Her Secret Fantasy
Page 26
Good God, what if Bess Kingsley was Lundy’s fallback plan?
There was only one way to find out.
“I am thinking of staying in England rather than going back to India,” he announced all of a sudden, keeping his tone oh-so-casual.
“Really?”
He nodded. “Reckon I’ve given the army enough of my blood and sweat. Time to settle down and marry a rich woman, what?”
“Aha, like the ravishing Fanny Coates?”
He snorted. “She’s too smart to wed the likes of me. No, I was thinking of easier prey. I was thinking of offering for…Miss Kingsley.”
“Bess?” Lundy cried, starting forward.
Derek nodded.
“You’re joking!”
“Well, no! Not at all. Of course, she is a perfect nightmare, but I’m a younger son, Lundy. I’m not rich like you. Why shed my blood for fortune when seducing well-heeled members of the fair sex is such an easier and more pleasant way to make one’s fortune?” He took a drink. “I must be practical, and her dowry’s huge. Besides, it’s a simple matter of confining her to the country house while I have my fun in Town. With Fanny Coates,” he added with a rakish wink.
Lundy was staring at him in shock. “You don’t want Bess.”
“Why? You don’t have designs on her, do you? After all,” Derek continued smoothly, “you’ve got an understanding with Lily Balfour. Don’t you?”
“Aye, but—”
“But what?”
“Nothing.”
“You know, that’s really a fine and noble thing you’re doing, Lundy. Coming to her family’s rescue with all their debts and their falling-down manor house. Most men would shudder at the prospect of shouldering such a large financial burden for the sake of a lady, but not you. I know you admitted to me that you only want to marry her to enhance your own prestige, but even so, she’s lucky to have you.”
“Yes, well, that’s not the only reason.”
“No? How now, old man, you’re not in love?” Derek drawled.
“Hardly. I just want to get her in the sack,” Lundy said with a laugh.
“I see,” Derek answered coolly.
“Do you? Between you and me and the hole in the wall, I have always had a particular desire to roger a real lady, you know? Hard and fast, until she screamed out like a sailor’s whore. Little fantasy of mine, you might say. Doesn’t come much more blue-blooded than my haughty Lady Lily, and let’s face it, how else am I going to get a lass like that in my bed? Her poverty creates my opportunity.”
Derek stared at him in shock.
I think I may have to kill you for that, he mused, remembering her innocence, her delicacy, her grace and her trust, and the reverence with which he himself had touched her. He was outraged, but he realized that if he let it show, his true reaction would blow his cover.
When he observed the harsh glint in Lundy’s eyes, it occurred to him that this could be the nabob’s way of paying him back for Derek’s fictitious designs on Bess Kingsley.
On the other hand, for Lundy to realize that that tactic would have any effect on him, he would’ve had to have noticed Derek’s attraction to Lily.
Determined to remain calm, he willed his wrath aside with a bland smile. “Really, old boy,” Derek said in a mild tone that belied the lethal rage that lay beneath it. “That’s no way to talk about one’s future wife.”
Lundy laughed at him.
“I’ll play a proper lady for you, Eddie,” the redhead posing on the table offered.
“I doubt it, my dumpling. You’ve too much of a randy sparkle in your eyes.”
“Have I?”
“Aye.” Lundy hooked a beefy finger under her ribbon garter and roused a tipsy laugh from her. “Give us a kiss, love.”
As he tugged the redhead lower to sample her wares, the brunette returned and suddenly fell into Derek’s lap.
“Hullo. My name’s Polly.”
“Er, hullo.” Derek paid her little mind as she began kissing his cheek and combing her fingers through his unbound hair, cooing her admiration in his ear.
“You’re so lovely, Major darlin,’ won’t you come upstairs and have a bit o’ fun?”
He could not manage to get her off his lap, but he made polite excuses in his state of distraction, still plagued by the question that lingered in his mind after Lundy’s ugly words about what he’d like to do to Lily. Was he only saying that to infuriate me, or does he really intend to use her that way?
There was no way to be certain, but as he reached past Polly’s waist to toy with the bottle on the table before him, he realized it did not signify either way.
Because in that moment he made up his mind that there was definitely, absolutely, no bloody way in Hell that he was ever letting Lundy within a ten-mile radius of her. Under no circumstances would he allow the crude bastard to lay a finger on her.
She was not marrying Lundy, period.
There was a shout nearby as the redhead climbed onto Lundy’s lap, whereupon the pair tipped over their chair and went crashing onto the floor in a heap of drunken laughter, where they remained.
“Hell’s bells!” the girl on the floor exclaimed indignantly a moment later. “The oaf’s so drunk he’s passed out! Eddie! Wake up!”
His only answer was a loud snore.
A roar of laughter erupted from the girls, the innkeeper, and all the other drinkers in the pub, but Edward Lundy was oblivious, sprawled, sans dignity, half underneath the table. His ear-splitting snores filled the taproom.
Wouldn’t the other Distinguished Gentlemen of the Committee love to see this? Derek mused, but then Polly grew more demanding, draping one arm around his neck. Her other hand went a-roaming. “Major, love, let me give you one for free. You need it, I can tell. Besides, I think he likes me.”
