Page 80 of Lady Guinevere & the Rogue with a Brogue
“Damnation,” Kilgore swore softly. “I was deep in my cups that night, and I barely glanced at what he wrote. I took him on his word that we wagered over Lady Constantine only.”
“His word,” Asher said, bitterness filling him. Either Pierce had changed the wager at some time later or the original wager had been as he’d said and Kilgore had never bothered to look when he was sober. Either way, Pierce’s word was worthless. He’d been deceiving Asher all along.Lord Xhad beenPiercein his little story.
“You’re a fool for believing him.”
“A sodding fool, for certain,” Asher agreed, angry with himself.
“Your brother had dubbed Lady Constantine ‘the Ice Queen’ and was making a large show of it in the club. He challenged me specifically and said if I could seduce her, he would give me a tiny portion of my land back. I was desperate, and I am not proud of that decision.”
Kilgore paused, took a long swig of his drink, and then swept a hand through his disheveled hair. He looked miserable as hell.
“Let us say,” Kilgore continued, “that I succeeded in my pursuit, but if either of you ever repeat that, I will come for you. I will come for you like Satan comes for the souls of the damned.”
“I’ll never repeat it,” Asher assured him, and Beckford nodded.
“I—Well, things became complicated between the lady and I, and I was engaged in ways I did not expect.”
Beckford snorted. “Ladies have a tendency to complicate things.”
“Aye,” Asher agreed, thinking of Guinevere.
“I would have offered for Constantine, but…”
Asher understood. Kilgore was poor and prideful. He had a title but none of the trappings to go with it.
“I almost did anyway, but then I learned that she has a sizeable income from a deceased aunt, and it disappears if she weds; it goes to the next spinster niece.”
“Ah,” Asher said.
“Yes.” Kilgore sighed. “I could not in all good conscience render Constantine a pauper.”
“What of her dowry?”
Kilgore shook his head. “It’s passable, but my debts—” His jaw clenched. “I was stuck, and your brother gave me yet another offer.”
“Like the devil,” Asher bit out.
Kilgore arched his eyebrows. “Precisely. And I but a blind sinner. If I would kiss your wife on the balcony—you know the one—”
Asher wanted to hit Kilgore again, but instead, he said, “Aye, it’s burned into my memory.”
Kilgore scrubbed a hand over his face. “I am sorry.”
“I still want to hit ye.”
Kilgore nodded. “Shall I get up?”
Asher had to think about it for several, long moments. “Not yet.”
Kilgore inclined his head. “For the kiss, he would give me yet another tiny portion of my land back.”
“He’s masterful,” Beckford said.
“Aye,” Asher growled. “He learned how to be calculating from the best—our father. So ye kissed Guinevere that night, and…”
“And Elizabeth was to ensure you saw it. She was—” Kilgore paused “—enceinte and desperate for a husband that met her requirements. You were her choice.”
Rage beat through Asher. He had discovered afterward that Elizabeth had been with child, but he had never thought she had been involved in such an elaborate scheme created by his brother. “Why? What was Pierce’s purpose in this? Driving Guinevere and me apart did not change the fact that I was heir and he was not.”
