His Hand-Me-Down Countess: The Lustful Lords, Book 1

by Sorcha Mowbray

  Odey and Cooper grimaced.

  “Messy, painful, and hard to manage, but absolutely one of the most wonderful experiences of my life,” Stone continued. “I wouldn’t undo it if I could.”

  “Dear Gawd, he’s lost to us!” Cooper cried out, dropping his forehead on Odey’s shoulder in a dramatic fashion.

  “Do be serious. We are meant to be bait here, not participating in a stage drama,” Stone groused as he laid his shotgun across his arm and walked away from his brother and his best friend. He’d at least spoken from the heart. Those two fools were still lost when it came to women. Maybe one day they’d each find their way. “Gents, the sun will be retiring soon. I think we should do the same. We shall try again tomorrow.”

  “Very well,” Odey and Cooper agreed as they turned to follow Stone back to the hunting box.

  * * *

  The next day went much the same as the first. The three friends walked about the countryside, occasionally taking shots at deer or other wild game they came across. But no attacks were made. That night, they called the other three into the cabin to discuss their options.

  “’Chilles, you can’t give up yet.” Odey lounged on the couch with a drink in his hand, the picture of the country gentleman.

  Stone felt more like a landed fish still hooked on the line. He wasn’t sleeping, he was tired from all the faux hunting they’d done, and he missed the devil out of his wife. “It seems the plan isn’t working. Flint and the others have seen nothing but the three of us gadding about like motley fools waxing poetic about whatever crosses our minds. If the killer hasn’t followed us, then this is all for naught.”

  “Have a little faith, Stone.” Linc, always the jokester, offered a pat on the back. “Perhaps the man had some other business besides killing you he needed to tend to.”

  “He could appear at any moment. We cannot afford to let our guards down.” Wolf, ever the somber one among the group, seemed more dour than usual.

  “Wolf’s right. Besides, I wouldn’t mind a crack at this mysterious person.” Flint slammed a fist into the palm of his hand.

  “I agree, ’Chilles. It’s only been a day and a half. Give it at least one more day. Then you can run home to Theo and plead your case.” Cooper raised his scotch as though toasting the idea.

  They were right, of course. He was restless and merely wanted to see his pet again. He itched to have her on her knees for him, willing to do anything he requested. He might even spank her bottom to remind her running away from him would never be the answer to their problems. “You take the egg. Another day, but if he fails to appear, I shall not tarry longer.”

  They all nodded in agreement, and then Flint, Linc, and Wolf stepped back outside into the brisk night air and resumed their posts. Stone, Odey, and Cooper remained inside and drowned the aches from such excessive exercise in scotch and companionship.

  Chapter 33

  Theo stood dressed, ready to go despite her usual morning symptoms. How she’d managed it was a testament to Mary’s patience and her own fortitude. But manage it she did, and all so she could storm her husband’s castle and engage in battle. She’d given him a day, which was twenty-four more hours than she’d wanted to give. And to her frustration, she still had seen neither hide nor hair of him.

  That was a state that would be remedied in a very short while. She merely had to make it three blocks, and then she could demand he set aside whatever business he had put before their marriage. It was outside of enough, and she planned to let him know.

  Marshaling her reserves to carry her downstairs, she took her coat from the dowager’s butler and headed down the street. On foot. There wasn’t a book, bauble, or investment that could have enticed her into the confines of a carriage at the moment. Not even for a three-block jaunt.

  With each step, she reinforced her resolve. She reminded herself of the fact this was Stone’s second such transgression, and he’d had the nerve to use the resolution of the first incident against her at the house party! She had trusted him, surrendered her heart and soul to him, and he had trampled both without a care. If he did not come forward with sufficient reparations, she would have to sever the intimacy of the relationship. They would revert to the cold Society marriage she had dreaded all along. And while it might kill her to do so, she would find a way to make it work so that her child did not want for anything.

