Free A Promise of More by Bronwen Evans Page A

Forgive me if I haven’t had time to catch up on society gossip.”
    “There is no need to be so irritable,” Christian replied. “I’ll give you the short version. Serena never killed Dennett. Dennett arrived wanting to take Serena home, and I refused to hand her over. We dueled. During the duel an assassin shot Serena. Dennett then tried to kill me when I was tending Serena; however, Arend managed to kill him first.”
    Sebastian only just kept his mouth from dropping open. Once he’d had time to digest the astounding course of events, he said, “Good news then—Dennett’s dead and Serena’s alive and innocent. Except of course for the news of an assassin. I gather this piece of information is why I’ve been summoned here?”
    They all nodded.
    “I think I need to fortify myself.” He rose to pour himself another drink. Once settled back in his chair, he said, “Please, do tell.”
    Hadley took a deep breath and began. “The assassin who shot Serena informed us that he’d been hired by a woman.” Sebastian’s eyebrows rose. “Yes, a woman, who is out to first disgrace, and then kill, all of the Libertine Scholars.”
    “I assume you retrieved this information by … ‘questioning’ the assassin. If so, did he inform you who she was?” He looked round the room, but before they could answer, he sat up in his chair, a terrible thought filling his head. “Where’s Grayson?”
    Grayson Devlin, Viscount Blackwood, Christian’s fellow Waterloo war hero,was the only Libertine Scholar missing from this gathering.
    An uneasy silence followed. Arend spoke. “He’s missing. We haven’t seen or heard from him for over four weeks.”
    Maitland added, “We sent the Bow Street Runners out and it would appear he’s gone to Egypt with young Jeremy Flagstaff. Jeremy’s older sister, Portia, has been abducted.”
    “Grayson will live to regret the promise he made to her elder brother, Robert, as he lay dying in Grayson’s arms on the battlefield at Waterloo. That young lady is a devil in disguise,” Maitland said bitterly. “Napoleon has a lot to answer for.”
    “Does Grayson know what is afoot?” The glum faces told Sebastian all he needed to know. “We have to warn him.”
    “Already done. I’ve dispatched a similar note to the one I sent you.” Hadley paused before adding, “I just hope it gets to him in time.”
    Sebastian nodded and crossed his legs. “Now, tell me the worst.”
    Arend leaned forward and began the tale. By the time he’d finished, disbelief swept through Sebastian. He looked across at Hadley. “So, an unknown woman who was allegedly abused by our fathers is out to destroy us. Serena may know who she is, but only spied her as a young girl and can’t remember anything. In addition, you think it wasn’t my shot that killed Doogie in our duel. Is my summary accurate?”
    “If they used the same strategy they employed at Christian’s duel with Dennett, then the shot would have come from the trees. It was more obvious with Christian’s duel, because with his burns received at Waterloo, no one would have expected Dennett to be dishonorable and challenge him with rapier.”
    Sebastian couldn’t believe the relief flooding his body at Maitland’s words. He might not have killed Doogie. He might have been framed by an unknown enemy. Anger began to build until his skin felt too tight on his bones. Fury that his life, his family’s lives, had been played with for something their fathers may have done. Their unknown enemy had been abused or mistreated in some way, raped most likely, at the hands of their fathers, years ago at some kind of gathering. It appeared that now their fathers were dead, she was seeking justice from the sons. She’d obviously become powerful enough in her own right to instigate this type of revenge.
    “I need proof before anyone will be convinced I’m innocent.”
    Christ . He’d even married out of guilt. Beatrice . He had to tell her. At least he