"Not so tough are you ... when the odds aren't in your favor," Dare said, his breath coming out in short puffs. He spat the blood from his mouth. "I usually try to refrain ... from violence. For you gents, I'll make an exception."

"Run!" the man at his back shouted before he disappeared into the night.

The other two scrambled to their feet and ran off in opposite directions. The need to avenge himself clawed at his chest. However, Dare was in no condition to fight anyone. With his hand splayed over his stomach, he limped toward Nox.

"I refuse to believe Frost sent those ruffians after you."

Dare opened one eye and looked at Vane. He was pacing at the end of the bed. His unexpected arrival and battered appearance had caused quite a stir at the club. Shouting orders, Berus and a footman half carried Dare up the stairs and placed him in a bed. Hunter had dashed off to wake up a surgeon while Vane and Saint had searched the area for the three men who had attacked him.

"I did not say that Frost was responsible," Dare mumbled, almost too weary to speak. "Just that he was furious enough to do it."

No one had asked him why Frost was furious with him, which made him wonder if his friends had noticed his growing fascination with Regan.

The surgeon had inspected his injuries and proclaimed to the relief of everyone that nothing had been broken. Dare was going to be sporting some very colorful bruises for a few weeks, which was nothing unusual as far as he was concerned. The surgeon had given him some laudanum for the discomfort, and ordered several days of bed rest.

"Nah," Hunter drawled from one of the chairs in the bedchamber. "If Frost wanted to see you hurt, he would have delivered the message himself."

"I agree." Dare glanced up at the steward, who was hovering nearby. "Berus ... my apologies for keeping you from your duties."

The steward leaned over and tucked the sheet into the bed. "No need to apologize, Lord Hugh. It has always been my pleasure to look after the Lords of Vice. I just wish we could have caught those ruffians."

Dare silently concurred. Trouble at Nox usually started in the gaming hell, not outside it. "This was not a random robbery. Someone ordered them to watch the club."

Saint stirred from his slouched stance against the wall. "Perhaps it was a message to any member of Nox? Someone angry with the Lords of Vice?"

Vane snorted. "The list would be endless."

"Did one of the ruffians call you by name?"

"No." Dare winced as he tried to sit high on the small mountain of pillows Berus had provided. "They just delivered their message."

"You might not have been their intended quarry," Hunter mused aloud. "Saint, I heard that you and Lord Turley almost came to blows the other night."

"It wasn't Turley," Saint said flatly.

Vane's brows lifted as his curiosity got the better of him. "How can you be so certain? After all, you and Lord Turley share a mutual interest in-"

"Do not bore us with your ignorance, Vane," Saint said, talking over the earl. "I may not like the man, but I can assure you that Turley had nothing to do with this ambush."

"How do you know?" Vane persisted.

Saint sighed. "Because Turley is quite aware that we would retaliate, and it would not end well for him. It isn't Turley."

"There is another possibility," Dare interjected before Vane could ask another question. "I was the man those hired ruffians were waiting to ambush."

Hunter leaned forward in the chair. "Who else have you annoyed lately?"

"My brother."

Chapter Twenty-three.

"This is some sort of jest, is it not?"

It had taken Regan four days to summon the courage to visit Dare while he resided at Nox. Four agonizing days. Now that she was standing at the front door of the club, Berus was telling her that she was not permitted to enter.

"Berus, I have spent half of my life playing in the rooms within the club. How can you stand there and tell me that I am not welcome?" Her lips quivered with hurt, which was a nice touch to gain pity. Unfortunately, her disappointment was not feigned.

She was hurt.

"Pray forgive me, Lady Regan," the steward said, his gaze sympathetic. "I have my orders."

Regan's chin came up as outrage coursed through her body. "Did Frost tell you to keep me out?"

"Lord Chillingsworth felt these steps were necessary for your protection. You are no longer a child, and if word gets out that you are a regular visitor at a notorious gentlemen's club, your reputation may suffer for it."

She had seen Frost at breakfast. He had not seemed overly concerned when she had told him of her plans to go shopping in the afternoon. Probably because he already knew that she would not be able to sneak away to see Dare.

The cunning fiend!

"Lord Chillingsworth was not thinking of my reputation when he issued his imperial order," Regan said, seething that her brother had been one step ahead of her all along. "What of the other members? Did they agree with my brother's decree?"

"I do not know, Lady Regan." Berus had positioned himself so that Regan could not see into the front hall. "He was alone when he gave me his instructions."

Blast, there had to be a way around her clever brother. "Is my brother inside?"

"No, milady," Berus replied so swiftly, Regan knew he spoke the truth. "Pardon me for saying so, but I do not think you will persuade Lord Chillingsworth to rescind his order."

Well, he was not the only founding member of Nox. "What of the others? Are any of them upstairs?"

Loyal to his employers, Berus's expression grew less genial. "I see where you are going with this, Lady Regan, and I would not recommend pitting your brother against the other members."

Regan tried to appear contrite. "Forgive me, Berus. You must think I am a terrible person."

The suspicion in his visage did not fade. "Not at all, milady."

Regan glanced back at the coach waiting for her. "If you want to know the truth, it is Lord Hugh that I wish to see. The last time that I saw him, harsh words were exchanged and he was asked to leave our town house. I feel so badly about the discord between him and Frost, so I have come to apologize."

There. She had spoken the truth. How could Berus refuse such a heartfelt plea?

"Lord Hugh is not in residence at this time."

"Where is he?" When the steward hesitated, Regan pressed on. "My brother instructed you not to allow me entry into Nox. He did not order you not to discuss the other members' whereabouts."