  But then there was no further time to ruminate. She arrived home, and before she could place her hand upon the doorknob, Parsons greeted her as though she often entered the house via the front door before nine o’clock in the morning. “Good morning, Lady Stonemere.”

  “Parsons.” She handed him her coat. “Is my husband at breakfast?”

  “I’m afraid Lord Stonemere isn’t in residence this morning.” Parsons stood holding her coat, his face ever impassive and uninformative.

  Theo paused and considered this bit of information. Her husband had been known to forgo breakfast on occasion. “Has he gone to the railway office?” She reached for her coat, assuming she would simply hunt him down.

  “No, my lady. He is gone to Southampton with his brother and Lord Brougham. I believe they are hunting.” Parsons intoned the news as though he had just announced breakfast was served.

  “And did he say when he would return?” She bit her lip, trying to curb her freshly ignited fury.

  “He did not, my lady,” Parsons replied.

  “I see.” But truly, she did not see. His mother had stated he was addressing some business related to his brother. And yet Parsons said he was off hunting. Without a foreseeable return date. Though she had not subscribed to too many of her mother’s edicts growing up, she did not believe in causing a scene—even in one’s own home—if it was avoidable. “Parsons, I shall need my coat back. Also, if you would please send word immediately upon my husband’s return, I would greatly appreciate it.”

  “Very good, my lady.” Parsons assisted her with her coat. “May I call the carriage around for you?”

  “No, thank you. I shall walk.” It was both good for the digestion—regardless that she had not had more than a toasted crust of bread—and it would be good for the excess energy she’d acquired along with the news of her husband’s whereabouts. In fact, three blocks might not be sufficient to calm her fury before she spoke to the dowager countess.

  With clear intent, she returned from whence she came. Once in the dowager’s home, she sought her out. As usual, the dowager countess sat in her sun-filled sitting room at the back of the house. “Mother Stonemere, there you are.” Theo swept into the room and plopped onto the settee closest to her mother-in-law.

  She peered very closely at her embroidery hoop and then jabbed the needle into the material before looking up. “Good morning, Theo. You are up betimes and looking in the pink.”

  “Thank you, my lady. I am feeling much better, though I must say I had the strangest conversation with Parsons this morning.” Theo had calmed a bit, but was still distressed over her husband’s apparent abandonment.

  “Wherever did you see Parsons at this hour of the morning?” She stabbed the material once more and pulled the thread through.

  “Why, at my home, of course. I decided I was ready to see Stone and discuss our differences. But to my surprise, Parsons informed me that my husband is off hunting with his brother and best friend.” Theo watched the dowager’s expression for any evidence that she might know more than she had previously revealed.

  Her quarry paled a bit. “Hunting, is he?”

  “Quite so. And here I thought he was addressing a pressing issue related to his brother’s return.” Theo raised a brow as she waited for a response.

  The dowager stabbed at the needlepoint again and went right through the material and into her finger. “Oh dear!”

  Theo leaned forward, partly concerned that her mother-in-law had pricked herself and partly aware that she had the woman dead to rights. She certainly knew something. “I don’t think you bled on your needlework.
Perhaps you should set it down while you tell me what is afoot with my husband. I daresay something is going on here that I have been specifically left out of.”

  The dowager looked abashed at being caught out in a fib. “Fine. He preferred you not to know, but he didn’t forbid my telling you, and besides, it’s too late at this point.” She set her needlepoint aside and faced Theo. “Achilles has set off to draw out the man who has been trying to kill him. I assume they are pursuing this issue at Lord Brougham’s hunting lodge.”

  Theo gasped, and her heart fluttered. “Whatever do you mean?”

  As the dowager explained what little she knew, Theo grew angrier and more afraid for her husband. By the time the dowager was through, Theo could barely sit still to wait for word of his return. And yet, under the circumstances, she had no choice but to be patient and wait.

