Sir,
I hereby demand satisfaction on behalf of the egregiously wronged lady. Please name your second, the day and time, etc.
Abingdon
Nick must have been loitering close by, because Jimmy arrived with a response within minutes.
Nate,
Oh, for God’s sake.
Nick
Typical.
As much as Nathaniel wanted to reconcile with his brother, this could not be deflected, nor swept under the rug. If for no other reason, Alice would never let it go. Not until she’d avenged her sister. And it was best for all if it was Nathaniel who provided that revenge.
With an unbearable heaviness in his chest, he took up his pen.
Sir,
The insult to Miss Adelaide cannot stand. Name your second and choose the place.
Abingdon
Again, a response came within minutes.
Nate,
How can Miss Adelaide feel the insult if she is presumed dead?
Let us meet at the oak tree. You know why.
Nick
His brother was clearly an unfeeling monster. It made Nathaniel feel slightly better about what he must do.
Sir,
Alice feels the insult enough for both of them, I assure you. Your second?
Abingdon
This time the response took longer. After half an hour, Nathaniel desperately wanted to storm outside, find the blackguard in his hiding place, and smack him soundly across the cheek with his glove, just to drive home his point. But honestly, he could not face the man without strangling him, so he restrained himself.
He paced impatiently before the fireplace, waiting for the footman’s return. Two hours later, Jimmy dashed into the room, slightly breathless, and held out the card with a small bow.
Nathaniel did not reach for it. He looked at the small white paper with a surge of distaste. “Leave it on the table.”
After Jimmy bowed and left, Nathaniel hesitated, then strode over to peer down at the note.
Nate,
Colonel Kent will stand as my second. Be so good as to inform him, as I do not personally know the man. He will be of some comfort to Miss Alice, should the need arise.
Nick
For a moment, Nathaniel saw red. Colonel Kent? Nick was baiting him. Worse, it was working. Clearly, Nick had been watching their comings and goings long enough to realize the colonel was Nathaniel’s rival for Alice’s affections.
Damn his brother! He was a blackguard and an ass.
He ground his jaw.
Nick,
Weapons?
Nate
When the reply came, Nathaniel stared down at the back of the card that had been placed on his desk, loathe to turn it over. He squeezed his eyes shut to battle the flood of conflicting emotions that coursed through his entire being.
This moment was inevitable, it seemed. Foreordained by their bloody ancestors over the past two hundred years. He had tried—by God, he had tried so damned hard to avoid this very scenario, but here it was, at last. One couldn’t avoid one’s fate. At least it was on his own terms.
He couldn’t bring himself to care enough about a title and bit of land to take his brother’s life, and he would happily run away to save his own. But Alice? Yes, she was worth fighting for. Even if the fight was with his own twin.
How would it end? Gun shot? Rapier wound? He would rather not know, quite frankly, but ignorance wasn’t an option.
He opened his eyes, took a steadying breath, and picked up the card. He turned it over and scanned the contents. He stared for a moment in shock, rubbed his eyes, and stared again.
And then, very slowly, he smiled.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Alice paced in front of the fire. The storm had not abated, and every fireplace in the house was roaring with flames. It was the perfect evening to curl up with a book and a cup of tea. Instead, she was practicing a speech in her head.
Nicholas has agreed to leave for India. I have every hope that he will drown en route.
No. That wouldn’t do. Better to leave the suggestion of death out of it.
I followed you before dawn, found where Nicholas was staying, and arranged a secret meeting.
No, no, no. That made everything sound so…deceptive. She had only wanted to keep Nathaniel safe! That was where the focus should be.
I love you. Please forgive me.
Better.
“Alice, you will wear a hole in the carpet with your pacing,” Eliza said from her cozy wingback chair. “What has you so worried?”
Alice threw herself on the purple settee with a groan. “Do you remember the letter I left for Mr. Manning?”
“Of course.” Eliza arched an eyebrow. “That is not the sort of escapade one easily forgets.”
“There’s a problem. A rather recent development, actually.”
