He half expected her to fight him, but she flopped against him like a rag doll and sobbed. Instinctually, he ran his hands through her unbound hair while whispering soothing words in her ears. Slowly, she slid her hands up his coat and clung to his arms, tightening her fingers around him. He wanted so badly to take away her pain. If he could have, he would have made it his own. In fact, he’d do anything for her. The thought scared him. It was too close to the hopeless devotion he wanted to avoid. Something inside him was changing, and he didn’t like it. Yet, did he have the power to stop it?
After a time, her sobs grew quieter. Of course, that could have been because she’d buried her face in his chest, not that he minded. It had been far too long since he’d touched her and held her so close. When her sobs subsided to nothing but hiccups, he stroked her hair for a few more minutes before asking, “Would you care to talk about it?”
She shook her head against his chest and sniffed loudly. “No. How much did you hear?”
The question made him tense. He didn’t want to embarrass her, but he refused to lie to her. “Almost all of it.”
Audrey clenched and unclenched the material of his coat but still didn’t look at him. “Then you know he had another family and they were the ones he gave all his love to.” Her wounded laughter came out in a muffled burst.
Trent cupped her chin and forced her face upward. She swiped her hands under her eyes, blinked and looked at him. “What is it?” she demanded, showing a bit of the bravado he was used to from her. That was a relief. He’d hate to think her spirit had been broken.
“Your father was a fool to deny your love.”
With a glare, she shoved away from him. “No more of a fool than you, Lord Rutherford.”
“Audrey―”
With a dark warning look, she held up a forestalling hand. “Don’t waste your breath. I’ll tell you what I told Lord Thortonberry. You’ve precisely five minutes to say what is on your mind and then I want you out, though I must add, I thank you for helping me keep a scrap of pride in front of my new sister by not telling her the truth of my past and current situation.” Audrey paused, took a deep breath, looked at the grandfather clock on the wall and then back at him. By God, righteous anger made her more stunning than ever.
“The clock is ticking, Lord Davenport.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“You are wasting your time and mine,” she snapped.
Was she serious? Or merely testing him? “Did you throw Thortonberry out after his five minutes was over?”
“No,” she said icily. “You are quite wrong in your views about him. He was not at the hellfire clubs for any untoward purpose.”
“You cannot seriously believe him.”
“I most certainly can and do. It’s you who keeps secrets, not him. He was very quick to tell me exactly what he had been doing there, unlike you, who never could quite explain the secrecy of your former marriage. You’ve three minutes left, Lord Davenport.”
“Damnation, woman!”
“That curse just cost you six seconds, which you could have used to say whatever it is you came to say.”
Trent gritted his teeth on another curse. The daft woman truly meant to throw him out. “I came to ask you to marry me.” Damn it to hell. That had not at all been the way he’d planned on asking her.
She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you wish to marry me? You don’t love me.”
“I told you, I believe we will make a good match. I care for you. Admire you. And I want to protect you and give you everything you desire.”
He didn’t like the way her shoulders sagged at his words. She shook her head. “I don’t need your protection. Lord Thortonberry has asked to court me, and has vowed he wants to marry me, because he loves me. I want to marry a man who loves me. Admiration is nice, but not love. So, you see, your offer pales in comparison to his. My father didn’t love my mother and look how that turned out for my mother, my brother and me. I have no desire for that sort of marriage. I tried to give you my love and you threw it back in my face, just like my father.”
She loved him. Or she had. His chest tightened as if a vise gripped it. Hearing her say it, he realized he had suspected. Had he hoped she loved him? He rejected the question immediately. He could not allow him mind to tread down that path, could he? “So you’d marry a man you don’t love over one you do?” He hadn’t meant for his words to come out sharp like a whip, but his control was slipping―on everything it seemed.
She flinched but did not move her gaze from his face. “I suppose we are more alike than I previously thought. You’d marry me, a woman you don’t love, simply to get what you desire. Oh, I did forget your admiration.” She cast him a cynical smile that made him flinch. She heaved a sigh. “At least I’ll end up married to a man who loves me, and I know I’ll be a tender and true wife to him, even if I never love him.”
