‘She is right. ‘You must control yourself, Rawden.’ Hardy’s outrage cut through.
‘Then get her out of here. Take her home. Would you do that for me?’
‘Yes, but I cannot leave you two alone to tear each other to shreds in my father’s house.’
‘I swear I will not lay another hand on him, Hardy.’
‘And you, Caville? Do you swear to be civilised?’ said Hardy.
‘If this brute can be, then so can I,’ snarled Caville.
Hardy shook his head in disgust. ‘Rawden is not the brute here. We both know it.’ He put his face into Caville’s. ‘If you look for trouble, you will find it and suffer the consequences. Whatever you have unleashed here tonight, you have no one to blame but yourself.’
Grace approached him with tears in her eyes. ‘Rawden, please come home with me now. I can explain.’
‘Hardy, take her. Now,’ said Rawden, for he could not bear her tears. He was an open wound – raw, pulsing with pain. All the fight went out of Grace, and she let herself be led away by Hardy. An ominous silence fell, and a chilly calm settled over Rawden. His purpose became clear.
‘You have dishonoured me this night, Caville,’ he said.
‘Ah, just like when we were at school. That Voss pride will not let you acknowledge my superiority as a gentleman over a brute like you.’
‘You are no gentleman, nor could you ever be. You cast dishonour on my wife.’
‘Your wife, aye, by sufferance. It’s hardly a love match, is it? No wonder she looks elsewhere for her pleasures.’
‘Better than being bought by you and enslaved to your base desires.’
‘They are no baser than yours. Do you not force yourself on the lady? Don’t try and tell me you forgo your marital rights. You are no saint, Rawden Voss. And as to me buying Grace, did you not pay Charles Howden a goodly sum and clear his debts so that you could have her? You think yourself better than me, but you are not. You are nought but a thief because I saw Grace first, and you stole her from under my nose. I want her, Rawden, and she should have been mine.’
‘You are like a spoilt child, crying over your toy being taken away. With all your wealth, your rich wife, your homes and estates, still, it is not enough. You have to covet what belongs to others.’
‘As you coveted what belonged to your brother?’ said Sharp with absolute venom.
‘Hold your tongue.’ Rawden’s hands fisted at his side.
Caville gave a high, thin laugh. ‘What a thug you are at heart, and all those beatings at school made no difference, did they? Bad blood will out in the end.’
‘I may be a thug, but at least I have some shred of honour, Caville.’
‘You hit me tonight without warning or challenge. Where is the honour in that?’ cried Caville.
‘Alright. I will tell you where to find honour – at dawn, two days hence, on Putney Heath. I propose pistols.’
‘What?’
‘I challenge you to a duel. Find a second, Caville, or come alone and die alone.’
‘I will not dance to your tune, you ill-bred ruffian.’
‘Then be shamed before all the ton, for I will name you a coward before your family, friends, wife. That is the kind of taint that never washes out. I will make you the biggest fool in London.’
‘You would taint your wife’s reputation in the same breath,’ spat Sharp.
‘No. On the contrary, she will be the injured party. Remember, she has the protection of marriage now, the respectability of a husband who is an earl. I demand satisfaction, Sharp. Do you accept, worm?’
Sharp narrowed his eyes. ‘Very well. If you insist, then I accept. I will be there with my second.’ There was a flash of triumph in his eyes. ‘And I have always been an excellent shot. Soon, Grace will be a widow, and then she will fall into my hands like a ripe apple from a tree.’
‘I hope you feasted your eyes on my wife tonight,’ said Rawden. ‘For, two days hence, I will close them for good and rid this world of the pestilence that is Caville Sharp.’
