Chapter Thirty-Six
F inn’s gaze searched his wife’s face when she returned to his side.
“You look rather pale. Did Lord Neville say something untoward?”
Lily looked up at him with those wide gray eyes and shook her head. “He was polite enough.”
“Then what is the matter?” he asked more firmly, because it was clear something was wrong.
“I’m well. I just need to go to the retiring room. I’ll be back shortly.”
Before he could offer to escort her, she spun and hurried away from him to disappear in the crush of people.
He waited for a few moments and then a while longer before giving up and making his way toward the exit leading to the corridor. He didn’t know where the lady’s retiring room was, but assumed it would be down this hall.
He wanted to get out of the stifling room, but more importantly, he wanted to speak to Lily quietly. If someone had said something to upset her, they would leave that instant.
He’d been proud to enter the room with such a beautiful woman on his arm, but he’d heard a few whispers insinuating Lily had trapped him into marriage. He wasn’t sure how such a rumor had been started, but didn’t put it past a harpy such as Millicent.
Finn leaned against the wall, waiting for Lily. He wouldn’t be sorry to leave now. He wished to know who had come up with the rule that couples should dance no more than three times at an event. And why would such a rule apply to husbands and wives? No doubt most men of the ton leaned on such a rule to get out of having to touch their wives.
Finn was so intent on watching for Lily, he didn’t realize someone had come to stand close to him.
Finn turned to look at the man with a questioning raise of his brows. He didn’t know this person. Or at least he didn’t think they had ever met. He’d seen him at his old haunts with Reese and Shay. Finn recalled he was a loud, obnoxious man.
On appearances alone, Finn didn’t think he wanted to make acquaintances with the gentleman. He had a snide smile on his lips and an unsavory glint in his blue eyes.
“Might I have a word alone, Your Grace?”
Letting out a sigh, Finn gave a nod and followed the man to a different corridor.
“What can I do for you, Lord…?”
“Mister. Mister Reginald Flockton.”
Finn said nothing else, just waited for the man to get on with it. No doubt he wanted money for some flighty investment scheme or wanted Finn to fund an invention. Finn was not expecting his next words.
“It is beyond intriguing how the son of the third son of a baron will one day be a duke, is it not?”
Finn schooled his reaction, though it was clear this man was the weasel-arse that had abandoned Lily.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.”
The man’s eyes went wide in feigned surprise.
“Please tell me she didn’t try to pass my child off as yours. Unless…” the man leaned closer and Finn caught a burning whiff of gin on his breath. “Did she take you to her bed that same day? Then I guess it could be yours. I thought she would have needed a few days to get over me, at least.”
Finn looked about the hall and when he found they were alone, he grabbed the man by his cravat and shoved him against the wall.
“I’ll ask you to watch what you say about my wife.”
The man didn’t even wince at being held by his neck. Finn imagined such a man was probably threatened on a daily basis. What had Lily seen in this scoundrel?
But, of course, he knew the answer. She’d seen an escape from her life of being ignored and forgotten. This blighter had pretended to care for her, made her feel as if she were special. And then left her.
The man chuckled and Finn let him slither down the wall to his feet. It would be better if they didn’t look suspicious if someone were to find them in the hall. And he didn’t want Lily to come out to see them fighting. Finn was better than this.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to say anything. As long as you give me a reason not to.”
Finn glared at the man as his words fell into place.
The weasel of an arse was attempting to blackmail him.
“I’m sure there are plenty of people in the House of Lords who would want to know the Earl of Haliday is not the rightful heir of the dukedom.”
Finn laughed. The whole situation was preposterous.
“Lily and I were married when he was born. He is my son. No one will question a duke.”
“Will they question a duchess?” he asked. “If you’re not worried about my boy losing his title, then maybe you care about your wife’s reputation.”
Again, he was reaching. Right or wrong, when he married Lily she and their child were marked beyond reproach. However, he’d heard the gossip that Lily had trapped him. He didn’t believe it for a moment but those rumors along with Mr. Flockton’s allegations could be damning.
Finn knew better than to let the man see any hint of doubt.
“You think the ton will believe the word of you, the third son of a baron, over a duke?”
“I don’t need anyone to believe me. I only need them to doubt her.”
Finn had reached the end of his patience.
“You won’t have the option to cast doubts when you’re lying face up in Hyde Park with my bullet in your gut. I shall see you at dawn along with your second. I demand satisfaction.”
The man turned pale and his lips fell from the smug smile into a gaping hole.
“Bu-but I was not going to ask for such a large sum.” Shaking his head, he changed tack once more. “I was only jesting.”
“So, you did not leave a woman in a tavern in Scotland with no funds after you’d ruined her?”
“Well… she knew it was just for the night. I never made any promises.”
“But you did. You promised to marry her.”
“She’s lying.” He must have realized that was the wrong thing to say for he shook his head and tried yet again to talk himself out of certain death. “That is, yes. I might have made it sound like I planned to marry her, but she left willingly.”
“Dawn. If you are not there, I will hunt you down like the cowardly slug you are. Now get out of my sight before I choke the life from you here in my evening clothes.”
