by Jaimey Grant
“You, young man, have always been a menace,” snapped the countess.
Derringer bowed just enough to be insulting and walked out.
*
Chapter Ten
It was a well over a month after the incident at Lady Osmond’s that Aurora finally left her house. She took Rhiannon to the park in the morning as she used to do. Ellie did not accompany her and Aurora made Mary stay home as well. She wanted to be alone.
Aurora sat down on the bench where she usually sat with Raven. She idly wondered if the woman would make an appearance.
Staring at the little girl that the world considered her sister, Aurora wondered how anyone would believe such a taradiddle. It was obvious to a blind man that the child was hers. Why had she not taken the easy way and claimed to be a widow?
It hardly mattered now. A lie was a lie and she had told too many to ever hope for understanding or forgiveness from the only man she’d ever love.
Observing her daughter chase a colorful butterfly, Aurora felt the unmistakable sensation of being watched. She didn’t turn around. She hoped the person would realize that she was not the one they were looking for and leave.
She had purposely dressed that morning in a drab gown of dark blue kerseymere that buttoned up to her throat and sported long tight sleeves. Her plain black bonnet was devoid of ornamentation and her pelisse was equally drab with no frills or furbelows. Her goal was to appear the part of a governess and thereby avoid the looks of revulsion and disgust that she was sure to receive should she be recognized as the girl who had been discovered with the Earl of Greville at Lady Osmond’s ball.
The feeling didn’t pass. Whoever watched her was not satisfied that she was not the person they sought.
Or perhaps she was, she thought with a sinking feeling. She knew Levi had been trying to see her for the past month. It would be just her luck to finally venture out and come across the impossible man.
Aurora turned her head very slowly. When she saw the person staring at her, she gasped and instinctively moved to her daughter’s side. The little girl glanced up at her with a funny look on her tiny face. She tried to protest Aurora’s tight hold on her arm but Aurora shook her slightly and told her to hush. Rhiannon fell silent and watched as a strange man walked toward them.
This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. If I close my eyes and open them again, he’ll disappear. This didn’t work, of course, just as she knew deep down it would not.
Why, oh why had she decided to venture out? She had forgotten seeing him all those weeks ago, in this very park—or perhaps successfully convinced herself she’d imagined him. She wished suddenly that it had been Levi looking for her. She even wished for the Duke of Derringer instead of the man who was now only a few feet away.
Desmond Forester stopped and gave her a self-satisfied smirk. He hadn’t changed at all in looks, Aurora thought. He was still the handsome gentleman she had known at home, his slim form draped in all the sartorial elegance London could offer. He carried himself with a confidence that was appealing.
He didn’t hold a candle to Levi Greville, however.
“I heard you have created a bit of a scandal,” he remarked casually. He toyed with the ribbon of his quizzing glass as he carefully watched her face.
Her chin went up a notch. “It is no concern of yours, sir,” she told him. She forced herself to loosen her grip on Rhiannon when the child squeaked in pain.
“And the gentleman involved did not come up to scratch,” he added with the slightest of smiles.
“He did not,” Aurora admitted. Not for want of trying, I’m sure.
“I have a proposition for you.”
Aurora Glendenning immediately distrusted his confidence. Something was very wrong here. “What?” she asked anyway.
Forester shrugged, glancing up at the cloudless sky. “Marry me,” he suggested as if he were remarking on the weather.
“Marry you?” she gasped. There was a time when a proposal from Desmond Forester would have sent her into raptures. But not now. Now the thought sickened her. “Are you daft?”
She saw the rage sweep through his beautiful blue eyes before he had his features under control again. “I am willing to give you my name to save you from scandal and you ask me if I am daft?”
“Yes,” she replied candidly. “Why would you want to marry me?”
“I want your money,” he said. “And I am willing to take on your brat as well.”
“My brat?” Her tone was dangerously soft, something Forester seemed not to understand or even notice.
He gestured to the wide-eyed little girl standing silently beside her, listening intently. “Mine, unless I miss my guess. You should have told me, Rory,” he chided.
