After Dark with a Scoundrel

by Alexandra Hawkins

  Dare grinned at Regan, pleased that she understood what he was trying to tell her. “Charles wanted to take the woman I worshiped and reduce her to the level of a whore. He understood my chivalrous nature better than I did. He knew that when I learned of the child, I would marry Allegra. The notion of me raising his bastard as my heir amused him.”

  “What a horrid, evil man!” Regan declared, her hands curling into fists as if she was prepared to fight Charles on Dare’s behalf. “No wonder you feel nothing for the man.”

  Dare placed his hands on Regan’s face and pulled her close so he could kiss her lightly. Her lips were sweet from the hot chocolate she favored each morning. “You are such a fierce creature when riled. Remind me never to cross you.”

  “Too late. I have been vexed with you for days.”

  “Hmmm. It is a good thing that I came to my senses and married you.” He indulged himself, and stole another kiss. “Do not fret, mon coeur. Charles did get his comeuppance when my father forced him to marry Allegra.”

  “How?”

  “My niece’s birth was difficult. Allegra almost died, and it took her almost a year to recover. Through all these years, she has been unable to conceive an heir for Charles.”

  “Poor Allegra.”

  “Oh, how she would despise you for your compassion.” Dare placed his finger against Regan’s lips before she could respond. “No, listen to me. Allegra has made her bed. She might have fancied herself in love with my brother, but the truth is, she married Charles for his title and the power that comes with it. Unfortunately, she failed to provide him with the one thing that made her useful to him.”

  Regan kissed Dare’s finger. “His heir.”

  Neither one of them spoke for several minutes.

  Dare could sense that Regan had something on her mind. He had become quite familiar with her body, and noted the subtle clues tipping him off that she was working up the courage to ask him something important.

  “When you left the town house, Frost told me that you still loved Allegra,” she blurted out. “Was he telling the truth?”

  “Regan, I risked incurring your brother’s wrath and broke the law to marry you. Does that not tell you anything about my feelings?”

  A single tear slid down her cheek. “Gentlemen marry for many reasons, and most of them have nothing to do with love.”

  Dare shook his head in amazement. A lady’s brain was a very convoluted organ that a mere gentleman could not hope to decipher. He had thought his intentions were clear as glass.

  He captured both of her hands, and felt Regan brace herself as if she were awaiting a physical blow. “You deserve honesty, Regan, and I want to give it to you.” He brought her right hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I have told no one else what I have shared with you. I need you to understand this, too.”

  “Just tell me.”

  “For a long time, I was convinced that I was in love with Allegra,” Dare confessed. “When she gave birth to Louise, Charles was furious that he had been cheated of his heir. He used the pitiful excuse to abandon his wife and infant daughter for months at a time. Gradually I found myself taking Charles’s place whenever I visited Rooks House. My mother and father encouraged the friendship because Allegra was lonely, and there were moments when I could pretend—”

  She silenced him by pressing two fingers to his lips. “I think I understand.”

  “Do you?” Dare nipped at her fingers lightly. Despite Regan’s unconventional upbringing, Frost had done a damn fine job protecting his sister from the darker side of life.

  “During those visits to the country, you could experience what your life might have been with Allegra if Charles had not ruined things.”

  Perhaps he had underestimated the depth of Regan’s compassion and forgiveness. “Allegra had her own regrets. She longed for Charles to be the husband she had dreamed of, and every time she lost another baby, she withdrew further from her inattentive husband. In the early years of their marriage, both Allegra and I were content with our little fantasies. That is, until she crawled into my bed one night. I rejected her, and we had a bitter, hurtful argument. It was the first of many. By then, however, I had come to acccept that my love for Allegra had mellowed into a comfortable friendship.”

  Regan’s head came up at his admission.

  “I started to spend less time at the family’s country estate.” Dare gave her a roguish grin. “There were other women.”

  “Hmm, indeed.”

