Page 94 of Taken By the Beastly Duke

Anthony stepped closer to him

" I do not like repeating my self, Seton. It is in your best interest that you return my wife to me and I truly hope she is intact or unscathed. Or so help me Seton"

" What will you do?. Call me out to duel?. Duels are outlawed in England." He said with false bravado

Anthony let out a dark chuckle in answer, stepping in even closer that he was now glowering down at the man

" I have no intention to call you out for a duel. They are quite simpler ways to settle the matter at hand. As a matter of fact, I am happy to settle the matter here."

He watched as the hidden threat penetrated his daft brain. He stood close enough to see when the man's eyes dilated with fear and the sweat that broke out on his brow.

Good. It seemed the man wasn't completely dumb. He waited while the other man weighed his options because he for a fact knew that his offer was deadlier, because a fight with the puny Viscount had a predictable outcome, going by the fact that between the both of them, there was only one person with military background and affiliations with pugilism and that person was not Seton

A fight between them could only end one way- with the Viscount's dead body on the side of the road

He had no inclination to kill anyone, especially after coming back from the war but if the man presumed to stop him from recovering his wife or even made the mistake of harming her, the choice would be out of his hands. He hoped for both their sakes that the man made the best decision.

As he watched, Seton brought his expression under control and thrust his chin out in determination. An icy feeling of dread climbed down Anthony's spine. It seemed the man had decided to take the difficult path and the next words of his mouth confirmed his premonition

" She is not here." He said simply causing Anthony to release a growl of anger.

He continued, completely ignoring the apparent danger staring him on his face

" Besides, even if she was here. She clearly do not want you. Who would want to be shackled to you by the way? You are an unrefined beast, unworthy to have such an angel as a wife. She must have realized it. That is why she left" he sneered.

It was obvious that Seton's plan was to provoke him into a state of rage, but he had not lived the better part of a decade enduring the barbed tongues of the gossips of the ton to crumple in the face of such weak insult. It also helped that the statement was untrue.

" Well, My wife is the only one that can confirm that isn't she?" He said pasting on a smirk on his face that was sure to anger the other man.

Keeping the gun trained at him, he sidled towards the door of the carriage. Finally turning his back to Seton to open the door.

That was a wrong move, especially for a retired soldier and he immediately suffered the consequences for that error, because before his fingers made contact with the door, he felt Seton jump on him from the back temporarily surprising him. Seton used that opportunity to knock his gun away from his hand and before Anthony could react to retrieve his weapon, he kicked it out of sight.

Anthony reacted on instinct, using his elbow to deliver a sharp blow to his abdomen. That gave him enough time to remove himself from his grasp. When he turned, Seton was on the floor cupping his bleeding nose. When the man stood up, Anthony caught sight of a flash of silver and Seton was on him again raising a silver dagger clearly intending to stab him.

Anthony reacted immediately raising his hands to block the downward trajectory of the dagger. Seton pushed down on the dagger with all his might. A crazed look in his eyes

" You cannot have her" he said on a whisper." She. is. Mine." He said in a chilling whisper " Mine do you hear?"

" I will kill you before I let you have her" he said putting more of the weight of his body behind the dagger

Anthony acknowledged now that he might have underestimated the man and the degree to which his madness had hold of him. He had always known Seton as a man that tended towards being a dandy.

He never believed that the man could go to the extent of trying to kill him to gain his wife. He must have planned it, if he had silver daggers hidden in his clothes. Granted, many men in society wore it as a fashion. He had just never expected the man to know how to use it. He became increasingly afraid of the true state of his wife given the latest display of madness from his new opponent.

In addition to his fear. He could also feel his strength failing him. He must have become weak after starving for a day and a half with no rest as he rode half across the country. The exhaustion was definitely telling on him and he could not give in now, because he would surely be dead. He pushed up using the carriage to brace himself, pushing off Seton allowing him to deflect the dagger a bit.

Bringing up his knee he managed to deliver a blow at the man's shin, but his madness must have made him impervious to the pain, because it barely slowed him down. Instead it seemed to enrage him

With an animalistic growl. He attacked him once again, the dagger raised high in his fist like some medieval Viking warrior. Anthony could already feel the exhaustion fast taking hold of him. He braced himself to deflect the blow when a feminine scream pierced the air..

" Stop!!!"

Anthony towards the sound, vaguely realizing that his opponent had stopped as well to look at the source of the interruption. It was Victoria. His radiant wife. She was alive. The relief that came with that realized threatened to drive him to his knees. She was a sight for sore eyes even in her bedraggled state.

She looked worn out, her hair matted with the effect of a few days of dirt and her face and clothes slightly bloodied. The presence of bruises on her face and the small cuts on her forehead caused anger to breed in his chest restoring part of his strength. She stepped down from the carriage. Coming to stand beside him. She smiled up at him

" How... How did you...." Seton stuttered

---