Page 66 of Road Trip With a Rogue
“The first man I killed was justice too.”
Lucien’s quiet comment made her stiffen in surprise.
“What?”
“That duel you asked me about. The one before the war. You called it cold blood. But it was justice.”
Daisy frowned at the horse’s ears, amazed that he was finally answering her question. Was it because of their recent close shave? Had their moments of shared danger somehow bonded them together?
“The man I killed was Elaine’s stepfather.”
The girl he’d said he’d loved.“Why?”
“Elaine came to me when she discovered she was pregnant. The child wasn’t mine—we were friends, like you and your Tom, but we’d never made love. She was desperate, distraught. She said the child’s real father would never offer for her, and she begged me to marry her and protect her with my name.”
Daisy didn’t dare to move. Perhaps the darkness, and the fact that he wasn’t looking at her made it easier for him to talk? Either way, she was keen to hear the truth from his lips.
He let out a huff of self-derision. “I refused. Told her I was too young to marry, too busy living my life in London. I assumed she’d got involved with a married man, or someone equally unsuitable. A servant, maybe. I pitied her, but not enough to tie myself to her for the rest of our lives.”
He shook his head, his chin rubbing the top of her hair where she rested against him. “Her family bustled heraway up here, to Fountain’s Court—their estate shares a boundary with Carisbrooke Hall—to hide her situation. She was an embarrassment, an unwed girl in the family way. They told everyone she was ill.”
He sighed. “In truth, I forgot about her. Out of sight, out of mind. When I finally came back up here to visit my sister, months later, I learned the truth from one of the servants. Elaine’s stepfather was the father of her child. He’d forced himself on her, and her own mother had refused to believe it when she’d told her. She blamed Elaine for seducing her husband.”
Daisy bit her lip in horror, her heart aching for the younger woman. This wasn’t the first time she’d heard of such a sordid case; instances of familial abuse were tragically common if one read the newssheets or followed the criminal cases at the Courts of Justice. Worse still were the thousands more cases in which the perpetrator was never brought to justice. It made her blood boil just thinking about it.
It struck her how easilyshecould have shared a similar fate. The Duke of Dalkeith was not her real father, but he’d never once treated her with anything other than the respect due to a daughter. He’d certainly never tried to rape her or hurt her in any way. She’d been incredibly fortunate in that regard. Better his careless inattention than such a sick, unhealthy “love.”
Lucien adjusted the reins, steering the horse over the springy heather and through a shallow stream.
“When I heard that, I went a little mad. I rode over to Fountain’s Court like a stupid knight errant, convinced with the arrogance of youth that I could save her. I demanded to see her. Her stepfather refused. I offered to marry her, but he wouldn’t give her up. I challenged him to a duel. He and four of his men beat me to withinan inch of my life. They left me in a ditch, lucky to be alive.” His low laugh was hollow, bleak.
“By the time I’d recovered, Elaine was dead. The baby came early, and she died in childbirth, along with the child.”
Daisy closed her eyes tighter against the knot of emotion in her chest. Not just for Elaine and her child, but for Lucien, too, racked with guilt for not caring enough, for doing too little, too late. “I’m so sorry.”
His chest rose and fell in a deep breath.
“What happened to him? Her stepfather? You eventually got that duel.”
“I did.” His tone was harsh now, bitter with recollection. “It took two years, but I finally encountered him in London, at a club. I beat him, fairly, at cards. Won a fortune off him, in fact. But ruining him financially wasn’t enough. Why should he live when Elaine was cold in the ground? So I taunted him until he accused me of cheating. He was drunk, but we both knew it had nothing to do with cards.
“I demanded the satisfaction of a duel, knowing he couldn’t refuse in public without looking like a coward. A gentleman would have waited until he was sober, but I didn’t care about being a gentleman. We pushed back the tables and each nominated a second. Your brother Devlin was mine.”
Daisy tightened her grip on his jacket. She hadn’t known that particular detail. Devlin had never mentioned it.
“He must have realized I meant to kill him. He fired early, winged me in the shoulder. I shot him through the heart.”
“Good,” Daisy muttered fiercely.
She felt him look down at her, but didn’t lift her head.“He deserved it,” she continued, “but I’m sorry you were the one who had to deliver justice.”
“Killing him didn’t bring back Elaine.”
“No. But her spirit can rest in peace, knowing you avenged her.”
She twisted round to finally look him in the eye. “I’m sorry I said you weren’t noble.”
He brushed a tangled curl of hair from her cheek, careful not to press on the bruised skin. “When I heard those men had taken you, it was like hearing about Elaine all over again. I wanted to kill them all.”