Page 89 of Wedded to the Beastly Duke
Emmeline pushed forward. “Now,” she said, her voice surprisingly even. He felt a burst of affection for her. “You cannot claim that you are not in the habit of sneaking into the house and exploring. The question is what for.”
Behind them, the butler climbed up the stairs to stand beside them. “I’m so sorry, Your Grace,” he said, panting. “I was not aware that Lord Sarron was in the house, or else I should certainly have?—”
“That’s perfectly fine,” Adam said, keeping his gaze on Nicholas. The man would not escape him now. “You may all go to bed now. I have everything I need.”
Emmeline glanced up at him, but she said nothing, and neither did Nicholas. Adam wondered briefly if his friend would attempt to deny this, too, but then he thought of the letters still in his pocket, and a new fury washed over him in waves.
Together with his brother, Nicholas had kept their love affair secret, and that was not something that Adam could ignore or merely get over. That, alone, without taking into account everything else, was a betrayal.
This, too. That was too much.
“Let’s talk in the study,” Adam said, and he caught Emmeline’s hand before she could misinterpret his meaning. She was his wife and he loved her—she deserved to know. “Come, Nicholas.”
Nicholas started, his face going even paler. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, but then he inclined his head and followed them both to the study.
Adam’s lamp cast flickering light on the room as he placed it carefully on the desk. Emmeline shut the door behind them.
“I believe you have some things to tell me,” he said evenly. “Things you and William neglected to mention throughout our years of friendship. Or should I even call it friendship?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the letters. “Care to explain these?”
Nicholas blanched. “Where did you get those?”
“Precisely where you might expect,” Adam said. “From your room.”
“They’re not?—”
“I know that you had an affair with my brother,” Adam said. He heard the cold anger, knew that Emmeline and Nicholas had heard it too, but he couldn’t bring himself to temper it. There was no reason why he should. “But that doesn’t explain why you’ve been wandering around the castle when you think we’re not here.”
Emmeline moved to stand beside him, sliding her small hand into his larger one. He started, then squeezed.
“Explain yourself,” she said, her voice just as cold and unfeeling.
Nicholas glanced between them. His suave charm was gone, replaced by a sense of panic. Sweat beaded on his skin. He licked his lips nervously. “I don’t know?—”
“There is a reason,” Adam interrupted. “Cease prevaricating. Do you think something of his is still in the castle?”
“Your brother liked his cards,” Nicholas said, a little too quickly, as though he hated the words as much as Adam disliked hearing them. “He frequently lost large amounts of money, and accrued many debts, that?—”
“Yes.” Adam shook his head, hating the way his recollection of his brother must forever be tarred with the knowledge that he had been so flawed. “I’m aware.”
“No. That is, Adam, you believe yourself to be aware of the situation, and of the debts, but you only know a small amount of it. Very little, to be frank. He asked for my help on multiple occasions, and I lent him the money so he could pay off his outstanding debts. The ones that remained when he died were merely the most recent I had not yet paid off.”
Emmeline’s mouth turned down as she thought. “You mean… it has been you all this time? That is why you do not have a lot of money? I considered if William had been blackmailing you, but?—”
“No.” Nicholas shook his head. “He had his faults, and heaven knew we argued, but I loved him.” He turned anguished eyes to Adam, who was unmoved by them. “And just as I would never have held the amount he owed me over his head, he would never have blackmailed me. He—he loved me, too. I have to believe that.”
Adam believed it, too. The obsessive jealousy, the possessive tone in the letters—that was all from a man who loved a little too much, and who knew the precarious nature of that love.
The thought made him ill.
“And the night he died?” he demanded. “What then? Are you going to tell me you had nothing to do with that, either?”
Nicholas shook his head, throat working. “No.” His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. “You don’t know what you’re asking of me.”
Anger seized Adam. “I don’t know?” He advanced on the man he had once considered a friend, and in a moment had his collar in his hands, pushing him up against the wall.
Emmeline said something, perhaps a plea for him to calm down, but he was beyond calm now.
“He was my brother. Because of whatever happened to him that night, I am now the Duke, a title which ought never to have been mine. The responsibilities of this estate have fallen to me. Every day, I must live with the knowledge that he is dead. And you have the gall to tell me that I don’t know what it costsyou?” He pressed in closer, the soft flesh of the man’s throat giving under his knuckles. “You may have loved him, but you were not the only one. I loved him from the day I was born, and I will know what happened to him, whether it hurts you to confess it or not.” He tightened his grip. “Or I will take what I know and release it to the world. Let the ton choose their punishment.”
