Dueling With the Duke (Brotherhood of the Sword) Read Online Free PDF

affection instead of money and power.
    She knew better now, and though much of Gabriel looked the same, down to the locks of hair that fell onto his forehead and his same intense bespectacled gaze, he was not the same as he’d been so many years ago. He was harder; she could see the pain and jadedness in the tense tic of his jaw. Normally she was quite comfortable in silence, but under the weight of his stare, she buckled. “What do you want from me, Gabriel?”
    “Your husband is suspected of some questionable behavior, and I need to know what you know.”
    “I know nothing.”
    His right brow rose. “Indeed. Well, that might be more believable had you not just broken into the British Museum.” His forehead wrinkled in a frown. “Precisely what were you doing in there?”
    “Would you believe me if I told you I have a key and I was retrieving my own personal property?” she asked.
    “No,” he said plainly.
    Of course not. Because Gabriel, as most other people in this damned town, expected the worst of her. “I suspected as much. Then it matters not what I was doing in the museum. It is a public building and I owe you no explanation. Even still, I’ll tell you that I know nothing about Lord Thornton’s behavior, nefarious or otherwise.”
    “Would that I could believe you, but it has been my experience that you are not always so forthcoming with information. Honest information, that is.”
    His jab wounded her, but she was skilled enough to keep that to herself. She’d been fielding such attacks for years, ever since marrying Lord Thornton. If it hadn’t been his insane jealously, it was his general mistrust of her. He’d not thought highly of his wife, and he never missed an opportunity to tell her or anyone else who would listen. She’d stopped trying to defend herself years ago. It never mattered what she said, never mattered what the truth was. Thornton had believed what he’d wanted to believe, as had the rest of London. The men and women alike believed her to be nothing more than a loose-moraled woman. She’d never bothered disputing any of them; such reputations could be useful at times.
    It seemed Gabriel was no different. Pity. There had been a time that she’d thought him quite different from the rest of the men in this damned town. Of course then she’d heard all the rumors of what a rake he was. Stories of his seductions had reached her ears, but she’d never been able to reconcile them with the man she’d spoken to that night on the balcony. The man she’d thought would ask her to dance but had instead allowed his older brother to sweep in and take her off his hands.
    “Your husband. When was the last time you saw him?”
    She glanced out the window, wondering what she could say to Gabriel to make him go away. He took the opportunity to snatch her reticule from her grasp.
    “I beg your pardon, sir, but that is mine.” She reached to grab it back, but he was too swift for her.
    He opened it and peered inside, then he looked back at her, both brows lifted. “This is quite a sum of money, Lilith.”
    Why was it she could never get too far removed from a man wanting to control her? “This is all none of your concern.”
    “On the contrary, my dear lady,” Gabriel said, his tone stern and brimming with judgment. “Your husband is under investigation for crimes against the Crown. Being his wife, you are being scrutinized as well. Not to mention stealing from the British Museum is as good as stealing from the Crown.”
    “What sort of crimes against the Crown? Thornton might not have been the most gregarious man, but he was a patriot, always fighting in Parliament for something or another.” That was the honest truth; however, she never knew precisely what he’d been fighting for, though she knew enough to be certain it wasn’t for the benefit of the lower class.
    “And his feelings about the queen?” Gabriel asked.
    “How am I supposed to know? We never talked about such