Page 54 of The Rogue's Last Scandal
Charley threw back a gulp and let it burn down his throat.
“The lady is safe?” Bakeley’s voice held concern.
“Sirena has her in hand,” Bink said. “She met us in the stables.”
“Any injuries?” Kincaid asked.
“I don’t know. Charley and I took horses and left.”
“A horse,” Charley said. “A horse was injured.”
Bakeley stood, eyes narrowed and glinting with murder. Horse breeding was more than one of the family’s businesses, it was a shared passion for him and his lady.
“How badly, I don’t know, only that I heard the first shot and then the horse’s scream.”
“I’ve informed the head groom,” Bink said.
Bakeley paced across the room to the window.
“They’ll know what to do,” Charley said. “By now a crowd has gathered, yet it would not do to draw Shaldon’s heir to the scene.”
Bakeley’s face glowed. “If he’s killed an innocent horse—”
“I’ll take care of getting you satisfaction.” Charley set the glass down. “And not in some twigged-out pistols at dawn. Don’t worry, Kincaid, that I don’t have the stomach for it.”
Kincaid grunted. “Did McCollum betray you?”
“No.” Or so his gut told him.
Bink shook his head. “Kingsley and Carvelle had been in to see him that morning. I’m guessing they had people lingering around to see if she would visit.”
“We shouldn’t have dressed her in black. It was too similar to the disguise at Watelford’s.”
“No, Charley. The disguise was a good one until...” A smile creased Bink’s face and he shook his head again. “McCollum’s clerk is in someone’s pay, I’ll warrant, but whether it’s Carvelle, or Kingsley, or both, I don’t know. He identified us because Charley here couldn’t keep his hands off my wife.”
Bakeley’s head went up and his eyes narrowed. Kincaid was as usual, inscrutable.
His stomach churned, or maybe that was akin to the fluttering he’d felt after Gracie’s announcement. “Yes well, it’s a day of good news all around. You’re expecting an heir, Bakeley, and I’ve just become engaged to Miss Kingsley.”
Bakeley exchanged looks with Bink. “Have you indeed. And when is the wedding?”
“That’s the rub. As soon as I said yes to the lady—”
“Yousaid yes?”
“Bink was there. He can attest. Once she learned that Shaldon is her new guardian—”
“Father?”
“Yes. Stop interrupting. Once she learned that Shaldon is her new guardian, she offered for me. I said yes, and then she began plotting how to get out of it. That is what we were discussing when you left us alone for a few minutes.”
Bink laughed. “And a very convincing argument you were making.”
“Sit,” Bakeley commanded, and pulled over a chair. “We have much to talk about but I’ll hear this story first.”
Upstairs, Graciela shed her torn outer clothing and slipped on a new gown.
A new gown, not a made-over one. Lady Sirena had said so, gabbling non-stop as Francisca did up Graciela’s laces and hooks and her ladyship’s own little maid fixed her hair. Lady Sirena had stayed with her after her visit to the nursery, following her and Francisca back to her bedchamber.
