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The Duke of Blackheath, his two gundogs trotting at his side, his walking stick parting the brambles and nettles before him, was just heading home after a long walk over the downs when he heard hoofbeats pounding toward him from the direction of the castle. He raised his head and frowned, calling the dogs to heel. His rambles were part of his morning ritual, and everyone at Blackheath knew he was not to be disturbed except for one thing.
A message from London.
The rider came galloping up on his cob, bits of chalk flying from the steed's heavy hooves. It was one of the servants, flushed and breathless. He pulled the horse up sharply, dismounting before the animal had even come to a halt.
"Your Grace! A message for you — from London!"
The duke cradled his walking stick in the crook of his elbow — actually no ordinary walking stick, but a deadly rapier concealed inside that knobbly length of wood — and calmly took the note. He broke the seal and began to read:
My dear Duke,
I regret to inform you that I have lost the trail of your brother Lord Gareth, who was, along with his wife and child, evicted from Mrs. Bottomley's late Monday night after a disturbance in which several of her clients were injured at his hand. I have already spoken to the other members of the Den, all of whom confess ignorance and worry as regards his whereabouts, and am shortly on my way to call on his new wife, who is staying at de Montforte House until such time as his lordship returns for her. The usual haunts have not yielded any sign of your brother, and at this late hour, I am beginning to fear the worst. I implore you to come to London with utmost expediency to assist me in my search.
C.
Lucien's face went black with fury. "By God and the devil, what will it be next? Am I to hire an infernal nanny for him at the age of three and twenty?!"
"Your Grace?"
He crumpled the note in his fist, his eyes blazing with such wrath that the servant took an involuntary step backward.
"Ride ahead, Wilson, and inform the stables that Armageddon is to be saddled at once. I leave for London immediately."