Page 36 (1/2)

"This isn’t wise" Alistair could feel the ill will building in the air around themont was inebriated to the point of bravado and stupidity, and Michael was clearly spoiling for a fight

Lord Taylor, one of Regmont’s friends, stumbled backward He bued fro free of the opened case

"Mind yourself!" Michael snapped, bending to retrieve his belongings

Reg comment to Taylor, then crouched unsteadily to assist Michael He picked up a cheroot, then the kerchief He stilled, sobering as he examined the folded linen

Michael held out his hand for it "Thank you"

The earl’s thumb stroked over the letters era silently at the unmistakable "H" stitched in red thread

"If you would, please, Reg the kerchief in his own pocket "I believe this belongs to me"

The tension that gripped Michael was palpable Alistair set his hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezed a warning The liquor on the earl’s breath was strong enough to be pervasive, and Alistair recognized the look of erous place

Michael stood "I want that back, Regton stepped between the two men The proprietor was tall and fit, perfectly capable of interceding physically, but he was also flanked by three liveried entles below, "or you can take it elsewhere, but there will be no violence in here"

"Or we can take it to the field," Michael challenged "Namont"

"Bloody hell," Alistair muttered

"Taylor and Blackthorne"

Michael nodded "Baybury and Merrick will discuss the particulars with the his teeth in a semblance of a smile

"Not nearly as much as I"

Chapter 25

My dearest,

I confess, I have thought of you all day, in ways I a after yourself

Acheron growled from his pillow by Jess’s feet She paused with the quill suspended above the parch

"What troubles you?"

He repeated the s to the gallery There, he jumped and spun in circles As Jess fetched her shawl to take hiainst his head and he growled again Then he whimpered pitifully and piddled on the hardwood before she reached hi whined in response

Jess collected a towel from the washstand in the corner and moved to the door As she neared, she heard a er She dropped the towel on the tiny puddle and turned the knob The sound of shouting became clearer without the solid wood barrier, and its source becanizable--Hester’s rooms

"No wonder you’re upset," sheher shawl on a nearby chair "Stay here"

She strode swiftly down the hallway Regrew louder with every step Her storew daht to breathe in an even cadence

"You’ve humiliated me! All these weeks … the match with Tarley … I will not be cuckolded!"

Hester’s low replies were indecipherable, but the rapid delivery suggested anger … or panic When a crash resounded, Jess lunged for the door and threw it open

Dear God …

Her sister stood in her night rail, her face blanched and lips white Her eyes were huge in her face and filled with a terror Jess knew all too well A new bruise was already darkening her temont’s back was to the door, his hands fisted at his sides He was dressed for a night on the town, and he stank of liquor and tobacco A side table had been overturned, and the decorative urn that graced it lay shattered on the floor He began to advance Jess shouted his na "Get out, Lady Tarley This is none of your concern"

"I think you should be the one to depart,and has orders from the doctor to abstain from any excitement"

"Is it even mine?" he barked at Hester "How many men have there been?"

"Go, Jess," Hester pleaded "Run"

Jess shook her head "No"

"You can’t always be the one who saves mont" Jess’s voice cracked like a whip "Please leave"

He rounded on her then, and her heart stopped His eyes were bloodshot and filled with the single-minded malevolence Hadley always displayed when deterht back

"This is my house!" he bellowed "And you … you have coood name Now your sister seeks to do the same I won’t have it!"

Jess’s ears filled with the sound of roaring blood,his vitriol, but she understood his threat to teach her proper behavior The rooh this moment before Heard those same words So many ti an odd calirl anyer than she’d given herself credit for And when he came for her, which he would do as soon as she could send for hi est hed and drew his arm back

Michael vaulted onto the back of his horse, then watched Alistair do the saitation He wanted his handkerchief back, da!" he snapped at Alistair, who hadn’t spoken since he’d challenged Regmont

"You’re an idiot"

"Christ"