by Jaimey Grant
Her appearance was potent enough to have the desired effect on him. But while the idea of bedding her was distinctly appealing, Lord Derringer firmly believed in not poaching on another man’s reserve—even if that man had dropped her of his own volition.
“The lovely Ebony Swan. So good of you to agree to see me again,” he said, neglecting any outward gesture of respect.
She smiled thinly. “Did I have a choice, your grace?”
“No.”
She nodded, one dark brow quirking in much the same way as the duke’s. “How may I be of service to you?”
She gestured for him to be seated. After the briefest of hesitations, he complied.
Sitting opposite, Raven just looked at him. Derringer’s expression gave nothing away, he knew; hers was just as concealing.
“What has your friend Forester been up to?”
“He is not my friend, your grace, any more than you are.”
“That gives one pause, does it not? After all, we are such good friends, you and me.”
Her dark eyes narrowed. “Are you here for information or simply to bait me?”
“A little of both, I should think.”
Raven’s gaze shot heavenward as she muttered something about penance and balmy dukes but Derringer could only make out so much before she firmly clamped her lips shut. Her eyes met his guileless expression and he could have sworn she actually growled.
“If I tell you what I know, will you depart? I have no desire to be associated with you and your kind anymore.”
“What of Lady Prestwich?”
“She is more my kind than yours,” she sneered.
Derringer nodded. After all, he was not an unreasonable man. “What is Forester planning?”
“As to that, I don’t know,” she replied, her tone all sincerity. “I do know he is not alone in his machinations.”
Derringer’s eyebrows lifted. This was news, indeed.
He leaned forward. “Who?”
“I cannot say. He has been seen with a man at one time, a woman at another, both of whom seem quite familiar with him. I have not learned their identities.”
Derringer waved this away. “No matter. I will discover that. From now on, Miss Emerson, I suggest you steer clear of this whole debacle. One would hate for you to be implicated in anything that may harm the Grevilles.”
Derringer was amused to note the flaring of anger in her eyes at his command. Here was a woman who did not take kindly to orders.
She said nothing, however, wise woman that she was. The duke sauntered to the door, adding as he went, “I would hate for you to inadvertently get hurt, my dear. Forester and all those who associate with him will need to die, I’m afraid.”
“The crown may take exception to your penchant for murder, your grace. Perhaps it is you who should steer clear of this matter.”
He turned, surprise apparent in every line on his face and muscle in his body. “Murder? Who said anything about murder? One cannot control what happens to a body in this life. Vagrants and thieves lurk around every corner, ready to do a body in.”
The smile that suffused his lovely companion’s features held all the menace in Derringer’s own. The duke was impressed. “In that case, your grace, I wish you well.”
~~~~~~
Miss Ellison was worried. After the wedding breakfast, she traveled with the earl and Rory back to the rented house in Mayfair. Thank the Lord that Lady Greville—the Dowager, that is—had decided to leave Town, she thought in relief. That sharp-tongued viper would not help matters any.
She wondered what would happen when Lord Greville discovered the truth about his wife. It would not be pretty, Miss Ellison knew. He couldn’t possibly just brush it aside as unimportant. Good Lord, Rory was a mother! Had been for three years now.
Oh, well, she sighed, as she readied herself for bed. She had suggested tea before bed but the looks on the newlyweds’ faces was answer enough for her. Their problems were their own now, she told herself firmly.
She sighed again and cuddled down into her warm blankets, trying not to think about what was transpiring just a few doors down the corridor.
~~~~~~
At that moment, not much was happening. Aurora sat on the edge of her bed, trembling in fear and anticipation while her husband was in the adjoining room, preparing to come to her.
What on earth am I going to do? I have to tell him before…before…things happen. If he does not know, he will…well, he will…Oh, what am I to do?
Levi entered the room to see his wife tearing the sash of her dressing gown to shreds and muttering to herself. He smiled lightly and approached the bed. “Rory love, what is it? Are you afraid?”
Aurora looked up at her…husband…and nearly fainted again. He was standing before her in a dressing gown of dark gold silk. She wondered if he had anything on under it and felt her heartbeats accelerate until she was sure it would burst. I cannot do this!
“I cannot do this,” she heard someone say in a voice amazingly like her own.
Levi took a deep breath and sat beside her on the bed. He took her hand and smoothed his thumb over her palm. “I would like to tell you that we can wait, but I don’t think that is such a good idea,” he told her honestly, misunderstanding the source of her fear. “Your unease will not disappear with time, it will only increase.”
He looked deep into her troubled turquoise eyes and smiled that boyish smile that always set her pulse racing. She smiled hesitantly back and opened her mouth to say something, anything to stop what was about to happen. She opened her mouth but what came out was not at all what she had meant to say.
“I don’t want to wait.”
Levi smiled and very gently took her in his arms, obviously believing she was still frightened. He was gentle and tender, easing her tortured thoughts and filling her with a longing that she’d hardly been aware of until that moment.
*
Chapter Fourteen
Aurora awoke to find herself alone in her bed. She frowned, stretching her sore muscles, a pleased grin curving her mouth. Glancing at the opposite side of the bed, her smile disappeared. Where was her husband?
