The Duke's Night of Sin (3 page)

Sebastian sighed, gazing at the silken reminder of his indiscretion. He was sure it belonged to her, the Society chit, a guest of his grandmother’s whom he’d recklessly bedded in this very room.
Bloody hell.
He was as much a scoundrel as his lying, wenching father.

Leaning back, Sebastian gazed through the window once more. He raised the crystal to his mouth and tipped it, just enough for the brandy to wet his dry lips, then exhaled a derisive laugh and drained the glass. Why the hell shouldn’t he drink it all? The sun had only just risen, and he’d already failed his family.

He slammed the crystal back down upon the glossy surface of a small table beside the sofa, recalling his heartfelt vow. After the casket closed, sealing Quinn’s remains, and the title of Duke of Exeter was abruptly thrust upon him, Sebastian had sworn a solemn oath to be different. To change his careless, rakish ways. To become the man the family needed. A good man. A moral man, loyal and trustworthy.

He lowered his head in shame. Well, that vow had lasted all of a month. One bloody month.

He was every bit as worthless as his father had always predicted he would be.

“There you are, dear.” His grandmother’s frail feminine hand settled gently upon his shoulder. “Admiring your northern domain, I see. It really is quite something, but I daresay nothing compared to Exeter, eh?”

Sebastian turned more fully toward his grandmother as he stealthily returned the blue ribbon to its hiding place between the cushions. But when his gaze met her smiling eyes, he couldn’t face her. He shifted his focus out the window again. “It is lovely … but I must admit, all of this is quite overwhelming.”

She squeezed his shoulder. “I know your ascension was sudden and horribly unexpected, Sebastian, but you were meant to be the Duke of Exeter. I feel it in my heart. You are so like your grandfather when he was your age. You resemble him greatly, did you know that?”

Sebastian nodded. There were six portraits of the first Duke of Exeter hanging in Blackwood Hall alone. Who would have ever imagined that, within a span of four years’ time, two dukes would die tragically and that he would become the fourth Duke of Exeter? Certainly not he.

“But more importantly, you, Sebastian, are the only male of your generation who had the morality, propriety, and fortitude to restore dignity to our family. To reclaim what your father lost.”

He winced at that. It wasn’t true. Quinn was meant to be
the one.
The one groomed for the position, educated, polished. Not he.

As if knowing his thoughts, his grandmother moved around the sofa and stood before him. “Believe me, Sebastian. You are the one. You will do it. Yes, I will concede that Quinn had tremendous potential, but too many of your father’s weaknesses were mirrored in your brother. He always needed adventure, excitement. Always associating with the wrong sort and getting himself into dark mischief.”

Sebastian shook his head. “It’s not true.” She didn’t know Quinn like he did. She didn’t know
him
either. Not really. He was far more like his father than she knew. Worse. Hell, last night only verified it. Oh, he had fooled himself for a month that he could be the man the duchy needed him to be, but last night proved him wholly wrong.

Christ, last eve, he’d been so bleeding sotted, he hadn’t known the difference between the high-priced whore, Clarissa, and an innocent miss.

Sebastian glared down at the empty glass beside
him, then set his fingers to his throbbing temples and tried to remember her and what happened between them.

She seemed so willing. So … passionate. Responsive to his touch. But, God, had she truly been?

Or had his drink-fogged brain only told him so? Pins of guilt pricked at the backs of his eyes. Sebastian closed them for a moment and struggled to recall her. But he couldn’t. He’d never really seen her face, even when he lay intimately atop her, here on the sofa, in the darkness. His only memory was a parting glimpse of her dark hair and blue gown as she ran from him down the dark hall before disappearing into the crowd in the grand hall. Nothing more.

“I’ve brought a stack of invitations. Do you have a few moments to sort through them with me?”

Sebastian exhaled resignedly. Evidently, she was oblivious to his supremely pained state.

She flashed him a curious smile, an excited light gleaming in her aged brown eyes. “We shall have to be most selective. I shall warn you of this now. Your time in London is short and the invitations many. We will need to ensure you use every moment to its best advantage if you are to make powerful connections.”

