by Jaimey Grant
To say Aurora was intrigued would be to grossly understate the truth. She was baffled by her friend’s hesitancy, alarmed by her seriousness, and made wary by the way the other woman chewed on her lower lip.
Verena glanced at Bri and Bri complied with her pleading look by taking the problem out of her hands. “Do you really have no money?” she asked bluntly.
In a split moment, Aurora realized that she had to stick with her story of penury even with these, her friends. She hated that she had to, but she couldn’t take the chance of anyone finding out.
“I really have no money,” she confirmed calmly. “Well, I have some, enough for a Season, but that is all. If I don’t make a good marriage, I will have to begin a life of genteel poverty.”
Verena nodded, but Bri looked skeptical. Aurora realized it would not be as easy to fool the perceptive Countess of Rothsmere as it would the trusting Lady Connor.
Bri trusted no one.
~~~~~~
The door clicked shut and somewhere in Raven’s chest, her heart broke. No, it shattered.
Moments ago, she’d received her congé from Lord Levi Greville. She had known it would happen, expected it at any time. The gossip mill revealed an escalation in his search for a bride. With several prospects selected, her dismissal was inevitable.
A certain air about him today, however, suggested something far different had occurred. He was not simply dismissing his mistress because he didn’t want a shred of scandal to attach itself to his wife. He dismissed her because he wanted to. He was done with her. He had moved on to something, someone else.
He was too much of a gentleman to say such a thing, of course. But there had been something in his eyes that had said he was bored.
No, it hadn’t been boredom, but Raven refused to acknowledge the emotion she had seen.
Reaching out, Raven possessed herself of a letter opener, idly playing with the sharp little blade. Her mind was not on the object in her hands.
Levi had left a parting gift. She hadn’t expected it. She didn’t want it. But it was beautiful and she knew she would treasure it always. It was the most exquisite bracelet of rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires. It was small and delicate instead of the normal gaudy type of jewelry gentlemen bought for their mistresses.
Raven Emerson was inconsolable. She sat in her sunny little parlor, her favorite room, staring at the closed door as if by doing so she could conjure him back. Why, oh why, did she have to fall in love with her protector? It was the stupidest mistake a mistress could make. Gentlemen never married their light-o’-loves. They had one use for them and that was all.
Raven knew she had been fortunate in her brief foray into the world of the demimonde. She had only had two protectors and both had treated her with respect and gentleness. And she had loved them both.
Adam was different than Lord Greville, however. Adam had been, and still was, her friend. Even his wife was her friend. She supposed Levi would be her friend, but she wanted nothing to do with the miserable little heiress he had decided to marry.
Her beautiful face creasing with emotion, Raven struck the arm of her chair.
For the first time in her life, she felt hatred for something. She hated whoever the little witch was who put that look in his eye. And she would get her comeuppance, Raven swore. She’d see to that.
Raven swept from the room, the letter opener vibrating mildly in the arm of her chair.
*
Chapter Five
If Raven had ever actually met Aurora Glendenning before receiving her congé, she may have changed her mind. She may have never considered revenge. She may have realized that she didn’t actually love Levi, she was obsessed. After all, anyone who met Aurora would have a difficult time hating her.
Miss Ellison was on the point of wanting to strangle her, it was true. But at least the girl had gotten over that strange clumsy streak. Now she was just absentminded.
It was Wednesday night and the vouchers for Almack’s had arrived just that morning for the two of them. Even Ellie was excited although she told herself she had no reason to be at her age. She was a spinster of five and thirty, not a green girl in her comeout year.
Smoothing down the satin skirt of her dark blue gown, she hoped she looked as well as she felt. It was amazing how a pretty new dress could make a woman feel as if anything was possible. Perhaps she would meet someone.
Not at this rate, she thought glumly. First, Aurora had forgotten her fan so they made their way back. Then, her reticule turned up missing. They returned all the way home only to find that it had somehow gotten pushed between the squabs of the coach and had been with them all along. Her shawl didn’t match her gown of apple green watered silk and her shoes got splattered with mud when she wasn’t watching where she was going.