“With the letter?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
Eliza studied her nails, almost as if she was hiding something.
Alice stared at her friend. Eliza obstinately pushed back a cuticle.
Alice narrowed her eyes. “Eliza.”
Eliza sighed. “I suppose it was too much to hope it would go undiscovered. I knew you would find out, eventually. You’re so clever, and it would be obvious soon enough what had happened—or not happened, as the case may be.”
In her mind’s eye, Alice saw the white corner of paper between Eliza’s fingers. She gasped. “You took the letter.”
“Yes,” Eliza whispered. “I took the letter.”
Alice gazed at her friend in bewilderment. “But…why?”
“Because I love you.” Eliza stood up and faced the fire. “My parents are dead. My brother is a good man in that he leaves me alone. We are not close. I have found myself quite lonely these past two years, with neither family nor close friends. Other young ladies don’t seem to favor my company, with the exception of Lady Claire.” Eliza smiled wryly. “They warm up a bit after they marry, and I’m no longer a threat.”
“But I am your friend, Eliza.”
“And I am yours. That’s why I couldn’t let you hand Nicholas over to that horrid Mr. Manning. If you had allowed Nicholas to be captured, Lord Abingdon would have been lost to you forever. He would never have forgiven you, Alice. You must know that.”
She did know that. Alice hadn’t intended Mr. Manning to capture Nicholas, but Eliza didn’t know that.
Which meant…
Oh, heavens.
She sucked in a sharp breath of air.
“If you are going to protest, I must stop you right there.” Eliza held up both hands. “You love him, Alice. I know you do. You can deny it all you wish, but it won’t change the truth of the matter. Grief has addled your brain somewhat, and perhaps you are scared to love again, and you think it can only end in pain. But you do love him, and you cannot have his brother murdered.”
“But, Eliza—”
“I betrayed you. You are not the kind to easily forgive such a thing. I knew when I replaced your card with a blank one that it must be this way. I shall be lonely without your friendship, but I hope that one day you will forgive me.” She caught a tear with one gloved finger and wiped it away.
“For God’s sake, Eliza!” Alice shouted. She jumped to her feet and gave her friend a rough shake of the shoulders. “The card was a trap for Mr. Manning, not Nicholas!”
Eliza’s mouth fell open in a perfectly round circle. “Oh. Oh, dear.”
“Oh, dear, indeed.” This was a disaster. “I found out where Nicholas was hiding and arranged to meet with him. We struck a deal. I would write whatever he wished on the card to Mr. Manning, and after the matter was taken care of, Nicholas would be on the next ship to India.”
She bit her lip wistfully. It had been such a marvelous plan. So neat and tidy, with no loose ends to tie up… If only she hadn’t fallen in love with Nathaniel and Eliza hadn’t stolen the letter.
As if reading her thoughts, Eliza asked sh
rewdly, “What did Lord Abingdon think of this plan?”
“He doesn’t know.” Alice buried her face in her hands and groaned. “I haven’t told him.”
“Ah.” Eliza frowned.
“Oh, hush. I intended to tell him this very evening. Only, now…” Alice sank helplessly on the settee. Words failed her.
“Only, now I’ve botched everything,” Eliza said almost cheerfully. “So, there is nothing you have to tell him, after all.”
That didn’t seem quite right. Nathaniel deserved the full measure of truth from her. But perhaps it mattered less now? Surely, her transgression was forgivable, now that it didn’t end with Nicholas in India…
Nicholas, however, would not be pleased.
She raised her eyes to Eliza and saw her own sudden horror staring back at her. The same thought had occurred to them both.
“What about Nicholas?” Eliza asked. “Will he…?”
“Kill Nathaniel? I don’t know. I don’t know!” Alice wailed. She clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging her palms. “Mr. Manning must already have seen the card and likely thinks I’m playing him a trick. Or that I’m abominably stupid. Let’s hope it’s the latter. I must find him. I will tell him it was an error and give him the real letter.”
“Alice, you can’t!” Eliza protested. “It was dangerous the first time, and it will be doubly so now.”
