Page 31 of Only Scandal Will Do

“You are being stubborn and you know it.” She moved closer to him, so her words would be private. “You do not have to fight him to the death. And if you insist on it, he will kill you. I know him well enough to assure you of that. He’s all whipcord and steel, with reflexes like a lightning strike. I told him at the time--”

A sudden notion struck her. Neither man had considered that the challenge might not be Jack’s to make.

She turned to Dalbury, hardly able to contain her glee. “You have fought several duels, my lord, have you not?”

“Yes, I have had more than my share it seems,” he said, watching her closely.

“Does the wronged person issue the challenge or do his relatives?”

Dalbury smiled. “No, my lady. The wronged man is the one to issue the challenge.”

Kat smiled triumphantly. “Then, my lord, my brother must rescind his challenge, for it is not his to make.”

Jack stared at her as though she had taken leave of her senses. “Not mine to make? If it is not my challenge to make, whose is it?”

“Mine.”

The word had the impact of a bomb exploded on a sunny afternoon in the park. Jack’s face went red, Dalbury’s white and both yelled simultaneously, “Katarina!”

“You are certainly a candidate for Bedlam.” Jack was beyond livid. “Women do not fight duels, do they, Dalbury?”

“No.” The marquess sounded as shocked by her claim as Jack. “I have never heard of a

woman participating in a duel of any kind with a man.”

“Why not?” The question was certainly valid, but neither man thought so, to judge by their faces.

“It’s just not done,” her brother protested.

“That’s not an answer, Jack.” Anger built again. “What is your excuse, Lord Dalbury?

Why can a woman not issue a challenge?”

“A woman does not challenge a man in order to defend her own honor because usually she is not capable of fighting. And the code of dueling prohibits it, in any case,” Dalbury replied, a speculative gleam in his eye. “In this instance, however, the former circumstance does not appear to be the case.”

He paused and shot a look at Jack. “So you declare it is your right to defend your own honor,

Lady Katarina?”

“It is not her right. It is mine, damnit!” Jack’s face worked with rage. “You cannot play with her this way, Dalbury. I forbid it.”

“Jack, if I have to fight you first to issue this challenge, I’ll do it,” Kat said. “And I’ve bested you before, remember? Do not interfere.”

When Jack would have stomped out of the room in disgust, Dalbury caught his sleeve. “I still need a chaperon, Manning. Things are complicated enough without her being compromised while issuing a challenge to defend her honor.”

Jack growled some oath under his breath, and shook off Dalbury’s hand, but stayed in the room.

Kat approached Dalbury, standing before him willingly for the first time. “Do you accept my challenge, my lord?” She had itched to cross swords with him since March. Now the opportunity hung on a single word.

“I fear that honor, and the code, prohibit me from doing so, my lady.” When she sputtered with indignation, he raised a hand to forestall her. “However, there is nothing to prevent us from conducting a fencing match with a wager attached. One that would mirror the outcome of a duel, had it been fought.”

The desire to face the marquess, sword in hand, increased with each minute she considered the possibility. Even if it was not a duel per se, if it would satisfy Jack’s sense of honor and appease her lust to fight Dalbury, she would agree to the terms. “Very well, my lord. I will wager my skill with a sword against yours.”

“And your terms, my lady?” the marquess asked. “We will not fight to the death. I have no qualms about killing a man, and while I may reluctantly wound a woman, I will not kill one.” His grin made him almost boyish.

“I too am reluctant to take a life, Lord Dalbury,” she chuckled, “even yours.”

“We then fight to first blood?”