by Jaimey Grant
Head nodding, the duke agreed. “Lord, Vi, can you imagine the headline? ‘Lord Heartless Done In By The Tiniest Woman Alive!’ After thwarting Prinny’s murderous thugs and the denizens of London’s East End, I might have met my maker at the hands of a pixie.” He chuckled again, the sound gradually dying off into stunned silence.
Deciding that ignoring Derringer was best, Levi turned to his wife. “Let us go into the study and you can tell us what happened.”
“I will not tell him anything,” she returned stubbornly, still glaring at the duke.
“I already know, Aurora Glendenning of the Staffordshire Glendennings,” mocked Derringer.
“Unless you are the one who took her, your grace, you know nothing,” she retorted.
“I know exactly who took her and why,” he returned evenly. “As do you.”
The two adversaries stared at each other, leaving Levi with the distinct feeling that they were locked in an epic battle of wills. He was not willing to wager on who would claim victory.
The alarming thing about it was the expression of shock on Aurora’s face that quickly dissolved into fear.
It was time to step in before blood was spilled. “We cannot discuss this here,” Levi put in firmly. He pushed his wife in the direction of the bookroom and beckoned Derringer to follow. He did not look back to see if the duke obeyed; he knew Derringer’s nosy nature would prevail.
A frown as dark as his soul clouded the duke’s features. Levi could feel his own brow furrowing, unease crawling over him like a thousand spiders. Derringer was anxious, which was never good.
Aurora’s shoulders were set, her entire being stiff and defensive. It was apparent she expected recriminations, perhaps even physical chastisement for her actions.
Although, Levi had yet to be told exactly what those actions were.
Helping his wife to a seat, patting her hand and attempting some form of reassurance, he was startled when Derringer shoved a snifter of brandy under his nose. He nearly reached for, feeling somewhere deep inside him that he would need it.
The duke, however, had other ideas. He shook his head at Levi, saying, “Not for you, my friend. Your wife is in far greater need at the moment.” He frowned a bit, adding darkly, “Although getting you thoroughly soused may not come amiss.”
Levi grunted and moved to get his own drink. As he left Aurora’s side, the duke sat and stared at her, his expression slightly mocking. The countess did not look up; she continued to stare into her glass.
Keeping a wary eye on his friend, Levi poured two fingers of brandy, hesitated, then added two more. He didn’t like Derringer’s look and dreaded the forthcoming interrogation.
“Why are we just sitting here?” Aurora demanded, breaking the silence in a shrill tone that had them all visibly cringing. “Rhiannon has been kidnapped in Hyde Park, right before my very eyes, and for no reason whatsoever. Instead of looking for her, you sit here staring at me as though I’m daft!”
The duke shook his head. Levi didn’t trust the grim look that twisted the other man’s features. “Try again, my dear girl.”
Feeling the incipient loss of his temper, Levi felt the need to interject a cautionary “Hart.”
Derringer inserted calmly, “I don’t bait your wife, Vi, to be cruel. I am trying to get to the heart of the matter. ‘Why I do trifle thus with her despair is done to cure it.’”
The earl relaxed slightly, choosing not to correct his friend’s inaccurate quote. He felt compelled to warn the duke, however.
“Do not dare go too far, Hart.”
“The heart of the matter, your grace,” Aurora bit out angrily, not acknowledging her husband’s words, “is that a man I have never seen before in my life has snatched my little girl from right beneath my very nose. She was there one minute and gone the next.”
“And now we are one step closer to the truth,” commented Derringer, all mockery disappearing to be replaced by a startling gentleness that Levi found unnerving.
Instinct flared to life, urging Levi to reassess the speech just passed. What had she said that the perceptive Duke of Derringer felt was significant? And why the devil had he, himself, missed it?
Perhaps he was too busy trying not to murder his friend for annoying his new countess to pay the proper attention to what was being said.
He started listening. Derringer’s next words made him wish he hadn’t.