“Audrey, please.” His words were a desperate hiss.
“You’re time is up, Lord Davenport.” She waved a hand at the door. “Do you mind seeing yourself out?”
She was throwing him out, and if he couldn’t stop her now, his gut told him it would be too late. She demanded too much―wanted too much, but the thought of losing her to Thortonberry was more than Trent could take. As much as he didn’t want to love again, he had to try for her. “I’ll try to be more amenable to love.” He grimaced at his stiff-sounding words.
Her eyes rounded, showing he’d caught her by surprise. It was about bloody time. She’d done nothing but surprise the hell out of him since he’d walked into her home. Slowly, she licked her lips. “I wish I thought you had it in you, Trent, but I’m afraid I don’t believe you, as much as I want to.”
He slammed a palm down on the table in front of them, making the tea service jump and rattle. “What do you want from me, woman? Blood?”
She shook her head. “Not blood. The truth would be nice for starters. I want you to tell me the truth about your wife and your marriage, and if you can do that, I’ll consider letting you court me and prove your feelings to me, but I warn you, I’m not going to quit seeing Lord Thortonberry during this courtship. I’ve already given my word.”
“The truth,” Trent echoed. How could he tell her the truth and keep the fact that he had been a spy secret? Carefully. There was no other choice. If he didn’t tell her, she’d forget him and never look back. He could see the truth of that in her eyes and he didn’t want to be without her. He sat back and stared at his hands, trying to find the right words.
“Because of my station and my exuberance for traveling, I made connections in France that proved valuable to certain men here in England.”
She sat back beside him, her shoulder brushing his before she spoke. “Valuable how?”
“These men wanted me to use my connections to be a go between, if you will, among them and men in France who wanted the same thing they wanted. Someone here wrote orders of things that needed to be done, when they needed to be accomplished and exactly how. It was important to keep it very secret, because there were people there who wanted to sabotage what they were doing and help someone very bad escape confinement.”
“That is a good start but I need you to be more specific.”
He frowned. He’d hoped she wouldn’t be her normally inquisitive self, but he should have known better. “They wanted to ensure Napoleon stayed imprisoned and defeated and that those who would see him brought back to power or help him escape his prison never had the chance to do so.”
She gaped at him, her hand coming to her throat. “I don’t suppose you trust me enough to tell me who it is that wanted you to do this?”
As he sat and stared at her open, honest face it struck him that he wanted to trust her enough to do exactly that. When the hell had that happened? Somewhere between last night and this morning seeing her openly weeping and so vulnerable, she’d managed to slip inside his heart. Sweat dampened his brow. He’d never thought he’d want to trust a woman again. “I’d lik
e to trust you that much, but there are certain things I’ll never be able to reveal, for your safety as well as a vow I’ve given.” Like the prince’s name.
“Yes.” She nodded slowly. “That makes sense. Can you tell me why you kept your marriage secret?”
The sweat on his brow was joined by his heart thudding heavily. “Because I found out after my wife betrayed me that she wasn’t who she’d led me to believe she was. And in fact, she worked for the very enemy I was supposed to be helping control.”
“Oh, my,” Audrey gasped.
“’Oh, my’, is an understatement,” Trent replied darkly. “Well, what do you think? Have I told you enough to win a spot as one of your suitors?”
Audrey toyed with the necklace she wore, her eyes focused no longer on him, but out the window. Trent tapped his foot against the carpet, hating the waiting. He’d confessed as much to her as he could. Hell, he’d probably confessed too much, but the blasted woman had left him no choice.
He smiled ironically. When faced with spilling his secrets or death in the prison, he’d chosen death. Yet when faced with losing Audrey or telling her enough to make her trust him again, he’d chosen Audrey. Dinnisfree had been right. The woman was his Achilles’ heel, and he didn’t like it one bit. Not that he could see where he had a choice. How much of a weakness he’d allow her to become was up to him. He was determined to keep his feelings at the level they were at this moment. That little tidbit of truth, though, he would keep to himself.