She rose without waiting for her maid and hurried into her dressing room, throwing on a muslin gown of bright sunny yellow and running a brush through her straight locks. Twisting her hair up on top of her head in a loose chignon, she winced when she pricked her scalp. She darted from her room into the passage beyond, but her steps slowed as she neared the breakfast room.
Right before the butler opened the door for her, Aurora took a deep breath and pasted a smile on her face. It wasn’t difficult considering how supremely happy she was. She bestowed her radiant look on the butler whose eyes crinkled in return, although he did not go so far as to actually smile.
Aurora swept into the room and stopped short on the threshold. Her smile faltered and then disappeared completely when she beheld the hard look in her husband’s eyes. Was he displeased with her then?
She thought of the night just past. It had been heaven to be in Levi’s arms. He had made love to her only once but that one time was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. She had thought he felt the same. Now she wondered.
“Where is Ellie?” she asked more to break the fearful silence than any real desire to know.
Levi gave her a hard-eyed stare. “I asked her to give us some privacy and she said she would pack. She is leaving, Aurora.”
“Leaving? Why?”
“It is time,” was his uninformative reply.
Aurora sat down next to her husband with an inelegant thump. “It is time? What does that mean?”
His dark brown eyes seemed even darker than usual. He stared at her until she dropped her eyes in confusion. Then he went back to eating his substantial breakfast.
Aurora watched the food on his plate disappear and waited for Edward to bring her some toast. Then she realized that the footman was not present either. And Levi had not offered to get her anything. In
fact, he had not even risen from his seat at her entrance as good manners dictated a gentleman must.
“What is wrong, Levi?”
“As if you didn’t know,” he snorted derisively.
Her heart stopped. What was he talking about? He couldn’t possibly know. “No, I don’t,” she insisted stubbornly. “Have I done something to displease you?”
The look he gave her then slammed into her chest. Guilt swept over her and she struggled to keep it hidden.
She must have failed. Whatever it was he thought he saw in her face made him curse roundly; each word that left his mouth made Aurora’s eyes widen more and more. Guilt turned to fear and the clarity she wished she’d had in the beginning struck her full force. She winced.
“You are well aware of what you have done, madam.,” he said, his voice heavy with contempt. “Recall the discussion we had last night before we…”
Pausing, he glanced away, swallowing hard against what was most likely a towering rage. Then, in a voice that was more frightening for its calm, he continued. “Before we…consummated our marriage, I told you that you fear would only get worse if we waited.”
Never in her life had she ever wanted to stay silent more. “Yes, you did,” she agreed, the words slipping from between her lips of their own will.
His open palm connected with the table, making her jump. “What in hell was there to fear, Aurora?”
His question cut through the air like a whiplash. She opened her mouth to respond but he stood and bowed mockingly, striding from the room without a backward glance. One tear slipped down her cheek to plop on her tightly clenched fist.
~~~~~
Levi stormed out the door and walked down the empty street. Then he stopped, turned back, and made his way to the mews. He ignored the grooms, saddling Hades’ Pride himself. Throwing himself into the saddle, he galloped off down the street at a reckless pace.
He reined in before Derringer’s place in St. James’s Square and tossed the reins to the footman who ran from the house. Entering the front door, he demanded to know where the duke was.
“His grace is in his study, my lord,” the butler assured him as he took quick stock of the fact that Lord Greville was as mad as hornets.
“What are you doing?” Levi demanded as soon as he entered the book-lined study.
Derringer looked up from the papers on his desk and eyed his friend mockingly. “I might ask you the same thing, old man. Should you not be spending the day in bed with your blushing bride?”
There passed a moment of silence fraught with unasked questions and unwanted answers.
“Damn you, you knew!” the earl shouted. He slammed his fist on the desktop, scattering papers to the floor.
Derringer stood slowly, his look gone from mocking to dangerously annoyed. “Levi, I will ask you once to control your temper.”
“Go to hell, Derringer! You knew and you didn’t tell me!”
“I told her to tell you. It is her tale, not mine,” the duke explained reasonably.
“Devil it,” Levi growled. “Someone should have told me. I should have known.”
“And what would you have done, had you known? Would you still have married her?”
“Of course, I would have. And then I would have hunted down the bastard and killed him.”
“Then why are you so upset?”
“Because she lied to me.”
“But nothing would have changed. You would still be married to her and still embark on a bloody rampage to avenge her honor. Although, I might inquire as to why.”
Levi stared at his friend. Derringer had to be demented to think that any man who had been with Rory would live to tell the tale. “What do you mean why? Because any man that forces himself on a woman should be shot.”
Derringer raised one black brow sardonically. “True. But did you ask her if she’d been forced, Vi? I gather you did not give her a chance to explain. I am willing to bet my entire fortune that you actually assumed it was nothing of the sort. Your injured pride took control and you stormed out of the house after letting her know that you think her little better than a lightskirt.”
Shoving a hand through his dark locks, Levi mumbled something to that effect.
“And now your bride is sitting at home in tears because she thinks you don’t love her.” The duke became suddenly still. “You have told her, have you not?”
