Page 60 of A Duke But No Gentleman
“Yes?”Lady Ludsthorpe called out.
“Madam, the physician has arrived,” the butler said from the other side of the closed door.
“You never mentioned that you had summoned a physician.”Imogene crouched down and gathered the discarded cloak.She clutched it to her bosom as if it could conceal the damage done.“Is this why Tristan vanished without a word?Is he responsible for bringing the man here?”
The countess took the cloak from her.“Do not be angry at my nephew.He is worried about you.If Tristan had not sent for his man, I would have asked our family physician to tend to your wounds.”
“What was done to me cannot be cured with tonics and bleeding, Lady Ludsthorpe!”she said, knowing she was being unreasonable.With the butler and the physician standing just outside the bedchamber, she felt trapped.“I beg of you, please send him away.”
Having raised five children, the older woman was familiar with tantrums.“Be sensible, Imogene.You must be examined for the sake of your health.Think of your family… and Tristan.He blames himself for failing to protect you from Norgrave.”
Imogene’s expression was sullen as she glared at the countess.“Tristan is not responsible for the marquess’s actions.”
“A logical assumption, I concur.However, my nephew has known Norgrave since they were boys.They have watched over each other for most of their lives.It was simple to overlook the flaws in his friend’s character because love and loyalty blinded him.”
Until this evening, when he had discovered the depths of Norgrave’s depravity.
Was he angry enough to confront his friend?Tristan had been so attentive since he discovered her curled up on the floor of his mother’s bedchamber.Imogene could not believe he would abandon her.More likely, he was waiting downstairs in his uncle’s library.
Still, she could not resist asking, “Ruth, where is your nephew?”
“I do not know,” was her evasive reply, which had Imogene’s eyes narrowing with suspicion.“He promised to return to you, and he is a gentleman who keeps his word.We can discuss this further after the physician has inspected your injuries.”
Imogene stared at the door as if she expected to see Norgrave at the threshold.She shuddered, but to the countess’s immense relief, she nodded.
Lady Ludsthorpe gave her an approving look.“All will be well, my dear.You’ll see.I will even stay so you will not be alone.”
She straightened her shoulders.Tristan had called her brave.If she could not do it for herself, she would find the courage for his sake.“I would like that very much.”
Chapter Eighteen
Tristan expected to spend half the night searching for Norgrave, but it had only taken three stops and a bribe to one of his servants to discover the man’s whereabouts.He had rented several rooms at his favorite club, the Acropolis, where he indulged in forbidden pleasures and satiated some of his more perverse appetites.
His name and another bribe granted him entry into the private club.While he was not a member, over the years, he and Norgrave had ended many evenings at the Acropolis.When he was younger, the lavish decadence of the establishment and the willing participants encouraged him to explore the darker side of his nature.It had been intoxicating and addictive, so much so, that he began to distance himself from this particular vice, while Norgrave had only been drawn deeper into this world.
No one paid attention to him as he climbed the stairs.Norgrave had selected one of the finest rooms in the establishment.He had told the proprietor that he was celebrating and had asked for three companions for the evening.Tristan did not have to deduce the reasons for his former friend’s good mood.
Tristan used the spare key the proprietor had given him to unlock the door to the chamber.
Music filled the air.The marquess was indeed in high spirits.He had hired musicians who were playing a lively tune.A large table had been carried in and it was heavily laden with food and bottles of wine.The food and drink encouraged other patrons to join the festivities.Tristan counted at least eight females in various states of undress.There were four men in the room, too, but he did not recognize any of them.
A bare-breasted blonde weaved toward him.“’Allo, stranger!My, you are a handsome one,” she said, offering him a drunken leer.“The bed is already occupied, but I know of an alcove.”
The woman had consumed too much wine to be reasonable.Tristan removed her curious hand from the front of his breeches and gallantly kissed it so she would not be offended.“I have some other business I must attend to first, why don’t you wait for me in the alcove?”
Her eyes were mere slits.With luck, she would fall asleep and forget all about him.“It will cost ye, but you will not regret it.”
“I rarely do,” he murmured, but the drunken temptress was already staggering away to do his bidding.
Tristan headed for the double doors that would open into the bedchamber.He opened one of the doors and stepped inside.Fully naked, Norgrave was standing next to the bed with his back to the door.Although he could see only glimpses of her, the marquess was not alone.He had positioned a woman facedown on the mattress.The energetic, rhythmic thrust of the man’s hips did not deter Tristan from entering the room and shutting the door.Wearing only a thin chemise, another woman was reclining on the long sofa while her female companion’s dark head was nestled between her thighs.
She glanced back and smiled at Tristan’s approach.“My lord, you did not tell us that you’ve invited your friend.”
Norgrave’s head snapped in his direction.Without slowing his pace, he said, “Blackbern, I was not aware that you had returned.Join us!”
It wasn’t the marquess’s lack of modesty that disturbed Tristan, it was the glimpse of the ugly cut on his face that was disquieting.He thought of the blood on Imogene and the bed, the wound on her hand.She had not accepted Norgrave’s abuse meekly, and he had not walked away unscathed.A surgeon had stitched up the deep sections of the gash.The side of his face was swollen and discolored, and an infection might spare him the trouble of murdering the coldhearted scoundrel.
His former friend grunted and his shoulders rippled and bowed as he spilled his seed into the woman.It was not the first time that he considered Norgrave arrogant and reckless.Tristan wondered how many bastards the man had sired.The thought that Imogene might be carrying the marquess’s child fueled his fury.
