“Beware Jacinda Brown, Lady Anne’s daughter, or have you already met her?”
“I don’t think I’ve even met Anne Brown, much less her daughter.”
“Then let me tell you, Jacinda is proving to be quite the minx. She’s far too forward in her flirtations, dare I say, improperly so.” Phoebe leaned close to whisper, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s—experienced.”
Amanda frowned. “You shouldn’t spread that around, Phoebe, not without proof.”
“Of course I won’t,” Phoebe said in a wounded tone. “But you’re my best friend and I just wanted to warn you why you should stay clear of her. As bold as she is, she’s bound to get into trouble. And she’s being quite nasty to any of the young debs seen talking with Devin Baldwin.”
Amanda stiffened. “Why?”
“She hasn’t actually said so, but it’s obvious she’s set her cap for him. Yet she’s not the only one hopeful in that direction, so tempers have been flaring, enemies are definitely being made, and there’s bound to be an unpleasant scene sooner or later because of it.”
So jealousy was running amok, over Devin? Did he even know? For that matter, was he looking for a wife this Season? If he was, wouldn’t someone have mentioned it by now? He was still a hot topic for gossip.
Quite curious now, she asked Phoebe, “Is she here tonight? Jacinda?”
“Over there, already latched onto Baldwin. I wouldn’t be surprised if she surreptitiously changed name cards around to make sure she sits with him tonight.”
Amanda glanced in that direction. Had Phoebe got into the habit of exaggerating? Amanda had actually noticed Jacinda before in passing. She was one of the prettier debutantes this Season, blond, dark brown eyes, a little taller than normal, a lot more curvaceous than normal. They’d never actually met, but Amanda recalled she’d giggled to herself when she’d seen Carlton Webb ogling the girl’s breasts one night. But the young debutante wasn’t even talking to Devin as Phoebe had implied. She was chatting with his companion, Blythe Pace. No, actually, he was paying attention to their conversation. Was that a sultry look the girl just gave him?
Amanda didn’t realize she was grinding her teeth and burning a hole in Jacinda’s forehead with a fulminating glare. But the heat in Amanda’s eyes went away when Devin walked away from the two debutantes. Obviously thinking Blythe was well occupied for the moment conversing with Jacinda, he moved several groups away to talk to John Trask. Yet the moment he left, so did Jacinda, and poor Blythe was left standing alone and suddenly looking ill at ease because of it.
Amanda decided to rescue the girl, and telling Phoebe she’d see her at Norford soon, she crossed the room to stand with Blythe. Amanda only had to shake her head sternly at Farrell Exter who was quickly heading to intercept her, to discourage him from it.
“We meet again, Miss Pace,” she said in a friendly manner. “How are you enjoying the Season?”
Blythe gave her a warm smile. “Wonderfully.”
“It would appear your brother is still trusting you to Devin Baldwin’s care?”
“Not by choice. William had an accident recently that will be keeping him in bed for a while.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. But he’ll be all right?”
Blythe grinned. “Oh, indeed, he’s already complaining about it. He deplores idleness.”
“Well, let’s hope he recovers quickly, because your current chaperone is a little less attentive than he ought to be, isn’t he, leaving you alone like this?”
“Actually he’s very attentive,” Blythe said in Devin’s defense, then whispered, “I don’t think he likes Jacinda Brown. She keeps joining us, pretending friendship with me, when she isn’t the least bit friendly when we’re alone. I don’t doubt he’ll be back in a moment, as soon as he notices she’s gone elsewhere.”
Amanda wished she could believe that, but it was probably just the impression he wanted to give Blythe. How could he not find Jacinda Brown attractive and her interest in him highly flattering? The chit was too pretty. Then it struck her. Good Lord, this was how she’d felt about Ophelia her first Season! Jealous? Just because Devin was her riding instructor? She did enjoy the give-and-take and the challenge he posed during their lessons, so was she feeling a little possessive over a man she was starting to view as a friend and confidant?