  * * *

  Morning came far too early for some members of their party. Stone and Odey left Cooper behind, nursing an aching head from an excess of drink. The two of them, trailed by Wolf, Linc, and Flint, wandered off in a more easterly direction than they had previously followed. They tracked a stag into a clearing, and unmindful of their purpose, became caught up in the hunt. Halfway across the open field, Odey stopped.

  Stone noticed his pause but kept his eyes focused on where he had last spotted the deer. “Don’t stop now, we’ve nearly got him.”

  “’Chilles, look at us. We’re sitting ducks here.”

  Odey’s comment had Stone turning to face him.

  “Bloody hell. How could I have forgotten?” He glanced once more in the direction he last saw the stag. With a sigh of resignation, in part because he was sure this was all a waste of time, he stepped toward Odey. “If we dash over that way”—he waved toward the tree line a hundred paces to their right—“we can get some cover in a jiffy.”

  As a single unit, they turned and started in that direction, when suddenly the tree bark ahead exploded, followed by the report of a rifle. A stinging in his arm flared as he and Odey dropped to their stomachs, and then a second shot rang out. Still down despite having rolled over, they saw Flint tussling with someone across the meadow. They rose and bolted toward the two men struggling for control of the rifle. Behind them, Wolf and Linc were charging in, clearly having wound up on their side of the clearing.

  As they neared the two men, the gunman slammed a fist into Flint’s face, which had the man laughing. “You’ll need to make a better effort than that, old man.”

  “Bloody toffer!” Stone recognized the voice even from a distance and under the strain of the fight.

  The gunman was Hugh Denton, his cousin.

  With a curse, he lunged toward the two, but had to pull up short as Hugh swung the butt of his gun wildly. He managed to clip Flint in the head and break free. Twenty paces back inside the tree line, a horse stood waiting for him. In a matter of seconds, Hugh bounded onto the horse and took off through the forest.

  Stone lifted his hunting rifle and sighted the man’s torso as he made his escape, but at the last moment, honor refused to let him shoot a man in the back, and certainly not a family member. Though, clearly, his cousin had no such compunction. Odey also carried a weapon, but his marksmanship lacked compared to Stone’s military-honed skills. With a curse, they made chase, but were nowhere near as fast as a horse, even in the denseness of the forest. After ten minutes, he and Odey gave up and went back to check on Flint and the others.

  They found the three of them walking, Flint with his head bandaged by a length of what appeared to have once been his shirt. Stone hated that anyone was hurt, though they’d all known the risk when they’d agreed to help. “Is everyone well?”

  “We are,” Linc said, and then nodded at him. “But you seem to have been winged.”

  Stone looked down at his arm in surprise. His fawn-colored hunting coat bore an unexpected red stripe. “Blast it, this was a favorite jacket.”

  “Here, we should bandage you up and head back to the box. Did you see who it was?” Wolf asked as he tore his own shirt to provide a bandage.

  “I’m rather unhappy to say I did,” Stone said as his friend wound the strip of cloth around the wound and tied it off.

  “Whoever it was, he was a puny thing, and I’d appreciate another go at him without the rifle to hand.” Flint’s hands fisted, his simmering violence a palpable thing.

  “I suspect that can be arranged, unless our cousin skips town before we can catch up with him.” Odey took Stone’s weapon. “Let’s head back and collect Cooper. I’d say if we hurry, we can at the very least match his return to London, if not beat him.”

  Chapter 34

  After a short trek to the hunting box, they collected their things—including Cooper—and made a mad dash back to London. Fresh off the train, the six of them headed straight to Hugh’s rooms.

  “Flint, take the rear alley. Ensure there is no back door for him to slip through. Linc and Wolf, if you two will take the sides of the building and the front corners. That leaves Cooper to watch the front entrance. Odey and I shall head upstairs to see if he might be in residence.” Stone nodded, and they each took off to their respective positions.

  He and Odey headed inside and up the stairs to Hugh’s rooms. At the top of the third floor, Stone looked down the hall and could see his cousin’s door was cracked open. “Double damn.”

