Page 5 of Marriage Most Scandalous
Sebastian didn’t bat an eye. “The floor could stand a few boards, but otherwise, I’ve enjoyed the vacation.”
Leopold smiled. “Excellent. It’s too bad we couldn’t come to terms sooner, but I assume you are ready to get back to work now?”
“You shouldn’t assume.”
Leopold’s smile didn’t falter. He was obviously certain he held the upper hand. Sebastian couldn’t quite figure out how. Keeping him imprisoned wasn’t going to get the job done. Letting him go wasn’t going to get it done either.
He pointed out, “Detaining me here because I refuse to work for you is illegal.”
“But that’s not why you are here,” Leopold said jovially. “I can think of any number of crimes you have committed. Execution is possible, though I suspect even that won’t sway you. But come now, let’s not be melodramatic. You’ve been my guest—”
“Prisoner,” Sebastian cut in. “Guest,” Leopold insisted. “If you were a prisoner, these accommodations wouldn’t be nearly so pleasant, I do assure you. But perhaps I’ve visited too soon. Shall I return next week, to find out if you tire of this ‘vacation’?”
Sebastian finally raised a brow. “And then the week after that, and the one after that? This doesn’t get your wife found, does it?”
Leopold seemed surprised. “You would be so stubborn? Why?”
“As I told your man, I can’t take this job because of where it leads. I swore an oath I’d never return to England. I’m not going to break that oath for monetary gain.”
“Why did you make that oath?”
“That, sir, is none of your business.”
“I see,” Leopold said thoughtfully. “Then I suppose I must appeal to your sympathy.”
“Don’t bother,” Sebastian replied. “A man in my occupation can have none.”
Leopold laughed. “Of course not—on the surface. But hear me out, then we shall see.”
The duke began to pace as he gathered his thoughts. With such limited space, and four burly guards filling up most of it, he soon gave up and stood still again. Sebastian wondered if what he was going to hear would be the truth, or a fabrication to stir his so-called sympathies.
“I married my wife in good faith. It was an unhappy match, though, as we both soon found out. She could have had a divorce. She need only have asked for it. Instead she chose to run off, pretending to have been kidnapped so she would have the means to live comfortably.”
“I know all this—”
“You know nothing!” Leopold interrupted, a bit more sharply than he probably intended.
In that brief moment, the real man was revealed, a hottempered autocrat. A man who assumed he had unlimited power, true or not, was very dangerous. Sebastian might have to rethink his situation.
“Why didn’t you appeal to the English government to assist you in finding her? They have branches that are quite good at that sort of thing. That would still be your best course of action.”
“I am an Austrian duke,” Leopold said, a degree of annoyance mixed into his condescending tone. “I cannot put myself in a position where I would owe favors to another government. I’ve sent men, a countless number. That should have been sufficient.”
Sebastian held back a snort. “When did you send the last one?”
Leopold frowned, his eyes moving about as if he were searching for an answer, and in fact he was. He really couldn’t remember.
“Last year—no, the year before that,” he finally said.
Sebastian shook his head, couldn’t keep the disgust out of his eyes. “What am I doing here? It’s obvious you don’t really want her back.”
Leopold stiffened, said in his own defense, “I had given up! I was going to have her declared dead. But my darling Maria won’t marry me without proof of death or divorce. She’s fearful of giving me heirs that could be declared bastards if my first wife should ever return.”
Smart girl, Sebastian thought to himself, then abruptly amended, not smart at all if she was willing to marry this fellow. Of course, the duke might be a completely different man when dealing with his “love.”
Leopold continued, “If I had known there were men like you, I would have seen this matter resolved long ago. Your arrival in my town has given me new hope. It is said you have never failed to complete a job successfully. A sterling record like that demands a challenge like this, don’t you agree? Or have you based your career on simple jobs that any fool could accomplish?”
“Save your breath,” Sebastian said. “I am impervious to insults. My answer stands, for the reasons given. Whether I would like to help you or not is moot. Your wife’s location is the deciding factor.”
