Page 75 of Leap of Faith
“Falsemarriage,” Dominic growled. “Did either of you say anything?”
“No, we only pretended to be surprised and said this was news to us.”
“I said I did not know how that would have been possible because there was not a time when she was not accompanied by one of us or Lady Westwood.”
Dominic thought. “That will at least plant a seed of doubt when we must openly call him to account. We need to find him. He must have another trick up his sleeve. He cannot hope to think he wins with this and that I will not retaliate.”
“You do not mean to keep your promise to Miss Whitford?” Rotham asked.
“She did not exhort me not to duel—only not to call him out. And I will not intentionally kill him, perhaps, but he will meet me or leave England in shame.”
“You mean to force him into it,” Rotham remarked.
“He has feathers in his cock-loft,” Freddy remarked.
By this point, they had arrived at Boodle’s. If Montford and Carew had found Sir Julian, Dominic hoped he was gagged and bound in a dark room by now.
“Are Lords Carew and Montford here?” Rotham enquired of the porter.
“Indeed, my lord.”
They handed over their capes and hats and proceeded into the club. They finally found their friends at the back entrance, looking out of breath.
“What happened?” Dominic asked.
“He was here, but he escaped, the snake. We have chased him this past half-hour, but he had help,” Carew answered.
“Were you able to discover anything else?”
“Only that he was boasting of having compromised Miss Whitford and that was why they’d married clandestinely. He ran off when he saw us.”
“Not quite the same story as at White’s, but close enough,” Rotham remarked. “I think it is time to dispel Sir Julian’s story. He cannot have claimed his prize if he is still about trying to convince people of its truth.”
“What are we missing?” Dominic paced back and forth. “There has to be more to it.”
“Two can play the game of ruination,” Rotham said, with a wicked gleam in his eyes that Dominic recognized all too well. However, since they were not playing by gentlemen’s rules…
“What do you have in mind?”
“A few well-placed whispers about his finances will do the trick.”
“They would instantly be suspected to have come from one of us,” Carew pointed out.
“I have no intention of them coming from one of us.”
“Servants?” Montford asked knowingly.
“Precisely. It will only be what they’ve heard, mind you. Sir Julian can be left to prove whether it’s true or not, just as he’s left Miss Whitford to do.”
“Ruthless. I approve. I will send my man down to the local tavern. It should not take long for that to send him to ground,” Carew offered.
“Maybe he can find some sympathy with Brummell in France,” Dominic said wryly.
“I suppose we have nothing left to do here for now.”
They began walking back through the club, but Mr. Sackford-James, another crony of Dominic’s father, stopped him. “Devilish careless with your wards, Westwood.”
“On the contrary, sir, every one of my wards has been under my, or my mother’s, direct supervision at all times.”
