Page 77 of Only Scandal Will Do

“Nigel, if you don’t back away from that door I will make you wish you had.” Miss Vestry’s icy voice sent a chill down Kat’s spine. Not a woman to cross. How had she ever fallen into the clutches of Tommy Redmond?

They left the room, Nigel giving his employer a wide berth. After Miss Vestry returned her to the chair in the office and Will obediently retied her legs, the woman faced Redmond. “I fear I must be about my business. The gentlemen will arrive at any moment and the girls cannot go unsupervised. They have no concept of time and, as you know, time is money. Will I see you later, my lord?” There was a hopeful lift in her voice Kat would have wagered was contrived.

“I fear not, my dear. Once the events have played out I will be off to America. I wish I could take you with me, but I will need to present a respectable front. I could hardly do that with you in tow, now, could I?”

He reached out to give Miss Vestry’s breast a familiar squeeze, causing Kat to look away, disgusted at the man’s lack of decency. The sound of a rather sloppy kiss followed. Thinking of the other indignities Madam Vestry probably suffered from this vile man, her stomach heaved. And what had she endured with Duncan? The ache of jealousy shot through her; she doubted suffering had entered into that relationship.

Resolutely she got herself in hand, refusing to dwell on such images. Men were not expected to be virgins in their marriage beds, and her husband patently had not been. The vague, general knowledge that he had taken other lovers, however, was quite different from meeting a former mistress face to face.

Before Kat could continue down that road to Bedlam, she was jerked back from her brooding by the sound of the door closing. Vestry had gone to attend to the business of the House of Pleasure, leaving her alone in the company of Nigel, Will, and Tommy Redmond.

* * * *

Duncan left Dunham House with no clear idea where to look for Lord Manning. Trying to be methodical, he started at the earl’s house, hoping the butler would be more forthcoming than he had been with Grayson. He swung down from Saxon, ran up to the door and beat upon it with a clenched fist.

Simons opened it and, after one shocked glance, hid his surprise. His lordship was indeed from home, although he was in town, having just returned from the country. He believed that the earl could be found at Angelo’s this afternoon, although he had said something about Barberry’s as well. With a nod of thanks, Duncan returned to Saxon and quickly set out for the heart of London’s Soho district.

He reached the familiar establishment in good time, and scanned the many familiar faces as he entered. Several men stopped him to express surprise at his abrupt return to London. Rather than ignore them, he gave an abbreviated version of the story, all the while searching the fencers for Manning. He was rewarded at last with the sight of the earl, damp hair plastered to his head, defending a skillful thrust to his right flank. The bout seemed never to end, and he restrained the urge to snatch up a weapon and leap upon his brother-in-law.

Winded but smiling at his performance, Manning at last relinquished his weapon to the master, Angelo himself.

“You progress well, Signore Manning,” Angelo said. “If you return often enough, you will indeed become a superior swordsman.” The slight, wiry Italian master’s praise was hard to come by, Duncan knew from experience. For the first time he wondered if he would have been able to win Katarina had he fought her brother instead.

Manning nodded his thanks, then turned and stopped dead at the sight of him. A great smile spread across his face. He strode forward and clasped his hand. “Dalbury! What the devil are you doing in town?” Then a look of fear washed over him and he tightened his grip. “My sister, where is she?”

Duncan unclasped his hand and stepped back, assessing Jack coolly. “I came to ask you the very same question, Manning.”

“Where Kat is?” His eyes widened in alarm. “Don’t you know?”

“No, imbecile, where is my sister?”

“’Struth, Dalbury, why would I know where Juliet was? I’ve been at the Braeton’s house party this past month. I haven’t seen her since you sailed.” Apprehension increased in his voice.

“Now, what have you done with Katarina? Where is she?”

“Peace, Manning. She is sleeping at Dunham House, perfectly fine.” He couldn’t resist adding, “Sleeping alone for the first time in over a month.” Jack’s mouth formed a silent O.

Unabashed, Duncan grinned. “We have finally come to an accord.”

Face suffused with red, Manning tugged him to a more secluded area of the club and

forced him to recount the entire story. At the end, the earl leaned his head back against a wall, eyes closed. “She told me you were crossing the Channel and heading to Italy overland. I ought to beat the wench.”

“Funny, I said the same thing when she told me about her tendency to seasickness. After the fact. Perhaps we should take turns. Or alternate days?” Manning’s perplexed expression darkened, but Duncan met his brother-in-law’s eyes and clamped a hand on his shoulder. “I must confess I am much happier with the way things stand. And I can assure you, your sister is happier now as well. We have been blissfully content these seven weeks and would be, still, were it not for Juliet.”

He swiftly related everything he had learned regarding Juliet’s disappearance. Manning shook his head in puzzlement. “Why would she call another man by my name? I swear, Dalbury, I left for Braeton’s the day you sailed. I went there alone, though I ended up much in the company of a Miss Forsythe. I think the Braetons were a fair way toward matchmaking us. You can check with them if you wish, but they will tell you the same thing.”

“I did not really believe you had run off with Juliet, Manning. But if she is not with you, where is she? No one has seen her in almost seven weeks.” Christ. Now he was even more desperate. Where in hell was she?

“We will go back to your house and send to Bow Street,” Manning said. “Reginald Matthews will get to the bottom of this if anyone can. He was called in when Katarina was...” He trailed off, and turned a stricken look on him. “Do you think she was taken, as Kat was?”

Duncan shook his head. “Not if she went willingly. No, there is something else going on here. Something to do with St. Cyr, I’ll be bound.”

“Come on, then. Matthews is your man for this job.”

The sun was low in the sky half an hour later when he arrived at Dunham Place with Manning. The mansion, strangely, was deserted. No one appeared outside the front door to take their horses, so they rode around to the stable, where chaos had broken out. Grayson stood on the lawn, wringing his hands. Two of his grooms and a stable boy were sitting about on the grass, rubbing their heads, blinking as cook dished up hot tea for all. In the middle of the manicured lawn, barking orders and making meticulous notes, stood Reginald Matthews.

“Matthews!” Duncan shouted. “Praise God, we were just going to send to you. But what has happened here? Why are my grooms sitting about?”