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The Duke Disguised Himself as a Footman to Meet His Bride — What He Overheard Left Him Speechless

The Duke Disguised Himself as a Footman to Meet His Bride — What He Overheard Left Him Speechless

Chapter 10

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Basil stood very still on the stairs. Then he turned and went quietly back up.That night, the storm came in off the Bristol Channel—hard and furious. Lucien was in the stables checking a horse's shoe when he heard the carriage. By the time he reached the front of the house, it was already rolling down the drive at full speed, lanterns swinging.Amelia was hammering on her bedroom door from the inside, screaming his name. Someone had locked it. He broke it open with his shoulder.She fell into his arms, wild with terror. "Kit! They've taken Kit! Mrs. Gaunt carried her down asleep. I heard Uncle Silas in the hall—he said Bristol by morning!"Silas himself appeared at the top of the stairs: calm, smiling, holding a candle."Ah, the footman. Or should I say Your Grace?" He came down a step at a time. "Don't look so shocked. My creditors want £4,000 by Saturday or I hang for debt. A man with a rope already around his neck isn't afraid of dukes. My son has very good ears. Clever trick. But you're in my house with no witnesses, and my niece is my ward under the law. At ten tomorrow morning, she'll sign a deed renouncing every claim on this house and giving me sole guardianship of her sister. And if anyone tries to stop it, that carriage won't stop at Bristol. There's a lot of deep water between here and there."Amelia made a sound like she'd been stabbed.Lucien didn't argue. He didn't waste one word. He turned, took the stairs three at a time, and was on a horse in the pouring rain before Silas had stopped smiling.He rode like a madman, still in his gray livery, through mud and darkness, the wind tearing at his face. He caught the carriage at the crossroads by Sedgemoor, where the road ran along the black water of the flooded ditches.The driver was one of Basil's drinking friends. He swung a coachman's whip at Lucien's face. Lucien took the lash across his arm, grabbed the reins, and dragged the horses to a stop with every ounce of strength he had. The driver jumped down and ran into the dark.Lucien tore the carriage door open. Inside, wrapped in a blanket on the floor, was Kit: drowsy and shivering, her eyes wide."Luke?""I've got you, Kit. I've got you."The little girl clutched his collar with a thin, cold hand. "Mrs. Gaunt said I'd never wake up in Bristol," she whispered. "She said I'd just go to sleep."Lucien pulled her close inside his coat and held her there in the rain for a long moment. Then he looked back toward Ashgrove Court with an expression no one in London had ever seen on the Duke of Calderwood's face.
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The Duke Disguised Himself as a Footman to Meet His Bride — What He Overheard Left Him Speechless

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