Levi shrugged much like a little boy caught at something he should not be doing. He could feel red creeping up his cheeks and struggled to control the humiliation. He slumped into the chair on the other side of Derringer’s desk, resting his head in one hand.
“I’m a fool, Hart. I can’t seem to make sense of any of this and no one speaks plainly anymore. Why would she marry me if she doesn’t trust me enough to be honest?”
Derringer snorted, lowering himself back into his chair. “Have you noticed women having any other choice? Her only defense is silence. As long as she thinks you don’t love her, she will maintain her silence. She won’t trust you until you prove that you trust her.”
The earl sat up straight, his lips threatening to twist into a full-blown smile. “Marriage advice, Hart? You are such a font of wisdom, one might wonder if marriage plans are in your immediate future.”
Eyes filling with horror, the duke muttered, “Bite your tongue, Vi. I don’t envy you your connubial bliss.”
Levi just shook his head, the brief spurt of amusement vanishing like mist. “How am I supposed to prove I trust her, Hart? I don’t think I do anymore.”
~~~~~
Levi returned to Mayfair far more subdued than when he’d left. He thought long and hard about Derringer’s words and was still lost in thought when he entered his wife’s house and nearly passed her on her way out.
“Where are you going?” he asked. He saw Rhiannon clinging tightly to Aurora’s hand and watching him from big blue-gray eyes.
“I am taking Rhiannon to the park as I do every morning, my lord,” his wife replied with a stubborn tilt to her pert little chin.
“We need to talk, Rory.”
“I think not,” she told him calmly. “You know the truth now. There is nothing to discuss.”
“The truth? Nothing to discuss? I have not the merest idea what the truth is and we have plenty to discuss.”
“My lord, I will return in one hour. You may ring a peal over my head then.” And she walked out the door with her tiny sister firmly in tow.
Levi stared at the door, tempted to go after her and drag her back. Instead, he walked outside and had Hades’ Pride saddled again. This time, he went to Brooks’s.
Percival Winters was there. Levi remembered Northwicke’s and Adam’s assurances that the man was a cheat and immediately approached the gentleman. It was time to tie up certain loose ends.
“Winters, what do you say to a game of piquet?’ he asked by way of greeting.
“Lord Greville.” Winters’s slow smile spread across his worn features. “I accept.”
Levi nodded once and followed the older man to a table at the back of the gaming room where some gentlemen were already engaged in betting on the cards as they were dealt. Levi watched the play for a moment before taking a seat.
Before he could even place one bet, the earl felt a heavy hand clamp down on his shoulder. He looked up into the odd gray-green eyes of his cousin’s husband. He groaned.
“May I have a word with you, Greville?” Adam asked politely.
“No, Prestwich, you may not,” growled Levi. “And if you want to live to see your child, I suggest you leave me be.” He looked back at the game in progress. “How the devil did you know I’d be here anyway?”
“Derringer,” Adam replied laconically, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes suddenly focused on the game. “He sent me to fetch you like a mongrel dog after a bone.”
“Why the devil is Hart getting involved?” the other man muttered. He abruptly stood and walked away from the table and Prestwich.
&nb
sp; Adam followed him. “Perhaps because he is your friend and he cares about you,” he suggested mildly.
Levi stopped and stared at him. Then he threw back his head and roared with laughter. Several older gentlemen looked up from their papers and shushed him angrily. He ignored them.
“Hart? Care? That is rich, I must say,” Levi chuckled gleefully. Although, he did have to admit to himself that The Duke of Derringer did tend to keep an eye out for his, Levi’s, welfare from time to time.
“Are you done here?” Adam snapped.
Mirth threatened at Adam’s annoyance, but determination won out. “No, I find that I need to take care of a few things.”
The quizzical look Prestwich gave him made him grin but not in that endearingly boyish way he had. It was rather like one of Derringer’s dangerous looks.
Levi gestured surreptitiously to the table they had just left. “See Winters?” Adam nodded, fingering the quizzing glass that hung from his dove gray waistcoat. “Do you know how much I have lost to him this Season alone?” The baronet shook his head vaguely. “Nearly fifty thousand pounds.” Adam’s eyes widened. “You and Con both said he was a cheat and I believe you. Now I will put a stop to his games.”
“Why do you choose to do so now?” Adam asked almost gently. “You were just married yesterday, Levi. You should not be gadding about town trying to rid the world of a mere Captain Sharp.”
Any trace of lingering amusement disappeared from the earl’s face. “That is none of your affair, Prestwich.”
“No, it is not. But I happen to care about that wife of yours, as does Con and probably Derringer as well. I suggest you try a little harder to understand her.”
“Does everyone know of my problems?” The earl moved as if to return to his game.
Adam didn’t follow, he simply spoke to the other man’s retreating back. “I have not the first bit of knowledge of them. I just notice things and apparently deliver messages for Derringer.”
Levi stopped short. The fact that Derringer thought it was necessary to seek out Adam—a man the duke quite openly disliked—was enough to cause an alarming sense of doom in Levi’s midsection. He turned and retraced his steps. “What message?”