Page 91 of Tempted By the English Marquis
Lady Anne took a hold of her son’s hand. “We will get this sorted. I can’t say I agree with the way you went about things, but I know full well that love makes you do foolish things.”
Gideon’s brows furrowed. He had expected anger and outrage from his mother. Her gentle support was a surprise. But a welcome one. “I do love her. I intend to make her my wife.”
The Palazzo Lazio servants filed out the door and closed it loudly behind them. The duchess softly snorted. “That was a little petty of them, but I suppose they were not happy carrying our bags as well as yours over here from the palace. I was quite prepared to wait for a coach, but as soon as the head servant had an address to send us to, he instructed the footmen to pick up our things. We trailed behind them like a trio of army followers.”
As Flynn and Augusta approached, Gideon noted how close they walked alongside one another. The way their hands brushed together was clearly no accident. But he had enough problems to deal with right now, the issue of his sister and best friend would have to wait.
“What are we going to do?” asked Flynn.
Gideon considered his response. If it had just been him, he would have gone to see Matteo and asked for his help. With his mother and sister thrown into the mix, he was forced to put their needs ahead of his own. They couldn’t go back to the palace, and they certainly couldn’t stay here. Flynn might have been accustomed to sleeping rough, but the Kembal women were not.
“We need somewhere to set up base. Preferably a little way away from here.”
Flynn nodded. “You could go to the hotel Albergo del Sole in the Piazza della Rotonda. It’s just opposite the Pantheon, and that is where many English tourists stay when they are in Rome. It’s far enough away from Palazzo Lazio that we might be able to avoid any further ugly confrontations.”
“What about the rest of your plans? I’m assuming you have thought of what you would do if Enzo refused your suit?” asked the duchess.
A fast ship out of Italy seemed the only logical choice.
All heads turned as Augusta cleared her throat. “Serafina is being confined to her room until Friday. I heard her father give instructions for the door to be locked. No one other than Donna Francesca is permitted to see her.”
There went any notion of stealing Serafina away and making their escape by the hillside path. Gideon’s mind was thrown into a whirl of concerns and madcap schemes.
I need time alone to think.
“Let’s go and find something to eat. I can’t think on an empty stomach. After that, I think we should do as Flynn suggested and move to the hotel Albergo del Sole. Getting you ladies set up and in accommodations will permit me a little breathing space.”
The door of the chapel opened, and a red-faced Matteo de Luca appeared. His boots thudded on the bare wooden floor as he headed straight for Gideon. When he reached him, Serafina’s brother stopped and bowed low. “I hate to do this, but my family honor is at stake.”
He thrust a folded and sealed piece of paper into Gideon’s hands, then took a step back. A perplexed Gideon opened the letter. It had been written and signed in Italian. He noted Enzo de Luca’s signature.
His gaze went to the bottom half of the letter where someone had translated it into English. The wordsto the last bloodstood out.
Gideon’s own blood turned to ice. Enzo wanted him dead.
“He can’t be serious. Duels are illegal.”
Matteo slowly shook his head. “As I told you at the academy, they are still legal here. Why do you think so many men train at the fencing school? It’s because they live in fear that some idiota will challenge them to a real sword fight.”
This was insane. Here he was worrying about hotels and how he was going to get Serafina out of the palace, and now he was going to have to fight to save his own life.
“How good is your father with a sword?” asked Flynn.
“It’s not Enzo I have to fight; it’s Matteo,” said Gideon, exchanging a grim look with the eldest de Luca son.
“Oh no,” muttered Flynn.
They both knew how good Matteo was with a weapon. Gideon didn’t stand a chance.
“I’m sorry that you have been dragged into this mess, Matteo. I want to marry Serafina, and she has agreed to be my wife. Truth be told, you and I should have been having this conversation in England a year and a half ago,” said Gideon.
“Yes, well, regret is one thing, and normally these disputes are settled by way of long negotiations and the use of third parties, but my father isn’t interested in talking or any toss of the coin. He wants blood. Your blood.”
“Augusta, you and I should go with Flynn and head to the hotel,” said the duchess.
His tearful sister went to protest, but Flynn took a hold of her hand and gently whispered, “Shh, my love. Gideon needs us to do this, so we must all be brave. Come, let’s see about arranging a coach to take your things.”
As the viscount led Augusta away and Lady Anne followed, Gideon made a mental note to talk to his friend. If the duel went badly for him, someone still had to get his sister home to England. Someone he could trust to take good care of Augusta.
