Page 12 of I Never Forget a Duke (The Night Fire Club #1)

S mith had finished Emma and found it quite charming.

This afternoon, he had chosen a novel at random from the library and was now skimming it while lounging in the gold salon.

After he’d said that reading might be a pleasant diversion, the countess had told him which shelf contained her most beloved books, and he’d promised to take the utmost care of them.

He now sat alone, reading Gulliver’s Travels , which was proving to be quite familiar.

He’d read this book before, he knew, even though he could not recall the plot.

Adele entered the room, still in her coat. Wilton trailed behind her and helped her out of it as she spoke.

“I have some important information.”

Smith made note of the page he was on and set the book aside. “Yes?”

“I believe I know your identity.”

A flutter went through Smith. He sat up a little taller, waiting to hear.

“That is, I discovered today that a certain gentleman went missing a week ago, and the family’s coat of arms does indeed include lions and boars.

I brought a friend home with me. That is, he is not my friend but a friend of this missing man, and I believe will be able to confirm my identification.

But I wanted to warn you before I brought him in. ”

“Will you not tell me my name?” He was desperate to hear it.

“Lord Waring, please come in,” said Adele instead.

The man who entered had dark hair and eyes and impeccable dress. Smith thought him familiar. The man clasped a hand over his mouth. “Hugh.”

Hugh. Yes. That was his name. And this man was… “Lark.” Hugh stood. The name had just popped into his head. “I recognize you.”

“Yes, my good man. Lady Adele tells me you have lost your memories.”

“Yes, I am afraid I cannot recall my surname. Or yours. But I know you are Lark and we are friends.”

“Yes. I am Larkin Woodville, Lord Waring, heir to the Duke of Beaufort. And you.” Lark pointed at Hugh. “You are Hugh Baxter, the Duke of Swynford.”

“Swynford,” Hugh whispered. The S on the signet ring had stood for Swynford.

“How are you feeling?” Lark asked.

“Confused much of the time. Lady Adele and the staff here in the Sweeney house have been taking good care of me, and my head does not pound the way it did a few days ago, but it is enormously frustrating not to remember things. It’s like everything in my mind is separated from me by thick curtain.

If I could just pull the curtain aside, I could remember everything, but I haven’t managed that yet.

” Hugh sighed and sat back in his chair.

“Instead I get little flashes of memory, but nothing like a complete picture.”

Adele gestured toward the other chairs in the room. Lark took one across from Hugh. Hugh studied him for a moment. “Do I call you Lark?”

“Yes, usually. Sometimes Waring if we are at our club and other gentlemen are about.”

“We have known each other a long time.”

“Since we were boys. Our mothers are dear friends.”

Hugh had a flash of running through a garden with a dark-haired boy at his side. Something told him he could trust Lark. “Where do I live?”

“On Upper Brook Street near Grosvenor Square. In one of the finest houses in Mayfair.”

“Who is there now?”

“Your mother, for certain. The dozen servants you keep there.”

“I cannot go home yet,” Hugh said.

Lark glanced toward Lady Adele, whose face displayed a befuddled expression.

“I would not think of keeping you from your family,” said Adele.

“It’s not that. I just need more time to prepare myself to see my mother. Am I correct that she is quite overbearing?”

“She can be,” said Lark. “She is also quite worried about you. I should like to put her mind at ease.”

Hugh found himself in a bit of a conundrum. Something told him that once he left Adele’s house, that would be it for them, and he was not ready for it to be good-bye yet. His lips tingled when he thought about kissing her. But he did not want his mother to worry, either.

“You may be right, though,” said Lark. “I had tried to postpone letting it be known that you disappeared as long as I could, but as we had no clues as to what had happened to you, I spoke to a writer I know and we ran a story in the paper. My intention had been for you to pop out of the woodwork and announce your presence, or to coax someone who knew who you were out of hiding, but instead, of course the story has ripped through the ton like wildfire. Should it become known that you have returned, you’d be beset by callers at all times of day, and I imagine that would be unbearable to you at this point. ”

“Yes,” said Hugh, thankful for the rescue. “Perhaps you could tell my mother that I am all right.”

