To Catch A Duke (12 page)

"Do not think that you have
Radcliffe," the marquess hissed.
 
"He does not love you.
 
Oh,
you might be fine for a tumble, but that is all.
 
I can offer you more, so much more.
 
All you have to do is allow me to prove it to you."

"No."
 
Julia's temper was rising.
 
The
ton
thought her meek, but she was
not.
 
She never had been.
 
Far from it.
 
It was only an illusion and one she no longer felt like keeping up.
 
"I am sorry, but I am not
interested.
 
Now please, leave me
be."
 
She saw that Anthony and
Meggy had somehow managed to get around Landover's driver and were now hurrying
toward her.

The marquess glared down at her,
ice in his eyes.
 
"No, you listen
to me, you silly little chit.
 
There are
things about your precious duke that you do not know.
 
Things he does not want you to know.
 
Secrets that could destroy all of you, including your brother.
 
But I'm willing to keep those secrets.
 
For a price.
 
Become my mistress, and I will not breathe a word.
 
Refuse me, and you and those you care for
will suffer."

"Do not threaten the
lady."
 
Julia would know Benjamin's
voice anywhere and she had never been more thankful for his sudden
appearances.
 
"What you think you
know about me and mine could fill a thimble, you lackwit."
 
Then Benjamin reached out and removed
Landover's hand from Julia's arm where it still rested.
 
"If you approach her again, threaten
her in any way, I will make you very, very sorry."
 
There was a dark light in Benjamin's eyes
that she had never seen before, and it scared her a little.
 
"You know that I can.
 
Do not test me."

To his credit, Landover had the
good sense to jerk his arm from the duke's grasp and back up, giving Julia room
to breathe.
 
"And don't you
threaten me."
 
There was anger in
the marquess' voice, but a healthy dose of fear as well.
 
"I know things, Radcliffe.
 
Dark things."

"As do it."
 
Benjamin seemed bored now, which helped to
put Julia's mind at ease.
 
He was
unlikely to kill anyone if he was acting bored.
 
"Not to mention that I have the ear of Prinny.
 
Which you, I would like to point out, do
not.
 
Remember that before you go about
threatening decent young ladies again."
 
His eyes flicked towards Julia for a moment.
 
"I would hate for you to lose your standing invitation to
Carlton House should our prince find out that you are not at all a
gentleman."

Landover spun on his heel and began
to stalk away, but then abruptly turned back to glare at both of them once
more.
 
"I can ruin you.
 
Do not think otherwise."
 
Then he stalked off, his driver, the same
one who had detained Anthony and Meggy, falling into step behind the marquess.

Benjamin watched Landover until he
was gone, then turned back to Julia.
 
"Are you well?
 
Did he hurt
you?"
 
His gaze roamed her person,
but didn't see any obvious signs that she'd been injured.

Shaking her head, she swallowed
hard.
 
"No.
 
He simply ruined an otherwise nice
day."
 
Then she looked at Benjamin,
her eyes narrowing.
 
"What kind of
secrets could Landover know about you?
 
About me, for that matter?"

"None," he replied and
hoped he would not be struck dead in the street for lying.
 
Then, needing to vent the anger that had
been rising in him, he turned and glared fiercely at the assembled crowd.
 
"Is there something more you wish to
see?
 
The man accosted the lady, and I
intervened."
 
At his continued
glare, those assembled began to slowly disperse, though they continued to
whisper as they went, and he had no doubt that the incident would be reported
in breathless detail in the next day's papers.

When he was satisfied that they
were gone, the duke turned back to the woman at his side.
 
The woman he would spare any hurt were it in
his power.
 
"They will talk, you know,
but there will not be a scandal."

"I know."
 
She sighed then, and he knew how hard this
must be for her.
 
After a lifetime of
near isolation, to be the subject of such gossip must be difficult.
 
"But it could not be avoided.
 
I am not certain what game the man is
playing, but I do not care for it.
 
I do
not care for him."

Nodding, Benjamin offered her his
arm.
 
"Then perhaps it is time for
you to return home."
 
He motioned
for Anthony to open the carriage door, but Julia stayed him with a hand.

"I would like to walk for a
bit, if you please."
 
While early
summer was in the air, it was different here than it was at home.
 
Still, she felt the need to be in the open,
the air of the city suddenly stifling.
 
"I fear that I need to calm down as well."

As they walked, Anthony and Meggy
fell in behind them, clearly not about to let another incident occur while on
their watch.
 
Julia observed them with a
smile.
 
"It is not their fault, you
know."
 
She didn't want the duke to
blame either of her servants.
 
Landover
had ambushed them.

"I know."
 
He paused to bow slightly to an older woman,
one of the matriarchs of London society.
 
"Landover is a tricky one.
 
He will do and say whatever he pleases to get his way.
 
Including lying and detaining young
women."

"I would have hit him, you
know."
 
She peeked up at him from
beneath her bonnet.
 
"Had he
continued to touch me or made another move on my person, I would have struck
him."
 
She smiled at an older man
she remembered from the theater.
 
"It might not have been proper, but I would have done it
regardless."
 
She slowed her steps,
forcing Benjamin to slow his pace as well.
 
"Perhaps I do not belong here.
 
