Three Nights with a Scoundrel (Stud Club #3)

“The carriage, Swift. I want it readied immediately.”


Without even waiting for his acknowledgment, Lily slammed the door shut and went to the washstand, swabbing herself with tepid water and yanking a brush through her love-tangled hair. By the time her maid appeared with a fresh chemise, stays, and petticoat, Lily was read to don them. She grabbed the stockings and garters for herself. “Get the dress,” she told the maid.

The stockings were uncooperative, and the garters were downright incorrigible. “Damnable stockings,” she grumbled, perversely wishing she did swear more often, so she would have a broader repertoire of profanity to draw from. “Damnable garters.”

As the clock ticked toward ten, she was fully dressed and simply coiffed. Presentable, if not a picture of elegance. She took one last glance in the mirror, smoothing her damp palms over the pleated amethyst superfine.

“Gloves,” she called. “I need gloves.”

Her maid was right there beside her, holding a pair in either hand for her selection.

Lily took the buff doeskin gloves and ran with them, working her fingers into their tight sheaths as she hurried down the stairs. “Is the carriage ready, Swift?”

“Nearly, my lady.”

“Tell the driver to pull around front. I’ll wait on the steps.” Honestly, Lily had no idea where she intended to go. She just knew she had to go somewhere. She could not sit in this house, poring over ledgers and alphabetizing books while Julian was out in the world, courting danger.

She went to the front door and grabbed hold of the handle. Amelia, she thought. She would start with Amelia and Meredith. Since all three men had gone out together, perhaps the other ladies would have some clue where they’d headed.

Lily wrenched open the door and bolted through it, only to pull up short on the threshold. Amelia and Meredith themselves stood on the front stoop. Amelia’s hand was arrested midair, as though she’d been preparing to ring the bell.

“Good morning.” She smiled brightly. “That was speedy of you. Did you see us coming up the walk?”

Lily shook her head. “No.”

Meredith said, “We thought with the men gone out for their ride, we ladies deserved some amusement of our own. What do you say to a stroll in the park?”

“Damn the park. That’s what I say to it.”

Both ladies blinked with surprise.

“I’m so sorry,” Lily said. “But come in, come in. I’ll explain.” She ushered her stunned friends through the door and shut it behind them. “Our husbands haven’t gone out for a leisurely ride. They’ve gone out to confront Leo’s killers.”

Amelia and Meredith looked to one another.

“You must believe me,” Lily said. “Julian left me a letter this morning.”

“We do believe you, dear.” Amelia put a hand on Lily’s arm. “We already knew.”

“You … You knew?”

Meredith nodded. “Our husbands told us. But Mr. Bellamy asked us not to say anything to you. I gather he didn’t want to raise your hopes or anxieties until it was all over.”

Lily went numb with anger and disbelief. She didn’t know what to think. Her husband, her friends, her friends’ husbands … Was the whole world conspiring to deceive her?

Amelia tightened her grip on Lily’s arm, guiding her into the drawing room and helping her into a chair.

Sitting down across from her, Amelia said, “There’s nothing to fear. Let me explain. Through the work of an investigator, Mr. Bellamy was able to find the two men believed to have attacked dear Leo. They’ve been imprisoned these six months for another crime, and they’re due to be released today. The men have gone to meet them, bring them to London, and swear out a new charge of murder. There is no danger, and it will all be over soon.”

“But … but that makes no sense.”

If there was no danger, why would Julian leave a letter saying he might not return? He said he’d received a threat on his life yesterday. Lily’s memory flashed back to that moment on the street, when she’d been shoved against the windowpane. Could that have been the incident? It would certainly explain Julian’s behavior of the subsequent half-hour, carrying her more than a mile home before collapsing with relief.

She reached for Amelia’s hand and clutched it tight. “I believe you, Amelia. I believe that as recently as yesterday, their plan was as you describe it. But something changed. That’s why Julian wrote me that letter. He spoke of not only confronting Leo’s killers, but identifying an unknown enemy. He spoke of violence, and the possibility he will not return. I believe our husbands may be in true peril. Or at the very least, mine is. We must do something. Do you have any idea where they’ve gone?”

Amelia and Meredith exchanged guarded looks.