Aurora remained mute, shock and a sickening dread silencing her tongue.
Rhiannon had no such impairment. “I’m not yours,” she told him sternly, frowning as grimly as a three-year-old pixie could. Aurora reached out to pat the child’s head, trying to convey a solace she wished she herself could feel.
He continued as if Rhiannon had not spoken. “If you refuse me, I will tell everyone who and what she is. Not only will your life be ruined, but hers as well.”
Aurora stifled the fury that rose up at his threat. “Do not call me Rory ever again, Mr. Forester. And don’t ever approach me or speak to me again. If you do, I will set the Watch on you for attacking me. Now leave us be.”
“Don’t be so quick to dismiss me, Aurora Glendenning. I am a dangerous man when my will is crossed.”
Her furious reply hovering on her tongue, Aurora became aware that someone else had just entered the park gates. Immensely relieved at the timely appearance of the Lords Derringer and Greville, she hailed them as if nothing untoward had ever occurred between them.
“Lord Greville, how lovely to see you,” she greeted with wholehearted welcome. Please God, don’t let him simply tip his hat and ride on by.
~~~~~~
Levi saw the plea in her turquoise eyes and could only assume the attentions of the gentleman were unwelcome. He and Derringer dismounted and bowed to Aurora while sending sharp glances in the direction of the unknown man.
“May I introduce Mr. Desmond Forester?” she asked politely of the earl and the duke.
Apparently, Derringer was curious enough to allow her to do so. Under normal circumstances, Levi knew the other man would have denied his introduction just to be irritating.
“Mr. Forester,” Aurora said with obvious reluctance, “the Earl of Greville and the Duke of Derringer.”
It may have been some time since Forester had been in Society but, if his almost panicked look was any indication, he had heard of Lord Derringer and his exploits.
Derringer smiled most unpleasantly at him. His hand loosened ever so slightly on Satan’s reins, allowing the horse to rear up. Forester stumbled back a step and Rhiannon screamed.
Levi instinctively scooped the child up, glaring at his friend. Aurora actually opened her mouth to snap at Derringer, quelling her own fear, but the duke immediately reined the horse in, his purpose served. He had wanted Forester more nervous. Mission accomplished.
Aurora didn’t care what the duke’s plan involved. She marched up and struck him on the chest, despite her lack of inches.
For an odd moment, the duke seemed stunned by the pale spitfire before him. Then, his eyes glinting dangerously, he shoved Aurora Glendenning aside, a little less gently than was good for his health. Levi caught her with his free hand as she stumbled. If Derringer was looking for a reason to die, he was on the right track.
Ignoring his best friend’s deadly glare, the duke addressed Forester. “I can tell you are acquainted with my reputation. What think you now that you have actually met the infamous Lord Heartless?”
Levi gaped at him and Forester stuttered something that made the duke laugh.
“Just so,” Derringer murmured with a significant look at his friend.
Levi snapped his mouth s
hut and turned back to Aurora. “May we escort you home, Miss Glendenning?”
“Yes, thank you,” she replied with heartfelt relief.
The gentlemen turned as one to stare at Forester, their gazes clearly indicating how unwelcome he was. He clenched his jaw but made his farewells nonetheless.
Aurora shifted in apparent discomfort at having to face Derringer and Levi but she stood her ground. Lord Greville watched her, his mind caught up in all the things he wanted to say but couldn’t. It was neither the time nor the place for the weighty matters that preyed upon him.
But someone had to say something. Derringer glanced from one to the other, clearly amused with their inability to speak. Levi resisted the urge to lay him out.
Rhiannon squirmed in his arms, becoming bored. “Unka Fie, I got a flutterby,” she announced to the earl, having recovered the swiftest from the whole ordeal.
“That is wonderful, darling,” Levi smiled, setting her back on her feet.
The child looked up at the tall figure of the duke. “Who are you?” she asked with a frown, carefully enunciating her words.
