The Madness of Viscount Atherbourne (Rescued from Ruin, Book One) Read Online Free PDF Page A

spoken words were stunning, as Victoria had not imagined
anyone would reach such a conclusion.
    “No. Why would you suggest …?”
    “Because, my dear, he more than any other may
have reason to wish you and your family harm.”
    She shook her head. “That makes little
sense.”
    “Do you not yet know who he is, child?”
    Victoria stared into Lady Berne’s kind,
steady brown eyes and knew she would not like this. Not at all.
“Who is he?” she whispered hoarsely.
    The countess took a deep breath and squeezed
Victoria’s hands as though to brace her for a great shock. “He is
the new Viscount Atherbourne. He inherited the title after your
brother, the duke, killed his brother in a duel last season.”
    Victoria reeled, the sounds of the crowd
dimming, her head spinning with the possible implications. She had
known about the duel, but Harrison had not explained why it had
happened, only informing her it was a matter of honor that had been
resolved, and had ended in the death of Viscount Atherbourne. He
had refused to discuss it further. The incident had generated a
shockwave among the aristocracy, but because it had occurred toward
the end of last season, just before most families departed London
for the country, the scandal had fizzled before it really began.
Few of her acquaintances had brought it up after that—a testament
to her brother’s considerable power—and she assumed the matter had
been largely forgotten.
    But here stood a man who had every reason to
remember, every reason to seek retribution. Could he have planned
this? Was his impassioned embrace—she swallowed hard on a wave of
sickness—nothing more than a cruel charade designed to ruin her?
No, surely not. He must have felt the same tidal force sweeping
away all reason; she could not have been alone in that. She could
not have been such a fool.
    She immediately sought reassurance in
Lucien’s gaze, shifting to look up at where he stood a few feet
away, listening to her conversation. “You …?”
    The mocking smile and triumphant glint in his
eyes confirmed her worst suspicions. “Yes, my darling. I am Lucien
Wyatt, Viscount Atherbourne.” He swept a graceful bow, his
discarded glove now back in its proper place as though nothing
significant had occurred. “And I must tell you, making your
acquaintance has been the greatest of pleasures.”
     
    *~*~*

 
     
    Chapter Three
    “ A single shot through the heart, you say? Well,
I suppose it is not entirely unexpected. Blackmore is nothing if
not a perfectionist.” —The Dowager Marchioness of Wallingham
upon news of Viscount Atherbourne’s untimely demise.
     
    No one, but no one, intimidated through
silence more effectively than the Duke of Blackmore. If Victoria
had not been certain of it twenty minutes ago, she would be now,
after sitting with her hands folded neatly in her lap, staring at
the handsome blond head of her silent brother while he scratched
away at some missive. For nearly half an hour.
    He was formidable on the best of days.
Consumed with propriety, duty, and family honor. Strict in his
adherence to—and enforcement of—societal dictates. She expected him
to lecture her with his sharpest aristocratic weapon: quiet,
clipped sentences that made one long for a January blizzard simply
to experience warmth. However, since the moment she had entered the
study and he had bluntly ordered her to sit, he hadn’t so much as
acknowledged her presence.
    But then, what was there to say? She knew the
scandal had grown to epic proportions. Belaboring that
all-too-obvious fact with a scathing diatribe was unnecessary.
Duke’s sister or not, no self-respecting gentleman would now
willingly choose her—a wanton, reckless, ruined girl—to marry.
After all, her former fiancé had been thoroughly and quite publicly
humiliated. His only recourse had been to cast her aside and decry
her betrayal to all and sundry.
    She was, not to put too fine a point on it,
notorious.
    While she felt shame