"We'll want wedding-night details. Later. And all the specifics of your arrangement with him." Dusty looked around as if people were listening. "You and Ren are the hottest, most viral story around. Any details are worth good money to anyone unscrupulous enough to sell them. We'll talk in private."
She was right, of course.
"Until you married him out of the blue, Ren was one of the very few eligible heirs to a non-royal dukedom under one hundred," Dusty said with a twinkle in her eye. "Of course he was in demand. And now you've made enemies among Ren's admirers, one very much in particular. Can't wait to hear how you're dealing with her."
"Who?" My heart started racing. I didn't really want to know.
Dusty couldn't hide her surprise. She looked around the table for help. My friends were suddenly silent and uncomfortable.
Finally, Ali shrugged. "His on-and-off girlfriend of the past five years, Cory, Lady Cory Allen, earl's daughter, renowned beauty, and talented interior designer. There. I've saved you the trouble of looking up her CV."
Jennis handed me her phone to look at a picture. "Cory."
My mouth went dry. Of course Cory was why Ren had hustled back to London. A girlfriend, much as I suspected. And she was beautiful, thin, and elegant. I handed the phone back to Jennis, trying not to let it show that I was shaking.
"You really didn't know?" Ali took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have blurted it out. Her name's been all over the stories about you and Ren today."
"I haven't been following the stories," I said numbly. "I don't watch my press. I know it sounds ridiculous, but we really didn't have time to discuss our personal lives before tying the knot. I just assumed he wouldn't have married me if he was committed to someone else."
"Don't jump to conclusions. Maybe that's exactly what Ren did," Dusty said. "Even when they've been happily together, they each kept their own flats as backup. Someplace to move back to during the off times."
"Just between us, I've never cared for Cory," Smithy said.
"They're in one of their off periods, aren't they?" Jennis asked. "Cory always thinks she'll get him back, of course. That she has him wrapped around her little finger. But that doesn't mean she's right, not this time."
"Cory couldn't get him to give her a ring in the last five years. No matter what she thought, it was never going to happen," Ali added. "Don't let your imagination torment you, Bliss. Get the story straight from Ren."
"Cory has said publicly she has no comment," Dusty said. "Privately, people who know her well say she's devastated by Ren's defection. If they were off, she has no hold on him. Talk to Ren."
"Yes," I said, fighting my worst nature. As I'd told myself many times before, jealous green really wasn't my color. "Sorting out our personal lives is one of many details we need to work out."
"Very good," Dusty said.
"The villagers still think Ren murdered Will, do they?" Jennis asked. "They never forget a good scandal. And since the true details leading up to their accident were never made public, supposition is allowed to run wild. I suppose now the rumors are flying that he murdered Manly, too?"
I shrugged, trying to not to think about Cory. "The police questioned Ren like they thought he might have." And who knew—maybe he had. I couldn't stop thinking about that foxglove.
Smithy shook her head. "Bobbies will think anything if they believe it will give them notoriety. Taking down a new duke could be career-making."
"Ren's far too smart and efficient to have waited until the last minute to kill Manly," Dusty said. "And in so dramatic a fashion that it would only draw suspicion to him? After living with that kind of suspicion after Will's death? No."
"It is rather like a magician's trick, though, isn't it?" Ali said. "If Ren did it, he pulled it off like sleight of hand, right in front of everyone."
"Ren's not a murderer," Smithy said with complete certainty. "I didn't believe it when Will and Zoe died. I don't believe it now. There's more to both stories." She looked pointedly at me. "Don't doubt him, Bliss. Ren's the stoic kind of person who doesn't gossip and doesn't answer his accusers. Why should he have to defend himself when he's innocent?"
"Ren's too bloody delicious to be a killer," Jennis said. "It would be a great disappointment. A man like him shouldn't be locked up. Not by anyone but me." She winked at me. "Though now I suppose I have to give him over to Bliss to handle."
I laughed.
"Because he's so bloody sweet," Ali said. "The village has made a monster where none exists." She turned to me. "You can't really think even for a moment he is? That he'd kill for that castle, do you?"
