“Fanny, please tell me you’re all right,” Sin said. “I’ll kill the man if he hurt you.”
“I’m fine,” she replied, giving her brother a tight smile to ease the frown on his handsome face. Unfortunately she succeeded only in making it deeper.
Rake took her hand, forcing her to look at him. “You don’t look fine, sweet pea. You look like he dragged you through the bushes. If he did anything to you, harmed you in any way, you have to tell us immediately, and we will avenge you.”
Well, she wasn’t about to tell them about Devlin’s selfish act toward her, so instead she asked if they could leave the gardens for the night, and before she knew it she sat in their carriage, heading homeward.
“I have thought about it,” Rake said, as they crossed the Thames. “And I think we will have to kidnap him.”
“What?” Sin and Fanny replied in unison.
“Are you crazy?” Sin followed up.
Rake shook his head. “No, I’m not, because it is the only way he can’t ignore us, or Fanny.”
“I still don’t like it,” Sin grumbled. “Hereford would be furious, and a furious man doesn’t listen to his wife. He beats her.”
“He wouldn’t beat me,” Fanny interrupted harshly.
“How can you be so sure he wouldn’t?” Sin asked, and gave her a very brotherly look of impatience.
“He isn’t the wife-beating type.” Rake agreed with his niece before she could hurl herself at her brother.
“I still think kidnapping is a stupid idea,” Sin muttered.
“So tell me, mister-against-everything, what your big plan is?” Rake asked patronizingly, leaning back with his arms crossed before his chest.
Sin bestowed on his uncle an ugly face and turned to his sister. “I think you will have to seduce him.”
“No,” Rake said matter-of-factly.
“Why not?”
“Because it would be too easy for her, as he’s desperately in love with her, and he would probably let himself forget all about his troubled past so he could spend more time in her arms. Then he would just shake it off and tell her goodbye again.”
“How silly,” Sin snarled.
“Maybe, but it’s still the truth. We do need a better plan, something to make him understand he don’t want to spend the rest of his life without Fanny. I’m sorry to say this, but he can get his bodily needs seen to by any woman. It is the heart we need to touch.”
Rake could see Fanny agreed with him, as she was too aware of how Devlin would have no problems finding a mistress, or any woman who would gladly spend a night with him. He was, after all, the very handsome and magnificent Duke of Hereford, and even though he was off the marriage market he still would be a trophy for any woman to take to bed.
“I see your point,” Sin admitted. “But I’m still not up for the kidnapping, as I think it is not the way to catch this bird.”
“I guess you’re right,” Rake gave in, and both men sat silent, ransacking their heads for any good ideas, until the carriage stopped in front of their townhouse at Berkeley Square.
As the hour was late, the house lay empty and silent, and only Butler was still awake. He immediately understood the need of some privacy for the three of them and ushered them into the library, where a roaring fire warmed the chill out of them. A large tray with tea was brought to them before Butler closed the door behind him.
Sin and Fanny sat down in the cozy armchairs in front of the fire and sipped their hot tea. Rake grabbed a sandwich and walked over to the large bay window to gaze at the quiet square outside.
“What do you want to do, Fanny?” he asked, breaking the silence.
She looked up at him and shrugged lightly as he turned to glance at her, waiting for her answer. “Not kidnap or seduce him,” she acknowledged with a small smile, and Rake grinned back, relieved she was still able to make a joke.
Sin obviously felt the same way and gave his sister a reluctant grin. “So, sister dear, if you’re still up to it, how shall we approach the moron?”
“Oh, I’m up to it. Believe me, I’m more than up to it,” Fanny said, her determination shining through.
“Really?” Rake was astonished. “You sound like you are ready to fight for this.”
“Yes I am ready, and I’m ready to fight in quite as ugly a manner as necessary to gain what I want, which is my husband back at my side.”
“Really?” Sin echoed, just as astonished as Rake.
This was a part of his sister he’d never met before, as she was usually all soft and sweet. Now she seemed made of steel.
Fanny leaned forward until her nose almost touched Sin’s. “I mean war,” she growled.
“Yes!”
“Sin, she’s serious.” Rake frowned.
“And so? I sure want to go to war. I’m sick and tired of staying here, drying up all the shed tears. I must admit I much prefer to do something rather than just sit around and wait for the bloody fool to have a change of heart.”
“Thank you,” Fanny murmured lovingly to her brother.
“Fanny, are you sure?” her doubting uncle asked, still frowning all over his handsome face.
“Yes, Uncle Rake, I couldn’t be more sure,” she reassured him, trying to put all the determination she felt into her words. “I can’t sit around here and let him go on with his life. Sooner or later we both will get used to our different kind of life, and then it will be too late. I have to act now, before he gets over me.”
“He will never get over you.”
“But he will learn how to live without me.”
She had a point there, Rake had to admit. Misery always seemed endless when you were deep in it, but it would fade as time went by. Eventually it would only be a sour taste now and then.
Devlin obviously had done a great job of putting his father behind him, and it would be no problem for him to put Fanny and the baby in some vast corner of his heart and close that door forever, too.
