Page 30 of His By Sunrise (Disreputable Dukes of Club Damnation #3)
“No, Papa, he is not. Those are naught but lies.” When she was forced to switch partners in the steps of the dance, she glanced toward the drawing room doors.
That was when she spied the flash of candlelight on something metallic that Willaim held.
A gasp escaped when she realized it was a pistol, and the nose was shoved into Edwin’s ribcage.
Dear heavens, what is happening?
By the time she came back together to partner her father, both men had left the drawing room. For where? She glared up at her father. “What have you and William arranged regarding Edwin?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” he said and then frowned at her. “Tonight, the viscount will make an announcement, and I expect you to be at his side, smiling and quite congenial about it. He and I have signed contracts.”
“As if I’m but a piece of furniture traded from one man to the next. I am older now, and I’ll make my own decisions.” Her patience for the males of the species had evaporated, and behind that, fear twisted down her spine. “Where is he taking Edwin?”
“How should I know? But Danville is quite adamant that Coatesville have his just desserts this time ‘round, especially after he had the audacity to kidnap you.”
“You are not listening to me, Papa.” Oh, thank heavens the dance finally ended.
She grabbed onto his arm and practically dragged him off the floor and into the crowd gathered around waiting for the next set.
Then she poked him in the chest with a forefinger.
“The only man who should find himself facing responsibility for his crimes is William. It’s a horrible story, and I can’t believe you fell for it. I did too, until I was told the truth.”
“The truth according to that reprobate I took you away from,” her father argued. “Don’t worry about him. Danville will take care of him shortly.”
Another shiver of icy fear shot down her spine.
“What have the two of you planned?” When he didn’t answer, hot panic filled her chest. “Papa, answer me!” She didn’t care that the frantic anxiety in her voice had garnered a few curious glances.
“Oh, you are as bad as they are, and I’m quite tired of it.
” If she wanted the future she’d had a glimpse of, she would need to ensure it herself. “Come with me.”
“Where?” He frowned and threw a few apologetic glances at nearby guests.
“I don’t know, but I’m not going to stop until I’ve found Edwin.” With a hand firmly latched onto her father’s arm, she dragged him from the room. A pox on all the men in her life that were currently causing problems.
It took more than a few moments to finally locate both men, but when she did, proper annoyance went through her veins, and anger warmed her, which was a good thing because the two dratted men were in the rear gardens despite the cold rain.
Since both of them were in a heated argument, she didn’t wish to interrupt them, for it might reveal even more truths, and if her father heard them right from the horse’s mouth—or the ass’ mouth as it was—he might believe them more.
Despite having a pistol pointed directly at his chest, Edwin stood his ground in front of William. His back was to Charlotte and her father, and since they stood near a grouping of potted evergreen shrubberies, they weren’t immediately seen.
“What the hell do you want from me, Danville? Haven’t I given you enough over the years?”
“Not nearly enough since you remain alive to bedevil me.”
“So, what? You’ll kill me tonight and leave me for dead in Everfield’s garden?” One of his gloved hands curled into a fist at his side. “What will you tell Charlotte, the woman you hoped to court?”
“Oh, no. I won’t be killing you... overtly.”
“What the hell does that mean?” His glorious light brown hair that was prone to curling now lay plastered to his skull, and his evening suit looked rather worse for wear. But to her, he had never been more handsome.
“Frankly, you’ve caused me nothing but anxiety and problems over the years, Nottingham. I had hoped your years in Newgate would have stolen the life from you. After all, you were heartbroken from my betrayal. At the very least, I hoped some of the thugs therein would have done the deed.”
“Paid for by you, no doubt,” Edwin shot back.
William shrugged. “Yet to my surprise, none of that happened.”
“I have always been quite fortunate. It will take more than bribes to the people around me to put me down.”
“Yes, so I’m beginning to see, but not to worry. I’ll fix the issue.”
“Then do it. You are a coward, Danville, so I invite you to pull the damned trigger.”
From the small terrace, Charlotte stood in shock, clinging to her father’s arm. Surely William didn’t truly intend to kill Edwin...
“Oh, how dull, but then, what do I expect from a criminal?” William gestured with the pistol. “There’s a stone bench back here amidst the shrubberies. Sit down.”
“Why? What difference does it make... unless you wish to put the ball through the back of my head?”
Charlotte trembled with fear. When she would have left the terrace and go to Edwin’s aide, her father stayed her movement.
“Don’t be stupid, Nottingham.” William’s laugh held absolutely no mirth.
“Yes, I’ll kill you, but once I put the pistol in your hand, force the nose to your temple, and then encourage you to squeeze the trigger yourself.
” He prodded Edwin forward until they reached said bench.
“Of course, it will be me who came out to the garden for some air. I’ll find you, a tragic shell with the pistol in your hand.
” The sound of the pouring rain made hearing their conversation a bit difficult.
“Clearly, you could no longer bear to live with your crimes, so you put the pistol to your head and ended it all. Especially when you realized that dear Charlotte chose me over you, that she has always favored me.”
Dear heavens, why wouldn’t Edwin fight back? Did he fear that if he did, William would fatally shoot him before he could make a move?
Edwin snorted. “Do you honestly think anyone will believe that?”
“It doesn’t matter. You were the one who went to prison. There is no reason for anyone to run an inquiry, for I have the backing of the earl, and I have Charlotte’s regard.”
