The Bridegroom Read Free Page B

hand. Head bowed, Becky pressed the cloth against her wounded lip.
    Reggie was still in shock. She had known Penrith was not the best of husbands, but during the entire four years Reggie had been living with Becky in London, she had never—not once—witnessed any physical mistreatment of her sister. But there was no denying what she had just seen. Reggie felt sick to her stomach, wondering what Becky might have been enduring behind closed doors.
    What Reggie found most difficult to credit was Penrith’s evident remorse. She watched in disbelief as he brushed a trembling hand across Becky’s hair, smoothing a stray curl from her brow, and pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. “Forgive me,” he pleaded. “Please.”
    Becky glanced across at her, then looked down at her hands and said, “I forgive you, William.”
    Reggie’s nose curled in distaste. It could have been the offal she smelled on the cobblestones as they drove by. But it was not. Her teeth were gritted, and her fingers were so tightly threaded she could feel the bite of her fingernails, even through her gloves. Penrith’s behavior could not be allowed to continue. She would inform Papa of the situation in the next mail, and he would—
    Reggie realized that was exactly what she could
not
do, for the same reason she could never tell Papa how Lord Carlisle had treated her this evening. Papa woulddemand to meet William on a field of honor. Reggie was not willing to take the chance that William’s aim with a dueling pistol might be true. Even worse, if Papa killed William in a duel, three-year-old Lily would be left without a father.
    But there was someone who might be able to help.
    “I have been thinking of inviting Michael O’Malley to come for a visit,” Reggie said. “What do you think, Becky?”
    “I think Papa needs Mr. O’Malley to help oversee his estate in Scotland, especially now, with Kitt due to deliver at any time.”
    “I shall write to ask Papa if Mr. O’Malley can bring the news of whether we have a new brother or sister in person,” Reggie said. “Surely Papa will let him come.”
    In the flickering light from the gas lanterns on the street corners, Reggie could see that Becky’s face looked stricken. And well it should. Ever since their father had brought Michael O’Malley home with him as a gangly boy of thirteen, he had been like an older brother. Mick would be incensed when Reggie told him how badly Penrith was treating Becky.
    Reggie was sure that together, she and Mick could come up with a way to make certain that William never laid another violent hand on his wife … even if it meant finding a way to end the marriage.
    “If I am not mistaken, Rebecca, you enjoy Mr. O’Malley’s visits,” Penrith said. “I will add my letter to Regina’s.”
    It was clear to Reggie that Penrith’s offer was intendedas an olive branch. She watched to see whether Becky would accept it.
    “Very well,” Becky said at last. “I will prepare a room for his arrival.”
    As they left the carriage and entered the Penrith town house on Berkeley Square, Reggie reached out and squeezed her sister’s hand. “Shall I say I am ill and ask for your company tonight?” she whispered.
    “Please don’t,” Becky whispered back. “All will be well. Go to bed.”
    Reggie watched as William solicitously escorted Becky up the stairs, as though the blow had never happened. She would not sleep tonight until she had written to her father and to Mick. It would not be fair to Becky to tell Mick precisely what had happened tonight, but she could hint at some trouble Becky was having that required Mick’s assistance and encourage her father to send him to London.
    But even after she had written her letters, Reggie tossed and turned in bed, plagued by a pair of dark dragon’s eyes that would not give her peace.

Chapter 2
    “Revenge is a dirty business. I thought you had decided to leave the second chit out of it.”
    Clay Bannister eyed his solicitor,