The man didn’t need a second warning. He scurried off like the weasel Lily had named him. Finn wondered if the man would even show up for the duel. If he had enough honor to do so, Finn would see the monster never preyed on another na?ve young lady ever again.
It was hard to ruin someone from the grave.
A door farther down the hall opened and Beatrice came forward laughing with another young woman.
“That should teach her for taking the man that was supposed to be mi—” She froze when she saw him standing there and her cat’s grin pulled up her lips. “Good evening, Your Grace. I was hoping you would seek me out for a dance this evening.”
“I am waiting for my wife. I assume she is in the retiring room?” Was he the person Beatrice was just speaking about? Was he the one she thought was supposed to be hers? Had she done something to Lily?
Finn was still too angry to deal with the wench.
“I didn’t see her in there, did you, Miss Stife?”
“Well… uh…” Looking between an enraged duke and Beatrice, the woman seemed to weigh her options. “Yes, she is inside. She seemed… upset.”
Beatrice huffed and smiled up at him.
“Should we dance?” she said as if she hadn’t noticed the fire in his eyes. Then she placed her hands on his arm. “I know you didn’t want her. She trapped you. It is only fair you should be allowed to do what you want.”
“Get out of my sight.”
Beatrice looked surprised, but must have finally noticed he was livid. She and Miss Stife hurried away. Finn stormed toward the retiring room just as Lily came out, her gown wet and her eyes red.
His anger doubled as he went to her.
“What happened?”
“’Tis nothing. I was careless with the water is all.”
She was lying to him.
She probably thought brushing off whatever Beatrice had done was the easiest course. Or mayhap she didn’t think to bother him. She was always trying not to be a bother for anyone.
“We are leaving,” he said, trying to hold in his fury with her, with Beatrice, with Flockton, with everyone it seemed.
Lily followed along behind him in silence as they went to their carriage and he told the driver to take them home immediately.
“It is not so bad. It’s only a bit of water,” she said, unknowing to everything else that had transpired that evening.
“Reginald Flockton, Lily?” he said while rubbing his temples where a headache had started.
Lily gasped and he didn’t need to look at her to see her large eyes were wide in shock.
“You couldn’t see what a rotter he was? I only knew the man for a few seconds and could see the filth oozing from him.”
“What did he say?” she asked.
“Why? If I tell you he didn’t say anything about being the man you fled to Scotland to marry, would you lie to me as you did about what Beatrice did to your gown this evening?”
“I—I meant only to—”
“Not be a bother?” he finished for her. It seemed he was angry at her, though he wasn’t sure why. She was the one who’d been wronged. Still, he couldn’t help himself. “The situation has become quite a bother when he attempted to blackmail me to keep his silence about your son’s parentage.”
Lily gasped again and he knew why. He’d never referred to William as her son. It was always their son. Ever since the moment they’d wed. But it slipped out now at the worst possible time.
“If it is the money, you can use the funds from my dowry to pay him.”
“Pay him? Don’t you understand anything, Lily? That’s not how it works. If we pay him today, he’ll just come back tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that.”
They had arrived home and he allowed the footman to hand her down. He couldn’t touch her at the moment, not when he was so furious. Not that he was in any danger of causing her harm, but to touch her would surely dissolve his frustrations and he wasn’t ready to let go of his anger.
As they entered the house she headed for the stairs, but he stopped her.
“Leave us,” he said to the servants in the foyer. When they were alone, he said, “I will take care of this as men take care of things. It is the only way.”
“A duel? You cannot shoot him, Finn.”
“I can. Isn’t that what I do? Take care of your unfortunate situations ?”
She flinched away from him as if he’d hit her. He understood he was being beastly to the person who had been wronged by everyone, and now apparently him as well. But his temper had been ignited and words came out he didn’t mean.
Rubbing his temples again, he shook his head. “Forgive me, Lily. I didn’t mean that. I have much to do to defend your honor.”
“I don’t need you to defend me. Who cares if he tells everyone? You told me it didn’t matter, that we were above it.”
“You think I’m to sit back as that snake disparages my wife’s name? If you don’t care for yourself, think of William and what this will mean for him. A cloud of doubt over him all his life. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not, but Reggie is no one against the word of a duke.”
“He is someone, Lily. You made him someone when you ran off with him. When you loved him.”
“This is not about me or my honor, or even about William. This is about your pride. Don’t you see, Finn? This is what he does.”
“It is too late now. It is done. If you’ll excuse me.” He went to his study and penned two notes and sent footmen out to find Reese and Shay. Chances were good they would be together, but having two messages meant they’d be found quicker.
Going to his desk, he pulled out the wooden box that had been there as long as he could remember. He opened it to see the dueling pistols that once belonged to his father.
As far as Finn knew, his father had never had need of them. Finn was surprised to be needing them himself. Despite his Scot’s blood, he was normally slow to anger. But he had reached his limit when Reginald Flockton had threatened his family.
He poured a second glass of whisky when the first one was gone. He was on his fourth when Reese and Shay were announced by the butler.
“What’s happened?” Shay asked.
Finn threw back the remains of his glass and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his coat.
“I need one of you to be my second. You can decide who gets the honor.”
“Bloody hell,” Reese said.
Bloody hell, indeed.