Vice by Jane Feather

Author:Jane Feather [Feather, Jane]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: Romance, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 0553572490
Publisher: Wings
Published: 1996-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

It was three o’clock in the morning when Tarquin re-Led home. He nodded at the night porter, who let in, and headed for the stairs. The man shot the bolts again and returned to his cubbyhole beneath the stairs.

The duke strode into his own apartments, shrugging off his gold brocade coat. His sleepy valet jumped up from his chair by the empty fireplace and tried to stifle a yawn.

“Good evening, Your Grace.” He hastened to take the coat from his employer, shaking it out before hanging it in the armoire. “I trust you had a pleasant evening.”

“Pleasant enough, thank you.” Tarquin glanced toward the armoire with its concealed door, wondering if Juliana was awake. Presumably she’d retired hours ago. His valet tenderly helped him out of his clothes and handed him a chamber robe. The duke sat at his dresser, filing his nails, while the man moved around the room, putting away the clothes, drawing back the bed curtains, turning down the bed.

“Will that be all, Your Grace?”

The duke nodded and dismissed him to his bed. Then he stepped through the door in the wardrobe and softly entered the next-door chamber. The bed was unslept in. Henny snored softly on the chaise longue. Of Juliana there was no sign.

“Where the devil—”

“Oh, lordy me, sir!” Henny jumped to her feet at the sound of his voice. Her faded blue eyes were filmed with sleep. “You did give me a start.” She patted her chest with a rapid fluttering hand.

“Where’s Juliana?” His voice was sharp, abrupt.

“Why, I don’t know, Your Grace. I understand she went out with Lord Edgecombe. They haven’t returned as yet. But His Lordship is never one to seek his bed before dawn,” she added, smoothing down her apron and tucking an escaping strand of gray hair back under her cap.

Tarquin’s initial reaction was fury, mingled immediately with apprehension. Juliana could have no idea where and how Lucien took his pleasures. She was far too innocent of the urban world even to imagine such things. It was that very innocence that he’d believed would make her a compliant tool in his scheme. And now it was the same innocence combined with that defiant spirit that was leading her into the horrors of Lucien’s world. Perhaps he’d erred in his choice. Perhaps he should have involved a woman who knew her way around the world, who would have entered a business contract with her eyes open. But such a woman would not have been virgin. And a whore could not be the mother of the heir to Edgecombe.

But he’d made his choice and was stuck with the consequences. He’d assumed he’d be able to put a stop to her mischief with Lucien, but he hadn’t expected her to move so fast. He would learn the lesson well.

“Is everything all right, Your Grace?” Henny sounded troubled, a deep frown drawing her sparse eyebrows together, as she examined the duke’s livid countenance. “If I did wrong—”

“My good woman, of course you didn’t,” he interrupted brusquely.

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