The Wallflower Wager (Girl Meets Duke, #3)

by Tessa Dare

The two men slammed Gabe against a wall. “What the hell did you do to her?” Ashbury snarled. His scarred face twisted with anger. “I demand answers.” “I demand answers, too,” the other one said. Chase, Penny had called him. “We were taking the otter out to the country. The carriage axle splintered, and we were delayed.” “Oh, please,” Chase said. “A carriage accident? I’ve devised a great many excuses in my life, and that’s the most hackneyed tale in the book.” “In the book?” Gabe asked. “There’s no book.” “Yes, there is,” Chase snapped, defensive. “And if there’s not, I’m writing one.” “Forget the book.” Ashbury shook him by the lapels, rattling the paintings and sketches mounted on the wall. “I want the truth.” “It is the truth. The carriage axle broke. We stopped and waited for the smith to come repair it.” “Then why is her frock a shambles?” Gabe sighed. “The otter escaped into the river. She insisted on chasing after it. She rushed into the water, tumbled onto the muddy bank, and got tangled in the reeds.” Chase looked peevish. “Well, that sounds . . . entirely too plausible, where Penny is concerned.”