his borrowed horse’s back. She nodded to him, assuring him that she was unhurt. He smiled, his eyes were wide, though.

  Selina slipped off of Aphrodite, running over to Jasper. They hugged, then he turned toward Lord Sandbourne, who was struggling to sit up. His shoulder was bloody.

  * * *

  “Stephen!” Jasper exclaimed, rushing over to kneel down beside his friend. “Here, let me bind it. We need to get you to a physician.”

  Selina tore a strip from her petticoat, handing it to Jasper. He bound up Stephen’s arm, and then Jasper and Lord Windermere got him up and on to his horse.

  They all rode back in the direction of Gillingham Manor. The lawmen took Leah and Reuben with them, on the way toward Bridesdale.

  “I’ll go and fetch a physician,” Lord Windermere offered, riding off toward the village with the lawmen.

  Their arrival at Gillingham Manor was chaotic. Grooms ran from the stables, Sotheby came out of the house, and a large group surrounded Stephen, helping him down from the horse.

  Sotheby directed the grooms who were assisting Stephen into one of the bedrooms.

  Jasper handed Pilot to one of the stable boys, then followed, Selina gripping his hand. The Dowager Duchess was near the doorway, pale as a sheet.

  “Jasper? Lady Selina? What’s happened?” she asked.

  “Stephen’s been shot,” Jasper explained as the three of them walked up the stairs.

  “By whom?” Her Grace asked.

  Jasper felt pained. He stopped, taking his mother’s hands in his own. “Reuben,” he said, watching her eyes widen. “Reuben was behind all of it. He and Lady Leah have been taken into custody.”

  Her Grace placed her hand on her chest. “I—I don’t—”

  She seemed like she was about to faint. Luckily, Selina stepped in, taking his mother gently by the arm.

  “Come, Your Grace,” she said. “Let’s go and sit in the parlor, and I can answer all of the questions that you have.”

  Her Grace nodded, her eyes sparkling with tears. Selina smiled at Jasper. “You go and see to Lord Sandbourne.”

  “Thank you,” he mouthed.

  Jasper turned to find where Sotheby had stowed Stephen. When he arrived in the room, his friend was lying in a bed. Sotheby was putting pressure on the wound, to staunch the bleeding. Stephen’s boots had been removed. He was bearing it all stoically.

  “Do you need anything, Stephen?” Jasper asked.

  He smiled, his eyes screwed up in pain. “I expect I’ll just need a bit of patching up,” he said, wincing.

  “Stephen, I’m so sorry,” Jasper said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I don’t think either one of us saw this happening,” Stephen pointed out, with a bit of a hysterical laugh.

  “No,” Jasper agreed, worried that Stephen was going into shock. “I had no idea that I was looking for my own brother.”

  “I’m just glad it’s not both of us,” Stephen said, reaching out to pat Jasper’s hand. His lips were frighteningly pale. He closed his eyes and lay back. The physician arrived, and he shooed Jasper out and into the hallway, where Lord Windermere stood.

  “I’m going to get a party to go over to Reuben’s lodge,” Jasper said. “I have a feeling that we’re going to find everything that’s been stolen there. But we have to hurry before those two get it all.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Windermere said.

  “I appreciate it,” Jasper replied.

  “Well, you’re about to become family,” Windermere replied. “It’s the least I can do.”

  * * *

  Selina had gotten the Dowager Duchess into the parlor. She’d gotten her settled on the settee, then rang for tea and brandy to be brought. The Dowager Duchess was in tears. Selina sat beside her.

  “Reuben? My Reuben?” she asked. “A murderer and a thief?”

  “He had us all fooled,” Selina soothed.

  “What’s to become of him?” The Dowager Duchess went pale. “He’ll be hanged.”

  There was nothing that Selina could say that would assuage the grief that the Dowager Duchess was feeling. She could only hold the lady’s hand and pass her a clean handkerchief.

  “Never. Never have I been so taken in,” she moaned. “By my own son, no less. He murdered Lady Langley, and then after, I recall it so clearly—he sat in here, as though he hadn’t a care in the world. We were talking of it, too. Oh, and he was at her funeral, sitting there, as if he were blameless.” The Dowager Duchess’s hand was shaking. She closed her eyes, swaying where she sat.

  A maid bustled in with the tea tray, setting it down on the table.

  “Thank you,” Selina said quietly. She poured the Dowager Duchess a cup. “Here, Your Grace.”

