Page 60 of Wedded to the Scottish Duke

Erected on a square platform in the middle of the dark warehouse were two thin ropes stretched around the square in some attempt to separate the bettors from the fighters. The crowds swarmed as money was passed back and forth. Keith couldn’t stop taking in the sight before him.

It seemed he was not the only one eager to escape the frivolousness of the ton to find something a bit grittier. The warehouse was full of people, and on either side of the space, tiered seating had been erected to give people a better view of the boxing ring. There was not a place that wasn’t crowded with two people jostling to stand in a single spot.

“Who’s fighting?” Keith asked as two men took to the ring.

“No point in asking. This one will be over before you know it.” Aaron nodded at the large, bear-like man who stepped into the ring, bare-chested, his knuckles ridged with scars from when he had won multiple fights. His opponent was a third of his size, trembling as he stepped into the ring.

“Surely, they do not intend to put such a man in the ring? He doesn’t even want to be there—” Keith broke off abruptly as the fight began.

Just as Aaron had predicted, it did not last long. The thin man danced around the space for a minute, doing his best to avoid any blows. The one advantage he had was that the bear-like man wasted energy by punching air, but sooner or later, he was bound to hit his target, and he did.

One firm knock to the thin man’s jaw sent him down to the platform. Knocked out, people hollered, and others booed, saying the fight was too easy.

“See?” Aaron raised his eyebrows. “If we’re to bet on anything fun, we need a fairer fight.”

Keith smiled a little to himself as he watched the bear-like man celebrate. He raised his thick fists in the air in triumph as his supporters cheered, and then he slapped his chest as firmly as any gorilla, roaring at the crowd.

“All right, all right.” A tall and weedy man, dressed in a top hat and tails that were both heavily patchworked, took to the platform. He raised his hands, calling for quiet. “I hear you all want a fairer fight. Right?”

“Right!” the crowd bellowed.

“Then we need a volunteer.” The man held his hands out. “Who will dare take on the Bear?”

“Could they think of no better name?” Keith asked in Aaron’s ear, prompting him to snort.

The Bear was slapping his chest again aggressively, gesturing to the crowd in his effort to make someone come forward to fight him.

“Come on, gentlemen.” The ringleader took off his top hat and used it to gesture to the crowd. “No takers? No man brave enough to take him on?”

There were suspicious boos from all around, but no volunteers.

Keith eyed the Bear carefully. It couldn’t be denied he was a brutish-looking man, with more force in his fists than a lot of men had in their whole bodies, but Keith was hardly slender or weedy. He was strong, tall, and perhaps the most similar to the Bear in build in this warehouse.

I also know how to truly fight.

Keith raised his hand in the air.

CHAPTER 17

“Do you want to suffer?”

It wasn’t Aaron who asked that question.

Recognizing the familiar voice, Keith turned around to see both Philip and Xander standing there, their eyes wide. “He’ll kill you!”

“Then ye have never seen a Scottish laird fight,” Keith grunted, smiling a little when he saw Xander laugh.

“Now this I can’t wait to see,” Xander snorted and waved his hand for the ringleader’s attention. “You have a volunteer here.”

“Ah, excellent.” The man put his top hat back on as he shifted his focus to Keith. “Come, come forward, and take off anything nice you’re wearing, Sir. We wouldn’t want it to get destroyed.”

Keith shrugged off his frock coat and then proceeded to take off his waistcoat and tie. Aaron happily held them for him.

“This will be something,” Xander muttered rather excitedly as Philip repeatedly shook his head.

“Do you want to pick a dead man up off that platform?” Philip waved a hand madly at the ring.

“Have you seen him?” Aaron grunted as he gestured to Keith. “Don’t doubt the capability of a warrior.”

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