“You know him well, do you?” she asked Blythe.
“Oh, yes, since I was so high.” Blythe raised a hand that didn’t get any higher than their breasts. “My brother brought him home from school every year for a few weeks, and twice he spent the whole summer with us. I used to fancy I was in love with him,” Blythe added with a blush.
Amanda pursed her lips. And still was, was her guess, but the girl obviously didn’t want to admit it. But when Amanda heard herself say, “Used to?” she did some blushing herself. That was none of her business!
“Well, it’s obvious he has no interest in getting married, while I do. And my brother would prefer I settle on someone immensely rich, which Devin isn’t. The Baldwins aren’t poor by any means, but you know how brothers can be.”
And that satisfied Amanda’s curiosity. He wasn’t wife hunting himself. And she’d pried a little more than she ought to, so she steered the subject back to Blythe. “Making any headway toward our collective goal this Season?”
“You mean toward marriage?” At Amanda’s nod, Blythe confided, “I’m quite impressed with Oliver Norse.”
Amanda smiled. “I believe you’re both invited to Norford next week. A good time to get to know Oliver better. And it looks like Devin is on his way back to you, so I’ll go find my father and our table. Enjoy the rest of the evening, Blythe.”
Amanda couldn’t leave fast enough. She didn’t want to talk to Devin tonight. It still unnerved her to see him in genteel settings such as this, where he seemed so out of place, as big and muscular as he was. And after that silly bit of jealousy she’d just had, for whatever reason, she was afraid her temper was a bit too riled up, and he was the one man who could provoke it without even trying, so the less they spoke tonight the better.
She spotted her father already seated at their table and joined him. And in perfect time. The entertainment for the evening began, a young woman with a lovely voice, with piano accompaniment, who would be singing for the duration of the meal. That was the cue for all to find their seats. Most had already noted their name cards, but some hadn’t bothered to, leading to a bit of a confusion for a while, and dinner wasn’t going to be served until the last seat was filled.
Amanda wasn’t really surprised that Lady Durrant would want the Duke of Norford at her table. But there were six chairs, and when Amanda turned to see who else was being honored to sit with their host and hostess, she met amber eyes she was all too familiar with.
Amanda quickly looked away. She should have guessed. The most lofty title in the room and the man whose name was still on everyone’s lips were seated at their hosts’ table. Quite a coup for the Durrants. And quite an annoyance for Amanda. She would ignore him, of course, and she didn’t care how rude it would appear. It was easy to keep her eyes off him. But she couldn’t ignore him, not when she was tingling with agitation because of him. She’d never been so aware of someone in proximity before. She could smell something spicy coming from him, and, good grief, she could even hear his breathing! But her wish that he’d ignore her and just talk to the others at their table was too much to hope for.
He seemed to wait until Lady Durrant had Preston’s full attention on Amanda’s other side before he said quietly to her, “Will you be coming to the farm at the usual time tomorrow? As long as you’re not late, I should have time to make my appointment at the racetrack in the afternoon.”
“Yes, I’ll be there on time, and I’m always gone before noon,” she reminded him without looking at him.
“I know, but I want you to bring your fishing pole along tomorrow.”
“Excuse me?”
“We’re going to find out
if you still like to fish.”
Her eyes snapped to his. “Are you still concerned with my interests? I could have sworn you said the only one I needed right now was riding. Which, I should point out, my father thinks is a ridiculous requirement for marriage.”
“Yet you’re still going to continue?”
“Yes,” she mumbled. “But for myself. As for common ground, I’ll have you know my brother is happily married and he doesn’t share any of his wife’s interests, nor she his. They simply love each other to distraction.”
She caught his shrug before she glanced surreptitiously around the table to make sure no one was listening to them. Fortunately, two other conversations were progressing loudly enough that their low tones wouldn’t be overheard.
“A rarity, that,” Devin said. “More often, a marriage will deteriorate to complacency if the couple has nothing in common other than the first bloom.”
“ ‘Deteriorate’?”
