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Chapter 241
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The League of Rogues Chapter 242
I am a bloody fool.Charles sighed heavily as he walked up the steps to his townhouse. He had spent nearly two hours scouring Vauxhall Gardens, hoping to see the woman in the red gown again. It was a silly notion to think he could find her there simply because that was where she had been when those brutes from Lewis Street had taken her, but he had no idea where else to look. He had only her first name to go by, and no one he'd met remembered seeing anyone of her description with that name. She was an enigma he feared he would never unravel.Was she a gentle-born lady? The conservative cut of her fine red silk gown suggested so, but her defiance and bravery were not traits often found in a gentle-born woman. Certainly, he had known brave women, the wives of his friends were excellent examples, but their bravery had been tempered by their positions in life, even when they dared to reach beyond it.Lily had been different. When she broke free of her captors, something about her remind
The League of Rogues Chapter 243
Lily slipped out of the guest bedchamber a few hours before dawn, after Charles ordered her to go to bed. She was happy to obey; she was dead on her feet by this point.As she reached her room, she saw Davis leaving his. He froze when he saw her. Something flashed in his eyes that put her on her guard."Tom, a word, please."She followed him into her room, heart pounding. Davis closed the door. Kat was still asleep in her crib.Davis crossed his arms over his chest. "I know."Lily had to fight to conceal her panic. "Know what?""You want me to say it?" His voice softened, but she remained mute. He sighed. "You are a woman." He kept his voice quiet, aware that his words would carry through the hall if he spoke much louder."I'm not?"Davis jerked the cap off her head and pulled at her hair. She winced as the pins keeping the wig tight to her scalp pulled free. She felt naked and covered her head where her long blonde hair was tightly pinned down. Hugo had considered having her c
The League of Rogues Chapter 244
"How are you feeling?" Charles carried a tray of food into the guest bedchamber for Graham. His younger brother sat up in bed, his face still a messy mix of blue and purple bruises. One eye was almost swollen shut.Graham winced as he reached for the toast on the tray Charles placed on his lap. "I feel like the devil himself trod all over me with his cloven hooves.""Eat, even if it hurts. Food will help you heal." Charles pulled the chair up to the side of the bed and watched as Graham ate. It'd been so long since he and Graham had talked, let alone been in the same room like this.Graham paused in his breakfast to look at him. "You don't have to stay and watch me eat.""I know. I suppose I am just glad you came to me." He didn't have the courage to confess how much it meant to him that his brother had sought him out."I didn't plan on coming here," Graham said a bit gruffly. "But I knew I couldn't go home to Mother and Ella." Graham put his hand to his chest in obvious pain. Cha
The League of Rogues Chapter 245
Lily carried Katherine out of the servants' quarters, saying her goodbyes to the staff. It took every bit of her self-control not to cry. These men and women were good, loyal people who had helped her settle into a life here, a life that had become a happy dream, at least when she was wasn't reminded that she was the cuckoo in their nest.She looked back upon the house before she summoned a coach. The beautiful townhouse looked much like the other houses on the street, but the red door with a lion's head knocker would always be home for her, and leaving it made her heart ache."Mama?" Katherine whispered drowsily and burrowed closer to her.She stroked a hand up and down Katherine's head before she climbed into the coach. "Sleep, love."When they reached the gambling hell, it was late afternoon. Lily carried her daughter up the back stairs and slipped out a brass key to unlock the door. This time she was careful to check the shadows in the room, half expecting to find Hugo lurking
The League of Rogues Chapter 246
"How is he?" Charles asked the doctor.Dr. Shreve shut the door to the bedchamber where Phillip had been settled and removed his spectacles, folding them carefully and tucking them away in a slender leather case before he met Charles's gaze."He has several broken ribs, and his left leg is fractured in two places, but I'm most concerned about the injuries inflicted to his skull. I reset the leg and bound it, but the rest?" He shook his head. "If he survives the next week, he may well yet recover, but it is in God's hands now."Charles released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Thank you, Doctor. I'm certain you've done everything you can." He shook Shreve's hand, and then Ramsey escorted him to the door."Phillip is a tough man," Ashton said, placing a hand on Charles's shoulder. "He may surprise us all.""I hope you're right." Charles leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. God, would this nightmare ever end? Was there no crevice Hugo's tentacles could not reac
The League of Rogues Chapter 247
"Good God," someone muttered. Lucien, perhaps.Charles held his breath, unable to focus, waiting for his friends to judge him, knowing he would deserve it if any of them walked out of this room. An inner torment twisted sharply inside him, because part of him wanted them to. At least then he'd know he was right all along, that he didn't deserve them."I have regretted that decision every day of my life," he said at last. "And I will understand if any of you wish to leave.""Leave?" Jonathan spoke up. "Why would we leave?"Charles finally managed to look at the faces of his friends. There was no derision there, no disgust, no outrage. Only understanding."You challenged a man who beat his wife," Godric said slowly. "That is not something to be ashamed of.""There are other ways to handle men like him," Charles countered."Sometimes I wonder," Cedric said. "But you didn't kill him, your father did.""No, I killed him. If I had kept my temper, none of this would have happened." Ch
The League of Rogues Chapter 248
Charles's heart began to race as he started walking toward the woman in the midnight-blue dress, like a man lost in a most exquisite dream.She'd told him her name was Lily, but had that been the truth? He tried to think of all the ladies who might be acquainted with Lord Sanderson, and yet he knew of no woman like her. A haunting vision, a woman built by God just for him. The crowd thinned as he moved through it, ignoring every call of his name as he tried to catch sight of the woman again. When he reached the veranda, she was gone.Vanished again, as though she had slipped into another realm through a beam of moonlight. Charles opened the veranda door, shivering as he walked out onto the terrace overlooking the gardens. The tall hedges that formed a labyrinth were covered in frost, and the moon rose high above him as he stepped down onto the garden path. Had she come out here? He kept his steps light as he traversed the winding path.Snap! He froze at the sound of a twig breaking
The League of Rogues Chapter 249
"Quite a night, eh?" Cedric clapped Charles on the shoulder as they left the Sanderson home. "Far less painful than I feared.""Quite a night indeed," Charles agreed. He hadn't thought his spirits could be buoyed after the attacks on Phillip and Graham. But coming here tonight and finding Lily Even her name made his blood hum and his head dizzy, as though he'd drunk too much whisky. She had given him a glimpse of hope again."It seems to have pulled you out of your black mood for a while, at least. I saw you danced with a number of fine ladies. I don't suppose any of them caught your fancy?""One flower," he admitted. "Lily Wycliff.""Emily's cousin from the country?" Cedric chuckled. "Well, Godric forbade you from wooing her, so I guess it was only natural that you would. That must have been the blonde beauty you were with during the last waltz."Charles smiled to himself. "That she was." He'd seen stunning women before, that was nothing new. But there was something more to Lily
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