“C-connections?” What was she talking about? He was here to formally take his seat in the House of Lords, then return to Exeter, nothing more.

“Well, of course. Political alliances … but also connections with notable families. I do not jest when I tell you that everyone expects your foray to London to result in an engagement, and well … it would be so good for Gemma to have a … a woman to mother her.”

“Gemma?” Sebastian straightened. Now she had his full attention.

“I need not remind you that as her guardian, the responsibility of her care is yours. I expect you to carry on for Quinn. She has no one else, and dare I say it, she looks so like your brother that though we may not speak of it outwardly, the Beaufort blood fills her veins.” Her gaze changed. She was studying him now. “I have placed her in a school for young gentlewomen. It is expensive, but it actually focuses on education rather than painting with watercolors and such affected notions as how to sprinkle French into conversation. At first, I thought this school suited her quiet nature, but her increasingly frequent letters suggest she is not at all happy there. The other wicked chits know the circumstances of her birth and taunt her constantly.” Her eyes fixed on his. “You may choose
to engage a governess and take her to Exeter or her to remain where she is if you prefer though you ought make your decision soon.”

A dry cough raced up his throat. Sebastian hadn’t considered Gemma’s future. Hadn’t even thought of Quinn’s child. His grandmother had taken the girl in after Quinn’s death, and it never occurred to him that this arrangement should change. Lord knows, his grandmother was far more suited to deciding the child’s future than the man … who was to blame for her father’s—his own brother’s—death.

“Either way, you are nearing thirty. It is time for you to find yourself a bride. I trust we understand each other on this point, Sebastian. It is your
duty.”
She rubbed her hands together as if brushing dirt from them. Then her expression brightened. “Now then, tell me, dear, did any of the young ladies in attendance last evening strike your fancy?”

A dukedom, a charge, and a bride. Bloody hell.
He shoved his fingers through his hair. Everything was happening too quickly for his brandy-dulled mind to follow.

“Well?” she prodded.

“I-I might have glimpsed someone of interest.”

His grandmother clapped her hands excitedly.
Such a change in her demeanor from only a moment ago. “What is her name? Who are her people?”

Damn.
Had he completely lost his wits? He shouldn’t have admitted anything. “We were never introduced.” Sebastian couldn’t let on about the truth of the matter … that a young lady did rouse his passions like never before. But not in the genteel way his grandmother meant.

“Well then, we shall endeavor with all earnestness to learn her name and ensure that proper introductions are arranged. My man will begin making inquires today. Why delay?” There was an eagerness to his grandmother’s voice that set Sebastian’s nerves on edge. Given her ways, he had no doubt she would work through last night’s guest list, interviewing young ladies, until one of them happened upon a certain tearful miss—who would shock her with a most salacious story … involving the new duke.

He shoved his fingers between the cushions and drew the ribbon into his fist. There was no choice. He would have to locate the lady first. He had to learn what really happened and beg her forgiveness, then make whatever amends she demanded, if the worst of his suspicions revealed itself to be the truth.

He had to locate her with all due haste.

As he rose from the sofa, he smiled at his grandmother, feigning interest in her stack of cards and letters. Then something occurred to him. “Might there be any invitations to a ball? I would wager that the number of Society events is greatly reduced now that the Season has ended, so the chances of our paths crossing would be greater.”

“Yes, you are entirely correct, dear boy.” His grandmother said, looking proudly upon him. “The most-heavily-attended events, such as balls, as you mentioned, will allow us to efficiently sort through the unmarried ladies of the
ton.
We shall concentrate on those invitations first.”

The old woman dropped into the chair behind the writing desk and began hurriedly thumbing through the invitations. “There is one extremely notable event that caught my notice. Not a ball—so much better than that.” Her eyes lit suddenly. “Ah, here it is.” Her eyes raced over the embossed card. “Perfect!”

Sebastian walked over to view her treasure.

She turned her head up and gazed triumphantly at him. “The Lord Mayor’s annual dinner. Everyone of political or social consequence will be in attendance, which means, no doubt
she will
be as well.” She rose and embraced him. “Are you not
excited, dear? Perhaps I am being a little optimistic, but who knows? We may meet your future bride in as little as a sennight!”