Derek plucked her wandering hand from his crotch. “He, er, has a bit of a mind of his own. My dear Miss Polly—” He knew she was determined to persuade him, but Derek had Lily Balfour on the brain, and with Lundy passed out cold, there was little need to keep up the charade. “Perhaps you would go and fetch the landlord for me so I can see about getting a room for my unconscious friend.”
“What about a room for you and me?” she whispered.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m married,” he lied.
“Uh-oh, Major,” Polly murmured, nodding toward the door. “I think your wife just walked in.”
“What?” Derek looked over in question, then went motionless.
Lily was standing in the doorway, staring at him in disbelief.
“Good God,” Gabriel uttered beside her in the doorway, but Lily just stood there with the color draining from her face.
She could not believe her eyes.
Edward lay in a snoring heap on the floor, while Derek appeared to have been cavorting with the painted harlot on his lap. When he looked over and saw Lily and Gabriel, a stunned expression flashed across his face—but he could not have been more surprised than she was.
At the moment, her cavalry hero was the very sketch of lawless, rakish debauchery, his clothes rumpled, his shirt open. His black hair flowed over his shoulders, long and messy and wild. Two days’ unshaven scruff darkened his square jaw.
His silvery eyes were red and bleary with drink, but they widened in stunned remorse the instant he looked over and saw her. “Lily!” At once, he cast the tavern girl aside and swept to his feet, sending his chair clattering behind him with the violence of his motion. “What are you doing here?”
She shook her head at him, her relief that he was safe mingling with icy fury. “Obviously, wasting my time.”
With that, she pivoted on her heel and walked right back outside, flinging the tavern door angrily out of her way.
Marching back out to the pub’s surrounding yard, where they had spotted Edward’s big, black coach from the road, Lily’s mind was reeling.
But her heart—was crushed.
“He’s here. He’s safe. They’re both here,” she clipped out to assuage her fear. “They’re drunk.”
“Oh! Oh, dear…”
“Lily!” She heard his deep, drink-roughened baritone calling from behind her, but she did not turn around, striding toward the carriage. “Lily, wait! Would you just listen?”
She heard his swift, pounding footfalls as he ran after her, but when she felt his hand gently grasp her shoulder, she spun around and knocked it away.
“Don’t touch me!”
“I can explain—”
“Oh, but there’s really no need!” she cried, trying to sound nonchalant, failing because she was furious. “Please, don’t let me keep you from your amusements, Major!”
“This is not how it looks.”
“Keep your schoolboy lies to yourself,” she replied in a withering tone. “I’m going back to London.”
“Lily, would you just stop?”
“What for, you heartless bounder? What would be the point?” Tears flooded her eyes, and all of a sudden, she was so angry she could barely speak. “I have eyes. I can see that everything you said to me two days ago was only a game to you. Did you propose to her, too? Do you propose to different women every other day?”
He let out a frustrated exhalation and raked his hand through his hair. “Clearly, I am not at my best right now,” he said through gritted teeth, “but God’s truth, this isn’t anywhere near as bad as it looks.”
“Well, don’t bother explaining.” She shook her head at him. “I can’t believe I trusted you. Good-bye, Derek. I’ve let you muck up my plans long enough, and frankly, you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
Anger flooded his silvery-blue eyes as she started to turn away. His hand shot out and gripped her arm. “You listen to me. Your ‘plans’ are over.”
“You have no authority over me—”
“Lundy’s bankrupt.”
“What?”
“He’s broke. I’m fairly sure of it, and if I’m right, then he’s going to throw you over for Bess Kingsley any day now, for her dowry.”
“That’s impossible! How could Edward be bankrupt?”
“I don’t know how! He probably overspent trying to impress Society. The house, the stables, the horses, the jewels.” He furrowed his brow, searching her face, then he shook his head. “You wanted to know what I was up to when you stopped me in his house the other day. I lied to you—I had no choice. I was trying to get to his office so I could verify my suspicions by having a look at his files.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you now?”
“Yes! Lily, you’re the reason I’m doing all this,” he exclaimed, gesturing toward the pub behind him. “I’m trying to get to the truth so that I can protect you! I brought Lundy here to get him drunk in the hopes that I could catch him in an unguarded moment and find out what the hell is really going on!”
“Did it work?”
Hands on hips, he heaved a frustrated sigh and shrugged. “Sort of. You’re not marrying him, Lily. You’re just not.”
“I hardly need your permission.”
“For God’s sake, woman—listen to me. Wouldn’t a shortage of funds explain why he hasn’t asked you to marry him yet? As of tonight, I believe it’s because he knows he might need to change course and wed Bess Kingsley for her dowry, not you.” He paused while Lily stood there, at a loss, stunned, and struggling to absorb his revelations. “Considering how much you guard your reputation,” Derek added, “personally, I’d suggest you start distancing yourself from Lundy as much as possible in Society. His troubles aren’t over. In fact, they may be just beginning.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I can’t tell you.” When she rolled her eyes, he relented slightly. “Lily—it has to do with that committee that he serves on. The one I testified in front of, for the army. You’re going to have to trust me on this. It’s bad.” He hesitated. “Very well, I think he migh have stolen some money from the fund.”
