A Family Affair

by Jennifer Wenn

He had written a letter to his supervisor at Pendragon, hoping the man would give him some answers without Devlin having to ask, but the man didn’t catch on; he was all business in his reply.

  When two weeks had passed by without any news of Fanny, Devlin sent a footman to Pendragon with the mission to find out what his wife was doing.

  Or rather how she was doing.

  However, upon his return, the footman could only inform him that Her Grace had left the same day Devlin had. She had gone with her family without saying where she was going or when she would return.

  He guessed she had gone back to Chester Park to lick her wounds, his intention from the beginning.

  So why was it bothering him?

  He should be relieved.

  She was where he had wanted her, in the loving arms of her family. But instead he felt alone and, strangely enough, rejected.

  “I need to know that she is all right. I need to know how she is holding up. As long as I don’t know anything about her, I can’t go on with my life. If I know she has a good life without me, I can let her go.”

  In the chair across from Devlin, Bear stretched his long muscular legs. “You want me to break into Berkeley House? I could snoop around and see if I could find some information for you. Hell, I can even hide in Lady Francesca’s bedroom, if she’s in town.”

  Devlin sat straight up. “No, you won’t. For goodness’ sake, Bear, we have to tread carefully with this. I don’t want it to be commonly known why I left her, and you being thrown out or collected by an officer from Berkeley House would fire those wagging tongues even more.”

  Bear made a disappointed face. “All right. I won’t break into Berkeley House, even though I still think it is the best idea we have so far.”

  “I could go back to White’s,” Devlin said thoughtfully. “I could wait around for one of the Darlings to go there. If we meet in public, they would have to greet me.”

  “Maybe,” Bear agreed. “But lurking in White’s sounds most boring.”

  Devlin grinned. Bear had a deep aversion to anything having to do with the ton. He was probably the only gentleman, although currently a pretend-valet, who would rather go out for a ride than gossip with his peers.

  “You have a point there. And besides the boring part, sitting at White’s would only make me available for my friends to ask questions I’m not ready to answer yet.”

  Devlin felt Bear’s probing eyes upon him, and he wished he knew what to say to ease his friend’s angst. But as he didn’t even know how to soothe his own feelings, how could he soothe Bear’s?

  Maybe he was doing it the wrong way.

  Devlin frowned. He would continue with his life, even though he wasn’t over Fanny yet. The distraction of another woman could be just the little thing that would make him feel better.

  Without a word to Bear, he walked straight to his office, where he scribbled down a short letter he gave to a footman to deliver.

  It was time he went on with his plan.

  He had to leave Fanny behind him, and the one thing to really send him over the edge of that cliff should be bedding another woman.

  He had to get a mistress.

  The footman delivered the letter to Lady Maria Ashton, who squealed with joy and sent back a note replying she would love to join him this evening. Meanwhile, Devlin took a long bath, preparing for the night to come.

  And the new bed he would spend it in.

  He dressed all in black, making sure he looked as dark as he felt, although he only succeeded in looking more magnificent than ever.

  Without meeting Bear’s disapproving gaze, he took the steps downstairs three at a time. As he sat in the carriage, headed for the Ashton townhouse, he felt like a large stone had fallen off his shoulders.

  He was finally going to get rid of Fanny.

  ****

  The whispers about the arrival together of Hereford and Lady Ashton at Vauxhall Gardens immediately traveled from ear to ear. When the whispers reached Rake, who stood listening to the orchestra playing softly, he cursed silently. How could Devlin do such a stupid thing as walking into the midst of society with another woman at his arm?

  He looked down at Fanny, beside him. The dreamy look in her face told him she was far away in her mind, and he wished he could get out of being the one giving her the bad news.

  What should he do?

  The best idea was probably to whisk Fanny out of there, so she wouldn’t have to face her husband and the utter humiliation she would feel as she met his new mistress.

