Page 85 of The Duke of Deceit

The door opened, and McGregor hurried inside with an apologetic nod to Barnes for interrupting. “Sir, you have a message from Mr. Graham.” The butler handed Lucien the sealed note. “Your other guests have also arrived. I’ve shown them to the billiards room as you requested.”

Perfect.“Thank you.”

McGregor waited beside the desk, knowing Lucien would have a return message.

“My apologies.” Lucien told Barnes and held up the note. “I’ve been expecting this.”

“Of course.” Barnes would give him wide berth for anything, Lucien knew. After all, he was plying the man with the best cognac France could produce…and had just given him exclusive information for the story of the decade.

Lucien cracked the seal and scanned the message.

Your Grace –

I have issued invitations and am preparing all the documents, as you requested. They will be completed on time. As for the other, I will make certain Miss Davidson and Miss St Claire arrive at 4 o’clock sharp.

Will you do me the honor of being my best man at the wedding?

– H. Graham

“McGregor, tell Mr. Graham thank you for his work.” Lucien’s mouth curled into a smile. “And that I would be honored.”

With a curt nod, McGregor left.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Lucien said apologetically as he rose from his chair, “I have yet another meeting tonight in preparation for tomorrow. I’m certain you understand.”

“I do, as long as I’m the first newspaper editor who hears of what happens,” Barnes said, finishing off his cognac with a large swallow before levering himself to his feet. “I can show myself out.”

“Thank you.”

Lucien nodded his goodbyes and strode from his study.

He heard his friends’ voices before he reached the billiards room in the rear of the house where a garden room should have been. But he was a bachelor, after all, and where else would a scoundrel keep his gaming tables if not in the most ludicrous place imaginable? That was just another of the many things he hoped to change over the next few weeks.

He stopped in the doorway and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe, crossed his arms, and smiled to himself at the sight of his friends. Devlin Raines, Shay Douglass, and Chase Maddox had been his best friends since they were fourteen, when they all met at Eton as students of Anthony Titus,maître d’armesand former captain of the King’s Guard.

As he watched them now, moving around the room as they took turns making shots and helping themselves to the liquor cabinet, time seemed to fold in upon itself. For a moment, Lucien could almost believe they were all back at school with their lives still ahead of them and so many mistakes not yet made. Mistakes that could still be avoided.

“I don’t understand the appeal of this game,” Chase commented as he rubbed chalk onto the end of his cue stick, notyet realizing that Lucien stood in the doorway, hidden by the shadows. “How men can waste entire evenings playing it, how they can lose fortunes over each ball. After all,” he murmured as he stepped up to the table and leaned over to line up his shot, “it takes no more skills than a solid understanding of geometry and a steady hand.” He sank two balls with a canon shot and grinned. “Luckily, I’m blessed with both.”

“Luckis right,” Devlin countered, toasting the shot by raising his glass of port. “I’ll wager a hundred pounds you can’t sink that shot a second time.”

“I wouldn’t want to show both of you up.” Chase shook his head and plopped down onto one of the red leather chairs lining the wall and hooked his leg over the rolled chair arm as if they truly were still students. He crooked a wide grin and flipped the score string on the wall over his head with the tip of his cue. “Especially since I just won.”

Devlin snorted at that.

Even Shay laughed as he fished into the table’s pockets to retrieve the balls and set them back out onto their spots.

Good God, Lucien couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard Shay laugh, certainly long before his brother died and long before he fell in love with Lady Sophie Winter, even when he knew he could never have her. It had been too long since he’d seen the same in Chase, who was momentarily carefree, the specter of grief for once not darkening his brow. Even Devlin, who was successfully working to exorcise the demons that had pursued him since childhood, was happier than he’d been in years. If ever.

No small part of that had come from the four of them working together to support each other as they always had. As he hoped they would do for him again tomorrow. He knew the battle that had to be waged, and he couldn’t face this fight alone.

“Thank you for coming,” Lucien said as he pushed himself away from the doorway and stepped into the room. All three pairs of eyes landed on him. “I need your help with a very delicate matter.”

“What is it?” Devlin asked.

Lucien took a deep breath and explained his plan, why he was doing it, and how much he needed their help to succeed. The rest of his life depended upon what happened tomorrow.

When he finished, Chase came to his feet as the solemnity of the situation descended upon them and walked forward. “You have my help.”