  The Dowager Duchess accepted the cup, but she didn’t drink. She merely held it on her lap. She shook her head. “Nothing has prepared me for this. Nothing.”

  “What would?” Selina asked. The Dowager Duchess reached out, taking her hand.

  “Lady Leah? She was a part of it?”

  “It seems that she was,” Selina told her. “If she couldn’t have the Duke of Gillingham, then no one could.”

  “You love my son, don’t you?” she asked.

  “Very much, Your Grace.”

  “She just wanted the title and the house,” she mused. “She was willing to kill for it. And then, what? Marry Reuben?”

  “I suppose so,” Selina allowed. It certainly seemed that way.

  “You and your brother should come and stay with us,” the Dowager Duchess commented. “Here, at Gillingham Manor.”

  “Perhaps we will, Your Grace,” Selina agreed. Her aunt and uncle would be upset about Leah. She wondered what would become of her cousin.

  It wasn’t often that noble ladies were found guilty of conspiracy to commit and attempted murder. It was curious to think that she’d been living under the same roof as someone who truly wished her dead.

  She had seen that gleam in Leah’s eye—as she’d pulled the trigger. “If Jasper hadn’t reached her in time, I would be dead,” she murmured, her teeth chattering as she suddenly realized just how close she’d been to death.

  “Oh, dear, you’re going into shock,” The Dowager Duchess said.

  * * *

  Jasper and Lord Windermere had rounded up a group of grooms and had ridden quickly over to Reuben’s lodge. They were all armed to the teeth because he had no doubt that that was where the two other villains had gone.

  Where would Reuben
have stashed his hoard of stolen goods?

  He would never have brought them to Gillingham Manor, on the off chance that someone discovered something. His hunting lodge, however, was secluded, and his few servants utterly loyal to him.

  Jasper led them all into Reuben’s home. They went, silently, peering into rooms as they passed. Inside of the lodge, it was quiet as a tomb. The curtains were all drawn. No one stirred.

  They checked all of the downstairs, finding nothing and no one. They climbed the stairs to the second floor.

  As he progressed along the upstairs hallway, Jasper heard masculine voices, arguing in a room toward the end. He pressed his fingers to his lips, making eye contact with the others, they all nodded, pulling out their weapons.

  The whole group moved as silently as shadows, approaching the doorway, from where the sounds of the argument came. Jasper’s pulse raced, yet the hand holding his pistol was steady.

  The two men were unmasked, surrounded by a vast array of wealth, which they were stuffing into sacks, presumably to get away with.

  “Stop right there,” Jasper announced, holding a pistol up, pointing it at them. Everyone with him fanned out, keeping the two individuals in their sights.

  Jasper knew them both—Reuben’s butler and his groom. The two men held their hands up. Two of the grooms stepped forward, clapping them both in irons. They were both sullen as they were led out.

  Jasper and Lord Windermere stared at the vast accumulation of wealth. Clearly, this had been going on for much longer than Jasper had known. There were gleaming jewels, and piles of coin, such as Jasper had never seen before.

  “Good grief,” Lord Windermere said. “They would have lived like kings.”

  Jasper stepped toward the wall, which appeared to have had a large hole cut into the plaster. There was a large oil painting, leaning against it. When he peered into the hole, there was a large space, where Reuben had clearly been hiding it all.

  “I think they certainly intended to,” Jasper replied. “We’re going to have a Hell of a time getting all of this returned to its rightful owners.”

  Windermere sighed nodding. “At least that’s the good news.”

  Jasper smiled at him. “Agreed.”

  “Why did he do it?” Windermere asked.

  “I’ve no idea,” Jasper admitted. “Let’s pack all of this up and get it to Gillingham Manor. The Constable can handle things from there.”

  Jasper was anxious to return to Selina’s side and to know how Stephen was faring. He and Lord Windermere worked quickly, locking up Reuben’s lodge when they were done.

  * * *

  The Constable had just arrived, just as Jasper and Thomas returned. Selina was wrapped in a soft, knitted blanket, sipping a cup of tea, the Dowager Duchess sitting beside her. The two ladies held hands, consoling each other.

  “So?” Jasper asked, sitting down beside her. His eyes were on the Constable.

  “It appears that Lord Munro was behind all of it,” the Constable said. “He wanted to become the Duke and was willing to kill you. He was the one who involved Lady Leah, told the butler to tell her where to find the letters, and then gave her the idea that once you were dead, he would marry her, so that she could become Duchess.”