  Maria Ashton was a lady who knew what she wanted, and as a wife to a high officer who spent most of his time abroad, she had the full opportunity to get it. She was an intelligent woman with too much wit and too sharp a tongue, one that could easily slash Fanny’s poor suffering heart into shreds if given the chance.

  Nevertheless, maybe a meeting was what needed to happen. Fanny wanted her husband back and had spent three weeks preparing for this, but was she really ready? He didn’t know, and for a short second he thought about taking Fanny and leaving the gardens, thus making sure she would get more time to harden her stance before putting it to the test.

  But before he had a chance to make up his mind, Sin joined them and made the decision for him. “He’s here,” Sin told his sister, with a grave voice.

  Rake felt a tremor pass through Fanny’s body, but she didn’t show a thing outwardly, and an overwhelming wave of pride in his stoic niece washed over him. She was there to get her husband back, and she seemed ready for the fight.

  “Where is he?” Rake asked, and Sin nodded toward the entrance, where a large crowd had gathered. They could see the glances people were already sending their way, and they knew they couldn’t escape facing Devlin even if they tried. The crowd loved a good showdown; they wouldn’t let them sneak out.

  “Can you do this?” Sin asked his sister, distressed, and she nodded.

  “I need to do this,” she answered harshly, and only Rake knew how this pained her, as her fingers were digging into his arm. “I must meet him. It’s all I have wished for since the day we left Pendragon. I need to see him, to know he is what I want, and to be sure he is worthy of all our plans. And besides my needs, he needs to know I’m in town.”

  “He’s not alone,” Rake said quietly, and by the stricken look in her face, he knew she got the message.

  She took a deep shaky breath and closed her eyes for a short second before she nodded and let her uncle lead her onto the dance floor to join the other dancers.

  Another man soon cut in, and Rake left Fanny in her admirer’s arms and walked back to Sin’s side to watch the drama unfold.

  Chapter 30

  She wasn’t supposed to be dancing.

  Devlin had walked into Vauxhall Gardens, the lovely Lady Maria Ashton on his arm, feeling better by the moment, thanks to the stir they created. He knew it was silly, but he desperately needed something other than Fanny to focus on, and the vultures’ happiness over seeing him with someone else, and so openly, made him laugh and flirt with Maria and the other ladies they met.

  It wasn’t until they came to the dance floor that he understood why everyone he’d met seemed almost giddy, as he spotted his wife in another man’s arms.

  Jealousy hit him full force and nearly sent him flying through the dancing couples to tear his smiling wife away from the bastard, but only almost. What made him stop was something he never had thought to see again.

  His wife was smiling.

  Something cold took hold of his heart. How could his wife be smiling? She had just been left by her husband, and she was supposed to be in love with him. Therefore, she should be at home crying her eyes out, mourning as her heart broke into just as many pieces as his heart had.

  But not Fanny. She was dancing.

  And not just dancing, she was waltzing, for goodness’ sake. He started to walk toward the dance floor, dragging Maria Ashton behind him.

  When she too saw the reason why they so suddenly j
oined the dancers, she tried to move the other way, but it was too late. All she could do was try to hang on to Devlin as he twirled her around with almost hysterical frenzy, until they crashed into his prey and her beau.

  “Excuse me,” Devlin drawled when Fanny looked at their attacker, and he felt ridiculously happy to see a blush discolor her face when she recognized him.

  “Well, hello, what a surprise to meet you here,” he continued, behaving like the scoundrel and libertine he tried to be as he looked into Fanny’s gray eyes.

  He loathed himself for such behavior, but at the same time he couldn’t help rejoicing that she was no longer smiling.

  “Hereford,” her partner greeted, but Devlin only nodded without letting his eyes leave hers. She looked good, as alluring as ever, and it took all his willpower to keep from bending down and tasting those lush lips that shivered before him.

  “If you don’t mind,” he told Fanny’s beau, and before anyone had a chance to react, he had thrown Maria into the other man’s arms and grabbed his wife.