“All right,” she said, meeting his gaze once again. “I’ll see you this afternoon at your cousin Gillian’s. Her husband is showing his new art piece. You may meet me there.”
“And Thortonberry?”
“He’ll be meeting me too,” she said, her cheeks turning a rosy shade. “Be nice.”
He nodded. He’d be nice to her. To Thortonberry, he’d be ruthless. The man needed to find another lady to become infatuated with. Audrey was his, whether she’d accepted it yet or not.
“They’re here,” Whitney whispered in Audrey’s ear. Audrey tensed and gazed at the archway that led into the salon where Gillian’s husband’s newest addition to his art collection was on display.
Audrey gripped Whitney’s arm as she discreetly glanced at Lord Thortonberry and Trent. They stood in the doorway together, both appearing vastly uncomfortable to be sharing the same space. Trent and Lord Thortonberry could not have been dressed in more contrasting colors if they had planned it. Trent wore a single-breasted navy waistcoat, buckskins of a light gray and top boots. His simple cravat and lack of a hat completed his causal outfit. His clothes, obviously from an expensive tailor by the exquisite way they formed to his body, made him appear effortlessly commanding, which was exactly the truth. Her heart flipped, and then flipped again when he smiled at her.
She smiled back, then, feeling guilty that she had hardly spared a glance for Lord Thortonberry, turned her attention to him. His outfit, a double-breasted coat of vibrant green-and-white stripes, a black top hat and cream pantaloons, reminded her of her Aunt Hillie’s outrageous outfits. The bold ensemble was rather unlike what he usually wore. Pulling her gaze away from the gentlemen, she whispered to Whitney, “Of all the rotten luck. I never counted on them arriving at the same time.”
“No matter.” Whitney squeezed Audrey’s hand. “Since Sally couldn’t be here, because of Peter’s illness, I instructed your aunt to run interference if this very predicament occurred.
“How very devious of you,” Audrey murmured.
Whitney grinned. “It’s the least I can do. However, you know who I think you should choose.”
“Yes, I know.” Audrey had no wish to have the same discussion they’d had several hours ago after she’d called on Whitney and told her of her predicament.
“In case you’ve forgotten, I want you to end up with Sin.”
“I haven’t forgotten.” Audrey shot Whitney an incredulous look while keeping part of her attention focused on the men. They were both occupied with greeting the host and hostess, so Audrey had a few minutes to decide who she would spend time with first today.
Whitney nudged her in the side. “I hate to be a pest, but your aunt is waiting for my signal.”
Audrey searched the room for her aunt and found her hiding behind a potted plant, which would have been rather clever, except Aunt Hillie had worn her usual shocking attire. The seven feathers in her aunt’s hair stuck up past the plant’s bushy leaves and gave her hiding place away. Audrey giggled. “I’m not sure.”
“Not sure about which man or no longer sure of your plan?”
“Which gentleman,” Audrey immediately responded. “I’m still certain of my plan. My head still tells me to choose Lord Thortonberry, while my heart clings to the hope that Trent will realize he loves me.”
“Then it’s settled. Spend time with Trent first. And then if he has an epiphany, you can send Lord Thortonberry on his way.”
Audrey frowned. “I’ll spend time with Lord Thortonberry first. I’ve always followed my heart and look where it’s gotten me.”
Whitney held up one finger and Aunt Hillie shot Audrey a fierce frown. Whitney snickered. “I daresay your aunt doesn’t approve.”
“I know. She made her opinion very clear after Trent left. In her mind, true love always wins. Of course, she chooses to forget that Trent has never said he loves me.”
“Sometimes men say it without using the words.”
“Well, I need the words.” After everything that had happened, she wanted that certainty. “Lord Thortonberry is approaching,” she warned.
“Yes, yes,” Whitney grumbled. “I’ll play dutiful chaperone as promised, and you will pretend to be light-headed.”
Audrey nodded as she smiled at Lord Thortonberry.
He took her hand and pressed his lips to her glove. “Ladies, you both look exquisite.”
