He laughed a short dry laugh, no real humor reflected. “I would think it obvious. Who took a man as ridiculously turned out as I was seriously? No one looked beyond the foppish façade. Didn’t concern themselves with hiding anything from me, because they thought me an imbecile.
“It was easy to adopt the role. No one questioned it. It made getting information easy. Even my father fell for it.” He stared murderously at the viscount. “You were too smug and self-assured to ever dream I’d taken a post with the English Crown.”
The viscount’s face whitened then his cheeks bulged as he sought to control his rage. “You traitorous Satan’s spawn! How dare you defy me, betray me? How such an ungrateful seed sprung from my loins I cannot credence.”
Stuart laughed which caused the viscount to puff more angrily. Jenna watched the sparring, her head going between the two enraged men. Gray’s hold on her arm tightened and he whispered urgently in her ear, “When I signal you, run for the door and don’t look back.”
She gave a brief nod to show her understanding.
“You’ve a lot of nerve calling me a traitor. I wasn’t selling our secrets to the French. I didn’t throw my wife down the stairs because she found me out. I put my entire life on hold just so I could brand you for the traitor and murderer you are,” Stuart hissed. “I became a person I despised, that others despised and reviled, and I did it so I could have the pleasure of making you pay for murdering my mother.” His voice broke.
“A finer woman never lived, and you killed her. And for what, money? You didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her.”
“I’ll kill you too,” the viscount threatened. “I won’t let you get in the way of what I’ve worked so hard for.”
“Choose wisely. There are three of us, and you have but one shot.”
Uncertainty flashed over the viscount’s face, and Jenna held her breath. “Get ready,” Gray murmured.
Then a slow sinister smile slid over Lord Dudley’s face. “You won’t kill me. Not your father.” In a sudden movement he yanked his outstretched arm, took aim at Jenna and fired.
Pain rocked her. Her knees buckled and Gray caught her before she fell to the floor. She heard another explosion and out of the corner of her eye she saw the viscount fall. Then all went black.
Gray caught Jenna as she fell, shock and fear assailing him. He glanced over at the viscount who had slumped to the floor, a mixture of pain and amazement etched in his face.
Stuart rushed over to where Gray held Jenna to him, trying to staunch the flow of blood from her shoulder. He stripped off his shirt and thrust it at Gray. “Take this, I’ll summon the physician.” He strode to the door and was nearly knocked over as Thomas barreled in. “Send for a doctor immediately,” Stuart ordered. “Lady Jenna’s been shot.”
A multitude of questions burned Gray’s lips, but he stifled them and concentrated on the rapidly spreading bloodstain on her dress. He couldn’t lose her. Not this way.
He heard Stuart walk back over. “Your father?” He let the question hang in the air.
“He’s dead,” Stuart said in a voice devoid of emotion. He squatted down on Jenna’s other side, his face drawn with concern. “Can you tell if the bullet went through?”
Gray shook his head, refusing to loosen his hold on the cloth for fear her blood loss would be too great.
Stuart dragged a hand through his hair in agitation. Worry clouded his eyes, and he drew in shallow, rapid breaths. He looked up at Gray again. “Can you manage alone? I need to summon my superiors. I must get this mess cleared up about my father before word gets out. I do not want this to destroy Jenna’s family. I must remove my father’s body from the premises.”
“Just who are your superiors?” Gray couldn’t help but ask.
“I am part of a special branch of the His Majesty’s service devoted to ferreting out traitors to the crown. We’ve managed to apprehend most all of the suspected Napoleon sympathizers from years past, but never had the evidence to implicate my father.”
Gray shook his head. Stuart was right. No one had ever seen past his outer façade. The perfect agent. Anger that Jenna had been caught in the middle made him shake. She was innocent. The anguish she’d suffered because of Stuart’s family was unpardonable.
“When is that doctor going to arrive?” he demanded, his frustration mounting as he observed the blood-soaked shirt Stuart had given him. Jenna’s pallor was increasing, and she hadn’t stirred since she’d lost consciousness.
“It’s been but a few minutes. He’ll be here in a moment,” Stuart reassured, though his voice cracked as he observed Jenna’s unmoving body. “I must go, but I will return. Take care of her, Douglas.”
Gray heard the footsteps as Stuart left the room, but he never took his eyes off Jenna. Why hadn’t he kept her firmly behind him? It should have been him that took the bullet, not her. If she died, he would never forgive himself. His actions would be responsible for the death of two women. Raw pain washed over him as the memory of Roslyn’s death came rushing back. He wouldn’t allow it to happen again. He couldn’t survive this time.
Relief edged some of his panic when the physician rushed into the room several long minutes later. He was shoved aside as the doctor set to work examining her.
“The ball is still inside her shoulder,” the doctor announced. “I’ll have to remove it.”
“But will she survive?” Gray demanded, too afraid to hear the verdict.
The doctor frowned. “I think it’s likely she won’t suffer any ill effects if I can control the blood loss. She’s lost a lot thus far. I will have to go in and remove the ball and hopefully it will be an easy procedure.”
“So you can’t guarantee she won’t die.” His voice caught in his throat. God, she couldn’t die.
