Grimly, Gabe forced himself to heed his host’s decree. “I shudder to think what more there could be, and I still fully intend to rip his arms from his body and bludgeon him with them. But do go on.”
“Perfectly reasonable.” Decker nodded. “Now, then. I sent some of my acquaintances to pay Lord Algernon a call. These acquaintances of mine are a bit…rough and ragged, one might say. Our maggot was no match. I also threatened to see him banished from my club and from every gambling den worth a damn. You would be amazed at the effect of a few meaty fists and the prospect of never again depleting his family coffers in style. He was only too pleased to return the necklace, forego the one thousand pounds he demanded, and provide the reason behind his sudden campaign to discredit you and Lady Huntingdon. Or rather, I should say the person behind his campaign.”
Gabe’s mind was swirling with the ramifications of everything Decker had just revealed. The last sentence in particular.
“Who would dare to go to him and put him up to this?” he gritted, clenching the arms of his chair in twin iron grips. “And why? What was to be gained?”
“According to our maggot, the person responsible is your former betrothed,” Decker said. “Lady Beatrice Knightbridge did not take kindly to your jilting, I am afraid. Lord Algernon had been suffering recent losses at the tables to the point his father the marquess was threatening to cut him off. In an effort to pay his debts, he sought out Lady Beatrice with the necklace. The two formed a plan. Our maggot was to receive the one thousand pounds from Lady Huntingdon and a matching amount from Lady Beatrice.”
A sick feeling twisted in Gabe’s gut at the revelations, understanding dawning. “They were planning to make it seem as if my wife and Lord Algernon were having anaffaire, were they not?”
Decker inclined his head. “An anonymous note was to be sent to you, and when you arrived, Lord Algernon would have made certain you were witness to a spectacle. Lady Beatrice, meanwhile, was to have been watching all unfold from an unmarked carriage across the street.”
Anger and disgust warred for supremacy within him. His hands shook. “If that bastard had dared to force my wife…”
He could not finish his sentence. The thought was too awful to even contemplate.
“I do not blame you for your rage,” Decker said quietly. “If I were in your place, I would not stop until I destroyed the people responsible.”
Lady Beatrice, his perfect, composed fiancée. The bride Grandfather had selected for him, had attempted to hurt Helena. And not just hurt her, but worse. She would have had Lord Algernon force his attentions upon Helena. Bile rose in his throat as bitter memories of the crime perpetrated upon Lisbeth renewed themselves. Gabe burned with fury.
“Thank you for your intervention,” he managed. “I am indebted to you.”
“Think nothing of it, Huntingdon. Our wives are friends, and Lord Algernon was overdue for a sound drubbing.”
Though Decker was nonchalant, Gabe heartily appreciated the actions the man and his wife had taken on behalf of both himself and Helena.Good God, to think of what may have occurred. And all because the incomparable Lady Beatrice Knightbridge was a conscienceless witch.
Gabe stood. “Nonetheless, I will be more than happy to return the favor to you however I may. Lady Huntingdon and I would be honored if you and Lady Jo were to join us for dinner one evening soon.”
Decker stood. “I am sure it would be our pleasure to be your guests.”
He bowed. “But first, Lord Algernon and Lady Beatrice must face their reckonings from me.”
He was going to trounce Lord Algernon Forsyte, and he was going to make certain Lady Beatrice would never again hurt Helena.
No one dared to threaten his woman,damn it.
“Of course,” Decker said. “I completely understand, Huntingdon. When you love a woman, you will crawl through the fires of hell on broken glass for her. And when someone tries to hurt her, you are going to bloody well destroy them.”
His host’s words gave Gabe pause.
When you love a woman.
“I am not in love with my wife, Decker,” he bit out. “I respect her. Admire her. But love has no place in a marriage that is going to weather the storms of life. I have no wish to indulge such fanciful notions.”
Decker had the effrontery to laugh. “Oh, Huntingdon, you dense shite. You cannot decide not to fall in love with someone. Love is not a choice. Love is a force. And at this moment, you have the distinct look of a man who is hopelessly, helplessly mired deep within its clutches. Whether you like it or not.”
“I do not like it, nor do I want it in my life or in my marriage,” he denied coolly. “Love leads to disaster and hatred and bitter enmity.”
“Trust me on something, Huntingdon. The best decision I ever made was to embrace life with my wife, to accept her love for me, and to give her my heart in return.” Decker paused, quirking a brow. “Accept your fate. Thank me later.”
Accept his fate? Nonsense. Gabe was not in love with Helena.
Or was he?
He had never shared the truth of what had happened to Lisbeth with anyone other than Grandfather. Nor had he ever longed for a woman the way he burned for Helena. He spent every hour he was apart from her telling himself it was for the best and counting down the minutes until he would have her back in his arms.
“I am not in love,” he said, with far less assurance than he would have preferred. “I am in lust. Obsessed, perhaps. Not in love.”