  Without another word, he started to dance to the gentle music the orchestra played. Fanny was stiff as a board, and the mere thought of her reacting to him in a bad manner made him feel strangely good.

  He had behaved so badly toward her, even though it was for her own best, that he needed her to feel as bad as he did. And smiling to another man wasn’t a part of feeling bad.

  “Fancy meeting you here in London,” he drawled, trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

  She snorted in a very Fanny-like way, and he almost smiled at the familiarity of it. Lord, how he had missed her.

  “And here I thought you would be at Chester Park. I never imagined you would be in London, enjoying yourself in another man’s arms.”

  His jealousy was showing, and he forced himself to be quiet. The problem was that having her in his arms made him realize how lonely he had been and how fast he had grown used to having her around.

  Ever since their first kiss at Almack’s, they had been together every day up until he left her at Pendragon, and it wasn’t until now he felt whole again. A large piece of him had been missing, out of place.

  He knew he would have to leave her again, because his decision was made, and he had no intention of altering it. But now he could part with her, because he knew she was all right.

  Furthermore, now he would have a chance to say goodbye to her.

  It had been a mistake to leave her in the middle of the night without getting a chance to hold her one last time. Unconsciously he dragged her a bit closer to himself, and she stiffened as their bodies touched. A jolt of need made him hard in an instant, and he pressed his abdomen against hers and groaned as she shivered in response.

  Without a word he took her hand and walked out into the gardens, heading for the darker section. As soon as he found a deeply dark corner where they could be alone, he stopped and turned to face her in the darkness. Before she had a chance to speak, his lips were on hers, kissing her like a thirsty man drank water.

  The darkness surrounded them and hid them from everyone else’s eyes, and Devlin took full advantage of the situation.

  His hands dove inside her dress and fondled her soft breasts until she moaned. His mouth and tongue followed, and he kissed the hard nipples while he let his pants down and at the same time lifted her skirt, so he could thrust inside her so harshly she cried out with surprise.

  For once his need for her was larger than his need for her to enjoy it too, and he thrust over and over again, until he climaxed with a roar. His fulfillment was extreme, and he hardly noticed the salty tears on her cheeks.

  He took a step back in the darkness, bumped into a bench, and sat, his legs shaking so badly he could barely stand. As his head started to work again, he heard his wife’s quiet sobbing, and he became dead still. Not once had he thought about her. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, she was pregnant.

  “Oh, God, Fanny, I’m sorry,” he blurted, full of remorse.

  He heard her snort again, a tear-filled snort, and this time he wasn’t as amused by her response as he had been earlier. He reached out into the darkness and found her waist, but when he tried to drag her toward him, she took a step away, effectively ripping herself out of his grip.

  “Fanny, I said I was sorry,” he urged as he stood up, trying to make out the outline of her in the thick darkness.

  “Sorry?” she asked with a voice high-pitched enough to tell him how upset she really was. “Is sorry all you can say to me? Sorry…”

  Her voice broke, and he could hear she was crying again. Once more he tried to reach out for her, and again she avoided his embrace.

  “Fanny, my dear, please listen to me,” he begged. “I’m so sorry. I never meant to do this, but it overwhelmed me, and I just couldn’t stop. Did… Did I hurt you?”

  He waited breathlessly until she whispered, “No,” and then he took a ragged breath, full of relief.

  He guessed he could forgive himself for many things, but hurting her was something he couldn’t live with.

  He buttoned his pants, and when he was as respectable as the darkness could allow him to believe, he took hold of her hand again and held it tightly as she tried to pull it loose.

  He walked briskly onto one of the walks, lit with hundreds of lights over their heads.

  As he turned and looked down on his wife, his gaze didn’t miss a thing as it roamed her person. Her hair was tousled, but not more than one could think it was supposed to look like. Her dress had been torn slightly, and a dirty smudge was seen on her sleeve, but you had to look at her as closely as he did to see it.

