This woman was unlike his usual victims. Female, of course, but of a far different class. He preferred the young assistants in the shops on Bond Street or the fresh-faced serving wenches at the taverns, working girls who fought with fear and determination to escape their fate.
Yet this particular woman had been chosen for a reason. A very personal reason.
His senses gradually began returning as the rush of excitement and exhilaration began to ease. He peered again through the leaves to savor the death scene one last time and became aware of a woman kneeling beside the body. She lifted her head, and he sucked in his breath in astonishment.
It was impossible! He had just killed this woman! He blinked vigorously, then carelessly pushed aside a branch for a better view.
There was no mistake. The woman sobbing so pitifully beside the body was Lady Meredith Barrington. Cursing soundly, he realized he had not taken full measure of his victim’s face. He had seen the distinctive shawl and stalked his victim patiently. The moment she was alone, he had sprung, attacking from behind, turning her to face him only at the last instant, so he could relish the final moments of her life as he hastened its end.
Lady Meredith bowed her head. Her hands stole around her waist and she clutched at her stomach as if in great pain.
His anger began to ease. She was suffering. Horribly. Perhaps this was better. Her death would have been a swift punishment for her sins. The death of someone she clearly cared for would bring her years of pain and anguish.
He dragged in a breath, his chest swelling. His skin began prickling with enjoyment as he savored this strange twist of fate.
Perhaps all had not gone precisely according to his original plan, yet he was pleased with the final result.
For now.
Two
London, England
Eight years later
“I thought by now you would finally comprehend that it is beyond foolish to place a wager when you do not possess the coin to pay if you lose,” Lady Meredith Barrington admonished forcefully. “Nor the legal means to obtain it.”
She assumed what she hoped was a grave expression of disapproval and glared at the two gentlemen who were sprawled on the patterned brocade sofa in her drawing room.Identical in golden coloring, with sharp handsome features that were also nearly the same, they gazed back at her with matching green eyes that held a hint of boredom, a reaction hardly befitting this serious matter.
She had hoped her lecture would inspire regret or remorse or even repentance. Yet that seemed unlikely.
With a forlorn sigh, Meredith admitted her younger brothers were no longer a pair of lanky youths who grew still and quiet when she raised her voice. Those skinny, boyish limbs were now muscular arms and wide shoulders, clothed in the finest garments Weston could produce. And when they were not being lectured by their older sister, she knew those brilliant green eyes burned with youthful zeal and a passion for life.
It did not, however, disguise the fact that her younger twin brothers, Jason and Jasper, were without question the most mischievous, irritating, frustrating, and charming men in all of England. Meredith was also firmly convinced they were responsible for the gray hairs she had discovered in her hairbrush this very morning.
“I don’t understand why you are getting so distraught over this matter,” Jasper grumbled. He leaned back and casually rested his left ankle atop his right knee. “It is not an overly large wager.”
“Nor have we lost it,” Jason added in a deliberate tone.
“Yet,” Meredith said in her sternest voice. She huffed dramatically, folded her arms across her chest, and used her considerable height to her advantage. Unfortunately, neither man was looking directly at her, so the effect of glaring down upon them was lost. “I told you most emphatically two weeks ago I would neither intercede on your behalf with father’s man of affairs to advance your quarterly allowance, nor would I make you a loan from my own meager funds.”
“Meager!” Jasper hooted. He shifted position swiftly, placing both booted feet firmly on the carpet. “Saints above, Merry, you’ve got more money than anyone else I know, male or female. I’d wager you could lend the Bank of England funds if it was needed.”
“The Bank of England?” Jason rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “A solid, reliable institution, with sound collateral and a sterling reputation. I know Merry has a pretty bit of coin put aside, but it can’t possibly be as much as the bank. Or could it? An interesting notion. I believe I shall accept that wager, brother.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sakes, will you both stop it?” Meredith nearly stamped her foot in frustration. This was ridiculous. Would they never stop, never learn? She loved her brothers to the extreme but was hardly blind to their faults, the principal one being their overzealous enthusiasm for gambling.
At twenty-two years of age, the twins were a pair of spoiled, privileged gentlemen, reckless, overindulged, and self-centered. Meredith’s parents were of little use when it came to controlling their sons. The earl and his wife were often out of the country, pursing some archaeological find or scholarly relic that had captured the earl’s fancy. They were, for the most part, blissfully unaware of their sons’ extreme antics.
Yet even when they were in town, they did nothing to curb the twins’ wild behavior. The earl was of the opinion his sons would eventually grow out of their high spirits. Consequently, he allowed them to live their lives entirely as they wished. No matter how outrageous the circumstance, the earl gave no censure to his sons.
Initially Meredith had tried to follow her father’s lead, but she soon discovered that, left to their own devices, the twins would run totally wild. She had tried to be a steadying influence on them, but more and more that task was requiring stronger measures. They no longer easily followed her direction nor listened to her advice or opinions with solemn, wide-eyed regard.
As they grew older, it seemed the harder she tried to control them, the more they resisted. Each time Meredith vowed she would not intercede at the next crisis, yet she found it impossible to follow her own advice.
She partly blamed herself for the current state of affairs, admitting she had bailed her brothers out of so many scrapes over the years that they no longer fully considered the consequences of their escapades before acting.
They knew if things went awry, she could be counted upon to somehow set everything to rights, for she had taken the task of watching over them very seriously. It was a role she did not relish, yet she knew she must often seem like an avenging angel, refusing to let any real harm come to her wayward siblings, especially when it was within her means to prevent it.