"Never." Jennis shook her head. "Ren is a romantic, though. He'd kill for love. I do believe that."
Dusty side-eyed me. "You think he killed Manly so he could have Bliss?"
"Not for Bliss!" Jennis rolled her eyes and laughed. "Sorry, Bliss. I'm sure you'll make him fall madly in love with you if you want. I meant Zoe."
"I know who you meant," I said. "I've heard the rumors. You think he loved Zoe? I've heard it was more of an obsession."
"Zoe!" Smithy spat. "Ren would never kill for that nasty little trollop. She wasn't worth it, and he knew it. Will may have been dumb enough, but not Ren."
"You knew Zoe?" I said, excited. I knew my friends would come through.
"Of course I knew her. She was 'friends' with my older brother." She rolled her eyes. "One of her early conquests. Thankfully, Royce was smart enough to see through her."
"You never mentioned her," I said.
"Why should I?" Smithy flagged the waiter for another drink. "She treated Royce abysmally. Tossed him over for Ren, who was way too young for her. Zoe was a good six years older than Ren. She used him, too."
"I don't think she used him so much as she just liked shagging him." Ali turned to me. "If the rumors are right, you're a lucky woman. Ren is very skilled."
I shrugged and swallowed hard. "People in the village say Ren and Zoe were still involved after she and Will were engaged."
"Why listen to them? Half the women in the village are just mad with jealousy because Ren wouldn't have them. Cats." Ali turned up her nose.
"Ali's right," Jennis said. "Don't pay any attention to them."
Someone caught Ali's attention. "Don't look now, but Melly just came in. He's headed our way."
Lord Melwynne—Melly, as we called him—was indeed approaching our table. Melly knew everyone and all the gossip. It was a stroke of good fortune to bump into him. I rose and hugged him. "Melly, so good to see you."
He took both my hands in his. "If it isn't the lovely American duchess! You look stunning, Bliss. The perfect picture of mourning and newly wedded…bliss? Except for the black, of course. Tragic. For all of us. Ren off the market. So many of us are devastated."
"Not you too, Melly," I said lightly. "I thought you had better taste."
"I've always liked bad boys." Melly laughed and joined us at the table. He was immaculately groomed and turned out. One of those men who should have been handsome, but his features were just a little off somehow in a way it was hard to put a finger on. Fortunately, his charm compensated for any physical imperfection.
I poured him a glass of wine. We made small talk while I figuratively sat on my hands, dying to question him. He obviously had something to say or he wouldn't have dropped in. I dropped private morsels about the wedding. Little tidbits for Melly to pass along as gossip. To get something, you needed to give. I knew how to play this game too. I let it slip that we'd heard Cory was devastated and I was sorry to hurt her. The marriage had been sprung on me, too.
"Hurt? Cory is livid with Ren, as I'm sure you've heard. She's never been angrier," Melly said, knowing full well I hadn't. "They were seen having a huge, very loud fight in front of her flat last night. She actually shoved him at the top of the steps. He tumbled back a few. Called him some nasty names. And reportedly threw a vase at him. I'm happy to report he dodged it. No bruises to that delicious face or body."
Melly took my hand and squeezed it. "Bliss, you know I'd never torment you with this if you'd married Ren under any other circumstances. But you should know what you're up against. Cory is determined to have revenge."
I nodded, somehow managing to keep my jealousy in check. "Absolutely. You don't know how much I appreciate it."
"Watch your backside," Melly said. "Cory can be vindictive and unpredictable. You'd think Ren would have learned his lesson with Zoe. He has abominable taste in women. He'd be much better off with men." He sighed. "Sorry, Bliss, but the truth is the truth." He raised his glass to me. "May an arranged marriage with a good woman win him over."
I smiled weakly. "Thank you."
Melly's mention of Zoe was intentional. He'd seen the news and wanted to tell me something. Despite the friendly lunch, a shiver ran up my spine.
"I've only heard rumors about Zoe," I said casually. "And Will and Ren." I let my eyes plead with Melly to help me out and fill me in.