  Although he adored her dark blue eyes, he enjoyed the flashes of green. “Dozens … legions…”

  “Enough!” She groaned as she realized he had been baiting her. “Now you are merely being obnoxious.”

  Dare relented. “There is very little left to tell. Allegra tried for a few years to convince me that Louise was mine. Her spiteful taunts gave me a few bad nights, but I saw through her games and lies. That is why I wanted you to stay away from her. Allegra has grown bitter, and increasingly jealous of everyone.”

  The coach slowed, and Dare realized he had spent the entire journey filling Regan’s ears with some of his darkest secrets. It seemed unfair, but his heart felt decidedly lighter for it. And now he was about to drag her into the unsavory tangle that comprised his family.

  The coachman opened the door.

  Dare descended first. Before Regan could lean forward, he blocked the doorway to prevent her from leaving.

  “Dare?”

  A small smile teased his mouth. “Were you lying to Frost when you told him that you were determined to seduce me?”

  Regan blushed, plainly uncomfortable by his question. “It was a foolish game. Why does it matter?”

  “Regan Alice, I just opened my heart to you,” Dare said, placing his hand over the organ he thought long dead. “Can you not do the same?”

  Her compassionate gaze shimmered with tears. For once, her tears did not trouble him.

  She took a deep breath. “I—”

  Someone in the house opened the front door. Dare glanced back to see Allegra standing in the doorway.

  “Hugh? Where have you been? Something horrible has happened to Charles.” It was difficult to look ethereal and tragic when she was infuriated at Dare for making her wait. “Is someone in the coach with you?”

  “Go inside, Allegra,” Dare ordered harshly, and turned away.

  Allegra sputtered. “B-but Hugh?”

  “Now!” he growled.

  His sister-in-law slammed the door.

  The lines of tension in his face faded as he stared at Regan. “You were about to say?”

  The lady was nervous. Regan had an endearing way of tilting her chin when she was unsure of herself, and the telling gesture was obvious.

  At least it was for him.

  “We have no time for games,” Regan said sternly. “Your family is waiting for you.”

  Dare rubbed the underside of his sore chin as he gave her a considering glance. “And I am willing to let them wait until I get what I want!” Regan yelped as he reached into the interior of the coach and pulled her against him. His voice softened to a low sensual purr. “However, Allegra is watching us from the window and I have no intention of making love to you in front of spectators.”

  “And some of us are truly grateful for your restraint, milord,” the coachman muttered as he stood patiently behind them.

  As Regan’s lips parted in surprise, Dare cursed under his breath.

  He had forgotten about the servant.

  Chapter Thirty

  The laughter that had welled in her chest at the coachman’s sarcastic remark vanished when the Mordares’ butler opened the door and beckoned them inside. Walking beside Dare, her stomach fluttered as she saw Allegra was waiting for them in the front hall. Louise stood next to her mother, her tearstained face conveying the girl’s misery clearer than any words.

  Dare opened his arms, and Louise ran straight to him. He wrapped his arms around his niece and picked her up.

&nbs
p; “Papa is dead!” She buried her face into her uncle’s cravat and sobbed.

  “I know, little one,” he murmured, his solemn gaze locking on Allegra. “I am so sorry.”

  The words were meant to soothe both mother and daughter. Allegra dabbed at her eyes with a crumpled handkerchief and moved closer. “We have been searching for you for hours. Your father has barricaded himself in his study. We believe he has been drinking.”

  “And my mother?”

  Allegra made a soft sniffling noise. “Asleep. Hugh, she was inconsolable. The doctor dosed her tea with laudanum to quiet her. Where have you been? Most of the staff is still searching the streets for you.”

  Regan stood awkwardly next to Dare. She was an outsider, and the marchioness was doing her best to ignore her presence. However, she had not come for Allegra’s sake. “Lady Pashley, please accept my condolences for your loss. I realize these are difficult times.”