  They approached the opening and pushed the wood panel wider. Inside, the apartment was a mess, items tossed everywhere. “Either he returned home and was in a hurry to get out again, or someone else is looking for Hugh as well.”

  Odey stepped inside and went into the adjacent sleeping quarters. “Tossed in here as well. Whoever it was—most likely his creditors—did a thorough job of it. Even sliced the mattress up. The proprietor will not be pleased about this.”

  Stone sighed, tired, filthy, and frustrated that his cousin had got away. “I’ll send round some blunt to offset the damage. It’s not their fault my family member turned out to be a downy cove.”

  “You’re a right brick, ’Chilles. Always have been. Let’s for home, then.” Odey smacked his shoulder, and they headed downstairs to collect the men.

  They all met in front of the building again. Stone looked at each man and could see they were as tired as he was. “I appreciate everyone’s assistance. It looks as though Hugh has fled London, or simply never returned. Either way, I think home and a wash is in order before we go any further. If you all are still prepared to assist, come by Curzon Street at eight tonight. Perhaps a tour of London’s underbelly will provide some information on his whereabouts.”

  They all nodded in agreement, and then split off to head to their respective homes.

  Twenty minutes later, he and his brother strode into the town house. As they dropped everything, Parsons organized the staff and saw their things were taken away. “My lord, you have a visitor in the library.”

  Surprised, Stone glanced at Odey, who lifted a shoulder in bewilderment. “Who the devil is in my library?”

  “I did explain you were away hunting, but your cousin insisted you would be home shortly. As he was family, it seemed more prudent to let him wait for a while rather than tossing him on his ear.” Parsons delivered this news with his usual aplomb.

  Curious what his cousin was up to, he looked at Odey and nodded. “Parsons, do have the stable master and a few of the sturdier staff available should there be trouble.”

  “Very good, my lord. I also took the liberty of informing your wife you have returned. She was by this morning and insisted I alert her the moment you were home.”

  “Well, damn. Send another runner if you can’t stop the first. Tell her I’ve gone back out, but I will be by to see her later.” He looked at his brother. “The last thing we need is her arrival in the midst of whatever this is.”

  “No doubt, ’Chilles. But will she heed your notes?” Odey raised a good point.

  “Doubtful, so we had best get this interview over with.” Stone turned
and marched into the library, where Hugh sat before the fireplace with a scotch in one hand and a pistol in the other.

  “So very good of you two to return. I was beginning to wonder at the delay.” Hugh waved the weapon. “Do come in, and close the door behind you. No need to involve the staff in this tête-à-tête.”

  Stone agreed for the moment, so he did as directed, but Odey attempted a subtle shift out of Hugh’s peripheral vision.

  “Ah. Ah. Ah. Please, do stay right where I can see you, Odysseus. You are absolutely part of this conversation.” Hugh set his drink down and rose. “You see, the two of you are currently the only obstacles to my side of the family taking over the earldom. And frankly, it should have been ours—by three minutes. My father was born first, but when that stupid cow of a nursemaid presented the babies, she gave your father over first. The wrong child.”

  Stone couldn’t stop his snort of derision. “Such idiocy. The birth was carefully documented to ensure the correct child was identified as the heir. The former earl was a bastard, but a careful one.”

  Hugh waved the pistol a bit. “It’s time to set right what went awry long ago. Regardless, your father made a horrible earl, right from the start.”

  “Only a fool who knows nothing of the responsibilities of an earl would make such claims.” Stone couldn’t help but steal a glance at the clock on the wall.

  Hugh gripped the pistol more tightly and poked the air in Stone’s direction. “Do not push me, Achilles. I could simply shoot you here and then make it look as though Odysseus killed you for the title, thereby eliminating all possible obstacles.”

  Odey seemed altogether calmer than Stone felt, but then he wasn’t anticipating the imminent arrival of his wife to the party. Stone needed to wrestle back control of the situation, if not the pistol itself. “What exactly is your plan here? Even if you killed both of us, your father would still stand between you and the title.”