Page 55 of Three Nights with the Beastly Duke

“Lady Susan,” Archibald uttered with surprise as he opened his door.

“Archie,” Susan greeted with a curt nod, pushing past him. “I was told you were staying in this inn. I’m glad to see you haven’t left yet.”

“Yes, well,” Archibald replied as he watched her walk to the center of his room. “With the state your brother is in, I wanted to be nearby. I was hoping he’d come to his senses and talk to me.”

“He won’t talk to anyone,” Susan replied, pulling two letters from her purse. “That’s why I’m here. Showing up at the estate with Mother or even Lavinia’s sisters didn’t work. He won’t open the door.”

“Poor lad.” Archibald sighed, shaking his head. “It took him eight years to recover from what Grace did. Who knows how long this will take? Lavinia was… well, she seemed so genuine.”

“Sheis,genuine, Archie, that’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Susan said quickly, handing him the two letters. “Look at the one she supposedly left for Arthur, then look at the one she wrote to Rebecca last week. The handwriting is similar at first, but if you look closely enough, you’ll see they’re actually quite different. Lavinia didn’t write that letter to Arthur, Archie. Someone else did.”

Archie furrowed his brow as he took the letters and studied them. His eyes widened as he realized Susan was right.

“So, what are you telling me?” Archie asked, standing up. “That Lavinia didn’t leave on her own?”

“I don’t think she did,” Susan went on, already walking back toward his door. “I don’t know the specifics, but something strange happened with the two of them and Lord Stonehames when he first came to visit us. And I know that the only reason he was at our party the other night was because Lavinia’s father wanted him there. There’s something else, too. Lord Stonehames rode with Lavinia’s father to the party, but when Lord Donset left, they couldn’t find him, so they left without him.”

Understanding dawned on Archibald then, and he grabbed his pistol from his bedside table as Susan opened the door.

“We’ve got to go,” he urged, walking straight through the doorway, trusting that Susan was following him. “We have to let Arthur know that Lavinia is in danger!”

* * *

“Your Grace, your sister has arrived again, with Lord Stanhope this time,” Gregory stated from behind Arthur’s locked bedroom door.

“Send them away,” Arthur called out, not moving from his chair.

He’d sat down in front of the fireplace in his quarters two days ago and hadn’t moved since. The flames had died many hours ago, but he had stared into the charred remains all the same.

It had been a lie. All of it. Lavinia’s charms, her empathetic words. They had meant nothing. And he had been fooled again.

For a few moments, there was only silence from the other side of his door, but then suddenly, Arthur heard a cacophony of loud voices.

“I don’t care what he commanded!” Archibald’s voice sounded from the hall. “Let me pass, or I’ll knock your teeth out!”

As Arthur turned quizzically toward the door, it flew open, nearly ripping from its hinges. Archibald appeared in the doorway then and put his foot back down so he could stride toward Arthur.

“Get your arse up,” Archibald shouted, gripping Arthur’s arms. “We’ve got to go find your wife.”

Fury barreled through Arthur as he tore his arm away from his friend’s tight grasp, and he glared at him hatefully. “She is in no need of finding,” he growled back. “She made her choice, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to beg her like a fool to come back.”

The punch Archibald delivered to the right side of Arthur’s jaw wasn’t the hardest hit he’d ever taken, but it certainly did stun him.

“What in the bloody hell, Archie?” Arthur growled.

“Listen to us, Arthur,” Susan demanded, appearing by Archibald’s side. “Lavinia didn’t write that letter, and we have proof! We believe Lord Stonehames has taken her, and if he has, she could be in real danger!”

“What are you talking about?” Arthur demanded, rubbing his sore jaw.

“Just look at this.” Susan shoved two pieces of paper into his hands. “That’s not Lavinia’s handwriting. And Lord Stonehames arrived with the Dennises, but he didn’t leave with them. Lavinia didn’t run away, she was kidnapped.”

For the first time in days, Arthur listened to his sister and studied the two letters. With a growing disgust in his belly, he realized she was right. His thoughts then raced back to the day he had had to threaten Timothy, and then to the folder of evidence he had on his desk from the private investigator he’d hired to find out more about the man.

Suddenly, it all made sense, and a wave of self-disgust rose up in him so forcefully that he thought he was going to retch.

Arthur closed his eyes tight, breathing heavily through his nose as he began to navigate the intense emotions roaring alive inside of him. His body trembled as he let himself feel it all, and then, as if something inside of him suddenly snapped back into place, he opened his eyes and felt resolve.

“Where can we find him?” Arthur asked, looking at Susan.

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