Sebastian clenched his fist tightly around the garter ribbon. “Seven days,” he echoed.

If he didn’t manage to find her before then.

Siusan set her hand atop her belly and peered into the mirror. Her father’s learning of her indiscretion was not her only worry. Even if she somehow succeeded in eluding the Duke of Exeter until he returned to the country and managed to keep the incident in the library concealed from Society, there was another worry. One more frightening than even her father in one of his rages.

She could be with child. And in time, there would no concealing that. Setting her fingers to her temples, she began to pace. There was no way to know. She would have to worry and wonder for nearly a month if her wanton coupling with the Duke of Exeter had taken root. Nearly a month. How could she bear the wait?

***

Confessing a sin, even one so great as the one Siusan had committed with the Duke of Exeter, had never been difficult for the Sinclair siblings, at least not for many years.

After their mother died when they were but children, and their father found solace in the depths of a bottle, the Sinclairs reveled in regaling each other with tales of shocking behavior. Bragging about their sins.

It was not because their souls were shadowed that they sought out bad behavior, for indeed, all seven of the Sinclairs were generous, kind, and loving. But their hearts were wounded, torn open by the members of Edinburgh Society, who saw only unruly children and referred to the Sinclairs quite publicly as the Seven Deadly Sins.

Even their governess taunted them cruelly with this epithet as she forced them to their knees in Rosslyn Chapel to pray for their salvation.

But the Sinclairs were nothing if not proud Scots, and to be reduced to tears by another’s words was not acceptable to the seven children, and especially not to Sterling Sinclair, the eldest.

Perhaps, because of this, Fate would choose Sterling to forge the armor that would protect
them all from the stinging blows of the hurtful designation.

It had been a day not unlike any other when Sterling’s mind strayed from his prayers once more and his gaze wandered upward to a nearby stone archway. He’d glanced at it any number of times, he was sure, but today the light illuminated the carving most exceptionally, drawing out intricate detail. What he saw sent him to his feet, despite the immediate barrage of slaps levied upon his head by their governess.

For there, to his complete astonishment, was a depiction of the Procession of the Seven Deadly Sins. He couldn’t believe it, but there it was. The solution had been there before them for their entire lives, there, in a chapel built by their own ancestor, William St. Clair, hundreds of years before!

In that moment, he came to a realization that would change all of their lives forever. To remove the power and the pain, they had to embrace the title the Seven Deadly Sins.

And so they did. Each of them claimed ownership one of the sins and did everything each could to embody that sin when in public. The sins became the weapons with which to slice through
Edinburgh Society and the armor with which to protect themselves from pain and humiliation.

By the time the children were young adults, the sinful behavior was no longer just a way to cope with the hurtful barbs of others—now they embraced the sins completely. Every action was influenced by the learned habit.

And so, when Sinclairs gathered in the resplendent parlor of their otherwise-sparsely-dressed Grosvenor Square town house, and Siusan admitted her intimate indiscretion with none other than the Duke of Exeter, no one even blinked.

Though Priscilla did sulk childishly. “So
you
saw him first! How horrid of you, Siusan. You saw me on the dais. You knew I had set my cap at him.”

“Gorblimey, Priscilla!” Lachlan narrowed his eyes at the youngest Sinclair. “Do cease thinking about yourself for once. We have a grave problem here.”

Siusan raised her chin. “My actions were risky and dangerous.” Her words were strong, and yet her chin began to wobble with weakness. And then, her eyes began to sting, and she knew in another moment her act of strength would disintegrate in a wash of tears.

Her brother Grant rose from the chair nearest the door and took Siusan’s shoulders, raising her from her place on the settee. “It was because of Simon. You miss him so greatly. We should have never forced you to attend the gala on the anniversary of his passing.” He hugged her to him. “I am sorry, Siusan.”

Her shoulders began to shake, and as she had anticipated, the tears came. “What I felt is no excuse.” She pushed gently back from Grant and peered up at her brothers and her sister. “I have put you all at risk.”