Damn the rain anyway, Ellie thought with unaccustomed pique. Aurora was hurrying back to the coach and thankfully nothing befell her to delay them more. As it was, they would only just make it.
The doors to Almack’s closed at eleven o’clock. After eleven no one was admitted. The patronesses were adamant in this rule. Would they make an exception for the Prince Regent? Miss Ellison thought not. They had refused the Duke of Wellington admittance when he had arrived after eleven.
~~~~~~
They finally arrived. Ellie was disappointed. So was Aurora. After everything the ladies had heard, they were expecting nothing less than Valhalla. The marriage mart looked more like a cattle auction than the grand place it was touted to be. The dancing area was actually roped off and the couples promenading around the edge looked like nothing short of animals being put through their paces.
The food was simple fare, intended not to distract from the principal entertainment, the dancing. Nothing stronger than orgeat or lemonade was offered to drink. Aurora wondered why the gentlemen bothered to come. Unless, of course, they were actually looking to get leg-shackled.
When Aurora voiced her dismay to Verena and Connor, who had kindly escorted Aurora and Ellie that night, Lord Connor just laughed and pointed out that she had best not say such things within hearing of the patronesses else she’d find herself a social pariah. Which made Miss Glendenning laugh. Until she saw Lord Greville.
He was dancing with the most beautiful auburn-haired siren Aurora had ever seen. Even as she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, she was consumed with the sudden desire to dunk the beauty’s head in a fountain. Alarmed and dismayed, she attempted to stifle the feeling. It was amazingly like jealousy.
“Who is the beautiful lady dancing with Lord Greville?” Aurora whispered to Verena. She refused to call that particular lady young.
“That is Miss Weatherby. Her father is a baron and looking to get her off his hands,” the other woman replied with unusual cynicism. “I don’t know her well, just that this is not her first season. I suppose Bri’s cousin is interested in Miss Weatherby’s dowry. It’s said to be quite large.”
“Bri’s cousin?”
Verena turned to look at her friend. “Did you not know?” she asked in surprise. “Levi Greville is Bri’s cousin.”
Northwicke escorted his lady onto the dance floor before Aurora had a chance to reply to this shocking revelation. Why had no one told her?
Then she saw that nice Lord Delwyn that she had met before. He walked toward her and she smiled brightly as he bowed and asked her for the next set. She saw the look of pique on Levi’s face as he watched them, so she said yes.
Thankfully, the movements in the dance made conversation nearly impossible. Aurora wasn’t sure she would be a very good companion at that moment. She enjoyed the dance, nevertheless, and thanked Lord Delwyn prettily after he returned her to Miss Ellison.
He signed her dance card for later in the evening and she curtsied to him with a bright smile. When she rose, she noticed several other young gentlemen had joined him, all intent on dancing with her. With a laugh, Aurora produced her dance card and allowed the gentlemen to take which dances they would.
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Then Lord Greville appeared and none too happy at that. Several of the men backed away with wary looks on their faces. Aurora glared at him.
“How do you do, Lord Greville?” she asked with a brittle smile.
He bowed, his smile just as false. “Very well, Miss Glendenning. I wonder, do you have any dances free?” He took her dance card before she could avoid it. “Ah, the waltzes, I see. Why is that?”
“I have not yet been given permission, my lord,” Aurora said from between clenched teeth, having been warned by Ellie that waltzes were strictly prohibited to those without permission. The rest of the gentlemen scurried off.
“Then perhaps I should seek permission for you,” Levi suggested with a hard look in his eyes.
“Please don’t trouble yourself, Lord Greville. I don’t feel like waltzing tonight,” she replied, forcing a sincerity into her words that she did not feel. “Especially with you,” she muttered under her breath.
