Page 44 of The Devil Himself
Luc flushed, his cheeks going hot, but he didn’t deny it.
“Like that, it is,” Rys agreed, almost cheerfully.
“Good.” Julian nodded. “I’ve set several footmen at my aunt’s house on guarding the doors and the garden. What else do you need from me?”
Rys sat for a moment, staring at Julian. Then he nodded. “I need you to put it about in the hells that you’re thinking of proposing to Hannah once she’s out of mourning.”
Julian laughed, the sound rather like a honking goose, indicating his surprise. “Why on earth would I do that if this situation were real? I believe everyone knows I have no desire to wed.”
“Julian, you have something of a reputation. This way, you wouldn’t have to produce an heir. There would be one who could pass along the title to a second son or some such.”
Julian looked at Luc. “And do you agree?”
He nodded slowly, Rys’s idea really taking root. “Yes. You moved her in with your aunt. You have motive. And it will press their hand even more. Whatever they were planning for this week, be it an abduction of Hannah to Scotland, or one of Gareth to force her into a hasty marriage, will be blocked. They’ll panic.”
Julian got up to refill his plate, heaping it tall with eggs and potatoes and rashers of bacon. “Well, then. I’ll do it. I’ll start the rumors up today. Perhaps have one of my friends put in the betting book at White’s. Without telling him the real reason, of course. But I will need more sustenance than I’ve had to do so.”
Luc shared a glance with Rys, getting a sly wink in return.
He laughed, finally digging into his own excellent eggs. “Really, Julian. You need to get a better cook.”
“Mmm.” Julian piled his plate high. “I’ll just come here for breakfast from now on. Since I’ll be family.”
Rys groaned. “We’ve created a monster, Luc.”
Luc just grinned. “A small price to pay for his sacrifice, Grey.”
“Indeed.” Rys touched his foot with one boot under the table. “We’ll just have to go eat at your house.”
He nodded, his heart beating harder in his chest. He could live with that. He surely could.
Eighteen
They all went their separate ways after breakfast, Julian to spread the word of his “upcoming engagement” to Hannah. Luc to his clubs to make bets in the books and to chat up the idea that Daffyd and Arthur would be out of the marquess’s house, and fortune, once Julian was in it. And Rys went to his club, his arm aching a bit, his temper uneven.
He truly wanted nothing more than to take a lazy day in bed with Luc, and he resented not being able to. Which was dangerous, was it not?
He did not live that sort of life. He was a man of business with a complex club to run and more interests to tend besides.
“Ah, he did decide to come to work today.” Harris met him at his office with a pot of strong coffee and a cup, smiling a decidedly wicked smile.
“Do not be more of an arse than you must be, Harris,” Rys grumbled.
“Awoke on the wrong side of the bed, did you?” Harris’s eyebrows went up in exaggerated sympathy. “I would have thought home life was lovely these days.”
“Stabbed when I tried to leave the house yesterday.” He had not told Harris that in the message he had sent stating he wouldnot be into the club the previous day. Just in case the message went astray.
“What?” Now Harris scowled, immediately coming to his side. “What happened. Do I need to look at it?”
“No, no. Angelsey did, and it’s just a scratch. Annoying more than anything. But this is getting out of hand.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Run the club.” Rys sighed. “I have to deal with my damnable brothers. I need to catch them up at something I can prove. Something to get them jailed or transported.”
“And you’ve talked to the bankers? The ones who know how much money of your nephew’s your brothers must be spending?”
He made a face. “Right now, they’re mostly spending on credit. That and telling everyone who will listen they will soon come into money.” He tapped his fingers while he thought hard. “Daffyd intends to force Hannah into marriage, I believe. He can just take her and run for the border. Or try to hold the children against her.” He grinned at Harris. “We’ve put about the idea that Warrington intends to get there first.”