Audrey and Whitney murmured appropriate responses and then Lord Thortonberry asked, “Shall we go view the art?”
Audrey shook her head. “I’m feeling rather light-headed.” In a way it did not take much acting on her part, because if she thought too long about having to decide who she might marry, she did feel light-headed. Marriage was a lifelong commitment. Could she marry someone she didn’t love with all her heart? Then again, could she marry someone who didn’t love her? Why did things have to be so complicated? “I need some fresh air.”
Whitney clutched her arm on cue. “Lord Thortonberry, won’t you help me take Lady Audrey to the garden to get fresh air?”
“Certainly.” He grasped her other elbow and pressed his free hand against her back.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Trent try to break away from her aunt. Aunt Hillie grabbed his arm and waved her hands in the air while speaking rapidly. Whitney must have seen it as well, because she pulled Audrey along at a clipped pace toward the hall that led to the courtyard.
“Perhaps we should slow down for Lady Audrey’s sake,” Lord Thortonberry said behind her.
“Nonsense.” Whitney strode toward the garden door and practically dragged Audrey down the steps. Before Audrey’s feet could gain firm ground, Whitney was pressing her hands to Audrey’s shoulders. Audrey landed with a hard thud on the metal bench.
This had not been the plan. They were to stroll in the garden while Whitney fell behind them and allowed them time to talk. Whitney whipped toward Lord Thortonberry as he descended the steps and clutched his arm. “I better go fetch Audrey’s aunt, so she doesn’t become overly worried. You stay with Lady Audrey and I’ll be back in a moment.”
Whitney ascended the steps before Lord Thortonberry could agree. Audrey’s protest died silently on her lips. Blast Whitney for her scheming ways. She had no idea what Whitney was up to, but she didn’t care for it one bit.
Audrey ran a smoothing hand over her skirts as she thought. She could not very well hop up and claim to be all better, but she’d never planned on being utterly alone with Lord Thortonberry. What if he asked her
to marry him today? She was not ready to respond.
He sat beside her, so that their knees bumped. “Sorry,” he said and tried to adjust himself, but he was a tall man and the bench was small. “Shall I stand and give you more room?”
“No.” She took a deep purposeful breath, so he’d believe her next words. “I think I’m already feeling a bit better.
“Excellent.”
The gleam in his eyes made her gulp. Perhaps she should have asked him to stand after all.
“I’m glad to get you all to myself.” His voice was low and husky.
“Are you?” she murmured, praying Whitney would truly hurry back.
He scooted closer and slid his arm across the back of the bench. His fingers first brushed her shoulder, then moved swiftly to her neck, where he curled his warm, strong hands around her bare skin. Before she could protest him taking any liberties here in a very public garden, his mouth descended on hers, and her heart exploded in galloping indignation.
A thousand rude words rang in her ears. She pushed at his chest, but he didn’t seem to notice. His kiss became more fervent, almost bruising in its intensity. Just as she moved her hands up his chest to shove him away, Whitney’s voice cut through the silence. “My goodness, you two lovebirds. I leave you alone for one minute and you’re in each other’s arms.”
Audrey was going to throttle Whitney for the game she was playing. She shoved hard at Lord Thortonberry’s chest and whipped to her feet, swaying with how fast she came up and her lack of air from the brute’s relentless kiss. “Oh my,” she murmured, her gaze focusing belatedly on Trent’s.
His green eyes bored into her like bits of razor-sharp stones. Her heart sank to her slippered feet, crashing so loudly in her mind she jerked. She wanted to run to him and explain that she’d not been a willing participant in the kiss, more like a ship taken by force, but she stood stock-still. She would not humiliate Lord Thortonberry by saying such a thing. There was an arrested expression on Trent’s face that twisted her heart into a tangled mass, but it was the immediate smile that he forced to his lips, which made her tremble and fear he’d never be able to love her now. There wasn’t a trace of warmth to his smile, only cold contempt. “I’ve forgotten something in the salon,” he said before turning on his heel and leaving without another word.
Dancing With A Devil Page 25