“Your little girl.”
~~~~~~
She knew she shouldn’t, but everything in her refused to resist the temptation.
Aurora looked at her husband.
His beloved features were stark, pale and grim in his immeasurable shock. She could tell he wanted to speak, but she dreaded what his first words to her would be after such a revelation.
“I don’t know why I never noticed before,” he finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
“Later, Vi,” Derringer said curtly. “Whether or not the girl is her daughter does not change the fact that she has been taken and must be retrieved.”
“Simple for you to say, Hart,” Levi retorted. “You have not just discovered that your wife is a lying jade!”
“Enough!” shouted Aurora. She turned to her husband, blinking back the tears and biting her lower lip to keep it from trembling. Her eyes closed very briefly, just enough to hold the tears at bay. She could not erase the misery from her features, however, nor the anguish from her voice.
“Enough! I have lied, deceived, and manipulated you, yes, and for that I am sorry. I cannot change any of that. I cannot. I wish…but none of that matters any longer.
“I have to get my baby back, my lord, I must. He will hurt her if he feels it is necessary. I did not realize his true nature before and I don’t know what he wants with her…no, I do. He wants money. He will ransom her, I am sure of it.”
She looked at the duke, pleading with him for his reassurance on that score, everything in her praying that for once in her life, her money might actually do some good. “He will, will he not?” she asked desperately. “Money was all he ever wanted from me.”
Silently, she damned her money and all it stood for. If she had not been so bloody wealthy, Rhiannon would be safe.
“Yes, he will,” replied Derringer softly. “Your wealth for your daughter, Aurora.”
“So what do we do? Do we wait for a ransom note?” she asked the duke.
“Yes. The child is worthless to him dead and if ransom is his game, we will hear from him soon.”
“Just who the devil are we talking about?” inquired her husband with deceptive mildness. Aurora could hear the note of fury in his tone; her body stiffened in a defensive response.
“Forester,” the duke and Aurora replied in unison.
“Forester is behind this?” Levi’s tone and expression accurately portrayed his utter confusion. “Why would…That bastard is her father.” His face was no longer expressionless. He wore his disgust and anger like a shield.
Aurora nodded and wished she could undo all that went before. It was much worse than she had ever imagined. Had she been honest with Levi from the start, he might have understood. But she hadn’t and she couldn’t change anything now.
With great dignity, Aurora rose to her feet, set her still-full glass on the desk, and walked to the door. She turned slightly, her hand on the latch, and told the gentlemen, “I don’t expect either of you to involve yourselves in this. If it is a ransom he wants, I will pay it and get my child back. If not…well, I cannot imagine he took her because he actually wants her. Good day gentlemen.”
~~~~~~
“She will not be able to pay any ransom,” muttered Levi, staring at the closed door. “She put all her money in my power.”
Derringer studied his friend silently. Levi stared straight ahead as if his whole world had crumbled around him. He gripped the arms of his chair so tightly his knuckles were white. The duke felt sorry for him but he wasn’t about to let him know. That wouldn’t snap the earl o
ut of his shocked stupor.
Shock was such a useless yet common ailment in a calamity.
“She will leave you now,” he said conversationally. “You are better off without her. She has not one redeeming quality. Hardly worthy to be your wife.” He considered calling her a whore but was unsure he would survive the aftermath. He lifted his refilled glass to his lips and watched the transformation come over the earl as his deliberately cruel words sank in.
Levi sat up and looked at the duke. His expression revealed the accuracy of Derringer’s chosen darts, with the happy result of awakening the earl from his useless stupefaction. The duke breathed an internal sigh of relief.
“Have you ever considered entering the law profession, Hart?”
~~~~~~
It was a very withdrawn party that settled into the little drawing room in Mayfair.
They had yet to receive a ransom note. It broke her heart to think that a man would hurt his own child in any way, but she had to face that possibility.
