The Duke's Hellion

by Julia Sinclair

  Georgiana stared at Tristan, and she had to laugh, or else she might weep. "I don't think anyone's ever said that before."

  Tristan shook his head, looking suddenly alarmed at his own vehemence. As awkwardly as she had ever seen him, he pulled away.

  "Then you've been surrounded by terrible people."

  "Please keep a civil tongue in your head when you speak about my family. You are standing in Fox Hall, after all." It was what she would have said to someone who displeased her at a London gala, but Georgiana knew that she could not keep the slight amusement out of her voice. At some point, Tristan had gone from being one of the people she hated to see in London's social life to being someone who could say something like that to her. Of course, before that, he was something entirely different, but it did not do to dwell on that part of their life together at all.

  "You're lucky I don't say worse."

  He sighed, and it felt like things flowed back toward the understanding that they had established, pulling back from that intensity that they both seemed to remember so well.

  "I'm sorry. It seems it is hard to remember what exactly is appropriate between us anymore. I'll do better."

  "Did you apologize this much when you were younger? I feel like I would have remembered it if you did."

  Tristan took a seat at her vanity, facing her with a wry glance. It struck her as hilarious seeing a man as tall and broad as Tristan seated at the delicate vanity that she had used as a young girl. She was also aware of what a complete and utter scandal this would be if anyone were to see them, but for some reason, she was completely and utterly devoid of worry in that regard. It was as if all of her emotions had been severely overtaxed by everything that was happening, and she wasn't feeling things correctly anymore. She'd be worried if she could be.

  "Georgiana, you have a way of making the strangest things feel like insults."

  "Well, thank you?"

  "And of taking the strangest things as compliments. I like it more than I should."

  "I like you more than I should."

  The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and Tristan laughed softly as she covered her mouth with her hand.

  "Pretend you didn't hear that."

  "All right. I suppose you've had such a rough time of it lately that I should let that go." He rose from the vanity, looking around a little haplessly as if unsure of how he had come to be in this situation.

  "Will you be able to rest? Tomorrow, we should go to the village to speak with the recruiting sergeant and to see the records."

  Georgiana nodded. "I will be able to rest. You should, too. Don't think that I haven't noticed that you're always up at all hours."

  "I'll try. Goodnight, Georgiana."

  Her hostess instincts led her to escort him to the door, for all the world as if they were at a proper dinner party. He paused before she opened the door, and for a single moment, she thought he was going to kiss her again. In the space of a heartbeat, she felt wrenched by passion, need, reluctance, fear, and a delicious sense of wickedness.

  Finally, though, Tristan only inclined his head at her gravely and left, stealing away as quietly as if he entered unmarried ladies' rooms all the time.

  She couldn't quite decide how that made her feel, but the word that occurred to her as she lay in bed that night was 'disappointed.'

  * * *

  Chapter 15

  The next day dawned gray and drizzling. Tristan was startled that he had slept as well as he had, and as he dressed, he wondered what they might find that day. He had risen earlier than all but the kitchen servants, but he managed to convince them to send him breakfast in the small dining room. By the time Georgiana appeared, yawning but dressed for the day in a trim brown dress walking out, there was already a small spread of porridge, ham, and some hard winter apples on the table.

  "I didn't realize that you lost all your bright colors when you were in the country. You never did before."

  Georgiana glanced down at her dress with a shrug. "I'm not after dressing up and calling attention to myself today. Quite the opposite, really. I have a veil to go along with this as well that I'm not looking forward to wearing. I don't need my father to catch wind of the fact that I'm roving through the land with a Carrow. He nearly had apoplexy when he found out you were staying under our roof."

  Tristan realized that he was so very used to Georgiana doing as she pleased and venturing where she wished that he had somehow forgotten how unusual and even scandalous their situation was. Suddenly, a veil seemed like a very poor defense against recognition and the shame that could come with it.

  "I could go to town alone, find the recruiting sergeant myself."

  "That's not a thing that is happening, and I wish you would find a different tune. I need to get to the bottom of this as well, and I refuse to—"

  "To depend on me?"

  She shot him a dark look, picking at the porridge in front of her. "It is much too early in the morning for your needling, Tristan. No. I just cannot leave this to other people. I won't. This is my mess, and even if I cannot fix it alone, I will not leave it solely to others."

  Tristan sighed, because he could expect no less. He supposed that in a man, her determination would be commendable, even admirable. In a young woman, it was something else. He couldn't even say what, because there really were no young women like Georgiana.

  They were talking about how they would get to the village when there was a clatter of footsteps in the hallway, and the door burst open, revealing two female figures still covered in lightly dampened spencers.

  "Has no one taught the people of Devon to knock?"

  Georgiana's exasperation was snuffed like a candle when she turned to recognize the first, rising from her chair and crossing over to her.

  "My goodness, Tabi!"

  Regardless of the wet, Georgiana folded the smaller girl into her arms as Tristan looked on with interest. The girl in Georgiana's embrace was slender and rather short with auburn hair and large thoughtful gray eyes. Unlike Georgiana's bright beauty, her charm was far quieter. Her eyes seemed to take in everything, reminding Tristan of the quiet animals of the forest, the ones who watched with their own silent wisdom.