Quite in shock and feeling much too vulnerable, she folded her arms tightly across her waist and turned away, shaking her head. “Well, isn’t that just the old Balfour luck.”
“Sweetheart—” Derek reached for her, but she pulled away.
“Leave me alone.”
“I’ve been going out of my mind trying to find a way to keep you from getting dragged down in all of this.”
“How can I be sure if you’re telling the truth this time or if this is just some sort of sick game?” she demanded. God knew she had been through that before.
Indeed, this whole incident had called back much too vividly all the anguish and betrayal she had felt when she had learned that her “beloved” Lord Owen Masters was nothing but a two-faced fraud.
“A game?” Derek’s cheeks had flushed with anger. “If I don’t find that money, I don’t get my post back! Do you really think I’d play games when my whole career is at stake?”
His words drew her up short, reminding her anew of his firm decision to go back to India—and her own foolish hopes in seeking him out earlier this evening. “No, Derek, I don’t suppose you would,” she replied in a taut voice. “I can’t imagine anything that would make you risk your career.” She shook her head and turned away, starting back toward the carriage. “I have to go.”
“Lily, wait!”
She ignored him. “Please do not tell Edward we were here. I doubt he’ll have any memory of it, but this has all been quite humiliating enough, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Major, are you coming with us?” she clipped out, glancing past Derek to the elder Knight.
“I’ll stay with my brother,” Gabriel answered from a few yards back.
“I’m sorry to have dragged you out like this, Major,” she added. “It seems my fears were quite unfounded.”
“Can I call on you tomorrow?” Derek asked urgently, taking her arm to try to prevent her from leaving. “The day after?” he pursued at her unwelcoming look.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
He looked at her for a long moment, then shook his head. “Hold on,” he muttered. “I had hoped to do this under better circumstances, but—here.” He reached into his pocket. “Put out your hand.”
“What is it?” Warily, Lily did so.
“I was keeping these with me for good luck, but since you’re here…” Derek opened his fist and dropped her diamond earrings into her waiting palm.
Startled, she looked at them and then at him. Lifting them closer, she confirmed in a glance that they were indeed her great-great-grandmother’s earrings that she had bargained away to Coachman Jones. “How did you…”
He gazed into her eyes. “Still think I’m playing games?”
She barely knew how to respond. “I need to think,” she forced out, avoiding his searching gaze. “You’ll hear from me when I’m ready to see you.”
With that, she reached for the carriage door. Derek opened it for her and stood aside as she climbed in. Mrs. Clearwell slid over to make room for Lily, but the matron glanced at Derek through the window and shook her head at him in disappointment.
He dropped his chin and closed the carriage door for the ladies.
At once, Lily rapped sharply on the chassis to signal Gerald, the driver. A moment later, the barouche rolled into motion, leaving Derek behind, standing in the cobbled yard.
“Damn it,” he whispered, then turned to his brother. “What were you thinking?”
“Don’t take that tone with me. How was I supposed to know what you were about?”
“Why in the hell would you bring her here?”
“She was worried about you! She thought you were in danger—and when she explained it to me, so did I!”
“Damn it, Gabriel.” He rubbed the back of his neck and turned toward the tavern once again, shaking his head.
“You know something, you’
re a fool if you go back to India when you’ve got a woman here who—” Gabriel’s words broke off abruptly. He dropped his gaze with an exasperated huff. “Never mind. I’m not getting in the middle of it. Here.” Reaching into his waistcoat, he pulled out a letter. “Aadi bade me give you this when I told him I needed to find you. It just came today. It’s not from Colonel Montrose, but Aadi said you’d want it right away.”
Derek took the letter with a terse nod of thanks and moved closer to the feeble lamplight that glowed by the tavern’s front door.
The sender’s name was not marked on the outside, but when he cracked it open, he saw that the very short note was from trusty Charles, his accountant.
Major,
I found something. My search has led to a local ne’erdo-well by the name of Phillip Kane. When you return, please call on me and I will elaborate.
Yr Servant, etc.
C. Beecham, Esq.
“Good man,” he murmured under his breath. The news was no doubt another nail in poor old Edward’s coffin.
Gabriel looked at him in question as Derek folded the note and pocketed it.
“Come on,” he said in an easier tone, clapping his elder brother on the shoulder and nodding toward the pub.
“Are you going to buy me a pint?” Gabriel asked wryly.
Derek looked askance at him. “After you help me get Lundy off the floor.”
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
“I’m here to collect the sorrel mare,” Lily said to the grooms at the Althorpe’s stable the next morning. She lifted her chin. “Major Knight gave me permission to take the horse out for a canter whenever I wish.”
The pair of young grooms on duty heard the note of authority in her voice, glanced at her smart riding habit, and leaped to obey.
“I’ll saddle the horse for you, Miss.”
“Thank you. Are the Majors Knight at home?”
As one groom hurried off to saddle the mare, the other glanced into the empty stall usually occupied by Derek’s big black stallion. “I don’t believe so, Miss.”