Page 49 of The Devil Himself
“Yes, so that mine may meet with them and iron out the details of our assignation.”
“Well, I… I suppose…” Arthur immediately began to back away from the scene, Julian following him, looking like a cat chasing a very nervous mouse.
Rys advanced to stand shoulder to shoulder with Luc. “I’m sure Daffyd would be happy to be one of your seconds,” he told his brother. “He’s been with you in this since the start, yes?”
If Arthur’s eyes widened any further, they would bug right out of his head. “What are you doing here? You know you cannot attend society functions!”
“Can I not? Beechwood invited me. Why shouldn’t I be here?” He allowed a small smile to play around his lips. “Either accept the challenge or admit that you’re a coward, Arthur.”
“Daffyd will be one of my seconds, and I— I am certain he’ll find someone else to be the other. I’ll let you find him and make the arrangements.” Arthur was pale, sweaty, and looking for an escape.
Julian inclined his head a scant inch, his eyes still iron hard as he smiled politely. “Perfect. I shall look forward to it. Expect to meet at dawn a day hence.”
Arthur sputtered and looked around him at the curious crowd that had assembled in their immediate vicinity, and then of course, he did what cowards always did. He fled.
Julian clapped his hands together. “Well, that went swimmingly.” He glanced around him at the gossip-hungry assembly. “Is it time yet for the dinner dance?”
Beechwood laughed heartily. “Not yet, but I’m sure that you will be all the rage for the next waltz, Warrington.”
“Despite my new engaged status, I absolutely hope so. Who has room left on their dance card?”
Twenty
After they retired from the Beechwood ball, where Rys, Luc, and Julian had stirred up as much gossip as they possibly could, they made their way to the Devil’s Playground. There they would be able to have better brandy than Beechwood had been willing to share. They needed to wait for Arthur’s next move.
“I imagine that is where Daffyd will come to find us,” Rys told them.
Luc snorted. “Seems like a reasonable assumption, considering that you would never go to White’s or Boodle’s or one of the copper hells like they would. Why should you when you have your own club to retreat to?”
“Precisely.” Julian beamed at them. “I think this was a good night’s work, gents.”
“It certainly was entertaining.” Luc peered at them in turn. “I’m not sure I understand the logic of it still.”
Rys’s booted foot touched his where it rested on the floor of the carriage. “While I might have chosen a less fantastical way about it, I think I understand the method to Julian’s madness. If Arthur and Daffyd are preoccupied with this duel business, they’re not going to be chasing Hannah, or carting her off to Gretna Green, or running off after Gareth. And if they decidethat they’re going to make a desperation play rather than engaging in the duel, then our men will tell us, and we’ll be able to catch them in the act of trying to do something utterly nefarious, which we’ve been waiting for.”
“Good point.” Although something about this made him wickedly uncomfortable. Not that he thought that Arthur could kill Julian in a duel. Rys’s brother had terrible reflexes from years of drinking. His hands shook. The fellow might be good at long distance while hiding on top of a balcony or another carriage or some such, but he was not going to be a solid candidate to win a duel standing only thirty paces away from his opponent and looking in their eyes. He was a coward.
The problem was that Luc did think that Daffyd and Arthur were now desperate men, and desperate men did reckless and stupid things. They had already shot him and stabbed Rys, but those had been the actions of men who simply wanted to get any impediment out of the way of enacting their plan to marry Hannah off to Daffyd and possibly kill Gareth later on. This now threatened to escalate into them just killing everyone immediately and trying to brazen out the consequences. But perhaps he was attributing far too much bravery to them. Mayhap they would just slink off to the continent and try to take as much money with them as possible when they left.
“You don’t like it,” Jules stated, tapping his fingers on the seat next to him. “I can tell by the look in your eyes. I know you too well, Luc.”
Rys studied him. “Are you worried about Julian getting hurt? I will not actually allow it.”
Julian spread a hand on his chest just over his heart. “My hero.”
Luc rolled his eyes at their antics. “No, I’m far more worried that now they’re going to try to take Hannah and just kill her, orthat they will set fire to your club or something incredibly idiotic. They’re not exactly organized criminals, are they?”
Rys spread his hands, shoulders rising and falling. “Not terribly, but I think that we have to force them to do something. To make a move that we can catch them at, and therefore either send them off to gaol or transport them to Australia. Anything to be rid of them for good.” The flat hardness of Rys’s voice came as no surprise. There was no love lost between him and his brothers with good reason.
Julian inclined his head. “That’s what we discussed, and this was the best idea I could come up with.” Then Julian gave him an impish smile. “Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t come up with it. Not entirely.”
Luc raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t like the idea of someone else being brought in on their scheme. “Who did you talk to?”
“Never fear, my friend. I spoke to Deacon Collingsworth since he had already been brought in on this, and he had people out there watching for us, as well. The ladybird at his club who often sees your brother, Rys, told Deacon that one of the best ways to deal with Daffyd and Arthur was to call their bluff. She noticed such when they gambled on the many occasions when she saw them together.”
“That fits with how they were as children. If they could bluff and bully, fine, but if one confronted them, they folded.” Rys tapped his fingers on his leg, his tension so much more obvious than he normally allowed. “So now we wait. First, see if Daffyd comes to the club to confront us over acting as your seconds, Julian. I’ll also put a few more men out there on the streets to see what Arthur and Daffyd are up to if they fail to come see me. I feel like we’re not getting enough updates on their movements.”
“Collingsworth already sent out another cadre of his best men. I think he likes the idea of you owing him a favor, Rys.Either that or he actually counts you a friend. And I like to wheedle things out of him.” Julian chuckled lightly, peering out the window of the carriage. “Almost there. I intend to find myself a comfortable couch at the club and have a nap. It’s been a very industrious day for me.”