  To Tristan's surprise, he recognized the girl behind her. She was rather taller with sleek brown hair and brown eyes. Her skin was darker than might be preferred in London, but for the most part, the Parrs never came to London at all.

  "Eleanor?"

  The girl looked up in surprise, and Tristan supposed that finding a Carrow at breakfast with a Martin was quite unexpected.

  "My lord!"

  Tristan snorted, rising to take her hand.

  "You can leave off with that, Eleanor. I remember you when you were still falling into the creek."

  She smiled a little sphinx smile. He remembered that the middle Parr sibling was always a little bit of an enigma, but he had always thought her sensible.

  At Georgiana and her companion's confused look, Eleanor shrugged.

  "Just because I spend all my time chasing down Norman inscriptions with Tabi doesn't mean that I've completely rejected the Carrows. Parrs and Carrows go back a long time."

  "So do Parrs and Martins," declared the auburn-haired girl. Tristan realized belatedly that this must be Tabitha Kingsley, a distant relation of the Martins. He had heard that she was something of a poor relation come to live with the main branch of the Martins, but she looked quite at home at Fox Hall.

  Eleanor shook her head. "Please, don't reignite that feud on my account. Parrs are terrible at choosing sides."

  Georgiana, Tristan noticed, was giving Eleanor a surprisingly narrow look, but she smiled, gracious as ever, making introductions all around.

  Tabi waited through them, and then turned to Georgiana impatiently.

  "Toomes told us when we came in that there was a terrible fuss last night, that you came home with a guest, and that Uncle Peter got out of bed. He was quite beside himself!"

 
Tristan blinked. "Toomes. Quite beside himself. Did he crack his facade with a frown or something?"

  Tabi blinked. "Of course. He's a bit delicate, the poor old dear."

  Georgiana laughed, a sweet sound that soothed Tristan in some way that barely made sense. "Tabi has a way with... well, everyone, let's say. She's always dealt better with Father than I ever have."

  "Georgie..."

  "Oh, please, not that tired old nickname. And it's always been true. I was wondering where you had gotten to last night. Dinner would have been far better with you to play buffer."

  Tabi nodded at Eleanor, who was keeping her own counsel through all of this family talk. Tristan remembered her as a quiet girl with a streak of wildness that surfaced at unexpected times, like gold rising out of dull granite.

  "We were exploring some of the ruins to the north. It rained so much that we were compelled to take shelter with Eleanor's aunt."

  "Well, I'm glad you were safe, and I am glad to see you," Georgiana replied.

  "Oh, I'm so pleased to see you as well! Are you going to be staying in Devon long?"

  A shadow passed over Georgiana's face, and Tristan spoke up.

  "It's up in the air. Georgiana has been kind enough to offer me accommodation while I'm in Devon seeing to some business concerns."

  Tabi blinked, and her eyes slid between her cousin and Tristan curiously. Tristan could imagine what figures she was adding, but it didn't matter.

  "Oh, I see. Well, I should probably get out of these wet clothes and see to Uncle Peter, and I was going to get Eleanor changed, too. I will see you two later, then."

  Eleanor and Tabi disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and Georgiana followed them to the door to lock it after them.

  "Save me from the enthusiasm of a truly sweet girl."

  Tristan grinned. "She seemed sweet."

  "Sweet and with entirely the wrong idea of why you are in Devon."

  "That's really not going to be a problem if we are going to be solving the mystery of your blackmailer as soon as we can and returning to London."

  "I suppose you have a point. Regardless, it's time we get on with our investigation. If there's any justice in the world, we will be back at home with good information before Tabi thinks to miss us."

  Before they left the dining room, however, Georgiana paused.

  "Thank you."

  "For what?"

  "You shouldn't play coy. It doesn't suit you. But thank you for telling Tabi what we were doing here. I suppose it makes me terrible that I do not mind lying much when it is in the cause of greater social smoothness or when I am in a tight corner, but I have never liked lying to my family."

  Tristan almost denied it, but then, he had never liked lying at all. Instead, he nodded. "Think nothing of it."

  * * *

  Oxley looked more than faintly put out when Tristan told him there was no need for his services that day.

  "My lord, the road is still muddy as sin. It'll take a dab hand on the reins to make sure the carriage doesn't get stuck."

  Tristan grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. "I'll ignore your bad faith in my driving abilities, but I should be fine. We'll ride instead of drive. Stay in and keep warm. You've done more than enough driving over the past few days."

  "You know, from what Blythe told me, you barely know the names of your servants."

  Tristan winced a little. "She's not lying. I've never been all that aware of the people of the household, but after Blythe's little adventure, I had to become so. Mostly these days, I'm just trying to remember that they're people.

  Georgiana's laugh was warm. "Well, you're doing quite well. It's good to see. People can change after all."

  They took two of Fox Hall's geldings out on the road instead. Georgiana did not care for riding much, but she still had a fine seat, and they made good time to town. In other circumstances, it occurred to Tristan that he would have liked the ride very much. He wasn't sure when he had last been riding rather than traveling by carriage.