Lark nodded. “Lady Adele mentioned that seeing familiar things may help bring your memories back. I assume that is true of people. Perhaps I could bring some friends here tomorrow. Fletcher and Owen have been out searching for you, too.”

The names were familiar, but Hugh could not connect faces with them. “These are friends of mine?”

“Yes. We all went to Eton together. We often meet at our gentlemen’s club to talk or play cards over whisky and cigars.”

He had a flash of three men sitting around him in a dimly lit room. “I wish I could remember.”

Lark frowned. “Who hit you on the head and why did they dump you here? No offense, Lady Adele, but this part of London has fallen out of fashion.”

“Perhaps that is why he was left here,” said Adele.

“Then why not dump him in St. Giles or another slum? It occurs to me that perhaps whoever hit him on the head intended for him to die.”

“He was unconscious when I found him,” said Adele.

“It’s possible whoever abducted him already thought him dead.

If his body were left here, someone might find him and make sure he was dealt with correctly.

If he were dumped in St. Giles, pickpockets would likely make off with his fine clothes or anything that might identify him.

Then he might be given a pauper’s burial and never seen again. ”

Lark appeared to turn that over, but Hugh could only feel dread that someone in London wanted him dead. What had he done to inspire such a fate?

“An interesting point, my lady,” said Lark.

“I’ve had a few days to think this over.”

“Was I a bad man?” Hugh asked.

Lark turned to him quickly. “No. Of course not. You are proud and stubborn at times, but I can’t see you ever intentionally harming someone.

I can’t think of who would want you dead.

But Lady Adele’s theory makes sense. If you were left here, someone might find and identify you, in which case your family would know you are dead.

If you’d been left in a less savory neighborhood, there’d be no telling you from any other poor man left for dead in St. Giles.

Whoever threw you out of the carriage may have wanted your death recorded. ”

Horror crept up Hugh’s throat. “Who would want to kill me?” He felt dizzy at the thought. “Lord, what a mess. How could this be happening?”

“I’m beginning to think you are right,” said Lark. “You should stay here. We don’t want to alert whoever tried to kill you that you are alive, at least not until we have a stronger grasp on this situation. Will you be all right here?”

“I believe so. I am safe and well cared for here.”

“Good.” Lark turned to Adele. “I am grateful that you found him, my lady. I must go chase down Fletcher and Owen. I will try to get them here tomorrow or the day after so that we can devise some kind of plan. And, Hugh, I will let the dowager duchess know you are all right.”

“Thank you,” said Hugh.

*

Adele had long stopped thinking about the rules of propriety between men and women.

Society had decided she was unmarriageable, after all, which rendered her essentially invisible.

If she were to be discovered alone with a gentleman, there seemed to be few consequences.

These rules had long puzzled her, anyway.

Men and women were not to be alone together if they were not married to each other because one or the other, likely the man, would not be able to restrain himself, was that it?

Two people of opposite genders in a room alone could touch each other, she supposed, although, before Hugh, no man since her late fiancé had made overtures.

She hadn’t had many occasions to be alone with a man in her life, but on the few when she was, that man had not tried to compromise her.

Good men were generally capable of behaving as gentlemen, or so her own experience told her.

She knew bad men took liberties, and she read the scandal sheets as everyone else did when she needed a diversion, so she did not think herself naive when it came to men, but she did not think she should fear them.

If she should find herself in a room with a man, why should she fuss about it?

And yet, as she found herself alone in the gold salon with Hugh Baxter after Lord Waring left, she found herself suddenly nervous.

Hugh rubbed his forehead. “I have a name,” he said softly.

“Yes,” said Adele. She felt guilty for mulling over being alone with him when he was still reeling from all the new information he’d just received.

And she had to admit that his name was intimidating her a bit.

“Why do you seem unhappy?” Hugh asked.

Adele looked up and met Hugh’s gaze. “Do you want my honest answer?”

“Yes, of course.”

Adele didn’t see much point in pretense. “Well, now that you know your identity, you will return to your old life soon.”

Hugh stood and moved over to sit beside Adele on the sofa. “This worries you.”

“We will not see each other again once you leave.”

“What makes you say that?”