“The husband will start looking to greener pastures.”
She blushed, as he so often made her do with his bluntness. “This isn’t a proper topic of conversation for a dinner party,” she reprimanded.
His grin was unrepentant. “Cupid’s arrow can sometimes be rather pointed.”
Much too blunt as usual, and now she was annoyed because she would like to go fishing again, but not with him! So she was going to spite herself and not bring a fishing pole along to her next lesson. She had to make Devin understand that she wouldn’t tolerate being his good deed.
But before she could mention it, her father asked Devin how she was doing with her lessons, since he hadn’t chaperoned her on her last few visits to the farm. Devin complimented her in his reply, and her father sighed, “I suppose we should start looking for her white mare then.”
Amanda patted her father’s hand. “My fear is completely gone.” She grinned. “Of course I haven’t gotten near a sidesaddle again.”
“And perhaps you shouldn’t. Period.”
She laughed. “Can you really picture me riding astride in Hyde Park?”
“No, but I can picture you confining your riding to private property such as our home in Norford, or if you’re still doing it for your future husband’s sake, on his estate. All points nicely satisfied, including my worry. What do you think, Devin?”
“I’m not a fan of those contraptions either, m’lord. I wholeheartedly agree with you.”
But that would mean her lessons were pretty much at an end. The thought should have thrilled her, but it didn’t, not at all.
Lady Durrant captured Devin’s attention for most of the remainder of the meal, her questions a bit too pointed, but listening to the two without seeming to, Amanda wasn’t hearing anything she didn’t already know until the lady asked about his father. Her own curiosity was piqued, and she was disappointed to hear him bluntly change the subject without even acknowledging the question.
She passed on dessert and escaped for a few minutes to the terrace while her father lingered at the table, conversing with the Durrants. Quite a few other guests had had the same idea of catching a few breaths of night air, but she didn’t join any of the groups and stopped by a tall, narrow statue of a mythical goddess and gazed up at the stars. She loved clear nights such as this when the full spectrum of stars twinkled in the sky, even if it was a bit chilly.
“So you like stargazing, too?”
She’d somehow known it was Devin approaching her, but she didn’t take her eyes off the sky. “They’re so beautiful.”
“Reed and I used to lie out behind the stable when we were children and try to find all the constellations.” She was surprised enough to laugh, which made him ask, “You find that amusing?”
She met his eyes, a twinkle in hers. “No, Becky and I used to do the same thing!”
He was standing close enough that she didn’t feel quite as cold, yet she still shivered. He must have noticed. He immediately took off his coat and slipped it over her shoulders. His scent surrounded her, a nice scent that she took a deep breath of. The man did have his gallant moments.
“I’m surprised you’re familiar with the constellations.” He looked up at the sky as well. “Most women aren’t.”
“My education was a little more rounded.”
“And you paid attention?” He grinned.
She chuckled. “Of course! With my father wanting full reports, I had to!”
“How many can you count?”
“I see three.”
“There’s a fourth.”
He was pointing to his left, yet he was gazing down at her. She was arrested by the sudden intensity in his gaze, by how much brighter the amber in his eyes looked, and by his husky tone, which was almost like a caress when he said, “They’re as beautiful as the stars.”
“What is?” she heard herself whisper.
“Your eyes.”
Amanda drew in her breath.
Devin abruptly took her arm, but it was to lead her back inside! He took her straight back to her father, who’d left their table, but was still having a few more words with their hosts. Devin thanked them for the evening, bid them good night, and Amanda was sure he wasn’t going to say another word to her, he seemed so eager to collect Blythe and get out of there.
Yet he did, just two words: “Fishing pole.” Which left her gritting her teeth. They’d actually shared—dare she say—a romantic moment? No, not romantic. That man wouldn’t know how to be romantic. But it had been pleasant. Yet trust him to summon forth the rude brute to ruin it.