"I see your point," Berus said, nodding thoughtfully. "Lord Hugh can be found at the Duke of Rhode's town house."

Regan was astounded by the news. "I cannot believe Dare would take up residence in that household."

"Forgive me for not being clearer." The steward glanced over to his shoulder to make certain no one was behind him. When he was satisfied that they were alone, he said, "Lord Hugh was summoned to the town house early this morning. From what I could gather, there was some sort of family crisis. He has yet to return."

There always seemed to be some sort of crisis in that family. Small wonder that Dare shunned the notion of marriage. His honor kept him shackled to his demanding family.

"Thank you, Berus," she said, turning away. She paused midstep. "Oh, one more thing. Who sent the messenger?"

"I believe it was Lady Pashley."

Regan recalled her brother's words the night he had asked Dare to leave.

His heart belongs to the one woman who will never be his.

She nodded to Berus and headed back to her waiting coach. Perhaps it was not honor and duty that tied Dare to his difficult family, but rather the undying love that burned in his heart for the woman who had married his brother.

"I will wait in the drawing room."

Maffy hurried after Dare. "Lord Hugh, Lady Pashley was quite insistent that you join her in her private sitting room."

Dare slowed once he reached the staircase. After four days, his body was healing nicely, but his abdomen was still tender. If not for the colorful bruise on his jaw, no one would know that he had been in a fight. "I am certain that she was, Maffy. However, you may tell my sister-in-law that I am not in the mood for her games."

"It isn't a game, milord."

Dare halted and stared at the butler.

Maffy leaned closer and whispered. "It is not my place to speak on Lady Pashley's behalf. Nevertheless, there are reasons for her unusual request. Even the family is not aware of her circumstances. When the maid tried to bring her a tray this morning, the marchioness refused to unlock her door. I tried to coax her to open the door, and that was when she begged me to get a message to you. Lady Pashley would not ask this of you if it were not important."

The hell she wouldn't, Dare thought.

"Fine," he said brusquely. "Lead the way."

Dare was mildly perspiring by the time he reached Allegra's bedchamber, but he had climbed the stairs without assistance so he considered it a triumph of sorts.

Maffy knocked softly on Lady Pashley's door. "Madam, Lord Hugh has arrived."

There was a muffled noise on the other side of the door. "Only Hugh can enter," she instructed before she unlocked the door.

"If you need me, I will be downstairs, milord."

Dare waited until the butler had disappeared around the corner before he opened the door to his sister-in-law's bedchamber.

"Allegra?"

No one had opened the curtains. The air seemed stale, and the dim interior was far from welcoming.

"I am in the sitting room," Allegra announced from the other room. "Pray, close and lock the door before you approach."

Dare obeyed her request and tucked the key in his waistcoat. If Allegra was playing games with him, he wanted the means to his escape close at hand.

"Maffy said that you refused your breakfast tray." Dare glanced at the bed, noting that the bedcovering appeared undisturbed. He could not imagine that Allegra had straightened the bedding herself. "Why are you sitting in the dark?"

Allegra was seated at her dressing table. Instead of her nightgown or morning dress, she was wearing an evening dress.

"Open the curtains if you must," she said wearily.

Dare strode to the nearest window and flung the draperies aside. He turned around at a soft sound of protest. "Dear God," he exclaimed as saw Allegra's face.

Allegra brought a hand up to her cheek. "Now you understand why I do not want anyone to see me like this."

Dare abandoned the window and walked over to the dressing table. Not quite healthy himself, he used the edge of the table to get down on his knees. "Let me see," he said, gentling his voice. He peeled back the hand that concealed her swollen right eye. There were marks at her neck and down her arms. "What happened?"

He thought of the widow, Mrs. Randall. Someone had entered her house and throttled the poor woman to death. Had a stranger slipped unnoticed into the house?

Tears flowed freely from the corner of her eyes. "It was Charles. Last evening, he came to me, and we had a dreadful row. He blames me for not bearing him an heir, and I foolishly suggested that his mistress might give him the son that he craves." She retrieved her crumpled handkerchief from the table and dabbed her eyes. "That is when he struck me. I fell to the floor, and suddenly he was on top of me. His hands were around my neck, and I was certain- Oh, Hugh, I think he meant kill me."

Coldness washed over Dare. "What happened next?"

"Your father. He heard the commotion and came downstairs to investigate. The library door was locked, but he could hear Charles shouting at me so he started pounding on the door. It is what frightened him off."

Dare stood. His father had defended Charles's violent behavior for years. His friends were convinced that his brother had hired those ruffians to attack him, and now Allegra was a victim of his abuse. Was the duke prepared to accept that his heir needed to be locked up before he actually succeeded in murdering someone?

"Where is Charles?"

Allegra rose from her seat. "He ran off. No one has seen him."

"And my father?"

"His Grace ordered a coach, and has been searching for Charles ever since."

Allegra threw her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against his chest. Dare hesitated, and then he wrapped his arms around her. The woman in his arms had been through a hellish ordeal. All she wanted was some comfort.

"Despite everything, you have always been a good friend to me," she murmured against his chest. "I do not know what I would do if you had not come."

"You're family," he said gruffly. "I will always be there for you and Louise."

Allegra pulled away and stared up at him. His jaw tightened at the sight of her swollen eye. "Does Mother or Louise know what happened?"

She grimaced. "No. Before he left, your father told me to go to my room and not speak of it."

His father's orders enraged Dare as much as his brother's attack on Allegra. He would wager that the duke was attempting to fix the damage Charles had wreaked.