Page 55 of His Duchess' Wicked List

Christopher gazed at him mildly. “Discrepancies? What do you mean?”

Daniel sighed, picking up the first ledger, the one that detailed Stansgate’s accounts. He flicked through the pages, running a finger along the margin until he found what he was looking for.

“Here,” he said, showing the book to his cousin. “You have listed the expenditure for the month in the last column. And yet, thefigures do not add up. There is a discrepancy of one hundred guineas.”

Christopher shrugged. “And so? I must have made a mistake, Cousin. It does happen, especially when one is doing bookkeeping at night, which is my habit.”

Daniel stared at him. “Yes, that is what I thought myself when I came across it,” he said slowly. “However, when I went back over the previous months, the same mistake occurred, for exactly the same amount of money. One hundred guineas, every single time.”

Christopher met his eyes steadily. “More mistakes.” He shrugged, looking indifferent. “I am not trained in this, you know, Daniel. I took over the books for your estates as a favor to you and your family. Lord knows thatyouwere not here to do it.”

Daniel flinched slightly but stood his ground. “And my family and myself have appreciated it,” he returned, his heart twisting. “We have always relied on your steady nature. Perhaps we have relied on ittoomuch. Perhaps you have been resentful of it.”

Christopher’s expression changed. A look of guilt and shame flashed across his face.

There it is.There is the proof.

Daniel hadn’t wanted to believe it at first when he had gone over the books. But the realization that his cousin had been carefully skimming the same amount of guineas each month from the estate accounts was eventually overwhelming.

He had gone over the books again, and again, double-checking, then triple-checking. The result was always the same. It had taken up all his time this week since they had returned from Stansgate, the house party blessedly over.

And in some ways, his preoccupation with it had been a blessing—it had meant that he didn’t have time to think about Maddie and what had happened between them at Stansgate, just before she had run away from him.

Still, it had been niggling at the back of his mind, eating at him, like a rat gnawing on a wheel of cheese. He had taken her maidenhead. The game should be over. And yet, it wasn’t over. He had meant what he said when he had whispered it to her in the carriage, more than he had ever meant anything in his life.

But the dilemma wouldn’t solve itself easily. His cousin was courting her. Her parents wanted her to marry Chris. Was he going to challenge his cousin over her? But that meant that he must marry her himself. And he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t marry her.

If you succumb to the temptation, then it will end badly, just like it ended badly between your parents. You are your father’s son. You will end up betraying her. You will end up breaking her heart.

He knew he must find a way to let her go. He must find a way to resist her.

He had never been in this position before, wanting something that he couldn’t have. In some ways, that fiery, wonderful union between them at Stansgate had made it worse. Because now, his hunger for her had increased exponentially. The union hadn’t slaked his thirst, as he had believed it would—it had multiplied it by a thousand.

Daniel took a deep breath, trying to banish the problem of Maddie from his mind. At least, for now. Now, he must deal with his cousin.

“I know what you have done, Chris,” he said slowly. “The proof is there. I just need to hear it from your lips. I deserve that much.”

Christopher’s expression tightened. There was a taut silence, broken only by the ticking of the clock on the mantel. Daniel waited, ignoring the need to rush in and fill it, wrestling with his anger and sorrow and disappointment.

“All right, I admit it,” Christopher relented, his eyes flickering again with shame. “But I deserved some recompense for my devotion to keeping the duchy afloat. I thought of it as my wage for the hours I have put into it. Hours where I could have been living my own life, you know.”

Daniel’s face contorted. “You have been paid handsomely for the responsibility. You have been paid a stipend. As well as the increased status of being the Duke by proxy.” He paused,swallowing a painful lump in his throat. “It is theft, Cousin. Pure and simple.”

Abruptly, Christopher stood up. A vein was throbbing in his left temple. “It is all right for you,” he hissed, his face turning as red as a brick. “You were born to a great position. You were born with more wealth than you know what to do with. I am just the poor relation, hanging on your coattails. A poor relation who has worked damn hard to keepyourestates running while you flittered around the Continent, having a grand time.”

Daniel stood up, facing him. He was shaking with anger. “You were never the poor relation,” he said sharply. “Your estate is not as flush as the Everly duchy, but you are no pauper. Go on. Say what you really think. It is well overdue.”

“I will,” Christopher snarled, his eyes glinting fiercely. “My father was an honorable man. He should have been born first and been the Duke. Then I would have inherited the title.” He drew in a deep breath. “Instead, it fell into the lap ofyourfather, a dishonorable man, whose last act on this earth shamed your family. Tell me, where is the justice in that?”

“None of us can control that,” Daniel stated in a hard voice. “It is simply fate. The roll of the dice. You talk of honor, and yet you have been dishonorable, Cousin. You have lied and stolen, all the while pretending to be our friend and ally.”

They faced each other, both breathing heavily.

“Go on, then,” Christopher said, staring at him with such contempt that it felt like a slap in the face. “Are you going to call the constables? Because before you do, you should know that I know what you and Lady Madeline have been doing… and I can let Mrs. Camberwell know as well.”

Daniel gaped at him. “It was you,” he whispered fiercely, feeling all the blood drain from his face. “You were the one who tattled to the scandal sheet!”

Christopher laughed derisively. “You have become slower on the uptake since you went to the Continent,” he hissed. “It seems that a dissolute, idle lifestyle does not suit you, Cousin. Of course, it was me. I have been spying on you and Lady Madeline. I know that you brought her here and took her to your garden shed to have your wicked way with her, and that you did so at Stansgate as well.”

---