  “We sent you his butler and his groom, who were the other two bandits,” Jasper said.

  “You found all of the stolen goods?” Selina asked.

  “We did,” Jasper said. “They’re in the other room, Constable.”

  “And Lady Leah just…agreed to all of it?” the Dowager Duchess said, shaking her head in disbelief.

  “Unfortunately, she did,” he replied. “She and Lord Munro have confessed. They would have succeeded, too, if Lady Selina hadn’t overheard them talking, or had come to get us.”

  Jasper beamed at her. “Well done,” he said. She smiled at him.

  The physician came in, ushered by Sotheby, who had a harried look to him.

  “Lord Sandbourne is doing well,” he said. “The bullet went clean through the shoulder. All I had to do was stop the bleeding. He’s on bedrest until further notice. I’ll come and check on him in the morning. I’ve given him some laudanum and water. He should be checked on throughout the night, just in case.”

  “Oh, good news among all of the bad,” the Dowager Duchess proclaimed.

  “He should make a full recovery,” the physician said.

  Everyone was talking among themselves. Selina found that no one was paying any attention to her and Jasper. He led her over to the window, where they could speak quietly.

  “We wouldn’t have survived without your clear thinking,” he said.

  She smiled up at him. Here was the gentleman that she loved, who viewed her as an equal, prized her intelligence and clear thinking. He held her hands tightly.

  Chapter Thirty

  Jasper stood out on the terrace, overlooking the gardens. It had been a week since everything had fallen out. He could see Selina, sitting on a bench, Faith beside her. They were both talking animatedly.

  Both Selina and Lord Windermere had come to stay at Gillingham Manor. Now that she was there, he never wanted her to leave. Her presence was the one thing that had been missing from his home. Now, it was perfect.

  His heart was pounding as he walked toward her. He had written to her father, requesting permission, and had received a letter which granted him the full confidence of Lord Quinton. Now, he just had to ask Selina, himself.

  He made his way down the steps and then out into the garden. Faith noticed his approach. She smiled at him.

  “I’ll just…find another bench, My Lady,” she told Selina, picking up her book.

  “Faith,” Jasper said. She curtsied.

  “Your Grace,” she replied, smirking and walking off.

  He turned his gaze toward Selina. “May I?”

  “Please do,” she replied.

  He sat down beside her. He glanced over to the next bench, where Faith sat, just within hearing. Her little book was open in her lap.

  He turned to Selina, taking her hands in his. “I wrote to your father,” he said.

  “Oh?”

  “He said that the decision is ultimately up to you,” he went on. She was smiling broadly. “I love you, Selina, with all of my being. I cannot imagine attempting to live without you. Will you do me the absolute honor of marrying me?” he asked.

  “Of course, my love,” she replied. He leaned in, claiming her lips with his. When they pulled away, they smiled at each other. Jasper felt like the happiest gentleman in the world. He was so lucky, and he knew it.

  “I shall write to my parents and let them know that we’re planning to marry immediately,” she said.

  “Immediately? Do you not mean to invite the ton?”

  “Absolutely not,” she replied. “My parents are at Staunton. They can be here by the end of the week. I have a white muslin, which suits me just fine.”

  “Agreed,” he said, content not to have to wait to be married to the lady that he loved. Everything would be fine; he knew it.

  “Now, look,” she murmured, pointing to a flock of birds, rising into the air, just over the gardens. “See how they all fly together?”

  “Yes,” he said, watching.

  “Isn’t it marvelous?” she asked. He looked at her, the look of wonder on her face. She was resplendent in a pale-green muslin, her hair in a low chignon, with ringlets framing her face.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “Yes, it is.”

  * * *

  Selina arrived at Kirby Hall, to go and see how Aunt Georgiana and Uncle Latimer were faring. The news that Leah had been a part of a plot to murder the Duke, and that Leah had attempted to murder her own cousin had shocked them.

  Mr. Wickes showed Selina into Aunt Georgiana’s chamber, where she sat, dressed in a dark-colored gown.

  “Selina, dear,” her aunt said. “How kind of you to visit me.”

  “Of course, Aunt,” she replied, taking the empty seat beside her. The curta
ins were drawn, and the only light in the room was from a small fire, crackling in the grate. It was warm and stuffy in the room.

  “How—how are things at Gillingham?” Aunt Georgiana asked half-heartedly.

  “The Dowager Duchess is in a similar state as you,” Selina replied. It was true—except the Dowager Duchess had agreed to open the curtains. “No one saw this coming.”