Tobias turned a surprised look toward Grayson. “The duchess? Interesting. Grandfather will be interested in this development.”
“No gossip,” Stubly said. “Saw the whore and thought, why not take her?”
Grayson lunged forward and Stubly crashed to the ground, screaming and holding his nose. “You hit me, you fucking lunatic!”
Tobias slid up beside Grayson. “He hit you, but I’ll shoot you.”
Grayson pinned Stubly to the ground with one boot to the other man’s chest. “You’re lying. We bested you in the duel. You wouldn’t be dumb enough to risk the end of Tobias’s pistol again.”
“I think he would be, Gray. He looks bloody daft to me.”
Stubly looked wildly around the copse, as if searching for aid.
“Your friends have scattered.” Tobias knelt down. “They’re not as stupid as you, it seems.” He pushed the barrel of the pistol against Stubly’s chest. “No one to see what comes next. My only real dilemma is whether or not to let my friend here beat you to a pulp before I put a bullet through your heart.”
Sweat broke out on Stubly’s forehead and he inched across the ground away from Grayson and Tobias.
Tobias stood. “What say you, Lord Rigsby? I’ve experienced what you can do with your fists.”
Grayson cracked his knuckles. “I think I’d like to be the one to take the shot, actually.”
Tobias flipped the pistol, offering its handle to Grayson. “Oh, well by all means.”
Stubly scrambled to his feet. “You can’t shoot me. You’ll hang!”
“Gladly if it’s for wiping you off the earth,” Grayson replied.
Stubly spit at their feet. “You think you’ve been the wronged parties? Ha! I’ve been assaulted! A peer of the realm, assaulted by a tradesman’s filthy son and a spare lucky enough to become the heir.”
“Do you hear this drivel?” Tobias asked Grayson.
“That’s it!” Stubly ran his fingers through disarrayed hair. “I challenge you to a duel.” He spit each word, spittle collecting at the corner of his mouth, his eyes wild.
Tobias blinked at him, then blinked at Grayson, then burst into laughter. “I wasn’t even trying to get him to do it this time! Did you see, Gray?”
“I saw, but I fail to see how any of this is supposed to be funny.”
Tobias wiped tears of mirth from his eyes and turned back to Stubly, whose shoulders seethed up and down.
“I accept. I hope you’ve been practicing in the last year.”
Gray placed a hand on Tobias’s shoulder. “No.”
“What, you don’t want me to put a bullet through this coward’s heart in a time-honored, gentlemanly tradition?”
Grayson took the pistol from Tobias’ grip. “No. I want to put a bullet through the coward’s heart.”
“Are you sure? Being a proper future duke and all, I assumed you wouldn’t want to get your hands dirty.”
“They can’t get dirty defending Henrietta.”
“Good answer.”
Both men turned cold eyes to Stubly, who shifted uncomfortably from side to side, looking for a way out. Grayson stepped toward him slowly, pistol aimed at the man’s crotch. “Tomorrow at dawn. Bring your second.” He turned, unable to stomach looking at the worm a moment longer, but then slowly swung around to face him once more. “Tell me the truth. You’ve left Henrietta alone for a year. Why now?”
Stubly sneered and walked away without a word.
When they emerged from the copse, Henrietta had not yet left, stubborn chit. She seemed to be locked in a standoff with her groom who tugged the horse’s reins in one direction while Henrietta tugged the saddle in another. Grayson sped up. He’d either crash her into a hug or lecture her soundly for not getting to safety. He’d decide when he got there.
