To Catch A Duke (19 page)

"Yes, Ben."
 
It was the only answer she could give.
 
"Whatever you wish."

They never returned to the
ball.
 
Instead, they snuck out the back
through the gardens and into the mews until they reached the duke's home in
Mayfair.
 
Julia knew she risked being
ruined, but she no longer cared.
 
So
much that she'd once believed important no longer mattered.
 
All that mattered was Ben.
 
He was right.
 
Tomorrow, and all of its consequences, would come soon
enough.
 
Tonight, they simply needed
each other.

Finally, when they were in his bed
and she was spread beneath him, Julia allowed a few tears to slip from her
eyes.
 
In her heart, she knew this was
the end of their time together.
 
Things
had changed.
 
The truth was out, and,
were there no Landover, they might be able to forge a new path.
 
But he was there, always lurking in the
darkness, ready to destroy both of them.
 
As long as that was the case, there would be no happy ending for any of
them.

Then Benjamin slid inside of her,
and she forgot to breathe for a moment, everything else falling away.
 
As he began to thrust, Julia's thoughts flew
only to him and the incredible sensations he was causing in her body.
 
There was only Benjamin, the Duke of
Radcliffe.
 
The man she loved.
 
And no one else.

When Julia awoke just before dawn
the next morning, she was certain of two things.
 
One, that Benjamin was gone, and two, that she was likely in very
big trouble with her brother.
 
She
hadn't gone home the night before, though she'd meant to, certainly.
 
However, time had escaped both of them, and
at some point after what seemed like endless lovemaking, she'd drifted off to
sleep, content in her lover's arms.

Rolling over, she spied a note with
her name on it propped up on a small table next to the bed.
 
Thinking that it was a love note, she pulled
it to her and took her time savoring the feel of it in her hands.
 
He did care for her; she knew it in her
deepest of hearts.
 
Then, she opened the
note and her entire world fell away.
 
The very thing she'd wished to avoid - a duel - was happening
anyway.
 
Only it wasn't her brother's
life at stake.
 
It was Benjamin's.

Grasping the bell pull, she rang
for a servant, not caring that the sight of her in the duke's bedroom would be
beyond scandalous.
 
She was tired of
living by other people's dictates.
 
She
hadn't done so back at Seldon Park, so why should she change?
 
It was time for that woman, the old Julia,
to reemerge from the place she'd been hidden, tucked away so deep inside of
herself that she'd never been meant to come out again.
 
Well, things changed.

When a servant, a maid thankfully,
arrived, Julia instructed the woman to help her dress.
 
She hated the thought of putting her ballgown
back on, but there was little help for it.
 
She did, however, request a coat be found somewhere, for she didn't want
to shock the entire
ton
into heart palpitations.
 
Not to mention that it would be easier to
move in the scant bit of pre-dawn that was left if she did not look so much
like a lady.

Julia also asked that a horse be
readied for her, the gentlest of what was available in the duke's stables, and
was rather surprised when no one, not even the butler, objected.
 
It was as if they knew who she was and why
she was there.
 
Perhaps they did.

When she was dressed, she marched
downstairs and out to the stables as if she was mistress of the house.
 
She wasn't, of course, but none of his
servants questioned her, accepting her presence as if it was a given.
 
Vowing again to think on that later, she
mounted astride, as there was no side saddle available, and set out for the far
side of Hyde Park.
 
Benjamin's note had
not indicated where the duel was to take place, but she knew from rumor that
there was only one suitable location in London for such an activity.

Knowing that she was already
ruined, both in truth and in reputation, she spurred the horse on faster as the
sun began to rise over the horizon.
 
For
a moment, she felt as if she was back home at Seldon Park.
 
There, she had honed her riding skills,
better than most men she knew, and she found that now she was glad of it.
 
Had she not, there was little chance she
would make it to the dueling field on time.
 
She had to stop this.
 
If that
meant stripping naked for the marquess right there on the field so that he
could win the stupid bet at White's, then she would.
 
