Page 3 of A Duke But No Gentleman
The man hastily nodded.“Aye, I do.”It took him a few attempts, but he managed to put away his short sword.“Only a madman would continue.”
“I cannot fault your reasoning.Now, if you don’t mind, why don’t you fetch the surgeon who had the good sense not to leave his coach.Caxton will need his skills since you managed to stab him.”
His burly shoulders hunched as the man winced at the reminder that he had contributed to his friend’s injuries.He picked up one of the lanterns.“What about them?”He gestured in the direction of the sounds of grunts and heavy breathing.“No one mentioned this was a battle to the death.”
“It isn’t.I have no desire to abandon my estates and flee England.”Tristan glanced over his shoulder, and shouted into the fog.“Gentlemen, blood has been shed.Can we assume everyone is satisfied?”
Norgrave and Caxton staggered into view.The viscount had enough blood on his shirt to make it appear that he had sustained a mortal wound.Their short swords were nowhere in sight.His friend had fared better, but he was not walking away from this duel unscathed.
“What say you, Caxton?Are you satisfied?”Norgrave asked too cheerfully for their situation.
The man loved a good fight.
“I’m too tired to fight you,” the viscount responded sullenly.“Aye, I’m satisfied—as long as you stay away from my wife.”
Brazen bastard that he was, the marquess clapped the gentleman on the shoulder as if they were old friends.“A reasonable request I am happy to oblige.I have a bottle of brandy in my coach.What the surgeon cannot fix, a glass or two will help ease.”
Tristan ruefully shook his head at Norgrave’s mercurial mood as the two men headed for the coaches.Lord Caxton was never at risk of losing his wife’s affections to the marquess.Norgrave had sampled Lady Audrey’s charms and moved on to other conquests.No lady had ever claimed his friend’s heart for long.He doubted such a female existed.
***
Hours later, Tristan and Norgrave were still celebrating their triumph at the marquess’s residence.Along the way, they had collected two courtesans from their rented theater box.Jewel Tierney was an Irish beauty who had left her small village at sixteen and through a series of lovers had found her way to London.It wasn’t long before she had secured a string of wealthy protectors.Both he and Norgrave had some history with the lovely Miss Tierney.He had been twenty when the dark-haired enchantress had cast a calculating glance in his direction.Their time together had been costly, but well worth it.Even so, he had been young and too wild to be tamed by any comely wench.His interest in her had quickly waned.There had been no recriminations.Ambitious and quite fickle in her affections, Jewel had moved on to other lovers—including Norgrave.
To Tristan’s surprise, Norgrave and Jewel still shared a friendship of sorts, even though the fiery passion that had brought them together had burned out years ago.Occasionally lovers, Norgrave had an amicable arrangement with the twenty-nine-year-old courtesan.Intimately familiar with his carnal predilections, Jewel often handpicked young women who had recently arrived in London and would be appreciative of the marquess’s protection.
She had issued the same offer to Tristan, but he had politely refused.His title and the Rooke family’s good looks ensured he had a willing female in his bed whenever he desired.He also did not want to be beholden to the courtesan.He had never inquired into the particulars of her arrangement with Norgrave, but Jewel was too shrewd not to demand a price.
“Tristan, I pray you are not spoiling my victory by passing out on us,” grumbled Norgrave from the bed.
He had insisted that the four of them retire to his bedchamber so Jewel could clean the shallow scratches the surgeon dismissed as minor.The man had stitched up the wound on Norgrave’s arm, and told him that he should confine his activities to his bed.His friend laughed and vowed to follow the old man’s medical advice.Considering he was lying naked on the bed with only a sheet draped across his lean hips while two pretty women fussed over him, Tristan bemusedly wondered if Norgrave had bribed the surgeon for his opinion.
Reclining against the glassy blue silk cushions of the sofa, he did not bother opening his eyes when he replied, “More tired than foxed.It was a bloody long day and I had already developed a mild headache before we spent half the night drinking and playing cards.Not to mention our little adventure with Caxton.”As an afterthought, he added, “And don’t think I won’t collect my winnings on that last game.”
“You will forgive me for not beggaring you at the table as I often do.”
His brows lifted in feigned outrage.“The devil you do!”
Jewel and her friend Eunice laughed.
“I was distracted by Caxton,” his friend complained.“I had heard rumors at the club that he was working up the courage to challenge me.”
“You deserved it,” Tristan muttered without a trace of sympathy.“You were Audrey’s first lover and then you made certain he knew it once he married her.”
“Cason, that was terribly wicked of you!”Jewel admonished the marquess.The bed creaked as the woman moved closer to soften the sting of her words with a kiss.
“Do not tell me that Caxton didn’t deserve it.Besides, it was his wife who caused all the fuss when she fainted at my feet.How was I to know that the lady still harbored feelings for me?”
The other woman sighed.“You poor man… it must be difficult to have all of your lovers fall in love with you.”
Norgrave chuckled.“It is a curse.”
Tristan groaned.The man’s arrogance was boundless.“Loveis not the appropriate word.Most of your former mistresses despise you.”
When there was no sarcastic response from Norgrave, he opened his eyes and glanced over his shoulder at the bed.While he had been lightly dozing, Jewel and Eunice had disrobed and joined the marquess in bed.In spite of the colorful bruising on his body, Norgrave had positioned Jewel so she sat astride his hips.She slowly rode his cock while Eunice cushioned his swollen cheek with her breast.
“At least most of them do,” Tristan said, dismissing Jewel and her curvaceous naked body as an aberration.
“I am certain they do, but their feelings are no longer my concern,” Norgrave said, proving his passions and his thoughts rarely intermingled.“Over the years, how many of my former lovers have cried on your shoulder, Tristan?”
