as normal.”
Frowning, Nat chalked his cue tip and then moved around the table, going behind Lombard, to line up for another shot. “Novelty of being a newlywed?”
“Why, yes. After all, your wife will hardly keep you interested for too long and then things will return to how they were.” Lombard grinned. “I’ll make sure I leave you some women. I cannot bed them all, though I might have a good go at it.”
“Keep them. I think my wife will satisfy me.”
Lombard laughed loudly. “What, a prim governess? Are you mad? It’s hard enough to believe you are actually marrying her, but to think she will satisfy you is insane.”
Fighting back the burning urge to haul Lombard across the table by the throat, Nat instead gave him a strained smile. “You seem to have little faith in my choice of partner.”
“I think you’ve lost your wits.” Lombard relaxed his stance, falling for Nat’s show of good nature.
“How so?” Nat raised an eyebrow, fighting for calm.
“Well, you’ve been hot for her since you first saw her last winter. But instead of just throwing her skirts over her head and scratching your itch, you’ve treated her like she was some noble lady.”
“Ah, I see.” His fist tightened on the cue stick. “I should have treated her like a whore from the Rocks.”
“Utterly so, my good man.” Lombard nodded, his expression serious. “But it’s not too late to pull out of the agreement. Pay her off. Those women are always desperate for money.”
“Right.” He stepped away from the table, pretending to consider the angle of his next shot. Rage churned his gut, making his hands tremble with the need to throttle Lombard.
Unawares, Lombard went to the drinks cabinet in the corner and poured himself another whiskey. “No one will blame you for cutting ties with her. She isn’t of our class. Most will think you’ve had a lucky escape.”
“Who are they exactly?”
“Friends from the club, acquaintances.”
“Had a good laugh have they?” Nat took his shot and missed. He straightened. “Your turn.”
“No, no one is laughing, Nat. It’s more a case of pity.”
“Pity.” A red mist seemed to cloud his mind. He walked around the table, as though heading for the drinks cabinet. “Do they think I’m so stupid as to marry a woman just so I can bed her?”
Lombard shrugged. “Why would you marry a governess anyway? Just set her up as your mistress and be done with it. She doesn’t deserve your name.”
“I happen to think she does.” Nat ground out between clenched teeth.
“Really? How tragic. What happened? Have you filled her belly all ready?” Lombard snorted and chalked his cue. “It’s a shame really. I always fancied giving her one myself. I bet she’d have an arse as smooth as—”
With a roar that hurt his throat, Nat dropped his cue and lunged for him. The force of his charge threw them both onto the floor, knocking over a lamp table as they did so. Amidst the broken glass of the lamp and whiskey glasses, Nat straddled Lombard and punched him in the face. The crunch of Lombard’s nose breaking gave Nat a sense of satisfaction but it wasn’t enough as pain cursed through his hand, making him even madder. He hauled Lombard to his feet and gave him a one-two to the stomach, instinctively knowing he could do damage there but not to his hands.
Lombard sank to his knees, coughing and spluttering.
Nat stepped back, aching for the man to do or say something else so that he could smash his teeth in. “Get up Lombard, you coward. Get up and fight.”
“Go to Hell!”
“Get up I said,” he yelled, jerking him up by the lapels of his jacket.
“Let go of me, you bastard.” Lombard spat in Nat’s face. The shock held him immobile for a moment, then he flung the scoundrel away into the tall bookcase by the window. Books rattled on the shelves, several toppled to the floor. Just as Nat brought his fist back to smack Lombard again, the door burst open and in rushed three men.
“I say, what the devil is going on here?” The proprietor of the club, Atkins, glared at the mess.
Nat jerked forward, intending to punch Lombard again, but a call from the door made him lower his fist.
“Enough, West. No more.” Jones-Parker, an older man, walked further into the room. “Leave him.”
Nat glared at them all. “Has anyone else got something to say about my future wife?”
Puzzled, the men looked at him as though he was