staring at the stars for long moments, before he said, “Only a couple days after she left, I got her letter. A boy from an inn had been paid to deliver it. Terror tore through my soul when I read it. I prepared a carriage and extra horses and raced to her. But I was too late.”
The pain rose, gnawing at him. “The day before, a young lady had jumped into the river abutting the inn. The young lad who had delivered her note whispered that the gentlemen who had dragged her to one of their rooms had left early that morning. They had laughed and caroused after their foul deed, secure in the knowledge they were young powerful lords and she…she had been nothing. A mere speck in their eyes.”
A fat drop of rain landed on his forehead. “For months I was lost in rage and guilt. I was enraged at myself and Arianna. If I’d placed my love for her above duty and expectations, and if she had waited to see if I could convince my family, she’d still be alive. Then I realized the men who are to blame were still living their finest life. The idea was intolerable.”
“Did you not report it?” Maryann asked hoarsely.
He nodded. “To my father and the local magistrate and eventually Bow Street.”
“What happened?”
“There is no justice in the law. Their fathers were powerful men; the magistrate was afraid to make an arrest. They were rich and certain of their immunity from being punished. How can an ant by itself cut down a willow tree? Her father…who is he? A butler at a neighboring estate. Her mother, a maidservant in mine. Who are they in the face of future earls…a duke, and a viscount? They were nothing.”
Her hand gripped his. “But you did something.”
An overwhelming ache throbbed behind Nicolas’s eyes. “‘If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, do we not revenge?’”
Looking away from the stars, he leveled his gaze on her, and the amount of pride in her expression had his damn heart near to bursting from his chest.
His Maryann admired him still.
“How did you eventually find them?” she asked tremulously.
“If a man possesses a guilty conscience, he will be startled by any sound in the night.”
“So you threw rocks, and someone squealed?”
“A particular lord did, Viscount Barton. A few well-placed rumors and a letter placed strategically had him scrambling to find out what was happening. I followed the crumbs he left behind.”
“How long did you follow these crumbs?”
“It has been five years. And I am not done yet. It took a significant time to gather the information I needed. I could not take my purpose lightly. These were men who had families and tenants relying on them. I had to be sure they were the men mentioned in her letters. I used private runners to go back to their school days and the inn where everything happened before I had some of the pieces of the whole. I took the time to understand their bond and who might have traveled together those years ago to Wiltshire and that inn. Finally, I had enough to ruin Barton financially.”
“You played a very long game.”
I am still playing. “When dealing with powerful and connected people, it is critical to be strategic.”
Her fingers toyed with the edges of her gown. “Is…is the Duke of Farringdon one of the men?”
“Yes.” Nicolas’s tone was flat, brutal, and unapologetic.
And still no fear showed in her. Her face was full of strength and beauty, shining with a steadfast trust and belief in his honor.
“The papers…the papers said he was shot while fighting with you.”
“It was a mere flesh wound. He will live.”
Her lips trembled, and her gaze was dark with emotions.
“How stricken you look,” Nicolas murmured, touching her cheek. “Those I ruin do not deserve your sorrow. Those I ruin are not righteous men of conscience; these are men who believed that because Arianna was poor and unconnected, her life had little worth.”
Maryann reached out and brushed her hand against his knuckles. Even with the gloves separating them, he could tell she was cold. He needed to take her home.
“You mistake the matter. All my sorrow is for Arianna…and for what you’ve had to do. Your restraint is admirable. If something…if something so painful had happened to me, my father would have challenged them to an outright