A Vixen For The Devilish Duke (Steamy Historical Regency Romance)

by Olivia Bennet

  Mr. Raby’s eyes narrowed. “Is that what you really think of her?”

  Dorothea shrugged. “That’s what she is, isn’t she?”

  She did not care that the brother or cousin or whatever he was had found her out. After all, who would believe him over her? He was less than a mushroom. Simply a man who happened to be raised in the same family as a girl who turned out to be noble. It was blind luck, really. He could not expect to be taken seriously by anyone, let alone the Duke.

  Mr. Raby heaved a deep breath. “Well…that has truly been a riveting tale but I ask you, do you intend to answer to Adelia for the rest of your life?”

  Dorothea shrugged. “Not really. Sooner or later, Adelia shall regain her memories. But by then, the Duke and I shall be married and I shall be big with child and he will love me, and not her.”

  “I see you have given this a lot of thought.”

  Dorothea shrugged but didn’t say another word.

  “Well, we should probably go back to the others now.”

  “Yes. You should know, if you say anything to the Duke, I shall deny it all and accuse you of trying to blackmail me for money.”

  Mr. Raby gave her a bitter smile. “You truly have thought of everything.”

  “Yes, I have. So do not try to double-cross me. You will lose.”

  With that she turned and marched into the house, her head held high.

  * * *

  “I suppose you heard all that,” Alexander said to the shadow that lurked behind the balustrade. He was curious to see who would emerge. His eyebrows went up when he saw that it was the Earl.

  “I…simply came out to relieve myself rather than using the chamber pot. I…” he shook his head, his face was pale and his hands were trembling. “I knew she was…headstrong but…” he shook his head again.

  “What will you do now?” Alexander asked, more curious than anything. The Earl looked up in surprise.

  “Me? What about you?”

  “I can talk to Adelia. But you are the one with any authority here. You are the one who can convince them easily.”

  “Do I want to?” he shook his head again. “Her poor mother. What will she do?”

  “Your family has been through much. Perhaps you can convince the Duke to delay his proposal while you decide what to do next.”

  The Earl nodded. “Yes. I suppose that is one option.” He looked up at Alexander. “You are remarkably calm in all this.”

  “I am but a messenger…perhaps soon to be a crofter. What I am not, is worthy to stand amongst noblemen and tell them what to do.”

  “You are Adelia’s cousin. You looked after her while she was growing up. Of course you are worthy.”

  Alexander smiled. “That is kind of you, My Lord.”

  “I suppose I must go back inside now, and tell the Duke my thoughts.”

  “Yes. I shall come with you, if you don’t mind.”

  “I should be glad of the support.”

  * * *

  The Duke turned, seeing his two male guests come in together. They had both been gone for quite a while and it was almost time to join the ladies. He wondered what they might have discussed out there on his verandah. Whatever it was, it seemed to have brought them closer together.

  “Your Grace, forgive our tardiness,” the Earl said with a strained smile as he took the glass of brandy which the Duke held out.

  “That is quite all right, My Lord. I take it you had matters to discuss.”

  “Yes, it turns out that we did have some things to clear up. As a result of which, Your Grace, I have to ask a boon of you.”

  “Go ahead and ask,” Harry felt his heart speeding up at the proclamation but waited to hear what it might be.

  “I must ask you, to postpone your proposal for a while, as we sort out some family matters.”

  Harry was surprised at the pronouncement and even more surprised at the sense of relief he felt, as if he had avoided disaster.

  “Oh? May I ask why?”

  “All will be explained in time but for now, I must ask you to trust me.”

  Harry blinked at the Earl and then at Mr. Raby who stood silent and stoic, making no demur. Whatever was going on, he was privy to it. “Very well, then. How long do you wish this postponement to last?”

  “A week or so,” the Earl said. “I feel sure we shall have sorted matters out then.”

  Harry looked from one to the other, “Is it to do with Adelia’s foster family perhaps? Do you have news?”

  The Earl cast a glance at Mr. Raby but then seemed to decide to speak anyway, “Our investigator found that they are selling their abode. He has put in an offer. If it is accepted, then they will have to meet him to get their payment.”

  Harry raised an eyebrow, quite impressed by the ingenuity of it. “That was clever of you.”

  “I cannot take the credit. My investigator came up with the plan.”

  “And…” it was his turn to cast a glance at Mr. Raby. “You think it was foul play, perhaps?”

  “We shall suspend judgement until we speak with them.”

  Harry nodded. “I see now why you want me to wait. This is not the time to be distracted by nuptials.”

  The Earl seemed to avoid his eyes. “Indeed.” He agreed.

