Prologue
THE TWO COACHES FOLLOWEDthe rider out of London to a secluded glade where shots wouldn’t disturb anyone. The length of the ride was meant to give the duelists time to change their minds. That rarely happened.
William Blackburn was maintaining silence on that ride, though his friend Peter wouldn’t stop listing all the reasons why the duel was a mistake, mentioning more than once that the Rathbans were too powerful to suffer any sort of challenge, a duel wouldn’t be the end of it for them.
“Just strike Henry Rathban and claim satisfaction,” Peter counseled. “As long as no blood is spilled, you can both walk away without further consequences.”
“Perhaps you should be riding in the Rathban coach instead of mine.”
“I’m here to help you see reason, Will.”
“No, you’re here to assure all the rules are followed,” William countered. “Are you ready to hear why I’ve challenged Henry Rathban?”
“Don’t say it. I’m to remain impartial. If the insult was too great, I’d want to shoot him m’self, so it’s better I don’t know.”
“Yet you aren’t being impartial a’tall when you sound like their bloody arbiter.”
“I just want you to be able to walk away from this without further consequence.”
“Assuming I won’t be the one dead, the consequences are already upon me,” William said. “This duel just deals with my rage. Nothing will fix what brought it about. That I will have to live with.”
“I’m not asking why! Stop tempting me.”
“Then a little silence might be helpful, since we’ve arrived.”
William stepped out of his coach first. Peter followed with the small box that held the matched pair of dueling pistols. William would offer one to Henry Rathban if Henry hadn’t brought his own, or accept one of Henry’s if offered; he didn’t care which pistol he used. It wasn’t as if he had a favorite weapon or had ever dueled before.
Henry hadn’t brought an impartial second with him, he’d brought both of his brothers instead. Highly irregular, but again, William simply didn’t care. The rider who had led them here was apparently a physician who had come to this spot before.
Henry’s eldest brother, Albert Rathban, wanted a word with him, another irregularity, but William stepped aside to listen to the older man. “This shouldn’t have gone this far. You were asked to recant the challenge. You will shoot at the ground and be satisfied this matter is settled, or I promise you will regret it. Don’t cross me on this, Blackburn. I’m not willing to lose a brother over this sordid business.”
“Then you should have kept a better leash on your younger brother, or at least warned him not to cuckold other men,” William said before he turned away to assume his position for the duel.
It was there again in his mind, the image of his wife naked in their bed, and Henry Rathban just as naked, crawling into it with her. He never would have known of their affair if he hadn’t decided to surprise her by joining her in London. She went there occasionally without him, while he stayed in Cheshire with the children. She loved spending a few weeks socializing with her friends during a high Season. He preferred the country. Not once did he ever suspect she was carrying on illicitly while away from him.
Of course he’d recognized Henry that night. The man had been one of Kathleen’s other suitors the year William had won her hand. But apparently Henry hadn’t lost after all. He’d still gotten the spoils, just without the ring.
William had run to fetch his pistol that night, so blinded by rage he would have killed Henry on the spot. But by the time he loaded it and returned to the bedroom, Henry was gone and Kathleen was in tears. She swore she was innocent. She swore Henry had blackmailed her into compliance. Then why hadn’t she brought the matter to him so he could deal with it? He believed nothing except what his eyes had seen.
He’d felt so betrayed, so utterly furious, it was a wonder he didn’t point the pistol at her that night. He kicked her out of the house instead while he drafted the challenge to Henry Rathban. And there had indeed been two missives from Henry’s brothers that week demanding he desist from pursuing an innocent man. Calling that blackguard innocent had added fuel to the fire. He’d sent back a note explaining exactly why he couldn’t recant and had heard no more from the brothers after that.
Henry did look afraid when they faced each other on the grassy field, turned, walked the requisite paces, and turned again before they both fired their weapons. William didn’t aim at the dirt. Henry collapsed where he stood. The physician ran over to examine him and with a shake of his head pronounced Henry dead. William bent down to confirm it, hearing the physician’s gasp of shock that he would do that. Henry was indeed dead, it just didn’t ease William’s rage or his pain.
Peter tried to pull him back to their coach so they could leave quickly, the remaining Rathbans looking furious now. Albert suddenly pulled him in a different direction. William put up a staying hand toward his friend, who seemed ready to fight to free him. But Albert wasn’t dragging him to the Rathbans’ coach, just out of anyone else’s hearing.
The eldest Rathban was in such a rage now, William thought he might issue a challenge of his own. But Albert kept his voice low as he hissed, “You made up an excuse to kill my brother!”
“I caught your brother in bed with my wife!”
“Then maybe you should have dueled with your whore of a wife instead of our innocent brother. You don’t get to walk away from this smiling, Blackburn. You will leave England, permanently, never to return, or we will ruin your family with this sordid affair.”
“And ruin your own in the process?”
“Hardly. Henry was innocent in all this, and you knew he wasn’t a marksman of any distinction.”
“I knew nothing of the sort—!”
Albert cut in. “But you still forced this duel, thinking you could get away with murder, when all he did was succumb to your wife’s seduction. That wasn’t worth dying for, and you don’t get to kill him and not suffer for it. You were even warned, given every opportunity to recant your challenge, and yet you still killed him. So absolute exile from England, Blackburn, or your family will pay the price for what you did here today.”