She would do whatever was necessary to save Benjamin's life.

Drat the stubborn man!
 
He was going to be the death of her, and she
would kill him.
 
Unless, of course,
Landover beat her to it.
 
She did not
much like that idea.

The first golden rays of dawn began
to creep over the horizon and Benjamin turned to look at his best friend and
second, Nicholas Rosemont.
 
He knew he
should consider himself lucky that Nicholas was still talking to him.
 
After all, he'd roused the man from bed at
an ungodly early - or late, depending on one's preference - hour and, among
other things, had confessed to deflowering the man's sister.
 
Strangely, Nicholas had acted as if he'd
already known.

The Duke of Candlewood hadn't known
about Landover, however, or his threats, including those against Nicholas
himself.
 
That had, of course, roused
the other man to anger, an emotion he rarely showed, but it had cooled quickly
when Benjamin outlined his plan.
 
Of
course Nicholas had objected, but then, he had no viable alternative to offer,
either.
 
The marquess needed to be
stopped, once and for all.
 
Benjamin had
killed once to protect Julia, as well as the rest of the Rosemont family.
 
He would do so again without qualm, as long
as she was safe.

He did think that perhaps he should
have told her that he loved her, just in case things went wrong, but he hadn't
thought that far ahead.
 
All he had been
able to think about was Landover and the man's threats.
 
He would have Julia over Benjamin's dead
body.
 
Which, of course, it might come
to, though he sincerely hoped not.

"You don't have to do
this."
 
Nicholas' words broke into
Benjamin's thoughts.
 
"We'll find
another way."

Shaking his head, Benjamin looked
across the field to where Landover waited.
 
"We won't.
 
The only thing
this man understands is force.
 
You know
that as well as I.
 
For God's sake, he
tried to coerce your sister into his bed!"

"Still, Ben, a duel is dangerous.
 
For everyone."
 
Radcliffe knew what Candlewood was
implying.
 
Besides being illegal, it was
common knowledge that the marquess, like his friend Berkshire, didn't play
fair.
 
Both of them could end up dead.

"What would you have me
do?
 
Simply ask him to cease his plan
for revenge?"
 
Benjamin wasn't
really expecting an answer.
 
"This
is about more than you and Julia, and you well know it.
 
This is about Catherine, and Landover will
not rest until he's satisfied that I have suffered for my supposed sins."

Nick could only nod in agreement,
knowing the truth of those words.
 
The
marquess wasn't about to let things rest, at least not as long as he still
believed Radcliffe had wronged him.
 
"Then I suppose I had best check the weapons then, hadn't I?"

 
It didn't need saying that Nick would owe Benjamin a great deal
after this, because Nick
already
owed his friend for a great many other
things.
 
One more to add to the total
would not change the fact that Nick could never repay the debt.
 
Not that Benjamin would ever ask him
to.
 
That was part of the reason why
Nick couldn't muster up much anger over Radcliffe's affair with Julia.
 
If all the man wanted was Nick's sister,
both of whom were in love with each other, that was little to ask in return for
all that had been given.

As if reading his mind, Benjamin
put his hand on Nick's shoulder.
 
"I would do this anyway, you know.
 
Even if she wasn't directly involved."

"Because you love
her."
 
The answer was so simple,
and always had been.
 
Nick was just
happy his friend was finally admitting the truth.
 
In some way, Benjamin had always loved Julia even when they were
children.
 
Back then, it was merely a
matter of friendship, but over the years, it had deepened.
 
Now?
 
Well, Nick wasn't precisely sure how deep that commitment went at the
moment, but if he had to guess, he suspected that it was deep enough to last a
lifetime.

"How long have you
known?"
 
Benjamin saw no use in
denying his feelings any longer.
 
If it
were someone else, certainly, but not to Julia's brother.
 
Though perhaps he should have told the lady
in question first.
 
There was that.

Nick busied himself with examining
the pistol.
 