  “Well…shall we join the ladies?”

  “We shall.”

  * * *

  Alexander made a beeline for her as soon as he entered the room, which made her raise an eyebrow in surprise. She could not imagine what he wanted to speak with her about.

  “Adelia,” he said.

  “No sorry, I’m Doro—”

  “No. You’re not.” Alexander interrupted. She quirked an eyebrow in shock.

  “I beg pardon?”

  “You’re not Dorothea. You’re Adelia. Your sister stole your identity after she pushed you down the stairs.”

  Adelia gasped aloud and Alexander squeezed her hand. “I need you to stay calm and not react. I confronted your sister and she told me these things herself. She also said she would deny it if I told anyone. But clearly she is capable of malevolent doings and I need you to be on your guard. Can you do that? Can you smile and act like we are simply exchanging pleasantries?”

  Adelia just gaped at him and then realized that her face was telling a story he did not want revealed and so tried to school her features. She swallowed hard, thinking furiously. Alexander’s words filled her with a sense of relief. She had felt so disconnected from the life they had told her she lived, the person they told her she was…but knowing that she came from humble roots seemed to fit more comfortably with her idea of herself.

  It explained the calluses on her hands, so different from her mother and sister. It explained the utter rejection she felt at the notion of herself as a demanding child. The lack of entitlement she felt for…all of this. It also explained her heartbreak over the Duke and the sense of wrongness that had plagued her since she woke up.

  I am not Dorothea. I’m Adelia! And the Duke wants to propose to me…

  Following closely on the heels of that thought was the knowledge that the Duke would propose tonight, to Dorothea. She turned to her cousin.

  “We have to stop—”

  “Don’t worry. Your father already took care of that.”

  “He knows?”

  Alexander nodded. Adelia did not think how she took it for granted that he would know exactly what she meant, even if she had not managed to finish a thought yet in this conversation.

  “How?”

  “He overheard us talking.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yes. Well, as you can imagine, this is a delicate matter and I expect he will pussyfoot around it as much as he can. Also, they’re about to catch your Ma and Pa.”

  This was a lot of information to assimilate at once. “Catch them?”

  “Yes, I told you, or rather Dorothea when I thought she was you. Ma and Pa are selling the farm.”

  “That sounds bad.”

  “Yes.”
Alexander whispered, “It sounds…guilty. I think your father thinks so, too.”

  “What will we do?”

  “I don’t know. We don’t know anything. I suggest we wait and see.”

  Adelia reached out and squeezed his hand. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Alexander turned and smiled at her. “I knew it was you. See, I was right and you were wrong. I’m always right. You should listen to me more.”

  She grinned at him. “Spoken like an older brother.”

  “Yes, exactly.”

  Adelia looked away from him, a huge smile on her face. At last, she felt right in her skin. She caught the Duke’s eye and he quirked an eyebrow at her, probably wondering why ‘Dorothea’ would be having such animated conversation with ‘Adelia’s’ cousin. It pleased her that he was hardly paying attention to what Dorothea was trying to say to him even when he thought she was Adelia.

  It boded well for their future relations.

  She leaned closer to Alexander, while still keeping her eye on the Duke and her sister. “All right then, cousin, what should I do now?”

  Alexander frowned and then sighed, slapping his head. “I am a fool,” he declared.

  Adelia raised her hands teasingly. “No argument from here. Is that all you have for me?”

  “She pretended to be you because you don’t remember who you are. Well, now you do.”

  “No, I do not. I only know what you’ve told me.”

  “Well, what’s good for the goose and all that. You can just pretend to have remembered everything.”

  “What? All of a sudden?”

  Alexander shrugged, “You could go to sleep and wake up tomorrow with your memory recovered.”

  “But…there are still so many things I don’t know. How would I explain that if my memory is supposed to be recovered?”

  “Fine then, you can say you remembered a few things. Perhaps it was the sight of me, you could say. You remember who I am and who you are.”

  Adelia bit her lip thoughtfully. “That might actually work.”

  “Of course it would. I have the best ideas.”

  Adelia had to grin at that. But then she became somber again. “She will not take this lying down, you know. She will try to discredit me.”

  “She cannot do that without exposing herself.”

  “She would already be exposed. After all, she doesn’t have memory loss.”

  “There is no way to do this without some mess.”

  Adelia looked down at her hands. “I suppose,” she said, looking at the emerald on her finger. Their mother had given it to who she thought was Dorothea. Would she take it back now? Would Adelia be turned out? It was all very frightening.

  Her cousin reached out and squeezed her hand. “I am with you, sister.” He said and she looked up at him with a smile. She really appreciated his ability to read her mind.

