Revealed in Mist by Jude Knight

Author:Jude Knight [Knight, Jude]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jude Knight

22

Gren arrived in time for dinner full of stories he had picked up around Town, which he shared in between mouthfuls as soon as Mrs. Allen left the room.

“So, to sum up,” David said, once they had retired to the parlour and a glass of brandy each, “No one admits to liking any of Selby’s coterie. Wharton rarely appears in public, but is believed to be puppet master for the rest. Selby is bedding all the nastiest widows in the ton, and has been banned from his favourite brothels for damaging the merchandise. Several people told you he has a wife, but they place the lady in at least three different parts of the country, which casts doubt on the theory.”

Or there was more than one lady. But it was Prue’s secret, and he would not tell Gren. David avoided looking at her. “If Selby had not succeeded to the title,” David continued, “he would have been locked up for bankruptcy last month, but one cannot lock up a peer, and this month he is suddenly flush in the pockets again. That’s what you’ve found out about Selby.”

Gren nodded.

“Annesley also has more money than can be explained by his known sources of income. Last year his family cut off his allowance, and no one knows what he uses to live, but since Christmas he has purchased a whole new wardrobe, paying cash, and he is keeping a phaeton and pair in town.” David checked for Gren’s nod. “Which hints at a substantial change in fortune. Annesley is another womaniser, though both he and Selby pale in comparison to Tiverton. That august gentleman has skirted close to court martial several times when accused of rape. He has escaped because each time the woman in question withdrew the charge.”

“Which may only mean they thought better of having their private lives draped on a public fence,” Prue warned.

“Or they were paid off. Or they were threatened with worse if they continued,” David added.

“It takes a great deal of courage to make such an accusation, especially against a gentleman of means,” Prue mused. “Almost everyone assumes the woman had it coming, and her reputation is never restored, even if the man is found guilty. If even one accusation is true, there will be many other rapes never reported.”

“Oh, he’s a rapist, for certain,” Gren assured her. “What he tried to do to you is typical. Charm, bribes, threats, then force, if the others fail. And the accusers were not the lowest sort, but girls from trade families. Respectable girls, poor things.”

“Anyway,” David continued, “he is in trouble with the regiment again, as we know, and will be posted overseas. And the last of the five is Barnstable, who we do not need to consider since he took himself off to the country a few weeks ago, accused of dealing from the bottom of the deck. Is that the heart of it?”

Gren tipped his glass to David in salute. “Exactly. I shall have to learn

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