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.”

Hugh laughed, but there was a razor-sharp edge to it that had pins and needles prickling along Stone’s spine.

“Father is not long for this world. If either of you deigned to attend family gatherings more often, you might have heard that my father, like his brother, also has a weak heart. It seems possible the entire family is inherently flawed. I imagine he shall drop soon enough. One way or another.” The words came out flecked with spittle and a snarled mess, but were still understandable. Hugh drew a calming breath. “As for my plan, it is in fact time to go. The resurrected son and current earl are due for a tragic accident.”

Stone absorbed the news that fate was not being kind to his family. Hopefully she hadn’t deserted them altogether. But then the door burst open, and his wife sailed into the room.

---

Theo swept in, ready to do battle with her idiotic husband. Who tried to catch a man who’d attempted to kill you without the aid of Scotland Yard? Or the Metropolitan Police? Even a private inquiry service? Her husband stood near his desk, with Odey not far from him. The two men looked particularly stressed, what with the clear frowns upon their faces and the ridges between their eyes. They looked strikingly similar in that moment, but for Odey’s leaner visage. Distracted by her ruminations, she drew up short when she realized there was a third man in the room. His movement caught her by surprise, almost as much as when she realized he was tucking a pistol against his leg.

She turned to see Hugh Denton, Stone’s provoking cousin. His mere presence made her stomach sour. The wild dismay on Hugh’s face paired with the twitchy way he glanced from her to Stone alerted her that something wasn’t right. As if in a scene from a gothic horror novel, she could feel the tension in the room as the three men waited to see what she would do.

The dark wood of the library suddenly felt claustrophobic as panic swept through her limbs to choke the breath from her body. The snap of the fire sounded loud in the stilted silence, adding a cheery background as a counterpoint to the moment.

Drawing a deep breath, she turned toward her husband first. “Stone, I do not appreciate you disappearing to the country to go stag hunting with no warning. I was forced to attend the Cabots’ soiree alone, and you know I detest musicales after the Swinton affair.” She swept dramatically over to the fireplace and laid a hand on the mantel.

“My apologies, Theo. It was poor form of me to leave you in the lurch.” Stone edged toward her and closer to Hugh. The thick Aubusson carpet muted his footsteps, but she could feel his presence, his nearness.

The weapon wobbled in Hugh’s hand down by his leg, and she feared he would do something rash before she could intervene. It seemed logical that if Stone had been hunting his would-be killer and his cousin currently had a weapon concealed in the drapes of his coat, Hugh must be the man Stone sought. The question was, what had she walked in on? An apology? A confrontation?

She sniffled and tucked her face against her forearm while leaning on the mantel and cried out, “It was simply horrid, Stone.” Meanwhile, she wrapped her other hand around the handle of the fire poker and drew it against her skirts. The weight of the iron weapon had her listing gently to one side, but she righted herself, keeping it hidden from the unsavory man not far from where she stood. Then she looked up at her husband, who was an arm’s length away from her. “They made me sing.” Her declaration came out as an agonized whisper. A thought too awful to truly say aloud—and it would have been, had it been true.

Then she whirled toward Hugh and lurched in his direction. “Have you ever been made to sing in public?” She emphasized the word as though there was nothing she wanted to do less in public.

Hugh darted a glance at the two other men in the room, then looked back to her. His expression hardened, annoyance at her interruption as clear as the necktie around his neck. “What are you on about, woman?”

Stone growled behind her, but she needed him to stay put a moment more. “Singing. In public!”

Hugh stared at her as though she had grown a third eye or a second head. “Lady Stonemere, you interrupted a rather pressing matter I have with your husband. Would you mind leaving us?”

“Well, that was very rude of you, sir. This is my home, not some gentleman’s club.” She dug deep for all the haughty disdain she could muster as she glared at the impertinent man. “I shall not be spoken to in such a manner.”

“Achilles, your wife is going to get herself added to the guest list should she remain.”

The threat—and Theo knew it for what it was—had Stone stepping closer to the two of them, which caused Hugh to dispense with any pretense and raise the gun.

Fear raced through Theo, spiking her body with adrenaline that seemed to bring everything into sharper focus. The grain of wood seemed so pronounced, the musty smell of the books grew earthier, and the fire snapped louder, more fiercely than before.

She saw her chance, and so she took it, without hesitation. Her child would not be born without a father. With a speed that surprised even herself, she raised the poker from her skirts and raked it in a downward arc that knocked the weapon from the villain’s hand.

From there, Theo scooted to her right and away from the men, because Stone and Odey were both leaping forward and tackling the injured Hugh. Despite being essentially one-handed, he still fought them both for a moment or two. Then, to her relief, they subdued him just as Parsons and the stable master barged into the study with a group of men besides. She was pleased to note there were at least two uniformed police officers among them.

In short order, Hugh Denton was detained and taken away as Stone and Odey both sat down. Her husband seemed to be cradling his arm, and it was then she noticed the bloodstained cloth wrapped around his upper limb. He’d been shot. Theo’s knees turned gelatinous and her stomach attempted to depart her body through her throat as she imagined her life without Stone. Fortunately, that all subsided when everything turned black.