Page 16 of In the Bed of a Scoundrel Earl

“I know, and I truly am sorry. I will make sure it doesn’t happen again. It has been so difficult since my wife passed, and my daughter continues to make life problematic. As such, my grief sometimes manifests in all the wrong ways,” he explained, layering the blame onto Rose. He did not think he had done anything to be ashamed of.

The second guard gave a sympathetic nod. “Aye, there’s naught that’ll change a man so quickly as the death of his wife. Though, didn’t your wife die years ago?”

“That does not lessen the anguish,” Bill shot back, before hastily reining in the bitter note in his voice. “She was a rare woman, my wife. I do not know that I’ll ever be able to forget her.”

“No, of course not.” The first guard cast a disapproving look at his colleague, which Bill greatly appreciated. Few understood the impact of losing a beloved wife and a successful business, all at the same time.

“Anyway, I was wondering if you could answer me a question?” Bill segued into the sole reason he had come to speak with these men. The apology had only been a ruse to soften them to his cause.

The first guard nodded. “What is it?”

“Those two gentlemen who just got into that carriage—might you tell me who they are?” He feigned concern. “I fear they might have led my daughter astray, and she will be ruined without a shred of her reputation intact.”

The second guard snorted. “That’s the Earl of Langston and the Viscount of Bentley. I doubt they’ve got anything sinister in mind for your daughter. The Earl doesn’t trouble himself with women, and the Viscount… Well, let’s just say, he only pays for the pleasure.”

The first guard jabbed his colleague in the side as if to say: “You shouldn’t have told him that, you fool.”

“Thank you, gentlemen.” Bill walked away with a smile on his face. For now, he knew precisely where to look and who to target, to make his daughter pay for the humiliation she had caused him. And when he caught up to her, perhaps she would wish she had died along with her mother.

You can’t escape me, Rose. I will always find you.

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