Page 13 of Marriage Most Scandalous
Even though she’d stabbed home her point, he still said, “You should have just laid your cards before the local constable.”
“With what evidence?” Margaret countered. “Mere suspicions? Yet your father was nearly run over in London, and dangled from the bloody cliff for nearly an hour before someone found him, and, well, the list goes on, but even he thinks his accidents were just that, accidents.”
“Which is probably all they were. You’ve overstayed your welcome, which you didn’t have to begin with.” And then he added coldly, “I’m done with my family. Why the bloody hell do you think I’ve stayed away from England all these years?”
“Must I hire you to discover if the accidents were truly accidents or something more sinister?”
“A hundred thousand pounds,” he said.
Margaret gritted her teeth. He’d named that outrageous figure just to prove he wasn’t available to her. She knew it and wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
“Done,” she replied without inflection. “Shall we leave in the morning?”
“Wait just a minute. I wasn’t serious.”
“Too bad. I was. And if you renege now I will have you discredited. Word will spread immediately that The Raven isn’t trustworthy.”
“You’re going to regret this,” he said ominously.
“No, you will, if you do nothing after my warnings. Your brother and sister-in-law might despise each other, but I fear they are in agreement on having Edgewood to themselves. Someone has to put a stop to these accidents before someone actually dies, and I think you’re the only one who can do it.”
“I’d say they deserve whatever befalls them.”
“Even if she instigated the duel that sent you packing?”
Chapter 6
EVEN IF SHE INSTIGATED THE DUEL THAT SENT YOU PACKING?
Once the notion had taken hold, Sebastian couldn’t shake it. Had he been set up? Was it even possible to manipulate a situation that far in advance? Carry out a seduction to cause a duel that will bury your husband? Inconceivable. Juliette had only just married Giles. Even if she wasn’t happy with the arrangement, there were simpler ways to end it.
Sebastian paced the kitchen floor, a bottle of brandy in hand. John sat in a chair, quietly watching him. He’d offered Sebastian a glass at one point, though he should have known from experience that he would decline it. It didn’t happen often, but anger tended to make Sebastian lose all semblance of nobility.
John waited, probably worried that Sebastian might do something rash in his current state. He’d seemed pleased when he’d entered the kitchen. Sebastian wouldn’t be surprised if he’d listened at the door and so already knew they were going home. John had missed England as much as Sebastian had. He’d never said anything, but Sebastian knew he’d be glad to return. Sebastian wasn’t.
There wasn’t much that could disturb the iron control he’d mastered over the years, which was necessary in his line of work, but he’d really had to work at it today when faced with Lady Margaret’s obstinacy. Blasted hard-nosed bluestocking. He’d bet she was an accomplished horsewoman, too. And wore those new masculine-looking riding habits. Probably an avid gambler. A good shot. Some women just had to compete with men. He couldn’t imagine why, but they did, and he didn’t doubt Margaret Landor was one of them.
And she reminded him of home. God, did she ever, which brought it all back so vividly, the last few days he’d spent there. If only he’d known that Juliette was Giles’s new wife, or anyone’s wife, for that matter. If only she hadn’t been such a promiscuous whore. Giles wouldn’t have married her if he’d known. Sebastian could have resisted her if he’d known. He didn’t trifle with married women.
He’d actually considered himself lucky. There was the irony. Juliette was extremely lovely, vivacious, a bit too flamboyant for his usual tastes but so charming he’d been unable to resist her. He’d always enjoyed women, certainly didn’t turn down such blatant offers like Juliette’s. It wasn’t the first time he’d left a party with a rendezvous arranged.
But it was the last time . . .
Even if she instigated the duel that sent you packing?
Good God, why? So she could marry him instead? Had that been her plan? She’d already seduced him, so she might have been confident that she could woo him to marriage as well—if Giles was out of the way. Maybe she thought he wouldn’t marry a divorced woman. The upper crust were still sticklers about that. A widow was acceptable, though. But did she really think he’d marry his best friend’s widow after he’d killed his best friend?
He wouldn’t have, and that’s why the notion that he could have been set up had never occurred to him. But Juliette might not have known that, or she could have been counting on her charms to sway him.
If that had been her plan, it had definitely gone awry when his father disowned him because of the duel and he’d left England. So had she settled for Denton instead? And perhaps Denton was on to her? Margaret said they fought all the time. That could be why.
“Should I be packing, sir?”
John had to repeat the question before Sebastian finally heard it and joined John at the table. “So you were listening?”
“Of course.” John grinned. “Part of my job, don’t you know.”
“Yes, we’ll leave in the morning. And maybe I will refurbish this place when we get back. I’ll need something to spend Lady Margaret’s money on.”