Derringer looked a trifle nonplussed to be singled out by the little girl. He glanced at Aurora, then Levi. Rhiannon stared up at him expectantly. He looked helplessly at Aurora again. She just smiled and shook her head slightly, obviously believing his discomfort was well-deserved for his earlier behavior.
The duke shrugged and went down on his haunches before the child. “I am Lord Derringer. You may call me Hart if you like,” he told her with a half-smile tugging at his lips.
She nodded, satisfied. As was common with young children, her attention was immediately drawn elsewhere. “Unka Hart,” she asked as she took his hand, “can I ride?” She pointed to the giant black stallion that the duke had been riding.
Levi felt Aurora shiver and could only assume she was nervous over the animal’s immense proportions.
Derringer smiled. “You want to ride Satan?” he asked.
“Satan?” Aurora sputtered.
The duke’s very charming and very rare grin turned decidedly impish. “Satan’s Son, actually,” he informed her.
Levi shook his head, smiling the slightest bit at the look on Aurora’s face. “He has one named Lucifer’s Lady, too. And a dog named Cerberus and a cat named Beelzebub, all black as sin.”
“Indeed?” Miss Glendenning asked as her lips twitched suspiciously. “I think, your grace, that you are not nearly as dangerous as rumor suggests.”
The duke’s grin was replaced by something almost sinister. “I am afraid I must disagree with you, my dear. I am far more dangerous than rumor suggests.”
~~~~~~
As much as Levi would have loved to ask Aurora to marry him that very day, he held off until he discovered more about Desmond Forester. That Aurora was afraid of the gentleman was obvious. Levi wanted to know why.
Aurora, of course, refused to tell him anything other than the man had made improper advances toward her. When he had suggested that he call the other man out, she told him severely that Forester’s behavior was only to be expected considering the recent scandal.
Derringer had been strangely silent on the matter, only scoffing at Aurora’s replies. Levi suspected his friend already knew something.
The earl returned to Adam’s in a bit of a temper and even threatened to call Derringer out when the duke laughed at him. Derringer called him a gudgeon and went his own way.
Levi was in no mood to deal with his mama. Since the ball, she had been particularly irritating. Even after the contretemps involving Lady Marigold Danvers, she had still attempted to throw him together with any number of heiresses in the hopes that he would forget about marrying Aurora Glendenning.
She was only against his alliance with Aurora because he had informed her of that young lady’s lack of money. Perhaps he shouldn’t have told her.
He had nearly compromised four other girls besides Lady Marigold. Not in the way he had compromised Aurora, of course, but he had somehow found himself alone with four different young ladies on four different occasions. He’d only escaped by the grace of God and a few timely interventions by Derringer, Bri, Adam, and Northwicke. He was grateful for the careful watch they kept, even while he resented the necessity.
“Levi Sterling, a word!” his mother called from the drawing room.
He sighed and gestured for the footman to open the door. “Yes, Mama?”
Lady Greville was resplendent in crimson velvet with jonquil yellow piping and a cap of puce on her dark hair. He shuddered.
“Are you engaged yet?” she asked imperiously.
“No, Mama.” Not for want of trying.
“Why not?”
“Because I have not asked anybody.”
“You have not asked anybody?” she said awfully. “Then ask somebody, you half-wit! I am not getting any younger and there is a darling pug dog I would like to purchase.”
Now she wants a smushed-up rat for a pet? “No, Mama. You cannot have a pug just yet. And I will ask someone when I am good and ready.” Which is not until Rory shows the least interest in marrying me. And why is everyone calling me names today?
Lady Greville eyed her only child shrewdly. “You are not still planning to ask that penniless Glendenning chit, are you? Because I’ll not have it. If she won’t have you, let her stew in her own juices. You cannot force her to marry you, you know. And you said we need money. Select another.”
He was suddenly very sick of his mama’s demands and orders. “No. I will marry Aurora or I’ll not marry at all,” he told her. “Stop trying to force me to compromise every damned chit doing the season!”