Chapter Thirty-Five
IT WASN’T DEVIN’S HABIT to do anything spontaneously. But he’d done just that last night when he’d told Amanda he was taking her fishing. What if she brought her father with her again? He couldn’t exactly ask a duke to go fishing with them! This was a good example of why he never did anything spontaneously.
But he had to laugh at himself. A pond was near his farm, but he didn’t even know if it had any fish in it. He’d never exactly had time to find out. He didn’t have a fishing pole, either. His old one was at the Lancashire farm, but he was able to borrow his uncle’s for the day, just in case Amanda took him up on his offer.
But he was going to be late getting to the farm today. Not because of traffic. The residential street was as empty as it usually was that early in the morning. But because the very last thing he ever expected to happen was to pass his father, who was just stepping out of his coach on that quiet street. He didn’t recognize Wolseley at first. He’d never forget that coach, though, and the crest on it, or how many nights he’d stared at it from his window.
He harbored such a deep rage for this man who had taken his mother’s love and had given so little in return—and had given Devin nothing of himself. The rage rose up, so overwhelming him he didn’t even know how he got off his horse, didn’t even realize he’d slammed his fist into Lawrence Wolseley’s face—until he was looking down at him sprawled on the sidewalk, and Wolseley’s driver leapt down from the coach to try to hold him back from hurting his employer any further.
But it was impossible to restrain him. Devin threw the man off. But some of the maddened haze was starting to clear as he snarled at Lawrence, “You cost me the last months of my mother’s life!”
Lawrence looked confused and angry to have been attacked, he must have assumed, without provocation. He hadn’t changed all that much in the nineteen years since Devin had last seen him. His hair was just as dark, he still dressed just as impeccably. If he was in his fifties yet, he didn’t look it.
“Who are you and what the devil are you talking about?” Lawrence demanded.
“Elaine Baldwin?” Devin reminded the man. “My God, you don’t even remember her?”
“Of course I—Devin? Is that you?”
Only then did it occur to him that Lawrence Wolseley wouldn’t recognize him. Of course he wouldn’t, Devin had been a child the last time they had seen each other. That realization did nothing to assuage his anger, but at
least he was no longer blinded by it.
Lawrence waved his driver back from trying again to restrain Devin, but he obviously wished he hadn’t when Devin said, “You can’t imagine how many times I’ve thought about killing you.”
The man paled. “Is that your intention?”
“I want to know why you’ve ignored me my whole life. Just tell me that. Give me a bloody excuse, anything, so I can understand how a man could—”
“I think you’re under a misconception.”
“Like hell I am!” Devin growled. “She sent me away because of you!”
“No, she sent you away because you were asking questions she felt you were too young to hear the answers to.”
“That I’m a bastard? Did she really think I couldn’t figure that out?”
“Yes, but not mine.”
The mindless rage nearly returned. Devin didn’t think the man would deny it at this point. He could feel the urge to beat the truth out of Wolseley rising within him.
Then, slowly getting to his feet, Wolseley added, “I do have a few, you’re just not one of them. I actually wish you were. But I know your father. I was a friend of his for many years.”
Devin didn’t believe him. “ ‘Was’? I suppose you’re going to tell me he’s dead?”
“Was as in ‘not any longer.’ He confided in me and asked me to keep an eye on you and Elaine for him. I’d never met your mother before then. He asked that of me because he didn’t want to do it himself. He thought it would encourage her and it probably would have. He hoped she’d get on with her life and forget about him. Believe it or not, he was fond of Elaine, in his fashion. And she didn’t know he already had a wife when she was involved with him, or she might not have—”
“Had me?” Devin cut in icily.
Lawrence nodded sadly. “I’m not going to pretty him up for you, Devin. Your father was a lecher of the worst sort. Thathe was married, that he even had children from his marriage, he never volunteered any of that personal information until he was ready to move on to the next sexual conquest. Because he was so exceptionally handsome, women fell in love with him all over the country, and he took full advantage of it. But he wasn’t really in the habit of ruining young girls from good families. Your mother was one of the few exceptions.”
Let Love Find You Page 20