A rude chuckle reached Aurora’s ears. Cheeks heating, she turned and beheld his grace, the Duke of Derringer, watching them with open amusement. Apparently, he thought it was quite a lark to watch the two argue like wronged lovers.
Levi turned on his friend. “This is not a farce for your entertainment, Hart,” he bit out in an undertone.
“Ah, but I think it is,” was the duke’s lazy reply. “Why else would you dare to argue like wronged lovers in Almack’s? Besides, Vi, unlike those other gentlemen, I don’t fear you and I find I’d like to dance with the lady even if I have to meet you come dawn. Adds a certain something to the exercise.”
Levi bowed, a scowl settling on his boyish features. “Have at her, my friend. I care not.” And he walked away.
“Sometimes that man makes me want to scream,” Aurora said without thought. She blushed and glanced up at the duke. “I apologize, your grace, for that embarrassing scene. It was ill done of me to indulge in it.”
“What has my large and not overly bright friend done to incur your wrath?”
Quite sure she should be insulted by his impertinence, Aurora simply stared at him for a moment. Then she shrugged, saying, “He has done nothing, actually. I am not usually so quick to anger, I assure you.”
Lord Derringer ignored her comment and asked her to dance.
“I have only the waltzes, as Lord Greville pointed out.”
Derringer looked around. He caught sight of Lady Jersey. “Sally,” he called, “a moment.”
Aurora stared, dumbfounded, when that lady hurried over at the imperious call of the duke. She was even more surprised when Lady Jersey flirted with him shamelessly before granting his request to waltz with Miss Glendenning.
Aurora curtsied to the patroness and murmured her appreciation. The duke signed his name beside a waltz and took his leave without so much as a goodbye. Aurora watched him go, perplexed. The man was rude and a most uncomfortable person to be around. She wondered how a cheerful flirt like Levi Greville could even bear being friends with such a man.
Two dances later, Levi returned to her side. He looked at her expectantly but said nothing. With a sigh and a feeling of exasperation, Aurora handed over her card. He signed his name beside her last waltz and grinned.
“Until then, Sprite,” he murmured as he raised her hand to his lips.
She restrained herself from slapping the infuriating man and said instead, “I look forward to it, my lord.” She imbued as much sarcasm as she could into the statement.
The earl just grinned again and walked away.
“Infuriating, is he not?” asked an ironic voice beside her.
Aurora looked up into the black eyes of the Duke of Derringer. The band struck up a waltz. She curtsied to the duke, saying with false brightness, “Indeed.”
“Our dance, I think,” the duke murmured, offering his arm.
“Indeed,” Aurora said again, feeling at a distinct disadvantage with the man Society deemed dangerous. But Ellie had offered no objection to their dance beyond a whispered warning to take care.
Aurora followed the duke onto the floor with no small amount of trepidation. The man was unnerving, frightening almost. He had a way of looking at one as if seeing every thought that happened to cross one’s mind or heart. In a way, he was much like Lord Greville. The earl could pierce her thoughts as well. She had not the least amount of fear of the earl, however.
The duke never smiled, she thought as she stared up at the gentleman who held her so close in his arms. He held her a little too close, actually. And he wasn’t even looking at her. Head turned, he gazed at someone off to the side.
Miss Glendenning swiveled her head slightly to see what held his attention. The Earl of Greville watched with a grim look on his handsome face. Glancing back at Derringer, she caught the hellish delight that sparked his black eyes.
The cad! He would deliberately bait his own friend for a lark?
“What are you about, my lord?” she asked through a social smile. She wanted nothing more than to lash out at the man as instinct told her he deserved. Her instinct, however, also told her how dangerous this man was.
Derringer’s smile never came close to reaching his obsidian eyes. “That nodcock is in love with you, Miss Glendenning,” he replied in a smooth voice. “And as much as I think love is nothing more than the drug-induced imaginings of authors and poets, I think he would be far better off with you than with the hellcat, the empty-headed shrew, the even tempered cat-lover, or even the spineless widgeon.”