  * * *

  Adelia was speaking to him, something about wanting to know when he intended to make an announcement but he could not focus on that conversation. He was too busy wondering at the animated conversation Dorothea was having with Adelia’s brother. He was surprised to feel a twinge of jealousy at their apparent closeness.

  When did that happen?

  It was none of his business if Adelia’s sister chose to befriend her cousin but the man was married, for crying out loud, and all the whispering they were doing together could not be appropriate. He flicked his eyes to Mrs. Raby to see how she was taking it but she seemed to be involved in her own intense conversation with Lady Cornhill. The two seemed to have struck up an unlikely friendship.

  The Earl, on the other hand, was also watching the conversation between Alexander and Dorothea, albeit surreptitiously. He seemed quite interested in it, yet his eyes were sad, almost woebegone.

  I don’t understand anything.

  Chapter 30

  The Chickens Come Home

  Dorothea was no fool. She knew that the man, his name was Archie or something, would eventually say something and that was why she needed the Duke to make an offer no later than that night. So it was with horror that she realized that he was wrapping up the evening without even bringing it up.

  “But…don’t you have something you would like to ask me, Your Grace?” she asked, clutching his arm in a vice-like grip.

  He smiled down at her, “Not tonight, my dear. Let us wait a bit for your foster parents to be located and then I shall ask.”

  “But…why? One thing has nothing to do with the other!” her grip on him tightened.

  He hissed with pain but made no move to remove her hand. “Adelia, stop.” He whispered, “It is your father who requested this.”

  A frown beetled her brow. “My father?”

  “Yes. Now, I am sure we can wait a week or so, can we not? Much as I long to have you in my arms and in my bed, it would not happen any sooner if I proposed today or next Sunday. You know that you are the one for me, don’t you, Adelia?”

  Dorothea hesitated, trying to think of some argument to overrule her father. “It will not make a difference to me what they say. Will it make a difference to you?”

  He shook his head, “Of course not, Adelia, don’t be silly. I am simply honoring your father’s request.”

  “Very well then…” she sighed, realizing that she would not get him to change his mind. “Well, will you call on us on the morrow? I feel sure I can get Father to change his mind.”

  He smiled affectionately at her. “If that is your wish, my dear.” His smile grew impish, “I must say is good to see how eager you are for this wedding to occur.”

  She scoffed, hitting his arm briefly. “I am just…impatient.”

  “Yes, of course.” His eyes were still twinkling at her and she did not know what to do with that. When he had been courting her he never teased her in such a manner.

  So she simply huffed and turned away, eyes meeting Adelia’s across the room. Her sister’s eyes were narrowed at her, her gaze sharp. For a moment, Dorothea’s heart stuttered, wondering if Adelia knew what was happening but then she shook her head. If Adelia knew, then she would have said something, if only to stop the engagement from happening.

  She looked to her father but he was busy helping her mother with her cloak. He did not seem in the least bit perturbed about anything or as if someone had told him something out of the ordinary.

  Dorothea had to conclude that she had some time before Archibald spilled the beans. She would have to use it to her best advantage.

  * * *

  Adelia woke early the next morning, heart pounding, not knowing why she felt so anxious. Then she remembered the night before and what her cousin had said to her. Shooting up, she jerked her covers off and put her feet on the ground, her eyes closed as she tried to breathe in deep.

  “You can do this. Everything is fine. Alexander was telling the truth. You are Adelia.”

  It hurt her to the core that her sister would attempt to deceive her, deceive all of them, in such a way. It was beyond unconscionable.

  And all this over a man?

  She could have simply asked Adelia to step back if she wanted him that much. Nothing was worth more than the bonds of family.

  She got to her feet, and moved to the wash basin. The jug still had some water from last night but it was freezing cold by now. She picked it up—knowing somehow that she was no stranger to bathing with cold water—but no sooner did she tilt it than her lady’s maid was there, snatching it from her hands. She had forgotten about the girl, who slept in her dressing room.

  “Let me get you some hot water, milady,” she murmured before hurrying out with the jug. Adelia sighed, stepping up to the armoire and examined her wardrobe. Today was a special day and she wanted to be suitably dressed for the performance of her life. She just hoped she could pull it off because she knew for sure she was not as good a pretender as her sister.

  The lady’s maid was back with the water in no time, and she cleaned herself carefully before wearing t
he yellow muslin gown laid out for her. The lady’s maid knotted her hair in Grecian knots and tied it back with a white lace ribbon and she was ready for breakfast. She wore her house slippers on her feet and crept down the stairs, wondering if it was too early for anyone to be up.