Page 18 of The Devil Himself (The Devil You Know #1)
Seventeen
J ulian, or Warrington as his title demanded, arrived the next day for breakfast, which didn’t surprise Luc at all.
He had, in fact, expected him earlier, but he supposed moving Hannah in with Julian’s aunt had been an all-day affair.
Jules had gotten their message and sent one in return that he would see them once Hannah was safe.
And then he’d moved a gaggle of females.
Women, by the dictates of society, had so many more worries than a man.
A stay at his club required no forethought, as no one would remark on him wearing his evening kit home, but if a woman wore the same dress twice, the scandal sheets took her to task.
“So many bags,” Jules moaned, filling his plate with a rasher of bacon while Rys smirked at him over his coffee.
“Well, we appreciate your help.” Luc knew Jules needed a bit of encouraging flattery. It was one of his best characteristics, actually, because it made him strive to be a good man.
“You had better.” Julian came to sit, smiling at the footman who pulled out his chair, then rushed to fill his coffee. “Now. Enlighten me as to what you’ve found out. What is the great emergency?”
He looked at Rys, who inclined his head a tiny bit. “Well, we know that they’re desperate. They attacked Rys right in front of the house yesterday.”
“Good lord.” Jules paused with his cup halfway to his mouth. “This is why you sent Hannah and the girls to my aunt?”
“Yes. They’re losing the thread, I think,” Rys said. “Nothing has gone right for them since Luc asked me to join in on looking into it.”
Julian’s eyes widened. “Your son, Luc. Is he safe?”
“As safe as I can make him at school, yes, but I don’t want to disrupt his life any more than I have to. I really think they’re focused on Gareth and Hannah and the girls.” He was betting on it, in fact, but Damien was under guard.
“So where are we, then, really?” Julian munched his bacon with enthusiasm. “Fill me in.”
Rys chuckled. “Well, we know that Daffyd and Arthur are both saying that in a week or so, now, they will come into a great deal of money. I am told by a reliable source that Daffyd really does intend to force Hannah into marriage. When he told me that, I thought it was bluster, but a ladybird assures me he’s told others.
That would give him actual control over Gareth’s inheritance as his stepfather.
” Rys was ticking things off on his long, well-shaped fingers, and Luc watched, fascinated by them.
“But Gareth would still be the marquess,” Julian pointed out.
“Until he fell down the stairs or fell off a horse or something equally ridiculous,” Luc put in. He hated the idea of those men having more access to Owen’s wife and children than they did now.
“And we know that after I saw Daffyd at Dionysus, and after my man bought the property they were selling, thinking no one would know, someone tried to kill me on the street in front of my damn house,” Rys said. He sipped his coffee. “So, we’re pushing in the right direction.”
“Indeed.” Luc pondered that. “But we need to push harder. We need to get them to make an obvious move. One that can be used to send them off to gaol.”
“Or ship them off to Australia. I’m sure they would do quite well there,” Rys said, his tone venomous.
“No doubt.” Jules waved his fork in the air, the fat sausage on it rather ridiculous. “All right, so, we’ve taken Hannah out of reach for now. What way will the pieces fall from that?”
Luc looked at Rys, who tapped his forefinger on the table. “That’s a good question. I’ll call in my lead man on the detail following Arthur and Daffyd and look at their movements. I admit, I was a bit scattered yesterday.”
Rys gave him a smoldering glance that told Luc that Rys thought he was more to blame for that than the small wound in his arm was.
Julian munched, looking back and forth between them with glittering dark eyes, a small smile playing on his lips as he wiped them with his napkin. “Like that for both of you now, is it?”
Luc flushed, his cheeks going hot, but he didn’t deny it.
“Like that, it is,” Rys agreed, almost cheerfully.
“Good.” Julian nodded. “I’ve set several footmen at my aunt’s house on guarding the doors and the garden. What else do you need from me?”
Rys sat for a moment, staring at Julian. Then he nodded. “I need you to put it about in the hells that you’re thinking of proposing to Hannah once she’s out of mourning.”
Julian laughed, the sound rather like a honking goose, indicating his surprise. “Why on earth would I do that if this situation were real? I believe everyone knows I have no desire to wed.”
“Julian, you have something of a reputation. This way, you wouldn’t have to produce an heir. There would be one who could pass along the title to a second son or some such.”
Julian looked at Luc. “And do you agree?”
He nodded slowly, Rys’s idea really taking root.
“Yes. You moved her in with your aunt. You have motive. And it will press their hand even more. Whatever they were planning for this week, be it an abduction of Hannah to Scotland, or one of Gareth to force her into a hasty marriage, will be blocked. They’ll panic. ”
Julian got up to refill his plate, heaping it tall with eggs and potatoes and rashers of bacon.
“Well, then. I’ll do it. I’ll start the rumors up today.
Perhaps have one of my friends put in the betting book at White’s.
Without telling him the real reason, of course.
But I will need more sustenance than I’ve had to do so. ”
Luc shared a glance with Rys, getting a sly wink in return.
He laughed, finally digging into his own excellent eggs. “Really, Julian. You need to get a better cook.”
“Mmm.” Julian piled his plate high. “I’ll just come here for breakfast from now on. Since I’ll be family.”
Rys groaned. “We’ve created a monster, Luc.”
Luc just grinned. “A small price to pay for his sacrifice, Grey.”
“Indeed.” Rys touched his foot with one boot under the table. “We’ll just have to go eat at your house.”
He nodded, his heart beating harder in his chest. He could live with that. He surely could.