"A while."
 
He had no exact time, no precise moment when
he'd come to the realization, but rather a gradual knowledge that had built in
his mind.
 
"For what it's worth, I
approve.
 
You two suit, and you would be
good for her, I think."

Benjamin was about to thank his
friend and then ask, if they both survived the next ten minutes, if he could
marry Julia, but he was interrupted by the pounding of hoofbeats coming hard
and fast through the park.
 
In the dim
morning light, it was difficult to make out the features of the rider that
approached.
 
Then, despite the fact that
the person was riding astride, he saw the hem of a gown.
 
Julia.

"No."
 
Benjamin's single word was barely a whisper,
but it was enough that Nick turned in time to see his sister flying over the
hill towards them, her hair streaming behind her as if she were an avenging angel.

They watched stunned as she pulled up
beside them, breathing hard and clearly out of breath.
 
"What are you two lackwits about?"
she ground out through her teeth and then glared at Benjamin.
 
"I expected this from you."
 
Then she swung her furious gaze to her
brother.
 
"But not from you.
 
Did you encourage this foolishness?"

"He will ruin you,
Jules."
 
Nick had to make his
sister understand.
 
"He knows
everything about that day."

"As do you," she reminded
him sharply, "yet you never saw fit to tell me the truth."

Nick raised his hands in a gesture
of surrender.
 
She was the last person
he wanted to argue with.
 
"I was
only trying to protect you.
 
We all
were."

She sniffed in distain, clearly not
liking his response.
 
"A lot of
good it did me.
 
To not know the
truth?
 
How could you?"
 
She had accepted Benjamin's explanation last
night, but in the light of day, the entire situation seemed a little less clear
to her.
 
Especially now that both of
them were being mutton-brained idiots about this stupid, foolish duel.

"If we had, Benjamin might
have been arrested."
 
Nick reached
up and took the reins from Julia's shaking hands.
 
"If the truth comes out, he still might.
 
He killed his father, Julia.
 
We simply couldn't.
 
Besides, he loved..."

But before Nick could finish, a
shot rang out, and Benjamin turned to see Landover standing by a clump of
trees, a smoking weapon in his hand.
 
Clearly, he'd been aiming for his nemesis, but while they'd been
talking, Julia's horse, one that was obviously uneasy around so many people,
had been stamping the ground and moving about.

"No."
 
Benjamin was there before Julia could fall
to the ground, the force of the bullet knocking her from her horse, which
bolted, riderless, across the field and out of sight.
 
Another shot exploded next to him, and he looked up just in time
to see the ground beside him torn apart.
 
They were under fire and had nowhere to run.

He leaned down and shielded Julia's
body with his own, thankful that he could still feel her heart beat, even as
blood from somewhere around her torso coated his hands.
 
He prayed that the wound wasn't deep.
 
He could not lose her.
 
Not now.
 
He wanted to run, to get her to the nearest physician, just as he had so
long ago.
 
Those memories assailed him
now, leaving him frozen in place, unable to do so much as call for help.
 
Reality quickly set in.
 
They were all dead unless something changed.

Then, in the next moment, Nicholas,
as cool and collected as Benjamin had ever seen him, expertly placed a shot
that hit directly at the marquess' feet using the dueling pistol he was still
holding.
 
"The next time, Landover,
I will not miss."
 
Then he stood
and produced a second pistol from beneath his jacket.
 
"This ends now.
 
Whatever revenge you think you wanted, it is done.
 
Finished.
 
Leave my family and friends in peace."
 
There was a hard edge to his friend that Benjamin had never seen,
and he wondered why he had never known Candlewood was capable of such
violence."

"I will have my justice!"
Landover screeched, but by this time, some of the shooters that the marquess
had placed around the park had emerged from hiding, their weapons drawn and
turned on the marquess himself.
 
In the
distance, more horses could be heard approaching, and Benjamin suspected that
it was at least one constable and a group of Bow Street Runners.