Melly studied me. "Zoe was self-destructive almost since birth. She wanted more than life could give her. More than she deserved. She wanted both brothers." He shrugged. "Well, who wouldn't? They were both delightful. Light and dark. I think she wanted Ren more, maybe even loved him in her own warped way. But Will was going to inherit the title and the estate. Zoe was a prize social climber. Will had more to offer. On the surface, anyway. And I suppose she figured she'd keep Ren on the side."
"What do you mean, on the surface?" I asked. Melly liked to parcel out his information for maximum impact.
Melly put on his exaggerated, catlike look of surprise. "Will was deeply in debt. About to go bankrupt and lose everything. His only hope was to hang on long enough to inherit and sell the estate. His best bet was Manly's death."
The five of us stared at Melly, trying to keep our mouths from falling open. I'd done a lot of research and not found anything about Will's debt.
Melly smiled, pleased at himself for stunning the others more than me. He must have figured they knew or suspected Will's difficulties. "Oh, you didn't know? Sorry to be the bearer of so many tawdry bits and bobs."
He leaned forward. "Not many people knew, even at the time. Ren isn't the only Sattler who can keep a secret. Manly was furious with Will, of course. He couldn't have Will inheriting and selling his legacy, dooming the family name to obscurity. Will had an obsessive personality. Charming and boyish. Very nice to look at, but he and Zoe both were compulsive spenders and risk takers. They bobbed in and out of depression and mania. They would have made an absolute muck of the dukedom. There was no doubt of that. None.
"Will's financial difficulties were completely hushed up after Will's death. I have no idea how. They were too massive for Manly to have paid off. But I suppose he had enough to pay off the right people to keep silent about it. Even those who lost their shirts decided it wasn't wise to cross a duke. Manly had more power than you know."
Melly's eyes danced. He was enjoying himself tremendously. "In fact, I may know one or two of them." He wagged his finger at me. "Don't even ask. You couldn't torture their names out of me."
Chapter 17
Whether anyone could torture the names out of Melly or not, he had certainly tortured me with this new information. And the suggestion that the girls should take me out clubbing.
"But darlings, you haven't thrown Bliss a bachelorette party! Don't let the inconvenient fact that she's already married stop you. There's nothing conventional about this marriage. Or dear Bliss." Melly smiled at me. "Bachelorette parties are meant to make memories and bond. To have embarrassing stories to tell your grandchildren. Take Bliss clubbing. Please! Buy her some strippers. The woman's new groom has abandoned her on her honeymoon. It's the very least good friends can do to cheer her up."
"No strippers," I said. "I'm not sad, really. I don't need cheering up."
Melly took my face in both hands. "Bliss, darling, you know I love you. Which is why I'm giving you this exceptionally good advice. It's clear you're, at the very least, infatuated with Ren. If you play it right, the two of you could have some fun during this imposed year of marriage."
I opened my mouth to protest.
His grin widened. "How do I know the details? You just confirmed one." He lowered his voice. "I may have lowered myself to sleeping with a clerk well below my station to get the information I wanted."
"You're terrible," I said. "And you have highly unethical conquests."
"Terribly efficient," he said, unperturbed. "Back to my point: if you play the game very well, you might even get to keep Ren permanently. Which means making him fall in love with you. To do that, you have to make yourself a valuable catch. You have to let him chase you. And winning you can't be a sure thing. Men like the chase. It's part of the bonding process. You're at a supreme disadvantage, already being his forced duchess. But you're a clever woman. You can rectify that." He glanced at the girls.
"She certainly can," Smithy said. "You'll join us?" she asked Melly.
"I would love to. But I'm off to Edinburgh on business this evening," Melly said. "I'll want all the details, naturally."
With that, my fate was set. Clubbing it was. Preceded, of course, by all the necessary preparations and chase-setting maneuvers possible. It was an afternoon of see and be seen in all the hotspots of London, of acting as if I was having the best time imaginable and didn't care at all about what people were saying about me. About Ren's fight with Cory. About having lost my fiancé on the altar.
I wondered, as I laughed and flirted my way across London, whether I was doing the right thing or making a mess. All I knew was that I was confused and slightly terrified. Who was the man I'd married? My simple marriage of convenience, if there was such a thing, had turned desperately complicated. Was I provoking Cory by my actions? Or reassuring her I didn't want Ren? Was I provoking Ren? Did I want him?