“Now that is a blatant lie. Charlotte has made a promise to me.”
“Ha. She must have done that out of pity, so you would take her back to London.” William shoved him, laughed when Edwin stumbled, fell to his knees by the bench.
“You’re wrong.”
“I rather doubt that. You only want her for revenge upon me because you know you aren’t the man that I am.”
“The hell I’m not, because I wasn’t the one who murdered our professor. She knows all, Danville. I told her everything.”
“Lies. Why would she believe you, believe anything that comes out of your mouth?”
“Because I love her to distraction; I always have. Everything I’ve done over the course of my adult life has been for her and our family.
” The rain continued to drum down, but Charlotte’s heart soared from his words.
“And I’ll be damned if I let a blackheart like you have anything to do with her.
” He struggled to his feet, and turned to face William.
Charlotte gasped, but she doubted either man could hear over the rain. “Edwin...” Her whisper was snatched away by the precipitation.
“I won’t let you put her and Olivia into danger, and at least if I die tonight, it will be in protecting my family, something I have only ever tried to do all along.” Then he sprang at William, taking the viscount by surprise. They fell into the muck and the mud that was the garden.
William landed on his back. The pistol was knocked from his hand to land a few feet away. “What the hell, Nottingham? You think you’ll best me? Somehow win Charlotte that way?”
“No, for I already know I hold her heart; I can see it in her eyes. And that means everything to me.” Edwin straddled the other man, landed a punch to the viscount’s jaw.
With a roar, William threw Edwin from him then scrambled to his feet just as Edwin gained his. “Her father made an agreement with me. I’ll court and then marry her, and I wanted that damned dowry he’s offered.”
“Desperate, are you? If you truly love Charlotte, you’d not need a financial incentive.”
“You should know, since you took that five hundred pounds my father offered you.”
Edwin swung out a fist, but the viscount dodged the blow.
He landed a punch to Edwin’s gut, glaring when the other man doubled over.
“I took it because I was stupid, because I thought friendship meant something, but I have never touched that damned coin, not even once, over the years.” His words were full of pain.
“Why the hell would you think we were friends after that?” As he spoke, William edged over the darkened, wet ground toward his pistol.
“Apparently I was misinformed.” Edwin straightened with a groan.
From a pocket inside his tailcoat, he removed his own pistol.
“Enough of this. The past is in the past, you blackguard. I’m willing to go to Bow Street or whoever will listen.
I’m going to tell them what really happened at Cambridge, that you killed the professor in a fit of rage. ”
William sneered. “Who will believe you? A man with a criminal record, a man who was in prison, a man who keeps company with some of the worst men in London, a man not even of the ton ?”
“I trust those men with my life, and some are dukes with enough influence that they will support me in anything you choose to bring against me.” The golden illumination from the house windows glinted off the barrel of the pistol Edwin leveled on the other man.
Before Charlotte could rush into the garden to sway him, the sound of a pistol report rent the air.
Bang!
“Oh, dear God.” After breaking away from her father’s hold, Charlotte rushed out into the rain without care to her gown or the mud and water that soaked through her satin slippers.
Had Edwin killed him? Could she love a man who murdered someone in cold blood?
When the smoke cleared and she reached his side, it was to see William lying once more on the ground, holding a hand to his left shoulder.
Blood seeped through his fingers to stain the ivory gloves. “You shot him?”
“It is better than what he truly deserves, and besides, it is but a flesh wound that went through and through.” Then he calmly pocketed the pistol.
Briefly, he met her gaze. “I wanted to kill him, wanted to put a ball right through his black heart, but I thought about you and Olivia. I didn’t want her to know her father was that sort. ”
Relief rushed through her veins. “Of course you’re not. I know that in my heart.”
He nodded then shifted his focus to the viscount. “I have asked one of my contacts at Bow Street to come out tonight and wait for my word, because if anyone deserves to pay for his crimes, it is you, William.”
“Like hell. You’ll pay for this.” The viscount struggled into a sitting position as the rain continued to pour down.
His gaze went to the pistol he’d dropped earlier.
“And I’ll see you dead, I swear I will.” He stretched out an arm for the pistol.
““You confessed to killing the professor, don’t forget.”
Edwin snorted. “To spare your sorry arse, because you would come into a title. I had pressure on me from your father, as well as a bribe.” He shook his head.
“I stupidly thought at the time you were better than me, worth more in society’s eyes because you were a viscount’s son and part of the beau monde .
” Quickly, he darted to the pistol, stepped on William’s wrist to keep him from taking up the weapon.
“Come away from here,” Charlotte pleaded with him as she tugged on Edwin’s arm. “He’s not worth it.”
“Oh, of that I’m quite aware.” He kneeled in front of William. “Once Bow Steet arrives, when they hear our statements and unravel the knots you’ve caused, everyone in the ton will finally know the truth of that dark time. And I’ll have the satisfaction that justice was finally served.”
“You will not destroy everything I’ve worked for!”
“You haven’t worked at anything. Everything you have is based in lies and cheating.”
“This ends now.” Then William sprang at Edwin, knocked him to the ground and began to pummel the stuffing out of him despite the wound to his shoulder.
“Edwin!” Charlotte stared in horror, for she suspected that William wouldn’t stop until he’d snuffed the life from the man she loved.