Three Nights with a Scoundrel (Stud Club #3)(24)

“Then why did you accept this?” The duke held up the bank draft.

“As a bond, of sorts. To certify your good faith and innocence. I’m convinced of those things now.” Albeit grudgingly.

“Well,” Morland said dryly. “And here it only took five months. I thought I said the remainder of the amount was supposed to go to Lily.”

“She won’t take it. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

“Well, then.” The duke folded the paper and ripped it in quarters before casting it into the fire.

“You still owe her your assistance.” Julian leaned forward to confront the duke, bracing his elbows on his knees.

“I assume you have something specific in mind.”

He nodded. “There’s more to the story. Faraday had a theory as to why those men attacked him and Leo. And the evidence supports his conclusion.”

“Which is …?” Morland leaned forward with interest.

Julian hesitated. He hadn’t spoken of this to anyone since Cornwall. “The attack was meant for me. Someone wants me dead.”

As he spoke the words, he felt the tension in his shoulders melt. Strange, that an admission of imminent danger and possible pursuant death would be accompanied by the sensation of relief. But it was. It helped to talk, and there were few people with whom he could discuss this openly. His usual confidants were Leo and Lily. One was dead, and the other must never know anything of this.

“Just one person?” Morland scoffed. “I would have wagered many.”

“God damn it. This is serious.” Julian rose from his chair and paced the carpet’s antique gold fringe. “Leo’s dead, and—”

His voice broke at the sudden memory of Leo’s battered face. That image haunted him, even now. Leo had died too quickly for much bruising to occur. His features had been not so much swollen as … misshapen. Broken beyond repair.

“Leo’s dead, and it’s my fault. You’re right, my enemies are plentiful. That’s the bloody problem. If there were only one person, I’d know where to go. But there are too many men with a grievance against me, and some incidents are decades in the past.” He couldn’t just go knocking on doors and ask, Beg pardon, but are you the one who’s discovered my true identity and wants me dead? He massaged his temple with one hand. “If I want to find Leo’s killers, I’ll have to find the man who hired them. Which means I’ll have to provoke him, draw him out.”

“Draw him out? None of this makes sense. It’s been five months since Leo died. If someone truly wanted to kill you and failed, one would think by now he’d have taken a second stab at it.” To Julian’s affronted silence, Morland half-shrugged in apology. “Poor choice of words.”

“Yes. I’ve noticed you have that problem.”

The duke went on, “Have there been any other direct attempts on your life?”

“No,” Julian admitted. “Not that I’m aware.”

“Then why are you so convinced it was a planned attack meant for you?”

“It only makes sense. The timing, the method, the resemblance between me and Faraday. He even said Leo’s last words were ‘Tell Julian.’” He turned away, swearing softly. “The man lay wounded and dying, and his last thought was to warn me.”

Leo was decent and selfless to the last, and what had Julian offered in return? Lies. Lies, and improper lust for the man’s only sister. What a miserable excuse for a friend he’d been.

“That proves nothing. He was wounded, and you were his closest friend. In any scrape, wouldn’t his first thought be, ‘Tell Julian’?” Morland approached, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. “Listen. Leo was murdered by footpads. It was a random attack by petty criminals, not paid assassins. This was the simplest explanation from the first, and it remains the most credible theory now. It’s a tragedy. But you need to let it go and move on.”

“I can’t. You don’t understand.” And neither could Julian explain it. He surmised that Morland had some notion of his less-than-illustrious origins. But the duke didn’t know the particulars.

Someone out there did. And that someone wanted him dead, eventually. Five months were an insignificant delay, after so many years.

“There will come a time,” he said, “perhaps quite soon, when I will disappear. Whether voluntarily or not, I dare not guess. When that happens, you must promise me you’ll look after Lily.”

Morland looked surprised. “Certainly. Amelia is very close to Lily. We’ll offer her any assistance she might require.”

“Damn your offers of assistance. I need you to protect her.” Julian gestured angrily in the direction of the dining room. “Better than you did in there just now.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. That row of trained porpoises at the dinner table.”

The duke raised an eyebrow. “That was not—”

“The devil it wasn’t. And then that odious Commander Merriwin, taking every opportunity to fondle her wrist.”

“Fondle? I scarcely think—”

“Exactly. You scarcely thought.” Julian leveled a finger at Morland, leaving him with a tenuous grasp on his emotions. “This is your house. Lily is your guest. How could you allow those … those seafaring apes to make a mockery of her, right to her face?”