Bronwyn Scott's Sexy Regency Bundle (179 page)

'I don't know.. .' Uncle

sputtered.

'Yes, you do,' Oswalt sneered, all veneer of friendship gone from his face. 'You know Julia's marriage to me is the only thing that will keep your family financially viable.'

'I won't go with you,' Julia protested.

'Wants are of no consequence. That's what my men are for. Men, help Miss Prentiss to my carriage. You three, handle the arrogant Mr

for me. You

know what to do. I believe you have a score to settle from the Cotswold road with the gent.'

Julia screamed and grabbed up the nearest vase, hurling it at the closest attacker. Various parts of the tea set followed in quick succession. All to no avail. In the end, there were more men than tea sets and thin china shards were no deterrent to men used to knives in London's dark alleys. The men seized her roughly by the arms and hauled her towards the door.

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Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

She dragged her heels and screamed for Paine, but Paine was fully engaged with three burly men, warding off snaggle-bladed knives with a delicate chair. He was doing well, having survived thus far with only a streak of blood showing on his arm. Then, suddenly, for no explicable reason he collapsed on the floor in a dead heap.

man stood over Paine, knife ready to deal a final blow. Julia screamed again, fear for Paine giving her more strength. Oswalt called him off. 'Let's go. He can't follow us if he's dead. We want him to live a while longer.'

'Uncle! Help me, stop him,' Julia cried a desperate plea, swivelling her head around to the corner where Uncle

had retreated during the fight. Surely, now at the last, when all the masks had been pulled from the vileness of

scheme, her uncle would do

something! But the shock of losing Gray had numbed him completely. He huddled in the corner, helpless and ineffectual.

'Uncle! she cried once more, thrashing in the grasp of her captors. But she knew, even as she called for him, she was entirely on her own.

Oswalt was not amenable to her pleas.

silence the

bitch myself.' He advanced on her. Julia anticipated a blow to the head. Instead, she saw it coming too late. He grabbed her hand and scratched it with the ring he wore.

The sensation rendered her senseless, no matter how she tried to fight the descending

in her mind.

Sam Brown didn't like the way events were developing one bit. He dutifully deposited the unconscious

Scott

girl in the small chamber on the top floor that Oswalt had set aside, but he didn't like it. Swindling a weak viscount was one thing. They'd done that often enough in the past. But involving an innocent girl was beyond the pale in his book.

He sought out Oswalt, finding him in the large office on the second floor.

'Is it done?' Oswalt barked when Sam Brown came to the door.

'About that, boss. . . ' Sam Brown began. He did not make a habit of questioning Oswalt. 'What are we doing with her?'

'We're not doing anything with her. I'm marrying her tonight.' Oswalt stopped long enough to cough, a harsh racking sound. He spit into a brass spittoon. 'Once I marry her, all my problems will be over.' He coughed again.

Sam noticed the papery quality to Oswalt's sallow He had not

how frail the man had become.

'You've got

ruined. You don't need her.'

Oswalt eyed him curiously. 'Is a pretty face all it takes to turn your head these days, Sam? Time was when you were immune to that.'

Sam shifted from foot to foot. 'Time was, I only dealt with the coves you were culling and it was good sport,' he dared bravely.

'Today's not the day to get squeamish. I need her to secure the knighthood and, more importantly, I need her for my cure so I can live long enough to receive that title.'

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Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady

'Your cure? You can't believe all that Druid nonsense about restoring your potency,' Sam blurted out.

'Druid nonsense?' Oswalt snarled. 'It's hardly nonsense. It's the reason I've lived so long as it is in spite of my affliction.'

Affliction,

Oswalt's ailment was more than a minor affliction. It was pox at best, syphilis at worst, Sam Brown mused, and it would kill the young girl upstairs in a slow torturous death that was unworthy of her.

Oswalt waved him away. 'Back to work, Brown.

There's plenty to be done before tonight. Send my physician in on the way out.'

Sam Brown grunted. He'd been lucky Oswalt hadn't taken his head off. What had he expected to accomplish? He hadn't really expected to dissuade Oswalt. He knew the man was intractable once he had made his plans.

He found the forest crone Oswalt loosely titled as

'physician' and went outside to the lawn where workers were erecting a large slab. He didn't like to think what it was going to be used for. Oswalt had taken great relish in outlining what would be done to purify his bride on that slab. The description had turned Brown's stomach.

No, he didn't like the direction Oswalt's plot had taken. He was a straightforward man who liked direct action. He didn't mind ruining the viscount, who was most likely ruined already by the hand of his own stupidity. Brown didn't mind picking a fight with coves like who knew the rules and the consequences for living in the stews and hells. He hadn't liked 'cheating'