His Wicked Seduction novel Chapter 68

"It is time, my lord," Felix whispered, rousing Lucien from his bittersweet dreams. With great care he disentangled his body from Horatia's. She remained asleep, but she spread one arm out unconsciously seeking his vanished warmth and Lucien felt her loss like a blow. He dared not touch her, dared not get too close or he'd wake her and never be able to leave.

Lucien donned a pair of trousers, then hastily pulled on a shirt and green waistcoat. Without bothering with a cravat, he pulled on his boots and left the room. With a single look back at his bed Lucien silently bid farewell.

"Sleep, my dear, and dream of the stars."

He slipped down the hall until he reached Lawrence's bedroom. He found the door unlocked and saw Lawrence lay sprawled on his stomach, entirely naked from what Lucien could see. He approached his brother's bed and shook his shoulder.

"Wake up, Lawrence."

Lawrence swatted a hand in Lucien's general direction.

"Five more minutes, Tom." Tom was Lawrence's valet. Lawrence tried to roll over and face away from him. Lucien returned the favor by smacking the back of his brother's head.

"Get up, Lawrence. I have need of you."

"Hmph...Lucien?"

"Come on. I need you to come with me to the North field straight away."

"The North field? What on earth for?" Lawrence sat up, rubbing his eyes and blinking.

"I have an appointment with a pistol," Lucien replied. That got Lawrence's attention and he leapt out of bed.

"What?"

"Get dressed and I will explain along the way." Lucien stood impatiently by the door as Lawrence threw on his clothes. Only when they were outside in the hall did Lucien explain about the duel.

"You are seriously going to duel Sheridan? I don't believe it. Not you two."

"Believe it, Lawrence. I blame Mother. If she hadn't worked towards forcing my hand with Horatia I might have been able to introduce the idea of courting Horatia to Cedric slowly without the volatile reaction."

Lawrence winced. "This is my fault. I can explain it to Sheridan. Maybe he'll see reason and not continue with this nonsense."

Lucien kept walking, his brother keeping pace. "Better that I alone face his wrath. I'm hoping he'll have cooled down during the night. If not..."

They walked quietly through the halls and Lucien paused just outside the library doors, handing Lawrence his great coat.

"Wait here, I need one more thing before we go."

When they reached the northern most field, where Cedric waited along with a confused and drowsy Gregory Cavendish. Lawrence and Gregory shared concerned glances as Lucien held out a boxed pair of pistols. Gregory and Lawrence assumed the duty of inspecting the weapons for any faults or tampering. Once the seconds determined the pistols were in fine working order, the men stepped back. Cedric and Lucien each took a pistol and then faced each other. The silence between them was only enhanced by their cloudy puffs of breath in the pale predawn light.

"Last chance to call this off, gentlemen." Gregory waited, but neither side attempted to put a stop to the duel.

Cedric shifted on his feet, his lips parted as though he wanted to speak, but then gave a little shake of his head.

"Twenty paces each," Cedric said.

Lucien fired his pistol into the ground. It was done.

As if the act had somehow released him, his body suddenly felt light and weak. He collapsed to the ground, clanking loudly. Maybe his head wound was more serious than he thought.

"You bloody fool!" Cedric tossed his pistol at Gregory before rushing over to where Lucien lay.

"Help me get this off." Lucien dug his hands into his coat, hoping to remove the metal armor plates underneath.

"Good God, what on earth..." Gregory asked as he caught sight of the armor on Lucien's shoulder, running down the length of his arm.

"That is what you retrieved from the library?" Lawrence examined his head. "Really, Lucien, where do you get these ideas? That's almost as bad as the time you snuck of out of Lady Godfrey's house right past her husband, dressed as a footman."

With a pained chuckle, Lucien nodded. "Perhaps. But that had also saved my life. Cedric's a fine shot and I didn't want to risk it." He glanced down at his shoulder.

Crimson stained the shiny metal where blood dripped from his temple. "Though I may have miscalculated somewhat." He looked to Cedric. "You damned fool. You actually fired!"

"Why didn't you fire back?" Cedric's voice was filled with despair. Was the wound even worse than he thought?

"I did fire back."

"Yes. Into the ground. You should have shot me."

"And what would that accomplish?" Lucien sighed. "I wagered my life that you would back out, or misfire. I'd hoped you would reconsider or calm yourself before it came to this. The armor was a desperate plan in case all that failed. It seemed I was right to do so."