At Aurora’s stubborn insistence, the Northwickes and Prestwiches had been asked to attend her, much against Derringer’s very vocal disagreement. After informing his grace just where he could place his opinion, the duke fell oddly silent on the whole matter. Aurora could only be thankful for small blessings.
Standing, she walked to the window that overlooked the street and sighed. One tear slipped down her cheek. She dashed it away and took a deep breath.
The former Miss Glendenning had reached a monumental decision. It was time to confess all. It would be utterly humiliating to admit to her complete stupidity and naïveté, but perhaps if they all knew what had happened, they might be able to determine the best action to take.
Turning slowly around, Aurora passed a brief glance over the people assembled in the small room. These were her closest friends, those she felt she could count on, trust with her life and the life of her child. The evident concern in all the faces turned toward her touched her heart, made her realize just how much she loved these people.
The only one missing was her dearest Ellie, a loss she felt deeply. But Miss Ellison had been given a handsome yearly income, something Aurora had been surprised to learn from Levi, and was quite comfortable in her own little cottage.
Levi and Derringer were keeping their looks blank now and she couldn’t really blame them. Levi had every reason to hate her and the duke was very probably disappointed in her. He had told her from the first that she should tell the truth and she had ignored him, thinking that she could actually live with a man who knew nothing about her.
She had been, and was, so very wrong.
She finally broke the lengthening silence.
“I was wrong,” Aurora whispered. Her voice trembled and she inhaled deeply, clenching her hands together to try to steady their shaking. Whimpering like a ninny would not help Rhiannon. Her lips lifted at the corners in a smile of self-mockery. “I have lied to all of you and I was wrong. I will not try to justify my actions. I will try to explain so that you will understand why I did what I did and why I thought I was doing the right thing. At the time, it seemed right. Now—”
She paused and glanced down at her clenched hands, swallowing around the growing lump in her throat before adding, “I realize now the folly of my actions.”
Trying desperately to speak around the terror, shame, and disillusion that choked her, Aurora opened her mouth again. But the words could not pass.
A glass was thrust under her nose, making her start violently. She looked up at Lord Derringer, beheld his unnaturally concerned countenance, and found that she could be made to feel far worse than she already had.
Her hand shook so much when she took the glass that a few drops of amber liquid sloshed over the side. The action forced a semblance of clarity, however, and Derringer’s mocking sneer helped further.
Aurora was able to continue after a sip or two of the spirits in her hand. The duke took her glass away, fading into the background as she began her story.
“As a child, I was always curious. About life, nature, technology, science, astronomy, everything. Unfortunately, I was curious about…certain things that I had no business thinking about.” She colored up but went on regardless. “A certain Mr. Forester agreed to…show me what it was all about. I realized a month or so later that I was increasing. I knew my parents would discover it eventually, so I told them right away and they rushed me off to Bath where I lived as a widow until I had my baby. I never saw her. Papa gave her away to a family that lived about halfway between Bath and our home in Staffordshire.
“They did allow me to name her. I insisted on it because of a promise I made to a friend a long time ago.” She passed a significant look to Verena, who was crying silently. Lord Connor had his arm around her but his eyes were on Aurora.
Lady Greville looked down at her hands again. “I spent the next two years secretly visiting the village where they lived. I was never allowed actually near her, but just to see her was enough at the time. Then Mama and Papa died in a carriage accident and I realized I was free.” Her shoulders shook the merest bit. “What I did next is something for which I will always be ashamed. I stole my daughter from the family she thought was hers. I kidnapped my own daughter and brought her to London where I was sure they would not, could not find me.” She shrugged, biting her lip when the ghost of a smile crossed her face. “After all,” she added, “who would think I would hide in the open?”
Aurora’s knees finally gave way and she slumped onto the window seat. The enormity of what she’d done came crashing in on her in one black wave and she was very close to wailing in agony. The pressure in her chest threatened to tear her apart. She dropped her head into her hands and tears dripped between her fingers to plop onto her muslin gown.
