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“I cannot have children. Did Evan not tell you? You were the first person he went to see the night of the wedding—he said he was going to talk to you alone to explain everything. Did he not find you?”
Gilroy sat back, the chair creaking as a caustic laugh erupted from his mouth. “You’re lying.”
Her forehead scrunched, her head shaking as she feigned surprise. “Evan did not tell you? But this was all planned. He knew I was taking Ness away. He wants this for you. A new wife. A new future.”
She chuckled, her eyebrows lifting as an easy smile went to her face. “If I was to concoct an escape, it certainly wouldn’t have involved thatseven-hour rideI had with Ness last night. She whined and cried the entire way. I have never known a weaker woman. Evan made it clear to me that you were to never know what happened to her. It would be cleaner for the abandonment cause of the divorce. You are the future of the earldom and he wanted you untainted.”
His lip snarled. “So Ness is…gone?” His fingers snapped in the air.
“Yes. You can move on. It’s all Evan has wanted for you.”
He laughed again, this time not so harsh. Pleased. He believed the lies spewing from her mouth.
He stood, grabbing the bottle of brandy and taking a swig from it rather than pouring it into the glass. “I apologize about this.” He pointed to the chain attached to her leg holding her to the floor. “If you hadn’t interfered you could have walked away long ago.”
Her brows arched in true confusion. “Interfered?”
“In Bicester on your way back from London.”
The smile froze on her face. “The men who attacked us? That was you?”
“It was supposed to be Evan they disposed of. They failed.”
She bit her tongue so hard blood flooded her mouth. Lord Vontmour had never been after her. Never. He was deranged, but he wasn’t a lunatic set for Bedlam like this bastard was.
She looked up at Gilroy, her eyes wide and adoring as she cracked a flippant smile. “Oh, well, one can never know when hiring brutes. I will say it was rather easy to fend them off. It is so hard to find good men for a job like that.”
“It is.” His fingers tapped along the neck of the bottle as he stared down at her. “I’ll be back.”
He turned on his heel and exited the room. Juliet waited for the door to latch closed before she spit onto the floor next to her.
Again. And again. And again.
Lies were usually easy off her tongue, but ones like that came with a healthy dose of blood and bile.
Her shoulders sank, her body curling into herself. For how desperate she’d been to scream at Gilroy, to scratch his eyes out and choke the very life out of him, it’d taken every speck of willpower she had to keep her face smiling, to keep the pandering lies flowing.
It’d been a gamble, lying to him, and she had no inkling if it’d worked or not.
And now he was gone and she was still chained to the floor.
Sometimes one won when gambling. Sometimes one lost.
She sighed, shaking her head.
She had a sinking feeling she’d just lost.
{ Chapter 29 }
“I dinnae ken what wild goat has gotten up yer arse, Ev, but yer swingin’ like one of Boney’s lasses.” His sword high, Duncan pursued him across the rough patches of earth about the practice field to the west of the castle.
His boot scraping in the dirt and sending up a cloud of dust into the crisp morning air, Evan spun, his sword ready to block Duncan’s next swing.
Yes, he was still drunk. So yes, slow. But swinging like a French lass? Too far.
A growl in his throat, he lunged at Duncan, his blow brutally hitting Duncan’s sword and sending sparks flying. One, two, three more blows and Duncan lost three steps, his calves running into a mound of hay.
Duncan lifted a foot and sent it into Evan’s stomach, gaining a sliver of space between them. Utilizing the hard-won moment, Duncan reset his grip along his sword and swung it in an arc over his head, coming down fast at Evan’s head.
