To Catch A Duke (16 page)

"Then it is fortunate that the
duke and I are courting, is it not?"
 
She could feel herself being to shake but she knew she had to be
strong.
 
If she reacted, he would win.
 
She could not allow that.

"I doubt you would allow him
to court you if you knew the truth of his past."
 
There was something in the way he said those words that made
Julia's pulse quicken and her heart begin to race.
 
Still, she needed to be calm.

She waved her hand in the air,
dismissing him.
 
"You forget, my
lord, that the duke and I grew up together.
 
This is nothing I do not know about him."

"Really?"
 
The marquess' smile had turned truly evil
now.
 
"Then you also know that he
was there when you were scarred, I take it.
 
You know that he witnessed the entire thing.
 
As did your beloved brother."

"You lie, my lord" she
hissed, all hint of propriety now falling away, the wild Julia of Sussex
reemerging once more.
 
The one who
refused to be hurt by society.
 
"If
either of them would have been there, they would have told me.
 
There are no secrets between us.
 
Any of us."

He raised an eyebrow
imperiously.
 
"Is that so?
 
Then ask yourself this, my lady.
 
If Radcliffe truly has no problem with your
scars, then
why
will he not marry you?
 
For I know the truth that he will not from your former maid.
 
And do not say it is because you are old
friends.
 
We both know that is a
falsehood meant to mollify both of you.
 
In your heart, I do not think you believe it, either."

"What I believe or do not is
no concern of yours," she snapped, the first bits of doubt beginning to
creep into her mind.
 
He cool facade was
also beginning to crack at the edges, but she pressed on.

"Ah, but it is."
 
There was a darkness in the marquess' eyes,
one she did not particularly care for.
 
"You see, long ago, your precious duke took something from me.
 
Something I cherished greatly."

Julia rolled her eyes.
 
This again.
 
Had the man nothing better to do than plot revenge over a woman who did
not want him?
 
"The Lady Catherine
affair.
 
Yes, I know all about it.
 
Radcliffe told me.
 
You blame him for her running away."

"She was mine!" Landover
growled, baring his teeth at her.
 
"And he took her from me!
 
So now, I will take something that is his."

Having heard enough, she turned to
leave, but Landover grabbed her arm and tugged her behind a column, much like
the one she'd attempted to hide behind not more than a few weeks ago.
 
Perhaps she was stronger than she thought
after all.
 
However, tonight she was faced
with a furious marquess and she did not believe that escape would be so easy.

"He took the woman I
loved," the marquess sighed, all sweetness and seduction now, "and I
have never been able to repay the favor.
 
Until now."
 
He trailed a
finger down her throat and then lower to stroke the side of her breast.
 
She shuddered in revulsion.
 
"So here, my dear, is a proposition I
think that you cannot refuse."

She was shocked when Landover
leaned down and licked the shell of her ear before he spoke again.
 
"I want you.
 
Not because I desire you, but because I know that
he
does.
 
So tomorrow night, after the
Tarhill's musicale, you will come to my bed - willingly, I might add - and I
will spend the night pleasuring you.
 
Just as your precious duke has done.
 
Of course, I will make sure that at some point during the evening, he is
made aware of our activities and, oh, shall we say, happens to stop by to pay
us a call in the middle of an intimate moment."
 

Now, his hand was fully caressing
her breast through the bodice of her gown and she attempted to push him away,
but he was stronger than she had anticipated.
 
"And when he walks in, my cock will be buried so deep within your
little cunny that there will be no mistake that I have taken that which he
loves dearly."

"He does not love me,"
Julia managed to force out, her voice strangled as she attempted to shove
Landover away from her.
 
She could not
comprehend doing what the marquess had suggested.
 
She would not!

Another kiss to the side of her
head.
 
"Ah, but he does, my
lady.
 
All the men of the
ton
know the truth of it, despite the fact that he tries so hard to hide it.
 
Lady X knows as well, whoever she is.
 
So truly, the only people you are lying to
are yourselves."

She shook her head as if that alone
could banish his words.
 
" Believe
what you like.
 
I will not come to your
bed, my lord.
 
Never."

His hand slid down her waist to cup
her bottom firmly, and she gasped as he pinched her there.
 
"Oh, yes, you will.
 
For if you do not, I will ruin all of you.
 
For, you see, I know the true story of how
you came by your scars, my lady.
 
As I
said, Radcliffe and your brother know, as well.
 
Once I whisper the story in the right ear, it is only a matter of
time before all of society knows as well."

"It was an animal
attack," she insisted, even though in her heart, she knew it wasn't
true.
 
"Everyone knows that.
 
People will not believe otherwise."

"No matter."
 
Landover seemed surprisingly unconcerned and
unaffected, though with his hand so firmly planted on her backside, she did not
know how that possible.
 
"For if
they do not believe that, they
will
believe what secrets I spill
next.
 
They will know the truth of what
you have been about with Radcliffe.
 
He
will not be harmed by that, just you, but his pain will greater still when I
march into White's and claim the bet about your scars.
 
For the answer is in the book.
 
The winner simply has to provide the correct
information."
 
He clucked again and
withdrew his hand, sliding it back up her body, caressing the flesh as he
went.
 