“Do you have a plan?” Sin asked.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I’m going to beat him at his own game. I am going to live my life as if he’s not a part of it.”
“It won’t hurt him. You are only doing exactly what he wants you to do, continuing without him.”
“I know.”
Rake and Sin looked at each other, not grasping her game.
“Come on, don’t you get it?”
“No.”
“Devlin told me something when we were dancing that made me think a little further. He said he was surprised to find me in London, as he thought I would be at Chester Park.”
The men still looked like two question marks.
“Obviously he wasn’t prepared for meeting me,” she continued, “And so I am going to make sure he will be fully aware of my presence in London.”
“Ah,” Rake breathed, as he thought he finally got her plan. “We just have to find out where he will be spending his days and evenings and make sure you will be there.”
“No, Uncle Rake. I’m not going to follow him around. It would just make him more determined to stay out of my way. No, I am going to stay out of his way, but at the same time make sure he knows all about what I’m up to.”
“You are going to use the gossips,” Sin said with a slow smile.
“Oh, yes.” Fanny smiled in return.
“I don’t see how this would be so much better. Staying out of his way would just be fulfilling his wish not to see you again,” Rake mused, as he started to walk to and fro in front of the fire. “I don’t think the gossipers have the spine to tell him directly all about you doing this or that. No, he will attend these last weeks of the Season without hearing a word about you dancing with a beau.”
Fanny laughed. “Did I once say I intended to go back to my life pre-Devlin? No, I’m going to start my new life as the abandoned Duchess of Hereford.”
“This is so good,” Sin chuckled, and rubbed his hands together.
Now Rak
e finally understood what she was up to, and a slow, wicked grin grew, as he stopped in front of her. “We are going to behave a little badly, aren’t we?”
“What shall a poor, abandoned duchess do?”
Rake laughed and sat down in the empty chair. “You only have two weeks left of the Season, you know, so you’d better have a rather good idea how to get started immediately.”
“I know. There really is no time to waste. Luckily, I have a hidden card Devlin doesn’t know about.”
“You do?”
“Yes, I do. You see, during those months he was courting me I got to know much about him, but he never once asked me about anything, and so he still doesn’t know about Uncle Gorgeous.”
Rake went perfectly still. “And Uncle Gorgeous wasn’t able to attend the wedding,” he mused.
“No, he had other things he had to do, and you know how sad he was about missing my wedding.”
“He kept nagging your father about moving your wedding, so he could attend, and in the end George finally sent my father to shut him up.”
Sin wiggled his eyebrows. “I think we need to go for a little visit tomorrow.”
“Yes, indeed we do.” Fanny smiled, so relieved she would get some help in making her plan work. “And as he won’t be up until late, I’ll spend the morning ordering a few new dresses, ones that will better suit a decadent married woman. All I have is debutante dresses, all innocent and white.”
“Don’t go too far.”
Fanny rolled her eyes at her brother. “How shall I be able to be gossiped about if I don’t have dresses that are more alluring and inviting than my high-necked virginal gowns?”
Rake grinned at Sin’s obvious discomfort regarding his sister turning into a scandalous socialite, even if in name only. It was lucky she was used to being surrounded by libertines, as she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the sensual flirting that took place between men and women in search of a little fun.
“I still don’t like you dressing the part,” Sin muttered. “But I will let you do it, but only if you will let me have the last say about what you wear.”
“Sin!”
The look Sin gave her made it clear there was no way she would get out of him having the last word, so she gave in to his demand. As he let her have her way with the rest, she guessed she couldn’t be too annoyed with him.
When Fanny couldn’t stop yawning, they decided to part for the evening and all get a good night’s sleep. They would need it for their upcoming quest.
They were going to war.
Chapter 32
It took five days for the rumor to reach Devlin, but when it finally did, it nearly crushed him.
His wife, whom he had thought gone from London and safely tucked away at Chester Park, had stayed put and now spent her days socializing. He had been convinced she was in her grandfather’s caring hands. How wrong he had been.
Fanny had been quite busy creating a minor scandal by having an affair with Tristan Knightley, the Earl of Graywood, a man known for his many love affairs.
Devlin knew Graywood, as he was a close friend of Rake’s, and he had always liked him immensely.
Until now.
Now it all had changed, as the image of his wife in Graywood’s muscular arms turned the friendship and respect into pure hatred. The agony Devlin felt was consuming, and the worst part of it was that he couldn’t do anything about it.
He knew he had practically thrown Fanny into the arms of the awaiting wolves.
When he thought about it, it wasn’t so strange she had decided to stay in town. Most members of her family had remained in London for the last part of the Season.
It made perfect sense for her to wait until they all could travel together to Chester Park. It was the most logical and practical choice, and he hated it.
She was supposed to be elsewhere, and not here. Not where he could bump into her occasionally, even though he hadn’t in the week since they met at Vauxhall Gardens.
He had bumped into Rake and some of his brothers at different assemblies during the last days, and even though they hadn’t been friendly they had at least been polite.
