by Jaimey Grant
Derringer’s glass met the desktop with a loud snap. He growled, “I don’t know, nor do I particularly care. Solve your own damn problems!” And the duke got up and walked out of his own study.
Levi stared at the door for a long moment, his expression vaguely thoughtful, before he, too, rose and walked out.
~~~~~~
When getting married within a week of the betrothal, wedding preparations tend to block out all else.
That was why Aurora was shocked nearly to tears when Desmond Forester showed up in Hyde Park as she was out with Miss Ellison and Rhiannon. She’d forgotten about him and his threats. In her excitement over her wedding, she’d managed to forget all but the most important of facts: In a matter of days, she’d marry the man she loved.
She’d actually managed to forget the reason for her insistence that the earl wed her that very week. Now that reason was staring her in the face.
“Mr. Forester, how lovely to see you,” lied Aurora sweetly. She reached up to the pendant at her throat, a small daisy made of pearls and turquoise, Levi’s gift to her. A small measure of comfort coalesced in her mind but it wasn’t enough to dispel the panic that threatened.
Miss Ellison tossed a confused look her way and Aurora tried to smile more convincingly for the benefit of her friend.
“Miss Ellison, allow me to introduce Mr. Forester. He is a…friend from home.” If anyone noticed her hesitation before calling him a friend, no indication was given. “This is Miss Ellison, my friend and companion.”
Forester bowed and uttered some pleasantry to the older lady, and then he turned to Aurora. “May I have a private word with you, Miss Glendenning?” There was a warning glint in his eye that told her he was willing to go to extreme lengths to get his way.
“Ellie, please take Rhiannon down to the water,” Aurora commanded softly. Where was Lord Greville? He had taken to meeting them in the park every morning. This was not a good morning for his habits to change.
Forester offered his arm and Aurora hesitated before gingerly placing her hand upon it. She tried to calm the racing of her heart. She didn’t know what this man wanted and she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out, either.
“Rumor says you’re betrothed,” he began, his innocuous tone grating on her nerves.
“Yes, to Lord Greville, as I’m sure you are very well aware.”
She had taken Miss Ellison with her to visit her trustees who, while having many qualms on the matter, were made to see the sense of allowing her marriage to the Earl of Greville. It had helped immensely that Lord Connor Northwicke had volunteered to accompany them, providing his personal approbation of the match.
“Was I not good enough for you? But no, why would you settle for a mere mister when you could have an earl?”
“I could have a duke if I wanted,” she told him honestly. “With my lineage, fortune, and appearance I could have had my choice of husbands.”
“Oh, yes. Why do I hear that you are poor, Rory? Have you been lying again?”
She gave him an annoyed look. “I wanted love, Mr. Forester. Men don’t tend to fall in love when there is money clouding their vision.”
“So true. But why would a man want to fall in love with a woman when there is all that lovely money? Especially when the woman behind the fortune is no better than she should be?”
Aurora dropped his arm and rounded on him, bringing them both to a stop. “I am not one of those women, Desmond Forester, and well you know it. One mistake with you does not make me a fallen woman.”
“I seem to recall you begging me, Rory. And what a lovely time we had. Would you not rather have a lifetime of such bliss with me as my wife than with an uncouth earl of uncertain lineage and no fortune?” He reached out to stroke her cheek. She backed away.
“Uncertain lineage? Levi Greville can trace his lineage back as far as I can. I would not exactly call that uncertain. And I would much rather be Levi’s whore than your wife,” she spat.
Forester wrapped his fingers around her upper arm, tightening them to the point of pain. Aurora sucked in a breath, determined not to flinch. “You will not make it to the altar, Aurora. And even if you do, I am sure there are a few things your new husband would like to know about his bride.”
The sound of horses’ hooves could be heard somewhere in the distance and Forester dropped her arm before he shot into the trees like a fox before the hounds.
Only Derringer and Levi could make Forester flee.
~~~~~~
“If you have no interest in helping me with my, uh, Rory troubles, then why do you still ride with me in the park when you know she will be here?” Levi asked the duke as they galloped through Hyde Park.
The great black beast that carried Derringer protested when he was slowed to a trot. Derringer muttered something to the animal and Satan calmed instantly. The earl’s brows lifted slightly at this remarkable feat but he said nothing.
“I find it amusing to see what further contretemps Miss Rory can manage to involve herself in. Amusement is so very precious these days, you know,” drawled Derringer.
“My bride is not on this earth for your amusement, Hart,” the earl told his friend sharply. Then he grinned. “But I know what you mean.”
The earl’s smile disappeared. “Did you know my mother left Town in a huff?”
“I did notice a definite lightening in the fog,” remarked Derringer dryly. Giving his companion a sympathetic glance, he asked, “How did you convince her to leave?”
That made Levi smile, but a trifle sadly. “I promised to reinstate her allowance when I married. I don’t know how I am ever going to be able to afford that woman.”
“I daresay things will come about,” responded the duke with marked sarcasm. “And far better than you would ever imagine.”
The earl was about to ask his friend what he meant by such a mysterious remark when they saw a young woman with a gentleman. Levi inhaled sharply as he recognized Aurora and her escort.