~~~~~~
That night saw Lord Greville at Brooks’s with a deck of cards in one hand and a brandy in the other. He rested between games, staring morosely into his glass and pondering absolutely nothing. He was more than a trifle well-to-go already.
“Greville, how goes it?”
Levi looked up into the pale brown eyes of Percival Winters. “Winters, how do? Piquet?” he asked as he held out the cards.
Winters smiled and sat down. He took the cards from Levi and switched them with his own deck when the earl wasn’t looking. He dealt the cards.
The game progressed as expected. Levi lost heavily and Winters smiled smugly as he assured the younger man that he would accept his vowels. Levi was so beyond caring about anything that he had signed any number of little slips of paper by the time Winters stood up to leave.
“Pleasure, Greville. I expect payment within a sennight, mind,” he told him right before he left.
Levi mumbled something in the affirmative and downed yet another tumbler of brandy. Calling for a new bottle, he leaned back in his chair. All of a sudden his thoughts focused on Aurora Glendenning with a vengeance. He groaned, leaning forward to rest his head in his hands.
Someone’s foot connected with his shin under the table. He jerked abruptly and his head hit the tabletop. Slowly lifting his head, he realized he must have nodded off. How long had he slept? Then he saw the frigid glare of Adam Prestwich.
“What the bloody hell are you doing here?” he snapped at his cousin’s husband.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Adam replied evenly. “I saw Winters leave. How much did you lose?”
He must not have been unconscious for very long then. “That is none of your affair,” he muttered as he rubbed the fast forming lump on his forehead.
“Yes, it is,” Adam sighed. “I am probably the one who will have to pay the debt, you see, since you are hell-bent on marrying Rory.”
“The devil you’ll pay!” Over my dead body.
“That may very well be if you keep on in this vein,” Adam commented dryly.
Levi gave him a stunned look. Did he read his mind?
Adam chuckled. “No, I cannot read your mind, thank God. I would be half scared out of my wits were I able to. You are verbalizing every odd thought that seems to enter your fuzzy brain.”
; Levi grunted.
“Well?”
“Devil it, Adam, leave me to die in peace.”
The baronet laughed. “Much as I would like to oblige you, your cousin would murder me in my bed. Well, her bed, at any rate.”
Prestwich came around the table and helped Levi to his feet. The earl shook him off and stumbled to the door on his own. He took up his hat, gloves, and cane and walked out into the darkened street.
He stopped, gazing around, confused. Adam chuckled again and took his arm. “This way, old fellow,” he said as he led him in the direction of Park Lane. He waved his coachman home telling him they’d walk.
“Who told you about Rory?” Levi asked through the fog in his brain.
“You did at Lady Osmond’s,” Adam replied. “Then your estimable mama complained about it just this evening at dinner.”
“Estimable, hell! Mama’s a shrew,” Levi grunted. “I don’t know how she could possibly be related to Aunt Millicent.”
Adam cocked a brow at him. “Aunt Millicent?”
The earl nodded drunkenly. “Bri’s mama. She was the sweetest, gentlest lady.” He gave his companion a funny look. “Why did you not know?” Returning his gaze to the cobbles below, he added, “Mama is a witch.”
Adam smiled at Levi’s inebriated ramblings. “Bri never speaks of her parents. Or any of her family, for that matter.” He frowned. “Never.”
Shrugging, Adam reached out to steady his friend as that man stumbled…again. He had nothing to say to Levi’s comment about Lady Greville. What could one really say to a bluntly stated and highly insulting truth?
“Rory will not marry me, you know,” Levi remarked after a moment of blessed silence.
“Indeed.”
“She will not. She is stubborn.” He tripped over his own foot. “Bloody hell! Did you see that? Jumped right out at me,” he declared indignantly. He scowled quite viciously at the offending appendage.
Adam held back his laughter and merely agreed with his companion.
The earl fell silent again and thankfully remained that way until they reached Lockwood House. “Why is it called Lockwood House?” he asked as he stood looking up at the impressive façade.