He had tried to talk to Rake in private, but the friend had ignored his request, and instead walked away. It hurt, being ignored like this, and especially by the man he considered to be his best friend, but he had no choice but to endure. There was nothing he could do about the situation, as it all was his own fault.
He had left Fanny pregnant in the hands of her family, and even though he had given her his name and would declare the child as his, she was still abandoned. He had nursed a small hope of Rake staying his friend, as he knew all about Devlin’s childhood, but the friend—or ex-friend—firmly took his niece’s side.
If he hadn’t met his Cousin Simon, he probably still would have had no idea what was going on. But his cousin had been too filled with malicious delight to not tease Devlin viciously about it.
Simon was born envious, and to be able to take his perfect cousin down a notch or two was something he was unable to resist. He had started the conversation nicely enough, thanking Devlin for the house and money.
“I hope you don’t gamble this money away too,” Devlin had pointed out, using maybe a slightly more superior tone than necessary, but Simon had a way of getting him annoyed. “It is supposed to cover all your family’s expenses, including food.”
“No problem,” Simon had said, with an ugly leer. “I have made a bet, though, one I am not going to lose, because I have someone who can give me inside information on the matter.”
“Nothing illegal, I presume?”
“Oh, no, of course not. I might be a gambler, but it doesn’t mean I’m dishonest.”
“I don’t know why I don’t believe you,” Devlin had drawled, and Simon had given him another disgusted sneer.
“You have always thought you are so much better than I am, just because you were born the heir and I am a mere Mister. But you see, things have changed, and now I am the one who will be rich and famous, while you will remain alone and infamous.”
“What makes you think I ever will end up alone and infamous?” Devlin had frowned, knowing deep inside his heart he didn’t want to hear the answer to his question, but at the same time, he felt he had to know what his cousin meant.
“As I said earlier, I need inside information that you, my dear cousin, are the man to give me.”
Now Devlin was befuddled. “About what?”
“About Fanny.”
“Fanny?” Devlin had echoed hoarsely, suddenly too afraid to hear what his cousin had to say. Images of what could have happened to his wife flared before his eyes, making him sick with concern.
“Yes, Fanny. I need to know what you will do about the Graywood situation, because if I know, I can set my bet right in the Book of Bets at White’s and will make a fortune.”
“What Graywood situation?” Devlin had asked, unwillingly walking straight into Simon’s trap.
“Don’t you know?” Simon had feigned surprise.
“Know what? Is there something wrong with Fanny?”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it wrong with her. I bet she thinks it’s all right. Otherwise she wouldn’t have made such an open thing of it.”
Devlin glared at his cousin. His patience was running out fast, and he was close to hitting the man just to get him to talk.
What had happened to Fanny?
Had she had a miscarriage? Had she had an accident? Was she dead? And what was this about Graywood… Did he mean Lord Graywood?
“So what will you do?”
“Simon, please. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“One would think you, as her husband, should know if there was something wrong with your wife. How is your marriage doing? Not too well, I presume, as your lovely wife has got herself a lover.”
Lover!
It was amazing how such a nice word could turn into the worst he’d ever heard. Simon, of course, had not been able
to stop himself from rubbing it in as much as he could.
“She has good taste, one must say. Graywood is the most eligible bachelor of the ton, now that you are married. Amelia is terrible envious of your wife, who steals all the best men.”
Devlin hadn’t said another word as Simon chatted away, instead he had rudely turned his back to his cousin and walked away. He had been stabbed in the heart and was slowly and painfully bleeding to death.
How could she?
The treachery she had done almost blew him away, because she wasn’t supposed to do something like this. She was his wife, his pregnant wife. And she was his.
So what if he had left her to live her own life without him? She still had no right to continue to the next man, at least not with the baby on the way. How she decided to live her life, once the child was born, was something he didn’t want to think about.
He knew he had been a bit naïve about her life before his arrival in London at the beginning of the Season, but he hadn’t in his wildest imagination thought she would go out and find herself some company immediately when he left her.
As he thought about it, he realized she probably had walked straight from their lovemaking in Vauxhall Gardens to the open arms of Graywood, while he had been sitting in his carriage crying his eyes out.
Crying, for goodness’ sake.
He was pathetic. She had turned him into a woman, full of self-pity. He turned the corner, and walked on into Grosvenor Square.
When he stepped through his front door, a footman came forward and handed over a thick envelope emblazoned with the royal crest. Devlin opened it immediately. A letter from the Prince Regent, Prinny as he was called by his friends, was not something to save for later.
The envelope contained an invitation to a dinner party the same night, and Devlin quickly scribbled down an acceptance and sent it over to Charlton House.
You didn’t refuse Prinny if you were in town, not if you wanted to stay in the close circle of friends who surrounded the heir to the throne.
As Devlin lay in his bath, he remembered another bath a month earlier, at Pendragon, that had led to him showing his wife how to make love in a bed. It had been the first night of the happiest time of his life, and he wished he could go back to relive those few weeks of fulfillment and happiness.
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