“That bounder!” he exclaimed. “I’ll flail him alive.”
“Can I watch?”
“No!” the earl called as he kicked Hades’ Pride into a canter.
Derringer followed suit, or, rather, Satan’s Son did.
By the time they reached Levi’s betrothed, Desmond Forester was gone. Aurora stood looking up at the mounted gentlemen with an expression of annoyance on her lovely face.
“How are you, Miss Aurora Glendenning of the Staffordshire Glendennings?” the duke asked with a mocking little bow in her direction.
Aurora curtsied to the duke with an equally mocking air. “I am annoyed, your grace.”
“Indeed?’ he drawled in reply to her candor. “I would ask why but I find that I really don’t care.”
Aurora’s narrow-eyed glare threatened to skewer the duke. She held her tongue, however, and turned instead to her fiancé. “Where have you been?” she demanded.
“And the shrewish temper comes out before the vows are even said,” murmured Derringer, wide-eyed, to Levi in a stage whisper. He fired his next comment at Aurora. “Be careful how you treat him before you get him to the altar, my dear. He may have the wisdom to bolt before the ring is safely on your finger.”
“Go to the devil, Hart,” Levi inserted before Aurora could say something she’d regret.
The duke bowed with an infuriating grin on his face and turned Satan’s head toward the park gates. He was off in a flash.
“How can you tolerate that man?” Aurora asked with an angry sound that came from somewhere deep in her throat.
Levi shrugged. “He is the devil of a friend, Rory. And he likes you.”
Aurora regarded her beloved as if he were an escaped Bedlamite. “The Duke of Derringer may be your friend, Levi Greville, and he may even like you. But he does not like me. Every time the man sees me he has some snide remark or disparaging observation about me. What makes you think he likes me?”
The earl shrugged. “He told me so.”
~~
~~~~
The morning dawned bright and clear. The sun threaded through the slightly parted curtains and onto Aurora’s face. She pressed her eyelids tighter and refused to wake. Why had someone left the drapes open enough to disturb her sleep?
She sat straight up in bed. This was her wedding day. That very morning she would marry Levi Greville and live happily ever after.
Well, not happily ever after, perhaps, but interestingly ever after, surely. Aurora knew that she for one would never be happy as long as so many lies stood between them. She vowed to tell him before the ceremony and then let him decide if he still wanted to go through with it.
Her decision made, Aurora rose from her bed and dressed. Her final fitting for her gown had been accomplished the previous day and she entered her dressing room to gaze at it longingly. She prayed Levi would still marry her even after her confession. It would be so sad to see such a beautiful dress go to waste.
The white muslin dress was trimmed with turquoise silk the very color of her eyes. The bodice, sleeves, and hem were embroidered with lovely curls and twists in the same shade of turquoise silk and silver thread. The bodice was low enough to be fashionable but not low enough to cause raised eyebrows. She had a headpiece of silver and turquoise thread entwined with white silk roses to form a crown of sorts. It would set upon her golden curls, which would be drawn up away from her face and slender neck.
Her only ornament was the pearl daisy pendant from her betrothed. It was perhaps a bit understated for such an important ceremony but it suited her and she knew it would please Levi to see her wear it.
And it was such a thoughtful gift. Daisies were her favorite flower, something she’d never mentioned to him. Perfect pearls surrounded a single turquoise bead, all of which must have cost him dear. Where had he acquired the money for it? If everything she had heard about him was correct, he was supposed to be only one step ahead of the duns. Had he returned to his gambling?
Aurora left her chamber in thoughtful silence and found her way to the breakfast room where Miss Ellison sat, calmly buttering a slice of toast.
“Good morning, my dear,” the older woman greeted warmly, looking up from her breakfast. “How are you feeling?”
“I am…frightened, Ellie, to be totally honest,” Aurora replied with a grimace as she sat down across the table from her friend.
Her one and only footman filled a plate for her with an egg and a piece of toast and set it in front of her. She gave the egg a disgusted look, eyed the toast with almost the same amount of misgiving and then smiled up at the footman.
Miss Ellison spoke up, her tone holding an authoritative note that was seldom heard in that mild lady’s voice. “Thank you, Edward. Please attend to your duties elsewhere.”
The footman bowed and withdrew. Aurora cocked an inquiring brow at her friend as she bit into the dry toast, completely ignoring her egg. She was sure the toast was all her fluttery stomach could handle at the moment.
Miss Ellison started picking nervously at her breakfast, her eyes never leaving Aurora’s. “It should be your mama’s place, my dear, but as I am the only lady here to tell you that, well—I mean, I think you should know—What I am trying to say, my dear girl, is that—I don’t quite know. I am as ignorant as you about these things.”
Aurora choked on her toast. “Are you trying to tell me about my wedding night, Ellie?” she asked, feeling a spurt of laughter bubbling on her tongue.
Miss Ellison grinned. “Yes, I suppose that is what I am trying to do.”
