“I am sorry, old friend. We had to know—you especially—that one of us would eventually have to pay for our sins.”
“What sins exactly?” He flashed a look of irritation at his friend. Being held prisoner by Madeline’s threat to kill herself had surely changed Alonzo’s mind about the kind of women he sought out. He refused to be put in that position again.
“Pleasure.”
“What a man and woman share together in the bedchamber should never be considered a sin.” Alonzo crossed his legs, reclined in the comfortable, leather chair in the library, and sipped his brandy. He might require drinking a full bottle in order to deal with Maddie.
“That’s wishful thinking, old chap.” Ganes tossed back his brandy. “Miss Hershey is determined to see you in the parson’s noose.”
The duke chuckled mirthlessly, remembering how the scheming woman had started a scandal once she realized her threats of physical harm had failed to keep him around. That scandal had sent him out of England for over a year. His reputation had recovered, but hers… what was the blasted hoyden up to?
“Her mama caught you in a compromising situation with her daughter, if I remember correctly,” Ganes said wryly.
“More like a compromising position.” Madeline had been completely naked and on top of him in his bed.
“Do you want me to do what I do best?” his friend asked.
Alonzo scratched his head, seriously considering it. How could he justify asking him to do the very thing he offered to pay him not to do a few days ago? Yet, the duke did not believe in coincidences, so he could only assume that Maddie was here for all the wrong reasons.
“Yes,” he finally accepted Ganes’s offer. “Do whatever you must to keep her away from Lady Julia.”
The earl set his glass down on the nearby desk. “How do things stand between you and the lady?”
“I have enjoyed her company immensely.”
“That is it?”
“Have I not told you before, I do not kiss and tell, Ganes. I will leave that to you.”
The earl laughed. “You care for her.”
Alonzo gazed at him. “I do.”
“You are considering an offer of marriage.”
He rolled his eyes and his lips hitched up in a grin. “If things continue to progress between us, I might consider such an arrangement.”
“You should have placed a bet on the book at White’s.”
“On myself?”
“Whyever not?”
“It seems rather presumptive, don’t you think?”
The earl thought about it for a brief moment. “Not for the scourge of London.”
“Now I am a scourge?”
“Where debutantes are concerned.”
“You have a twisted opinion of me, Ganes, why?”
“You set the precedence for all of us. Taught us to aim high and not allow anyone to get in our way.”
“Byus, you mean yourself, Ramsey, Colt, and Jessie?”
“I do.”
