“Your Grace,” Langdon said, his voice smooth and free of any sign of displeasure, “I am glad to find you here.”
“What do you want, Langdon?” Winston grunted.
“To congratulate you,” Langdon said, a small sneer beginning to curl his lips, “on your forthcoming nuptials.”
Winston said nothing. He would wait to let the man reveal why he was really here.
“I admit, I was a bit peeved earlier when you first announced your engagement,” Langdon continued. “But now that I havehad a few hours to think upon it, I believe this is for the best. A girl like that, who is so willful and disobedient, I am lucky to have you take her off of my hands.”
“This is the terrorizer himself?” Leo asked Winston, not bothering to lower his voice. Winston nodded, too enraged to speak, and Langdon flushed at the insult—especially because it had been said in public when there were so many people within earshot.
“Lady Vanessa will be better off with you,” Langdon went on doggedly, despite the put-down. “Ever since we were children, she has shown a remarkable lack of obedience to her betters. I thought I could be the one to teach her how to behave, but a man like you, known for always getting his way, will be better at breaking her.”
“Careful, Langdon,” Winston growled. The man was pushing Winston’s patience to the limit, and he was about to snap.
Langdon spread his arms wide, as if in surrender. “My apologies, Your Grace. I just thought it was important that you know the kind of woman you are marrying. She will not be easy to tame, but I am sure that you will learn how to put her in her place. If I do not first.”
Winston’s body reacted before his mind had even caught up with it. All of a sudden, he was on his feet. He towered over Langdon, whose eyes went wide as he stared up in fear at Winston.
“Say that again,” Winston murmured.
But Langdon rose to the bait. Furiously, he drew himself up and said, “I will teach her her place.”
Winston didn’t hesitate. He seized Langdon by the throat and squeezed.
“You would do well to heed me, Langdon,” he said, calm and measured even as he choked the man. All around him the club had gone silent as heads turned in their direction. He was aware, too, that Leo had leapt to his feet as well and that his friend was saying his name, but he ignored him.
“Take it back,” he murmured, “or I swear to God, I will not hesitate to end you.”
“I—I—” Langdon was choking. His eyes bugged out of his face, which was very red. He was spluttering, maybe too choked to speak, and Winston eased his grip just enough to let him talk.
“She is mine,” Winston said, slow and deliberate. He raised his voice so that the rest of the room could hear him, so that the rest of these gentlemen would know what was at stake if they defied him. “And I will not share her. You will let her go and never come near her again. Do you understand?”
“Winston, let him go!” he heard Leo say behind him, quiet but firm, but he would not let him go until he got the answer he wanted.
“Do you understand?” Winston snarled.
“I u-understand!” Langdon sputtered, and Winston released him, thrusting him away as he did so that Langdon tripped and fell backward, hitting an armchair against which he steadied himself. His hand went to his throat, massaging it tentatively as he looked up at Winston, tears in his eyes.
Winston came to stand over him, and Langdon shrank back against the armchair, sliding down it until he was all the way on the ground.
“Do not forget this,” Winston said, as he stared down into the man’s eyes, which were full of hate and humiliation. And then, with a swish of his cloak, he turned and left White’s, Leo hurrying after him.
Chapter Six
“What is Heaven’s name were you thinking?” Leo cried, grabbing Winston by the arm and turning him around to face him. They were a block from White’s, and Winston had been storming down the street so quickly that his friend had barely been able to keep up. Now, however, Leo forced him to stop.
“What do you mean?” Winston snapped. “It was obvious what I was thinking: that he had gone too far in speaking about my soon-to-be-wife.”
“You strangled the man in full view of every member of White’s!” Leo shouted then lowered his voice as he glanced around. “Do not you see why that is a problem?”
“Why do you care?” Winston snarled. “We have done worse.”
“I know that,” Leo said through gritted teeth, “but now everyone else is going to know that, too.”
Winston frowned, distracted momentarily from his anger by the implication of Leo’s words.
“You do not think—” he hesitated. “No one will know it is us simply because of that display.”
