Lyon's Prey_The Lyon's Den by Anna St. Claire & The Lyon's Den

Author:Anna St. Claire & The Lyon's Den [St. Claire, Anna & Den, The Lyon's]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, Romance, Historical
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2020-10-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Upon leaving the Lyon’s Den, Evan had ridden first to Banbury’s townhouse and told him of the upcoming nuptials, then together they went straight to Dean’s office. His man of business assured them he could pull information together and deliver all he could find by early the next afternoon.

Not known for his trusting nature, Evan stared at the envelope with Dean’s report concerning Baron Langdale. The whole marriage business had stirred his curiosity to take a closer look at everyone involved in this union. Banbury sat across from him in his study as he held the packet and reflected. “Yesterday was the first night in a long time that I failed to attend the Den to drink or play games.”

“I am sure your body and your wallet thank you.” Banbury snorted, then inclined his head toward the packet. “What does it say, Clarendon?” His friend swirled his scotch, then took a long sip.

Evan took his letter opener and ran it along the edge of the packet, then pulled out the documents. “Hmm. This is rather enlightening. I had expected a delay in receiving this, but Dean’s association with Lord Romney’s affairs helped immensely. He had much information at his fingertips.”

“What does it say?” Banbury interjected, sitting up a little straighter.

He read further. “We were right. The baron is spending as much of Romney’s money as he can. It appears checks have been written to his own estate and others to people well-known in the investment arena. These monies could be covering debts he created dabbling with stocks.” He absently rolled the handle of his wax stamp in his hand while he read. “No, it is worse than I thought. Dean traced Langdale’s losses, and it appears the man lost quite a lot of money in the slave trade. I cannot feel sorry for him. Langdale bought part interest in a shipping company known to be heavily involved in slave trading.”

“I say, that sounds unfortunate,” his friend said.

“Indeed. Since the wars have concluded, much of Europe have added their muscle to the enforcement of the Slave Trade Act, and hopefully together, they will put an end to the whole nasty business. Shipping companies such as his are suffering badly.” Evan passed the report to Banbury and leaned back against his desk, folding his arms.

Banbury perused the statement for a few moments. “What do you make of this notation on the bottom of Dean’s report?” He edged closer to his friend, pointing to a post about a visit from Lord Thomas Burton. “That does not seem good to me. The marquess is known for his cruelty and womanizing. I try to never share the same air space with the man.”

“Is he married?” Evan heard himself ask. Something feels wrong here.

“No. There was a widow years ago that he was rumored to be involved with. Some speculated they would marry, but I believe she died suddenly. Tragic, really. There was some scandal about her death, but no one was charged. Let me think.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.