Page 16 of Only a Duke (Ladies Who Dare #6)

However, few dared to utter the Furys’ names. Their power ran too deep in these parts. Bastard sons of the late Duke of Crane, they were the half-brothers to the current duke, though, if the whispers held any truth, there was little love lost between them.

“Just who are these men?” Louisa asked, looking at them. “They sound rather fascinating. All mystery and intrigue.”

Oliver frowned. “They are dangerous, not intriguing.”

“Yes, yes, and where do we find these rascals who approached my brother?”

Oliver glanced at Helgate, who answered, “If the description of the scars you described in your missive is accurate, you are looking for Maxen Fury and Dagger Fury. But there are seven of them altogether—byblows who took their own name and built an empire on it. They are not easy men to deal with.”

“ Dagger Fury?”

Oliver sighed, then gave a low chuckle. The fascination in her tone had returned tenfold. “A nickname, I gather?” he directed at Helgate, who nodded.

“Many of the Furys go by a nickname rather than their real names.”

“Well,” Lady Louisa said. “Unfortunately for this Maxen and Dagger,” she smiled again, “we are not easy to deal with either.”

“Do you have a plan?” Helgate asked, glancing between the two of them. “I hope you have a plan.”

Oliver nodded. “Request nicely.”

“A marvelous plan,” Helgate said flatly. “When do you plan to ask nicely?”

“I vote for sooner rather than later,” Louisa said, setting her sherry aside. “And after you’ve asked nicely, I would like to give them a piece of my mind for approaching a young child to do their dirty deeds.”

Oliver’s gaze locked with hers, and he inwardly sighed.

He had expected this. Lady Louisa wouldn’t tag along merely for the sake of tagging along.

A wolf had approached her cub, and she now wanted to meet that wolf eye to eye.

He would rather she not, but he also wasn’t that worried.

He’d be there every step of the way. He supposed that was worrisome in its own right—him indulging her to such an extent—but not so much that he wanted to dwell on the matter.

“I would not dare stop you,” Oliver reassured when sudden challenge lit her gaze, as though she expected him to put up a fight. With anyone else, he would have.

“What about me?” Leo piped up.

“You, I dare stop,” Oliver said without hesitation. One Talbot was enough.

The boy pouted, looking at his sister for help.

Louisa’s lips twitched as she shrugged. “The man wants what the man wants.”

“How about I take you fishing?” Helgate offered, tipping his head toward the shore. “We can have Miles cook the fish you catch.”

The boy’s eyes lit up. “Truly?”

Helgate pressed his hand over his heart, solemn as a judge. “Truly.”

“No matter what the fish?”

Helgate paused, and so did Oliver. “We can cook any fish you catch, but I make no promise that I shall eat it.”

Leo lifted his head a bit. “Very well. I shall stay and put food on the table since I am the provider in my father’s stead.”

“Right you are,” Louisa agreed before she returned her gaze to the shore with a chuckle. “I cannot get enough of this view.”

Oliver agreed. She was.

Helgate sent him a probing look, his voice dipping low, but not enough for it not to be overheard. “Do you know what you are doing?”

What a question. He wanted to say yes. He normally did. But he couldn’t claim such a thing this time. It would be a lie. “I am addressing each circumstance as it presents itself.”

Helgate arched a brow. “Since when do you deal with circumstances individually without thoroughly planning for them? Damn near drove me crazy with it in the past.”

“Since recently.” Oliver couldn’t pretend he hadn’t had much of a choice, because he had. He had made his choices, one after the other. He could have done things differently from the very start. “Be that as it may, what’s done is done.”

“Well, Godspeed, then.”

Lady Louisa turned to them, amusement in her expression. “Godspeed? What a thing to say. You are talking about me, aren’t you? I am one of the ‘circumstances,’ am I not? Good heavens, am I a harridan that the duke requires divine intervention?”

“No, my lady, but your family and,”—he cast a glance over Oliver—“and his aren’t exactly what you would call friendly.”

“Why aren’t they friendly?” Leo asked from the sofa, setting his empty cup on the table. “Aren’t you here to protect my sister? Her hired hand acting as a gardener, recently turned footman?”

Helgate burst out laughing. “Hired hand? My friend, you must have made quite the sacrifice. What did it cost you—your pride or your soul?”

Lady Louisa merely lifted her sherry to take a sip.

Oliver ignored his friend as well as the urge to ruffle the lad’s hair. “When you’re older, you can join the conversation about our families. For now, focus on how you can catch a fish.”

Helgate scoffed. “Don’t answer the question, then. You’ll find the people you seek at The Raging Stag, a tavern in Brighton run by the brothers. Their lair of sorts.”

“Not exactly subtle.”

Helgate shrugged. “Hiding in plain sight. You can take my curricle. Your vehicle is too... notable. Word might reach Talbot if you are spotted exiting a carriage with his crest on it.”

Oliver inclined his head. “Much obliged.”

His friend turned to the young Talbot. “Care to see my stables while we ready the carriage? I have a mare that just gave birth to a foal.”

The boy jumped to his feet. “Yes! I love baby animals!”

Oliver watched the two strode from the drawing room. It was the first time he’d glimpsed the pure delight of a child in that boy. He even had a slight skip in his step.

He turned to Lady Louisa. “You enjoy the beach?”

“I can’t say I do, I can’t say I don’t,” she answered thoughtfully. “I’ve never taken a walk on it before. But the view is quite breathtaking.”

“You’ve never taken a stroll on a beach?”

“Well, no.” Her gaze flicked to him then back at the ocean. “I’ve never had the urge, honestly. Now, I might develop one.”

“Then I shall accompany you for a stroll,” the words left his mouth before he could think better of it. He cleared his throat to cover the growing discomfort. “Sometime.”

Her smile gave way to a light chuckle. “All right. But only after we retrieve the book for you.”

He leaned against the window pane and crossed his arms. “You could have washed your hands of the book. There was no need to join me, so why did you?”

The smile slipped from her lips, and a moment of silence stretched before she said, “That’s right, I do have a reason, and I would like some answers from you. I had almost forgotten about it. Camilla. My stepmother.”

Oliver stilled. “What about her?”

“You made a comment about her. Subtle, but the more I think about it, the more I think you are hiding something from me.”

Ah, yes. He had done that. He hadn’t thought she would catch it. What else had she picked up on? Was she aware of her stepmother’s secrets? Did she know more than she let on? “I am not hiding anything, Lady Louisa. I simply choose not to tell.”

“Which, of course, is your right, but when it comes to my stepmother, I want to get to the bottom of every nuance.”

You and me both, angel. “Understood.”

“Well,” she pressed. “Are you going to tell me or not?”

Oliver hesitated. If he told her, it would be yet another gamble. “The truth may not serve you well. She is your stepmother, after all. Your father’s wife.”

“Be that as it may, I should still like to be the judge of that.”

As she should be. But what about his judgment? It seemed every moment in her presence whittled away at it. Still, he chose to admit, “The betting book is proof of a criminal organization with dealings in smuggling and will reveal the involvement of many aristocrats.”

“Yes, I already know that. The secret women’s club.” Her eyes widened. “Are you telling me my stepmother is involved in that organization?”

“I believe she is the head of it.”

Her mouth dropped open.

Oliver couldn’t help but flash a grin, and he leaned in close to ask, even though he already saw the truth reflected in her eyes. “Tell me, Lady Louisa, are you with them as well?”