Yet she was hiding something from him, that much was certain. And it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that she was writing secret letters to her lover. Just as in your past, when the deceptive woman you loved already had a lover who owned her heart.
There was no reason to think Madeline was as devious as Camille Juzet. According to Freddie, Madeline intended to send her reward money to her brother Gerard because he needed the funds more than she did. Camille had wanted to help her own brother and other family members flee the local authorities, yet that didn’t mean the similarities between the two women extended any further.
He wouldn’t leap to conclusions, Rayne decided. There might be a logical explanation for why Madeline had written to both the baron and her brother at the same time, and for now, he would give her the benefit of the doubt.
Meanwhile, however, he would take care to crush any tenderness he was beginning to feel for Madeline. And he would give Ackerby a lesson in honor and manners that he would not soon forget.
Keeping a pretense of composure throughout her class was nearly impossible for Madeline. Her anxiety over the impending duel was simply too great. Hence, the moment she was able to take her leave from the academy, she drove the Danvers gig, which Arabella had graciously loaned her, to Riverwood.
To her dismay, Rayne was not at home, or so his majordomo claimed. Worse, Bramsley refused to say where Lord Haviland could be found, although Madeline suspected he knew very well.
Thankfully, Freddie was still at Riverwood. And yet that gentleman did not look particularly overjoyed to see her when she was shown into the billiard parlor where he was playing a solitary game.
“Can you tell me where I might find Haviland?” Madeline asked him at once. “All Bramsley would say was that he is not here.”
“He left for London an hour ago,” Freddie replied rather reluctantly.
“Blast it,” Madeline muttered, gnawing her lower lip. “I hoped to speak to him and convince him to call off this absurd duel.”
“He cannot call it off,” Freddie asserted, looking somewhat startled.
“Why not?”
“Because it is a matter of honor. Ackerby went too far this time. You cannot expect Rayne to sit idly by while that rake besmirched you.”
“But he did not besmirch me,” Madeline replied, raising her eyes to the ceiling. “The entire situation was misconstrued.”
Freddie frowned. “Well, it is too late now.”
“No, it is not. I will just have to go to London myself to speak with Rayne.”
“Miss Ellis,” he said hurriedly, “you cannot interfere in his business. It simply isn’t done. And even if you were to speak with Rayne until you were blue, you won’t succeed. I know him. He won’t change his mind if he believes he is in the right.”
She ignored Freddie’s exasperated protest. “I presume he means to spend the night at his house in town?”
Freddie grimaced at her stubborn persistence. “That was where he was headed. He had to collect his dueling pistols and meet with his second. And he knew he would have to rise early tomorrow morning.”
It was Madeline’s turn to frown. “He didn’t ask you to stand as second for him?”
“No.” Freddie gave her sheepish look. “I am not the best of shots, and Rayne didn’t want me to get hurt in the event I had to step in for him.”
“At least he was concerned for your welfare if not his own,” Madeline said sardonically. “So who will be his second?”
“He intended to ask Will Stokes.”
&nb
sp; “Who is Will Stokes?”
“A longtime friend. They knew each other as lads and served together in the Foreign Office.”
Stokes must be Rayne’s childhood bread thief, Madeline realized, but it was of little importance. What mattered was that she stop the duel before someone got hurt.
But perhaps Freddie was right. Talking to Rayne would likely have little impact. She might have to take more drastic measures to make him see reason.
“Do you know where the duel will be held?” she asked. “Ackerby said they would meet at the ‘usual place,’ and Rayne seemed to know what he meant.”
Freddie’s brow furrowed. “Why do you want to know?”