“But I must.” A gnawing dread took up residence in the pit of Alice’s belly. “I cannot let Nathaniel be harmed.”
Eliza bit her lip. She crossed the room and sat next to Alice on the settee, taking her hand. “Tell him everything. Give Lord Abingdon the information he needs to protect himself.”
If Alice told him the truth, then what? Nathaniel would seek out Mr. Manning, himself, to protect her, and Nicholas, too. What if Mr. Manning mistook Nathaniel for Nicholas? He would be captured and perhaps killed.
She pressed a fist to her mouth and shook her head. No, she couldn’t.
Eliza regarded her somberly. “Why do you have so little confidence in Lord Abingdon? He strikes me as a strong, capable man. Certainly, he’s one of the more intelligent men of our acquaintance.” She paused, considering. “Granted, he does not have much competition there.”
Alice laughed through a sob. “It’s not that I think him a dunce. It’s that people in my life have such a terrible habit of dying. First my fiancé, and then my sister. I can’t bear to lose Nathaniel, too.”
“Oh, Alice.” Eliza put her arm around her soothingly. “It will be all right.”
But she didn’t say how.
And Alice didn’t see how it possibly could be.
Why, oh, why had she been so bent on revenge?
Chapter Fifty-Five
Alice dressed for dinner that evening with trepidation. She had not seen Nathaniel since he had left her room earlier—when he had most decidedly not offered marriage…which was worrying, but could wait to be dealt with until she was sure he would be alive to follow through. She rushed Mary through her toilet and hair, anxious to find him downstairs before the other guests made their appearance.
Mary was unhappy with the final result, but Alice waved her away. She treaded lightly down the stairs and into the library. To her great disappointment, the room was empty save for Colonel Kent, who was nursing a brandy and frowning at the window.
Well. This was awkward.
And why was he imbibing such strong liquor right before dinner?
He turned as she entered. “Ah, Miss Bursnell.”
She was sore between her legs where Nathaniel had filled her only hours before. She felt it keenly as she stepped forward, and wondered if Colonel Kent could tell. He had asked her to consider him as a suitor, and now, not two days later, she had already fully given herself to another man.
Awkward, indeed.
“Miss Bursnell, I find myself in an unusually complicated and mystifying circumstance. Perhaps you can shed some light on the matter.” He placed his glass on a table and stood, hands clasped behind his back.
“I shall do my best, Colonel,” Alice said, feeling somewhat mystified herself.
“Lord Abingdon sought me out an hour ago. He requested my presence at a duel tomorrow morning. It seems I am to stand as a second.” He gave her a perplexed look. “Not as Lord Abingdon’s second, mind you, but as his brother’s. It is odd, yes? I do not even know the man! Were you aware that Lord Abingdon has a brother, Miss Bursnell?”
The room bucked and rolled as if caught by a stormy sea.
“Miss Bursnell!”
She pitched forward and found herself supported by Colonel Kent. She clung to his forearms for balance. “There is to be a duel? Between Lord Abingdon and his brother?”
“Please sit down. You are not well.” He tried to guide her to the sofa, but she gripped him tighter, holding him still. “Please, Miss Bursnell. You are so pale.”
“You must tell me! Mr. Eastwood challenged Lord Abingdon to a duel?” She forced the words through frozen lips. Oh, this was all her fault. Nicholas had found out about the letter, and he was furious.
“As preposterous as it sounds, I believe—” The colonel straightened, his eyes flicking over her shoulder. “Ah. Here is Lord Abingdon now. He can explain.”
She turned, startled. Were her eyes playing tricks on her? Surely, the man prowling toward her was Nicholas. This could not be Nathaniel. He looked…dangerous. Lethal, even. His eyes narrowed on Colonel Kent, and he moved like a lion stalking his prey. But the hand that grasped her around the waist was gentle.
“I have her,” he said.
Colonel Kent did not miss his meaning. “Of course you do.” He bowed. “Please excuse me, Miss Bursnell. Lord Abingdon, we shall discuss arrangements later.”