  The marchioness stroked the back of her daughter’s head. “Hugh, we are unprepared for guests, and this is a time for family. I know Frost is your friend, but it is presumptuous of him to assume that you want some young girl trailing after you when there is so much to discuss. Perhaps you should send her back to her brother where she will be more comfortable.”

  Regan marveled how the marchioness could make her feel so unwelcome without uttering a single word or glance in her direction.

  Dare crouched down, allowing his niece to stand. He nodded to the butler. “Maffy, could you take Louise to the kitchen. I’ll wager Cook has something special for her.”

  The butler stepped forward. “Aye, she does, milord.” His expression softened with undisguised affection as he extended his arm to the girl. “What say you, Lady Louise? Shall we go spy on Cook?”

  At her nod, the pair wandered off.

  Dare waited until his niece’s footfalls had faded away before he responded to Allegra. “Let me be clear. Regan stays.”

  The marchioness’s face pinched at his harsh tone. “Be reasonable, Hugh. Our family—”

  “Regan is family.” The right corner of his mouth curved contemptuously at his sister-in-law’s wordless exclamation. “Congratulate us, Allegra. Regan and I were married yesterday.”

  The color drained out of the woman’s face. “No! Surely, you jest. Banns have not been posted. Your mother … she would have insisted on taking part in the wedding plans!”

  Dare placed his hand on the small of Regan’s back. “We were married by special license. My mother will put aside her disappointment when she learns that she has a new daughter to fuss over.”

  Lady Pashley looked at both of them in disbelief. “How could you?”

  “You know how love matches are, Allegra,” Dare said, amused by his sister-in-law’s shock. “I could not spend another night without Regan.”

  Regan resisted rolling her eyes at her husband’s arrogant tone. She was not going to give the marchioness another chance to call her childish. “Dare, perhaps it is best that we discuss our wedding later when there are less pressing concerns. If your father has barricaded himself in his study, we should make certain he has not come to harm.”

  To her relief, Dare nodded. “Yes, of course. Will you check on my mother while I see to my father?”

  Regan smiled at him, grateful to have been given a task. “It would be my pleasure.”

  “I will take you to her,” Lady Pashley said, finally recovering from the shock of Dare’s announcement. “We have put Her Grace in another bedchamber.”

  The marchioness tittered at Dare’s hesitation. “Really, Dare. You were the one who brought Lady Regan into our family. Give her a chance to earn her place.” She inclined her head at Regan. “Come along, I am certain we can keep each other entertained while Dare visits with his father.”

  * * *

  Dare despised abandoning Regan to Allegra’s tender mercies, but he was confident that his wife would not be gulled by the other woman’s lies. As he strode through the passageway, he was astonished by the silence. Allegra had not been exaggerating when she had claimed that most of the staff had been sent out of the house to search for him. With Maffy looking after Louise, the house was forbidding as a tomb.

  The door to his father’s study was locked. Dare raised his fist and pounded against the wooden surface. “Father. Open the door.” He waited, his ears straining for proof that his sire was within the room.

  Silence.

  Dare pounded on the door again. “Father!” He was reluctant to attempt to break the door down. His body was already covered with enough bruises. If he went to the kitchens, he could procure a key from Maffy.

  The sound of the lock mechanism clicking halted his departure. Dare opened the door and peered inside the gloomy interior. His father had moved away from the door and was standing in front of his oversized desk.

  “Father?” More silence. Dare entered the study. “I have heard the news about Charles.”

  It was not until he had stepped inside the room that his nose caught the distinct stench of death. “Dear God!” He crossed the distance between them and saw what had caused his father to barricade himself in the study.

  Charles.

  His lifeless corpse was laid out on the desk. Dare had no love to spare for his older brother. Still, his throat swelled with emotion at his father’s broken sobs.

  “What happened?”

  His hair unkempt and the front of his shirt soiled, his father did not look much better than Charles. “It was my fault,” he said, his voice sounding hollow as he grieved.

