The Study of Seduction (Sinful Suitors, #2)(92)

Warren leaned forward. “Going to his superiors won’t solve the problem that he’s dueling with Edwin in Green Park in a little over an hour.”

Fulkham rose. “Then I’ll have to go there with you, and tell him precisely what sort of trouble he’ll be in if he persists in his madness. We won’t allow an English citizen, no matter what his crime, to be assassinated by a Frenchman, even a diplomat.”

The baron headed for the door to get dressed, then paused. “It’s curious, though. What does Durand think to accomplish with a duel?”

“By eliminating me,” Edwin said, “he thinks to gain control over my wife and force her into telling him where Niall is.”

“Then why hasn’t he done that before? Why not abduct her off the street? Use brute force to convince her to do so?”

“He tried courting her, no doubt so he wouldn’t tip his hand and give her a chance to warn Niall. When she persisted in refusing his advances, he started shadowing her, which is when I stepped in and married her.”

“So she’s been with you since then.”

“At my estate, where it would have been hard for him to roam without comment. We only returned to town last evening for a celebration of our marriage. He tried to get her alone, and I stepped in. That was when he challenged me.”

“Hmm.” Fulkham stared at Edwin. “So where is your wife now?”

The question made him uneasy. “At home asleep, I hope.”

“Or, if she’s anything like my indomitable sister-in-law, preparing to go to Green Park and plead with you not to fight.”

Edwin’s blood chilled. “Damn it all to hell.” He jumped to his feet. “She would do that, too. She doesn’t know we’re here. And if we don’t return—”

“Go, go,” Fulkham said. “I’ll dress and head to the dueling field, while you two return home. You can probably catch her if you hurry.”

Edwin rushed from the study, with Warren cursing behind him. They leapt into Warren’s carriage, ordering his coachman to drive at top speed to Edwin’s town house.

As the rig pulled away, Warren said, “Perhaps she won’t go. She said she was washing her hands of the whole thing.”

“She also said she loved me.” Edwin’s throat felt raw with fear. “And Clarissa is precisely the sort of woman who gives a man her whole self once she falls in love. She will fight for me with her last breath.”

“The way you’re fighting for her,” Warren remarked. “You swallowed your pride for her, you gave up your plans for a peaceful life for her, and you clearly will do anything for her. I think she’s not the only one in love, old chap.”

As the truth hit him, Edwin sucked in a ragged breath. No, she wasn’t the only one.

All these years, he’d avoided the tumult that love could bring, but it had slipped under his guard while he wasn’t looking. The idea of something happening to her, of living without her, stole the breath from his soul. He couldn’t stand to think of her suffering one second of Durand’s cruelty. What was that but love?

Now that he knew what it felt like to crave her company and her teasing, to seek her touch in the middle of the night when the world seemed darkest, he couldn’t imagine his father feeling any of that and still taking his friend’s side over his wife’s. Mother might have been in love, but Father couldn’t have known the meaning of the word.

“She’ll be all right,” Warren said. “I’m sure she will.”

“If she isn’t, I swear I’ll cut out Durand’s heart and crush it under my heel. I’ll draw and quarter him myself. I’ll—”

“I get the gist,” Warren said grimly. “But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, my friend. Because I don’t fancy watching you hang for the murder of a worthless arse like Durand.”





Twenty-Five


It was no surprise that Clarissa hadn’t been able to sleep after she saw Edwin and Warren leave the house. She tried, she really did, but she couldn’t stop worrying. She kept waiting for them to return, not sure where they’d even gone, but by 4:00 A.M., she knew it was growing too late for them to get back before the duel began.

Which meant they were probably already on their way to Green Park. Curse them both.

She rose and got dressed, muttering at her cousin the whole time. Hadn’t he been able to stop her husband, his friend? She’d blurted out that she loved Edwin in the vain hope that it would give him pause, but clearly even that couldn’t have an impact on the dratted idiot.

After fretting a while longer, she decided enough was enough. She was not going to let her husband do this insane thing. If she had to, she’d stand between him and Count Durand. Because she didn’t want to lose Edwin. She’d lost enough in her life.

No more.

She went downstairs and roused a servant, then called for her carriage. It came surprisingly quickly. It was only after she’d gone out the door that she realized it wasn’t her carriage waiting for her at the bottom of the steps. She paused, but before she could react, someone stepped behind her and she felt a hard object shoved into her side.

“There you are, my dear,” said the voice she’d grown to loathe. “I knew you couldn’t resist going to the duel.”