  Georgiana had worn a veil as she said she would, but there were markedly few people on the road or in the town square itself.

  Tristan looked around. "Quiet today."

  "Likely kept in over the rain. Well, I don't mind. That makes it easier for us, doesn't it?"

  They stabled the horses at the local inn, and before Georgiana could go charging off to look for the recruiting sergeant, Tristan caught her by the arm.

  "Before we go, we should get our story straight."

  She frowned at him. "I was simply going to play it by ear, so to speak."

  "That might work when you are on your own and convincing some girl's mother that you are a good influence, but this is a little different. After all, we only have one try to get this right."

  "All right. You're the brother of the man, and I'm your wife?"

  Tristan sighed. "I suppose that will work. The fact that no one would ever believe that we are siblings works well in favor of that plan.

  Georgiana grinned, brighter than the weak sunlight filtering through the trees. "Well, it is a plan that has worked very well for quite some time now, has it not? Come, husband, take my arm and let us go find your errant brother."

  Tristan felt as if he should be irritated with her or frustrated, but at the end of the day, he knew it wouldn't last. Damn him, but he could never stay angry with her.

  "As you like, darling."

  She laughed lightly as she took his offered arm. She was tall enough that they could walk together quite comfortably down the road, and Tristan couldn't help but feel as if they were walking right toward trouble.

  * * *

  Chapter 16

  Georgiana wasn't sure of what she was expecting when they made their way to the recruitment office. It was not an elderly man with a bristling mustache presiding over a system of papers and stamps that all seemed to have their own chaotic order.

  He looked up from his work as they walked into the small office. Georgiana, well used to male attention, was a little startled when his eyes skimmed right over her and landed on Tristan.

  "I'm afraid that this is not where one goes to purchase a commission, sir. You'll need to talk to the office in London."

  "I'm not here to enlist, I'm afraid. I have business with you, sir."

  The man looked at Tristan with a gimlet eye, and Georgiana covered her smile with a hand over her mouth. Tristan, as the new Duke of Parrington, was very used to people who were invested in making sure they had his good opinion. It meant that he probably dealt with as many toadying bootlickers as she did, but it also meant that he was used to a modicum of respect.

  "Aye, sir. What could that be?"

  Tristan frowned briefly at the man's insolence but continued unfazed,

  "We are looking for my brother, a Private John Watersley, and—"

  "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I can't help you." The man spoke with such a degree of finality that Georgiana blinked.

  Tristan seemed quite taken aback.

  "I beg your pardon."

  The man already seemed to have forgotten they were there, ostensibly going back to his business with the various slips of paper on his desk. At Tristan's tone, which to anyone else would have been a warning, he turned his gaze back to them with almost insolent slowness.

  "No need to beg, sir. I'll give it away for free. You're forgiven."

  If the situation wasn't so very dire, she would have laughed aloud at watching Tristan meet someone who wasn't at all impressed with him.

  "My brother has been missing for some space of years, and we have had no word of him."

  "Aye, that's very sad for you. I hope that your mourning will not take an undue burden on your life."

  "See here—"

  "No, you see here. You see these files I got all around me? These are the sheets the recruits fill out when they enlist, leastwise, the ones who can write do so. They say who is to be notified if they died or if they are re-stationed. If you are not on the list, you do
not receive notice, and as you have not received notice, you are not on the list."

  Tristan was going quite red around the face.

  Georgiana switched from amusement to being worried he was going to get thrown out on his ear.

  "Tristan..."

  "That's ridiculous. I'm not going to stand here, and—"

  Georgiana realized with a sinking feeling that there was a chance this situation could actually come to blows. As far as the sergeant was concerned, Tristan might be any manner of relation trying to get in touch with an honest soldier, and as far as Tristan was concerned, he was too used to getting his way to be thwarted like this.

  Georgiana's thoughts raced, and much as she disliked it, she settled on a ploy that had served her well once or twice when she was a young girl.

  She started crying.

  She took in great gasps of air until her breath stuttered and she started to sob, and then she simply wiped fiercely at her eyes, provoking tears where there had been none before. Tristan and the sergeant both stopped in their mutual tirade to look at her with shock, and she kept it up for a few moments more to make sure that they were well and truly stopped.

  "Georgiana? Are you all right?"

  She allowed Tristan to touch her shoulder briefly, and she leaned in against him.

  "Go outside, I will handle this."

  For a moment, she thought that Tristan would fight her. It wasn't the gentlemanly thing to do, and it certainly wasn't what his instincts were telling him to do. However, he squeezed her shoulder briefly, and then without another look at the recruiting sergeant, he turned around and walked out the door.

  Georgiana continued to sniffle, waiting until the sergeant came around his desk to help her awkwardly to a chair. It was a relief. For a moment, she thought he was going to simply keep staring at her and leave her to come up with something more.

  "There, there, now, lass, don't take on like that."

  She took the handkerchief he offered and dabbed at her mostly dry eyes, hiccupping a little as she did so.