"Improper to speak of such
things as bets, I know, but then, you are not really a lady are you?
 
Not when you allow that man's cock in your
cunt so frequently."

Julia squeezed her eyes shut,
hoping to shut out the awful words as well.
 
"It does not matter.
 
I am
returning to the country anyway.
 
He
will not be hurt by your petty words."
 
She would not yield.
 
Not to a
man like Landover.

The marquess sighed wearily and
slowly caressed her collarbone with the pad of his thumb.
 
"If none of that persuades you, my
lady, and believe me, I had considered that, then I am left with no choice.
 
If you do not come to me willingly, I will
destroy your brother."

"Leave Nicholas out of
this!"
 
Real fear gripped Julia
now, and her eyes flew open in shock and despair.
 
She knew her brother had not been a saint, though she didn't
believe that anything he'd done was truly that horrid.
 
It was simply not possible.

Landover's thumb dipped lower to
caress the top of her breasts and she bit back a moan, angry that her
traitorous body was responding to his caresses.
 
"I'm afraid I can't do that, my dear.
 
You see, he slept with a married woman, one
whose husband would not be pleased to learn about the affair."
 
He sighed again, this time almost wistfully.
 
"Ah, young love.
 
It's a beautiful thing.
 
Except, of course, when the young lady in
question must marry well above her own age to secure a failing barony."

Lady Berkshire.
 
There could be no one else.
 
Julia had long suspected that Nicholas held
a
tendre
for her, but then she'd married the marquess, and well, that
had been that.
 
Julia had known it wasn't
a love match, but she hadn't given it much more thought.

Was that the reason Nicholas had
never married?
 
Because he was in love
with a woman he could not have?

Julia didn't know for certain, but
what she did know was that if the marquess learned the truth, he would call
Nicholas out.
 
Even though duels were
illegal, they still occurred, and this time it would be no different.
 
She also knew that the marquess did not like
to be bested at anything, especially by younger men.
 
It was rumored that was the primary reason he had demanded to
marry the baron's daughter - merely to prove to the young bucks of the
ton
that he was still superior to them despite his advanced age.

She also knew that the marquess
would make certain that he won the duel, even if that meant placing other
shooters around the dueling site.
 
He'd
done it before, though no one could prove it or was even willing to take the
issue to the magistrate, lest they be arrested themselves.
 
In that case, the now deceased Lord Fallston
had paid for his folly of flirting with Lady Berkshire with his life.
 
Julia could not allow that to happen to
Nicholas.

"Fine," she hissed in
disgust, knowing that, for the moment at least, she needed to appear to give in
to his wishes let the situation become worse.
 
"I will come to your bed.
 
But just once. Then, I am gone, and you will have your revenge.
 
You know as well as I that, though Benjamin
might care for me, he does not love me."

The marquess seemed to consider her
words for a moment.
 
"Believe what
you choose, my lady.
 
Either way, I
win.
 
He will be humiliated, much as I
was, and that which he cares for, namely you, will be out of his life.
 
That is all I care about."

"And I have your word that if
I do this, you will leave Nicholas alone?"
 
Julia knew she had to have assurance that Landover would keep to
his word.
 
Then again, even with
assurances, he might not.
 
Still it was
a risk she had to take.

Landover grew serious now.
 
"On my mother's grave, Lady Julia.
 
Despite what you think, I am not a
monster.
 
I merely want repayment for
injury done to me.
 
I don't wish to hurt
your brother.
 
After all, he was merely
seduced by a pretty face.
 
Just as many
men are.
 
He should not have to suffer
for that."

"And me?"
 
She swallowed hard, meeting Landover's gaze
as directly as possible.
 
"What
have I done to you?"

He eyed her thoughtfully, and in
the dim light behind the curtain, she could see his eyes glitter with
malice.
 
"Truly?
 
Nothing.
 
You are simply a means to an end for me, which is unfortunate.
 
For you, anyway."
 
He reached out to stroke her cheek, and she
wanted to pull away but did not dare.
 
"Were it not for these, you would be quite lovely, and I could see
myself pursuing you, as a mistress if for nothing else since your age is
against you.
 
Your body is
exquisite."

"Thank you, my lord.
 
I think."
 
What else could she say?
 
Julia knew she had been backed into a corner with little chance of escape.
 
"Is there anything else you require of
me?"
 
She wanted to leave with as
much dignity as she could muster.

Landover paused for a moment.
 
"Just this.
 
Ask yourself, honestly and truly, why the duke will not marry
you, even though, in your heart, you know that he cares for you, at least a
little.
 
Is it because he has so little
regard for you, which I think we both know is untrue?
 
Or is it because there is a deeper truth?
 
A secret that he does not want you to
know?"

Then Landover was gone, leaving
Julia shaking against the wall.

She knew she could not leave
immediately, not that she would have anyway, as she needed time to gather her
wits.
 
She had agreed to blackmail, an
assignation that would hurt the man she loved.
 
For even if Benjamin didn't love her, and she had no reason to think
that he did, he did care for her in his own way.
 
He had made certain she had a season, had ensured that she had
the proper clothes - everything from gowns to riding habits.
 
And he had admitted to wanting her.
 
He'd bedded her.
 
Many times over.