Page 119 of The Meaning of Love
Damian led Gordon through woodland and, ultimately, into a clearing that must, at one time, have been used by charcoal makers. Closely growing trees ringed the area, and a large pile of old charred logs stacked in a rectangular pattern squatted in the middle of the oval space. Other than the path along which they’d ridden in, there was no other way in or out. As a place of ambush, the clearing was an excellent choice.
Damian circled the pile of logs, then halted, fluidly dismounted, and tied his horse to a convenient branch.
Following and increasingly puzzled, Gordon reined in. “What?” He looked around. “How do we get out?” Frowning, he looked at Damian as he strode up. “I thought you said this was a shortcut.”
“For our purposes, it is.” Damian caught the bridle of Gordon’s horse. “Get down.”
Gordon glared belligerently and made no move to comply.
Having halted his horse so that it blocked Gordon from riding forward, Felix rolled his eyes. “Come on, Gordon.” Felix dismounted as well. “We just want a little chat. Don’t make us pull you down.”
That had the ring of a threat that had been acted on in the past.
Gordon glanced behind him, only to discover that Julian and Melissa had followed him around the woodpile and now blocked his retreat. Gordon scowled at them, then Julian caught his eye, and after a second, Gordon’s scowl vanished, and his face fell into sulky lines. He muttered a half-smothered oath, then grumpily said, “Oh, very well.”
He dismounted, and Damian led the horse aside and tied it alongside his.
Julian swung gracefully down and loosely tied his reins to a tree. Returning to lift Melissa from her saddle, he said to Gordon, “We just need a few words, and once you hear them, I’m sure you’ll agree that they would be better exchanged in absolute privacy.”
Looking dejected—like a schoolboy caught doing something forbidden—Gordon grimaced. “I suppose you’ve heard, although how, I can’t imagine.”
What?Frowning, Julian gripped Melissa’s waist and helped her slide to the ground. “Heard what?”
“You know what.” Disgruntledly, Gordon waved at their surroundings. “Why else are we here? Although why it should concern you, I don’t know. It’s not as if it caused you any harm! I was totally within my rights, and while it might be stretching fairness a bit, I can’t see that I did anything all that wrong!”
Gordon’s color had risen, and he ended what was clearly the ravings of a guilty conscience with, “And besides, you might be the head of the house, but you’re not my keeper to be riding rein on me.”
Julian had not just listened to Gordon’s words but had also taken in every other nuance of Gordon’s reaction. Sifting through it all… Frowning, Julian pinned Gordon with an unrelenting gaze—one that wouldn’t let him look away—and baldly asked, “What do you know about the spate of accidents that have been occurring at the castle?”
Gordon blinked, and his expression blanked. “Huh?” He stared at Julian. After a moment, he ventured, “That’s what you wanted to speak with me about? Some accidents here?”
From that first blink, Julian knew Gordon didn’t have a clue—not about the accidents, much less their target or their intent. Damian had guessed correctly; Gordon was X’s utterly unwitting pawn.
Gordon was shaking his head. “I don’t know anything about any accidents here.” He glanced over his shoulder at Felix, then at Damian on his other side.
“What about in London?” Felix asked, his tone almost conversational. “Someone shot at Julian in Hyde Park. And then someone tried to smash his head in by dropping an urn off the parapet of Carsely House during the engagement ball.”
“What?”The horror in Gordon’s face could not be doubted.
From significant past experience, Julian knew Gordon to be a poor actor and an even worse liar.
“There was an early attempt made here, before I went down to London.” Julian studied Gordon’s face as his cousin refocused on him. “Then after the wedding, the accidents here resumed.” Succinctly, he ran through the list, aided by dry and pointed comments from Felix and Damian.
From her position at Julian’s side, half a pace behind him, with her arms crossed, Melissa watched Gordon. The more he heard of the accidents, the more color drained from his face. She saw the instant he realized that the stories were real, the attacks serious and potentially lethal, and that his most powerful relatives were questioning his involvement in them.
When Julian reached the end of the list, Gordon croaked, “I had nothing to do with any of that. You can’t think…” He glanced at Damian, then Felix.
“Where did you get the money for your new phaeton-and-four?” Damian demanded.
Felix asked, “It wasn’t from some cent-per-cent who you managed to convince that you would soon be the next best thing to the heir to the earldom, was it?”
“No!” Gordon looked truly horrified.
In that moment, Melissa accepted he wasn’t in any way a knowing accomplice in X’s scheme.
“Well,” Julian said in a reasonable tone, “how did you come by the money?” When Gordon hesitated, Julian arched a brow. “I assume that’s what you thought we’d heard about.”
Gordon eyed Julian as if searching for a way out.