Yes, of course I wanted him. But did I want him? As a real husband, not just a lover, not a toy for the little rich girl to play with and throw away.
That evening, I found myself at one of London's hottest clubs. Having been photographed and followed around all day, tweeted about, gossiped about, I supposed I was leading a merry chase. If Ren cared to look. But despite Melly's no doubt good advice, I couldn't put my heart into clubbing. The club was full of attractive men. Guys I would have jumped at just days ago. But Ren, the mystery around him, and Manly's commission to me had spoiled me for everyone else. I only wanted Ren. And wanted him badly.
I sat at the table with Dusty while the others were dancing to retro music and finding their own conquests. Eighties music was so upbeat, but I was in a less happily enthusiastic mood.
"You're not even trying," Dusty said, elbowing me. "You have it bad for Ren. I'm so sorry. Now pick yourself up and have some fun. I don't need my friends turning into old, boring married women."
I shook my head. "I'm worn out, is all. Mentally exhausted. Maybe I should just call it a night."
Just then, two attractive men approached our table. Dusty perked up. She knew them—one of them, at least—and was interested. She invited them to join us. Why shouldn't she have fun? With the eighties music encouraging her, she should fall in love. At least for a night. Personally, I was ready for a dramatic eighties piece about unrequited or destroyed love.
For Dusty's sake, I played along, making small talk with the one Dusty left me. "Wingmanning?" I whispered to him.
"Is that what you Americans call it?" he said. He had a sweet smile and a lovely accent. Under other circumstances… "Yes, I am. Rather obviously, I'm afraid. And you?"
"The same," I said, casting a quick glance at Dusty.
He had to lean in and shout into my ear to be heard over the music. "You're the new duchess, if I'm not mistaken? The Deadly Duchess?" He spoke with such mock seriousness.
I laughed. Maybe this could be fun. "My notoriety precedes me. I am. Does that frighten you? I'm highly lethal. To old men, anyway. And deserted by my groom. That's a really deadly co
mbination. A woman scorned." Why did I suddenly sound so flirty? I must have had one too many already. Or maybe I was just soothing my vanity. Ren might be able to desert and resist me, but other men still found me attractive and enticing.
My companion laughed, opened his mouth to say something equally witty I was sure, and froze as he looked at someone across the room.
I looked up just in time to see Ren, looking absolutely heart-stoppingly gorgeous, and terrifyingly angry, walk in. My mouth went dry as he searched the club. Our eyes met across the room.
He strode across it to me.
"Uh-oh," I whispered. "I'm about to live up to my reputation. It appears my ball and chain has just arrived. Let me do the talking."
The band began one of my favorite eighties covers about monsters. My own personal demon came to a stop next to me. Even though it was dark, the steam, some might say the sulfur, was easy enough to see rolling off him. His jaw was set. His eyes hard. Ren ignored the others at the table. His gaze bored into me.
"Ren, darling," Dusty said. "What brings you out tonight?"
"I'm here to collect my wife." He grabbed my arm. "Duchess?"
Dusty slid around the table and stood next to Ren. "Looking for another fight tonight? You've come to the wrong place. Cooling-off period? Come. Dance with me." She grabbed his arm to haul him to the dance floor.
He shook her arm off and tightened his grip on mine.
"Duke, darling. Obviously, you're not the only one who's capable of escaping the castle. Of all the gin joints in the world, you had to stroll into your loving wife's." I grinned dangerously, mocking him. I was surprised my voice still worked and I sounded so calm. I bottled up my anger at him. For deserting me. For Cory. For making a spectacle of himself with her. "Join us?"
"Not tonight." He grabbed my purse from the table and handed it to me. "Let's go home." He pulled me to my feet.
My companion and Dusty's mark got to their feet.
"It's all right." I smiled sweetly at them. "Ren's right. It's time we went home." I hugged Dusty and whispered to her, "I'll be fine. Call you tomorrow?"
Duked: Duke One, Duke Society Series Page 17