  All in all, she was in good shape, and no one could tell her husband had just selfishly embraced her.

  She kept her head bent forward, as if she hadn’t the strength to hold herself upright and look him straight in the eye. She was trying to avoid him, and he felt bad enough to let her have her way.

  They strolled along the dimly lit walk until they were almost to the dance floor and meeting other couples enjoying the evening in the gardens.

  They stopped, and Devlin put his finger under Fanny’s chin, forcing her to lift her head up so he could look into her beloved face one last time. Her lovely eyes were the same color as rain clouds as they looked into his with a sadness that almost made him drag her into his arms again, to hold her close and never let her go.

  But he couldn’t do it to her. He wanted her to be happy. Furthermore, he wanted the child she carried to be happy.

  “I’m so sorry, my darling,” he said softly, his fingers stroking her peachy cheek. “I never meant to hurt you as I did.”

  She bent her head and leaned closer to his hand until her cheek rested in the palm of his hand. She closed her eyes, and a single tear ran down her cheek and landed on the tip of his finger.

  He withdrew his hand and gave her a sad smile before he slowly planted a soft kiss on her lips.

  “How are you doing?” he asked, as his warm eyes melted the last of her resistance.

  “Not fine,” she whispered. “My husband left me.”

  “What a bastard,” he replied with a wry smile.

  “He’s not a bastard. He’s just a bit simpleminded.”

  “Simpleminded? What if all he wants is for his wife to be happy?”

  “By staying away?”

  “Sometimes staying away is better than staying put.”

  She snorted, this time accompanied with a roll of her eyes, and he had no doubts about her having another opinion. Not that it mattered to him. He knew what his father had been like, and she didn’t. There was no way she ever could understand his point of view, especially as she was surrounded by her large, loving family.

  He looked down at her, absorbing every piece of her for the last time, to keep it deep inside of his heart forever. “I’ll try to stay out of your way,” he whispered hoarsely. “Meeting like this isn’t good for any of us, and I thank the Lord the Season is almost over.”

  Fann
y grabbed his arm. “Devlin, don’t,” she cried openly, with her face again covered with tears.

  He tensed and felt a pain in his chest he’d never felt before. Before he could change his mind, he gently removed her hands and, with a small bow, turned and left her standing there alone.

  “Please…”

  Her deep sobs cut through his heart, and for a last time he hesitated, but the image of his father flashed before his eyes, and he took one ragged breath before he continued on his way. Dazed, he walked through the big-eyed crowd, not stopping for the angry voices of Rake and Sin, or the pleading voice of Maria Ashton.

  He didn’t stop until he reached his carriage, where he sat on the velvety cushions and was whisked away. Not until he had left Vauxhall Gardens far behind him did he hide his face in his hands with a groan. His large shoulders shook with every gut-wrenching sob that went through his body.

  Chapter 31

  Fanny stood motionless, staring at the back of her disappearing husband.

  He had left her.

  Again.

  But this time she wasn’t mortified. No, this time she was furious. She harshly wiped away the tears from her cheeks, breathing deeply as she tried to soothe the wrath rising inside of her.

  The fool!

  The stupid, irrational, simpleminded fool!

  So he was going to play the part of a martyr, was he? Well, he could forget it, because she wasn’t going to let him.

  When Devlin was out of sight, she grabbed her skirts and hurried away. Rake and Sin were arguing in lowered voices about who was going to follow Devlin and who was going to take her home.

  As she joined them, they stopped their bantering and looked at her with so much pity she nearly started to cry again. But she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath so she wouldn’t make a fool of herself in front of everyone.

  She could feel the eyes of the crowd taking in her person. Some were gloating, some pitied her, and there were some who were simply bored. She knew she was the talk of the ton, and it was something she could use.

  She was going to make her husband suffer harshly before she let him come crawling back to her and beg her for mercy.