“We shall.”
He waited until Colonel Kent had left the room before he turned her to face him. “Alice.”
He was furious, she realized.
Well, he had every right to be.
“There’s been a terrible misunderstanding,” she rushed to say. His eyebrow quirked but she hurried on. “A week ago, I met a man in town.” She told him how she had discovered where Nicholas was hiding and met with him secretly. Without giving him a chance to interrupt, she explained about the note and the trap for Mr. Manning, and Eliza’s well-meaning interference. “So, Mr. Manning never saw the note, which means that Nicholas failed. He thinks I tricked him, and that’s why he challenged you to a duel!” she concluded breathlessly.
Nathaniel tilted her chin up with his finger. His expression hadn’t changed an iota. “None of that explains why you were in Colonel Kent’s arms just now.”
She huffed. Frustrating man!
“Did you hear what I said?” She grabbed fistfuls of his waist coat. “Nicholas is going to kill you!”
“What I heard you say was that you have been keeping dangerous secrets with dangerous men. What were you thinking, Alice? Whoever this Mr. Manning is, he obviously cannot be trusted. And my brother? I should have thought you, of all people, would know better than to meet Nick without a chaperone. But apparently not. And then I enter my own library only to find you embracing Colonel Kent!”
She pulled back and peered up at him. He looked like a sulky thundercloud. She would have laughed if the matter weren’t so very serious. “Please, Nathaniel. Don’t go through with the duel.”
“But I must. The challenge has been given and accepted. It’s a matter of honor.”
“Honor?” she repeated. “Piffle. That’s nothing but a silly concept invented by men to feel better about doing stupid things.”
“Alice,” he murmured, but he no longer looked like a thundercloud. Rather, he looked amused.
She gazed at him helplessly. Why, why, why wouldn’t he listen? Didn’t he understand that death was a permanent condition? She stretched up on her tiptoes and wound her arms around his neck. “Please,” she said, putting all her feelings of anguish into the word.
Before he could respond, she pres
sed her lips to his. It was a desperate ploy, and she poured everything she had into it. She couldn’t bear to lose him. She couldn’t.
Her tongue slipped past his lips, hungry and needy, begging him to understand. When he groaned, she clung more tightly and intensified the kiss.
Don’t leave me. Don’t trade your life for nothing.
His arms wrapped around her waist, at last, and he hauled her up against the hard ridge emanating below his belly. He tore his mouth from hers with a low rumble and buried his face against her neck.
“Alice.” His voice was raw and gravelly.
“Don’t go to the duel tomorrow,” she begged. “Go to Scotland instead,” she suggested hopefully. “Or Italy. I hear it’s lovely in the spring.”
He laughed. Actually laughed! As if life and death and duels and fratricide were mere children’s games.
Why were men such bloody fools?
Chapter Fifty-Six
That night in the wee hours, the mattress dipped and Alice rolled sleepily down the slope, startling awake when she landed against something solid and warm. She opened her mouth and found it quickly silenced by a large hand.
“Hush,” he whispered. “It’s me.”
She lightly nipped the pad of his finger, and the hand retreated. “I wasn’t going to scream. I knew it was you by your smell.”
“Is it terrible?” He nuzzled her neck. “You smell much better.”
“You smell delicious.” Edible. Not like a dessert, sweet and vanilla. No, Nathaniel was the main course. Savory, warm, and satisfying.
He lifted the covers and slid in beside her. He was in a wonderful state of undress—a shirt unbuttoned at the collar, trousers, and bare feet.
Within her heart, joy battled with despair. She knew why he’d come. He was here tonight because he might not be here tomorrow. Seconds after her desperate kiss in the library before dinner, the others had arrived and ended their conversation. She had been unable to get him alone after that to continue pleading her case.
She shivered and snuggled closer, her heart aching. She skimmed her hands over his shoulders to the muscled contours of his chest.
“I didn’t come here for lovemaking.” His eyes searched her face. “You must still be tender. I only want to hold you.”
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