The women sat beside her, one on each side. Verena placed her arm around her friend’s shaking shoulders. Bri removed Aurora’s hand from her face and placed a handkerchief in it. Aurora dried her face and blew her nose, then crushed it in her palm. She took in a shuddering breath, knowing she had to continue, had to give them what information she could. Sniffling once, she began again.
“I came to London and while I did use my real name, I neglected to tell anyone to which family I belonged. It was of immense help that everyone was unaware exactly which branch of the Glendenning family my mother married into. I also said nothing about my wealth.”
“But why?” asked Verena. “If the ton had known you had such wealth, your way would have been much easier.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not,” replied Aurora. “I did not desire just any alliance. I wanted a man who would l-love me enough to want to protect me, money or no.”
“And you found one,” Levi inserted blankly. “The least you could have done was tell him the truth so that he could protect you…and your child.”
Another tear escaped but Aurora was determined not to cry again. She bit her lip and tried to look at her husband. Lord Greville, the man who was singularly unsuccessful at hiding his feelings, had learned how to don a blank façade due to her.
“I am sorry that I did not trust you…no, it was not that.” She gave him an earnest look. “I trusted you with all my heart. I knew you would do anything to help and protect Rhiannon and me. But I was unsure if you would still love me or ever come to love me. I-I did not know you loved me at the time.”
“In essence,” pointed out Levi reasonably, “you are a selfish child.”
She gave this careful thought, staring at her husband. “I-I suppose I was. I suppose I still am,” she admitted haltingly.
“And you did not trust that I would protect you even if I was displeased with you. Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?”
“No, you have not, but you did only marry me because you compromised me. And you were so angry when you did find out that I…am, uh, impure.” Her cheeks reddened painfully but she continued to look at her husband.
“And you made her feel like she was exactly that, Vi,” De
rringer told his friend helpfully.
Levi glared at the duke. “I was wrong to do that. I overreacted.”
Aurora’s gaze swung to the duke. She was unaccountably angry that he should know of her shame, evidently before anyone else. “Why are you even here? You cannot possibly care about any of this, Lord Heartless,” she snapped before she thought about what she was about to say. Her eyes grew wide and she clapped her hand over her mouth.
Everyone assembled seemed to hold their breath and watch for Derringer’s reaction.
Except Levi. He shot his wife an admonitory glance and said, “That was uncalled for, Aurora. Hart wants to help you and you insult him. Not wise.”
“All is well, Vi,” smiled Derringer. “She has a right to her opinion and I admire that she even has the temerity to call me to my face what everyone calls me behind my back.” He shrugged. “She is right anyway. I never do anything unless it is of benefit to myself.”
“How,” queried Prestwich, “does finding Rhiannon benefit you, your grace?”
“A lark, nothing more.” His mocking look dared anyone to say otherwise. He returned his black eyes to Aurora. “Has Forester known all this time that he is a father?”
“You tell me,” Aurora retorted. “You seem to know everything else.”
Derringer shook his head sadly. “Oh no, my dear little liar. I can tell the people here what I know and some of which you may not even be aware. I don’t, however, possess clairvoyant powers and there is only so much I can uncover only having just met you.” His sharp features turned hard and Aurora leaned back instinctively. “I suggest you tell the rest of your tale because I can make it sound much worse than it actually is.”
No one said a word. Perhaps it was the shock of a gentleman threatening a lady in the presence of other gentlemen—one of whom was the lady’s husband. Or perhaps it was the inability to determine the consequences beforehand. Some may have even felt the countess deserved the harsh words. Whatever it was, it rendered absolute silence.
Aurora lifted her head defiantly, looked straight at the infuriating duke, and said, “Desmond did not know of Rhiannon until he met us in the park one day. He knew as soon as he laid eyes on her that she was mine. And his. Then he told me I must marry him if I wanted to keep the circumstances of her birth a secret. When I asked him why he would marry me, he admitted that he only wanted my money.”