Perhaps I should go home now before anything else happens.
 
Lies they may be, but the marquess can do a
fair bit of damage should he wish it, I am certain.
 
All it would take is a hint of scandal.
 
Nicholas is on precarious terms with society as it is."

Incensed, Benjamin pulled her aside
and out of the way of the steady stream of people traversing the boards.
 
"Do not say that!
 
Ever!
 
Then you will allow that monster to win, and I won't have it!"

She raised her eyebrows, almost
daring him to continue.
 
"Really?
 
Care to enlighten
me, my lord."

Running a hand through his hair,
Benjamin knew he was in a quandary.
 
He
could not tell her the truth, even though he knew he should.
 
Still, he could not allow the marquess to
get the upper hand.
 
Finally, he settled
for something in the middle of the truth and the lie.
 
"Landover desires anything that is mine.
 
He always has.
 
If he cannot obtain it, he attempts to hurt both me and those I
care for.
 
You and your brother are no
different."

"Why?" Julia asked, not
understanding his meaning.
 
"What
does he care whom you see or what you have?
 
I know of Lady Catherine, but surely there is more to the situation than
just her.
 
It makes no sense
otherwise."

"When we were at school
together, we were always in competition.
 
Landover always felt inferior to just about everyone, but his hatred for
me was unparalleled.
 
I was everything
that he would never be - rich, a duke, and someone with influence over the
future king."
 
Benjamin knew that
wasn't a good explanation, but then, it was difficult to explain something he
could barely understand himself.

Julia still did not take his
meaning and made her confusion clear.
 
"But why you, Ben?
 
Why not
another boy?
 
Someone else who would
also become a duke some day?"

"Our fathers were
enemies."
 
That was the best he
could offer because truly, he did not understand the root of Landover's
hatred.
 
"I do not know why, only
that they were, and that hatred spilled over to the children.
 
To Landover, anyway.
 
I never much cared."
 
That, too, was the truth.
 
He'd been too preoccupied with other things
to worry over much about a boy he didn't like.
 
"But to Landover, I was the epitome of all he would never be.
 
So he attempted to hurt me at every
opportunity.
 
That included lies.
 
I doubt he has changed."

Julia's head was spinning a
bit.
 
She knew that Landover and the
duke did not get along but she'd had no inkling as to the depth of the hatred,
at least on the marquess' part.
 
Pulling
at Benjamin's hand, she led him back out into the crowd, not wanting any more
hints of scandal to follow her.
 
She'd
had enough of that for one day, and being seen in "deep conversation"
with Radcliffe would set tongues wagging, fair or not.

"And now he wishes to use me
to strike at you once again."
 
That
actually made a great deal of sense when she thought about it.
 
Over the years, Benjamin had proven immune
to Landover's attempts to strike at him, and he had no family left.
 
That left friends, and she and the duke had
made no secret of their previously pretend courtship.

"Precisely."
 
They had made a circle and were now at
Julia's carriage.
 
Benjamin was loathe
to let her go, but knew he had to.
 
Anything else would, of course, be scandalous.
 
He was so tired of that word, worrying over every action, even
though he knew he must.
 
That didn't
mean he didn't want to simply pull her into his arms, however.
 
"He will do whatever is necessary,
including lie, to try to hurt me.
 
He
will also come after you."

"I am stronger than I appear,
my lord," she said as he handed her into her carriage where Meggy was
waiting.
 
"You of all people should
know that."

"I do, my lady.
 
I do."
 
In fact, Julia was one of the strongest people he knew.
 
However, he also knew that the truth, the
very truth Landover was threatening to reveal, would devastate her.
 
"However, please use caution.
 
The marquess does not play by the rules.
 
He never has.
 
I do not want you to suffer because of it."

"I shall be fine," she
reassured him, as he closed the door.
 
"And I will see you tonight."

Benjamin gave her a bow as the
coach began to rumble away down the street.
 
He was still there, watching her depart, when the vehicle turned the
corner and he finally disappeared from view.
 
Finally, she turned back to discover Meggy watching her as well, a
disapproving look on the maid's face.

"Do not lecture me
again," Julia snapped, in no mood to deal with the maid's suspicions and
theories.
 
"I know you do not care
for the duke, but I do.
 
That is to be
the end of it."

Meggy made a disgusted noise, but
kept silent, much to Julia's relief.
 
She needed time to think.
 
She
did not believe much of what the marquess had told her, and now that she knew
that Landover liked to spread lies, she was inclined to believe his words even
less.

It still puzzled her as to why the
marquess seemed to focused on Benjamin, even after all this time, but that was
a question for a later time.
 
Instead,
she thought about how Landover might use her to hurt Benjamin.
 
The obvious answer was to attempt to ruin
her.
 
At the very least, courting her
would make the duke uneasy.
 
At worst,
it would enrage him.
 
Benjamin was
rarely enraged, but when he was, it was best to stay out of his way.
 
She'd seen that temper only once as a child,
but she knew she never wanted to see it again.

"The marquess is a fine
man."
 
Meggy obviously could not
keep quiet about what she saw as her mistress' interest in the wrong man.
 
"He's not as wealthy as Radcliffe, but
his title is older."
 
She sniffed disdainfully.
 
"And both of his parents are still
alive."