“Well, it is not necessary,” Aurora replied. Her smile faded. “I have to tell you something that you may not believe—you will not want to believe it, at any rate.” She sighed. “Ellie, you are a dear friend and I love you but I have been lying to you.”
~~~~~~
They had not had a moment for more than two words to each other before the ceremony began. The clergyman prosed on about the wife’s place in her husband’s life, adding undue emphasis on her duty to obey.
Levi glanced down at his bride while her brow was furrowed in distress. He wondered what had occurred to put such a look on her face on her wedding day, of all days. He hoped it wasn’t him but something told him it had at least something to do with him. Was she regretting her decision to marry him?
Most likely, dunderhead! She didn’t want to marry you in the first place. It was your own inability to live without her that made you convince her it was her only choice.
Levi very nearly spoke up to halt the service but something lodged in his throat just as he opened his mouth and he closed it again in embarrassment when the vicar gave him a startled look. He grinned sheepishly and the ceremony was swiftly concluded.
Aurora and Levi moved away with the vicar to sign the special license.
It was done. They were married. They looked at each other, each one dwelling on thoughts of a similar vein, neither realizing just how unsure they were of each other.
As Levi watched, Aurora’s eyelids fluttered. For barely a second, he thought she might cry. Then her eyes rolled back in her head, her breathing seemed to catch and her body went limp.
She fainted.
*
Chapter Thirteen
“Not a very promising start, Vi,” remarked Derringer from where he crouched next to his friend on the floor.
“Stubble it, Hart,” Levi muttered. He very gently lifted the recumbent form of his bride into his arms. “Your views on the situation are not welcome.”
The duke shrugged and stepped aside to let the ladies fuss over their fallen friend. If he had his guess, he was positive that little Miss Glendenning had neglected to tell her newly made husband a few things that were bound to rear up and bite her before too long. Especially since Desmond Forester was still making himself a nuisance about Town.
Derringer smiled malevolently. He would dam up that particular wellspring even if he had to kill the man to do it.
As Levi took his bride to an antechamber, Derringer plotted. The gaggle of females followed close behind. They didn’t look at Derringer as they passed, too caught up as they were with their companion.
Derringer replaced the smile with a blank look and caught Northwicke’s eye. His black eyes lit with a hellish light that quickly faded until they were as blank as his face. Northwicke revealed his unease in the way his face twitched before he could control it. Derringer eased a bit, confident he’d find no trouble from that particular gentleman. It was always good to keep people guessing as to his actions.
Glancing around, one thought would not leave Derringer’s mind. Why had Forester not made some move to stop the wedding? It hinted at an ulterior plan. An ulterior plan of which the Duke of Derringer knew nothing.
That was unacceptable. The duke was accustomed to knowing what was happening around him. It was the only reason he was still alive.
Derringer approached Levi as he followed the ladies out. “I have to go, Vi,” he told his friend softly. “I have something to take care of.”
~~~~~~
Levi knelt beside the sofa upon which he’d placed his wife and laid a gentle hand on her pale cheek. “What happened?” he asked Lady Connor.
Verena shrugged but said nothing.
Aurora came to slowly, apprehensively. She did not want to face anyone just yet. She did not want to face her husband. Her eyelashes fluttered, then opened to reveal troubled green-blue eyes.
“What happened?” she asked, although she knew very well what had happened.
Levi’s hand smoothed the wrinkle from her forehead. “You fainted, my love,” he told her softly.
My love? My love? The endearment swirled through her still befuddled mind until Aurora felt like screaming. My love?
“I want to go home,” she mumbled instead.
The earl’s brows rose a fraction and he glanced at Lady Connor. She shrugged again, her face revealing her own confusion.
“Take me home,” Aurora insisted. “I want to go home.”
Miss Ellison
crouched beside her. “You cannot go home yet, dearest. You must go with your husband first and perhaps he will take you home later,” she told her, correctly interpreting the young woman’s desire to return to Staffordshire. She smiled down at her sadly. “You have made your choice now, Rory,” she whispered for Aurora’s ears alone, “and you must live with that decision.”
~~~~~~
The Duke of Derringer was used to a certain amount of power. He was a duke, after all. He had no fear of death and no fear of man whether he be commoner or monarch. His own immortality seemed entwined with the honest belief that his life was meaningless. Ironically, it was this belief that kept him alive.
When one considered the facts, the only conclusion one could reach was that Derringer’s charmed existence had everything to do with his uncanny perspicacity.
Quite simply, he noticed what others overlooked.
Realizing he had no idea what was in the twisted mind of Mr. Desmond Forester, he was determined to remedy such a glaring lapse in judgment.
He went the one place no one would have expected. He went to see Raven Emerson.
Admitted without hesitation, Derringer sat in her tiny drawing room, awaiting her arrival. He paced impatiently, occasionally stopping to finger the odd item here or there, his mind recording every nuance of the room as well as every item it contained. The best avenues of escape were duly noted as well as which items would make the best weapons should the need arise.
He turned when Raven entered, his lips twisting into a smile at the seductive creature she presented to the world. Her glorious black mane cascaded freely down her back while her movements suggested an extensive degree of expertise in using her body to its best advantage.