“I assume you are speaking of certain ladies, Lord Derringer, in whom Lord Greville has expressed a particular interest,” Aurora murmured as she looked up at him. “And I thank you for the compliment that I am sure was lurking somewhere in your rather convoluted opinion.” She saw his eyes darken and a shiver of fear raced up her spine. “I cannot help but think that you are wrong about his feelings for me,” she added quickly. “We have met but twice before tonight.”
Derringer swung her expertly around the floor. He really was a very good dancer, but he was not the least bit personable. His penetrating stare threatened to skewer her to the spot.
“How so, Miss Glendenning?” he finally asked after executing several more turns in the dance.
Aurora had no trouble following the line of their conversation despite the long, tension-filled silence. “I admit he likes to flirt with me, to see my discomfort when he calls me certain names, but I don’t believe his feelings go any deeper than that, sir,” she replied softly, praying for the dance to end. She would much rather dance with Levi and endure his teasing comments and heated looks. “You should not discuss something of such a personal nature with me, my lord. It is rude.”
He more or less ignored her mild personal attack. “Ah, but that is my point, Miss Glendenning,” the duke retorted in a lazy drawl. “What you believe and the truth often differ. It is up to you to discover the difference and adhere to the one that benefits all involved.”
Aurora stared up at him in surprise. The music stopped and the duke gave her a mocking bow. She curtsied and waited for him to escort her off the floor. He displayed his bad manners yet again by walking away from her with a mocking salute in Lord Greville’s direction.
~~~~~~
Levi gave his best friend a fulminating glare and went to rescue Miss Glendenning before some other gentleman got the bright idea in his own head. She stood with a look of surprised anger on her lovely, pixie-like face. Stopping before her, he bowed, offering his arm to promenade with her.
“I apologize for Derringer, my Sprite,” he said in a soft voice as he led her around the room. “I hope you will not take it to heart that he treated you so rudely. He is not partial in his treatment of anyone, I assure you. We are all as dirt beneath his feet.”
“I wonder how you could call that man friend.”
“Why is that, my dear Miss Glendenning?” Levi asked in amusement. His dark eyes sparkled with humor as he carefully watched her changing expressions.
“Well, you are so v
ery personable, an incorrigible flirt perhaps, but not the least bit uncomfortable to be around,” she said with the same candor she had shown earlier. Then she blushed at her forwardness.
Levi chuckled and leaned closer, whispering into her ear, “Not the least bit uncomfortable, Aurora?”
She shivered. He would not have caught the movement had he not been watching her so intently.
“My lord, do behave yourself, please,” she said. Her voice came out a breathless whisper, a circumstance he was sure annoyed her to no end.
Levi was satisfied with her reaction. She wanted him, he was sure of it. He wanted her, as well, if the sudden ache he felt was any indication. If only she was a courtesan or a widow, then he would act on his feelings and enjoy whatever time they had until he married.
Better yet, if only she had the money he needed. Then he would marry her and spend the next fifty years or so making love to her. He suspected that he would never get enough of her even if he had several lifetimes in which to do so.
Aurora’s next partner approached and Levi reluctantly relinquished his hold on the enchanting young lady. He smiled into her eyes as he bowed over her hand. “I shall be back to claim my dance, Sprite,” he whispered for her ears alone. She nodded wordlessly and left on the arm of her partner.
Levi wandered toward the refreshment room where he had seen Derringer disappear only moments before. He was determined to take his friend to task over his treatment of Miss Glendenning, danger be damned.
~~~~~~
Instead of Derringer, Levi found Connor and Adam talking in low tones over in one corner of the room. The area was otherwise empty except for a few flighty blond debs and their escorts who exited shortly after Levi entered.
The earl sauntered over to his friends and greeted them with a little less enthusiasm than was his wont.
Adam cocked a dark brow at him and asked cynically, “How goes the fortune hunt, Greville?”