  “Frost was told that Char—his body was found in an alley.” Dare’s gaze strayed to his dead brother. Someone had stabbed him. The front of Charles’s shirt was torn, and it was matted with filth from the street and drying blood. The considerable amount of blood indicated that his brother had lingered as his blood had flowed out of him. How long had he lay dying in the alley?

  Awkwardly Dare touched his father tentatively on the shoulder. His father was not an affectionate man, but when a man lost a son, it warranted some attempt to comfort.

  “I am sorry, Father.”

  The duke did not embrace him. Nor did he step away from his son’s hand. “I have blood on my hands.”

  Dare slowly shook his head. “Charles always had a feral nature. You could not tame it any more than he could resist hurting the ones he loved.”

  His father glared at him. “No, you do not understand,” he hoarsely rasped as he pounded his fist against his chest. “I am the one who murdered him.”

  * * *

  Regan followed Lady Pashley up the stairs. It was perhaps too much to hope that the marchioness would leave her alone with the duchess. The woman’s curiosity brushed against her like the sticky silk of a spider’s web.

  “No one expected Hugh to marry,” her sister-in-law said, casting a glance over her shoulder at Regan. “I hope the news will not upset Her Grace.”

  “My husband is correct,” Regan replied, deliberately reminding the haughty woman that Dare was hers. “The duchess has always liked me. I think she will be pleased that her son has decided to give up his wild ways and give her more grandchildren to spoil.”

  Lady Pashley halted.

  Belatedly, Regan recalled the marchioness’s barrenness and winced at casual cruelty of her statement. “My lady, forgive me. I only meant to say—”

  “I know what you were implying.” They continued down a narrow passageway until they reached the door at the end. “So Hugh told you about my unfortunate condition.”

  “Only to explain why his brother was unkind to you. And why he felt honor-bound to look after you and Louise.”

  Lady Pashley twisted the knob and opened the door. “Ah … so that is how he justified our rather unique friendship.” She offered Regan a guileless smile. “Perhaps I should keep you company in the private sitting room. It appears we have much to talk about.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  “You are drunk … tired and confused,” Dare sai
d. The idea that his father had anything to do with his brother’s death was too incredible to comprehend. “You do not know what you are saying.”

  His father shifted, turning to face Dare. “I had to stop him. The whores were bad enough. The local villages around Rook House are riddled with your brother’s bastards. Over the years, I have had to settle with some of the more prominent families.”

  The duke was drunkenly recalling the sins of the past. “I know the story, Father. I was there. Lord Dyton was different from the rest. Not only because of his position in society, but because you considered him a good friend. He could not be threatened or bribed. So you forced Charles to marry Allegra.” Dare glowered at his brother’s corpse. “You speak of ancient history.”

  His father removed a handkerchief from his waistcoat pocket and pressed the linen to his damp forehead. “Not so ancient when your brother cannot seem to restrain his appetites! I thought he was getting better, but then that woman showed up at my doorstep, her belly bloated with another one of your brother’s unwanted bastards. And then there was that other woman.” His reddened eyes shifted in Dare’s direction. “The one you wanted.”

  Dare went cold as his father’s insinuation seized him by the throat with enough force to close his throat. “Mrs. Randall. You know for a fact that Charles approached her.”

  The duke squeezed his eyes shut, causing two tears to course down his weathered cheeks. “I warned him. A lady would never tolerate such roughness … I told him to keep to his whores.”

  “Christ!” Dare scrubbed his face with both hands. It troubled him that his brother had been aware of his interest in the widow. When Mrs. Randall had been found murdered, Charles had wormed his way into Dare’s thoughts, and he had wondered. Still, murder seemed too inconceivable to seriously contemplate. “Are you certain? You violently defended him when I suggested a possible connection.”

  “What was I supposed to say?” his father shouted at him. “He was my son. My heir. I was trying to protect my family.”

  Dare opened his mouth, and then promptly closed it. His father was correct. Would he have done anything different? If his father was responsible for Charles’s murder, could he bear to see him dragged in front of the magistrate?