The Rogue's Seduction

by Georgina Devon

  ‘Well,’ she said, lifting her head and squaring her shoulders, ‘that will be better than nothing.’ She rose and extended her hand. ‘Thank you, Mr Sinclair. This has not been a pleasant meeting, but it has been an educational one. Can you keep my brother from spending whatever monies are realised from the sale of the London house?’

  He stood and took her hand. ‘I can petition the courts, my lady.’

  ‘A nasty airing of family problems,’ she murmured.

  ‘Or I can take the cash in hand and give it directly to you and tell you how to invest it. That would be skirting the letter of the former Lord de Lisle’s will, but it could be done.’

  She nodded. ‘That is much better. Thank you again,’ she said, turning and taking her leave.

  She walked out of the building with her head high. She was in the centre of London, near the Bank of England and other giants of commerce. Her carriage stood by the paving, the horses pawing the cold cobblestones. At least it was not sleeting. The day was miserable enough without inclement weather.

  She picked up her skirts and moved proudly to her carriage. Her servant opened the door and let down the steps. ‘Home,’ she said, adding under her breath, ‘but not home for long.’

  She was inside, away from curious eyes just in time. She collapsed back against the cushions and sat in a state of shock. Nothing left. Nearly nine years of marriage to de Lisle for nothing. Everything squandered for Mathias’s damnable gaming.

  She pounded her fists into the leather seats and wished she were hitting her brother. He had not even had the decency to tell her. Instead he had tried to push her into another marriage of convenience—his convenience. Damn him, damn him, damn him.

  The tears flowed freely now as she gave her emotions freedom. Everything she had thought was hers was not. She would have to move out of the London house immediately. She would have to let many servants go. They did not deserve that.

  She took a heaving breath and it felt like her chest was on fire. Mathias had much to answer for.

  She swiped at the tears still trickling down her cheeks. Enough of this snivelling, she had work to do. Then she would confront Mathias. And then, she licked her lips, then she must go back to the Dower House and Perth.

  A grim smile tugged at her lips. She wanted Perth, had always wanted him. But she had known their union would not be good for her. Now, thanks to Mathias, she had very little choice. Without Perth’s name, her child would have nothing. She could not do that to the babe.

  The despair that weighed so heavily seconds before started to ease. What Mathias had done was beyond excuse, but…

  Now she must do as her heart had always urged. Her reason told her so. There was no other way for her child. For her child.

  She must marry Perth.

  Four days later, Lillith’s carriage pulled into the drive that led to her ancestral home. She had not been here in a number of years. Her father had died shortly after she wed de Lisle, and Mathias had never spent time here.

  She watched dispassionately as they drove by the beeches that lined the road. She had never cared for the place of her birth. Her mother had died when Lillith was three. Her father had been distant and uncaring. His first love had been gambling, like his son’s. She did not even know if Mathias was here, but he was not in London and with her money gone there were not too many other places he could be.

  The coach came to a stop, and she waited for the door to be opened and the stairs to be let down. She was in no hurry for what lay ahead of her.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said as she disembarked.

  Before her stood a rambling house of indeterminate age. Parts were Elizabethan, some Jacobean and the Palladian front more recent. She did not remember the marble columns. Mathias must have added them in one of his flush times. Her mouth twisted. Very likely after her marriage to de Lisle.

  She climbed the steps, wondering if she should knock or if there would even be a servant to let her in. She paused, gathering her anger that had given her the courage to come this far to confront the brother she had always before deferred to. She marched the last distance and pushed open the double doors without hesitation.

  She stepped into the foyer she remembered not being allowed in as a child. She had always to enter and leave by the back doors. Children were to be seen, occasionally, and never heard.

  There was an air of disuse about the place. The side table where a silver salver should have been was empty and in need of dusting. The black and white marble squares beneath her feet needed polishing. None of the paintings she remembered from her youth hung on the walls. Mathias had probably sold all of them.

  Still, no servant arrived and no sound gave hint that anyone but she was in the house.

  ‘Is anyone here?’ she called, listening to her voice echo in the enclosed, rounded foyer. She looked up and noted the Waterford chandelier was gone.

  For the first time since arriving, she heard a noise. It came from the library. She moved in that direction, wondering if all the books would be gone and the places where family portraits had once hung would now be empty spots of colour against the faded fabric of the wall covering.

  ‘Ah, Lillith,’ Mathias said when she opened the heavy oak door and stepped into the room. ‘What brings you to the country and without even a note to tell me you were coming?’

  He lounged in a leather-covered chair that he had pulled up to a small game table. With casual skill, he shuffled a deck of cards and began laying them out for a game of solitaire.

  His nonchalance and the forever-present cards added much-needed fuel to her anger that had begun to flag during her sad perusal of her family home. ‘Cards as usual,’ she said, sharply. ‘One would think that after all the damage they have done you would be heartily sick of them. But that appears not to be the case.’

  He looked up at her and lifted one silver brow. ‘You are in a nasty mood, Sister. Have a seat and I will ring for refreshment.’

  She took the first chair available, a slim Chippendale. ‘I am surprised you have servants to bring refreshments. No one met me at the door.’

  ‘You did not knock either,’ he riposted. ‘Whatever is the matter with you?’

  ‘I don’t want refreshment, Mathias. I want satisfaction. I want an explanation.’ The angry words tumbled from her. She leaned forward and glared at him. ‘And for everything that is sacred, stop playing with those blasted cards.’

  He was not a stupid man, just a very selfish one. ‘So you have been to see Sinclair, and he has told you the deplorable state of your—our—finances.’ He set the ace of spades above the rest. ‘I don’t suppose I should be surprised, but I am. De Lisle left me as manager of your inheritance. What made you check?’

  ‘Why I checked is none of your business. What matters now is why you lost everything. Everything. You would not even have this…’ she waved her arms to indicate the house ‘…if it were not entailed and impossible for you to gamble away. As it is, it will very likely crumble around you, for you have no money and no inclination to keep it in repair.’

  She drew a deep breath and her eyes narrowed. ‘Did you intercept Mr Sinclair’s letters? For he says that he sent three and I received none.’

  Mathias’s gaze shifted away before coming back to rest on her. For a second she thought he intended to lie. ‘Footmen can always use a little extra blunt.’

  ‘You disgust me.’

  ‘There is no need to raise your voice, Lillith. I can hear you very well.’

  His reprimand non-plussed her. She had not realised her voice had risen. She forced herself to unknot her fingers and sit back in her chair. She also pushed aside the knowledge that there was a footman in her service whom she could not trust. It was a small betrayal compared to what Mathias had done.

  She tried again. ‘I am selling the London house to pay the lien on it.’

  He picked up a card and flicked it between his fingers. ‘Sinclair mentioned something about that. I did not want to do it. Knew my
luck would change.’ He shrugged. ‘It did not. So the house must go. A debt of honour must be paid.’

  She shook her head in disbelief and took a deep breath and the enormous sadness of it all hit her. ‘Have you no remorse?’ she asked softly.

  Mathias shifted in his chair as though he might be uncomfortable, but nothing showed on his face. ‘’Tis in m’blood. No help for it.’

  Appalled at his callous disregard for all the hurt and damage he had caused and his blithe acceptance of such a destructive habit, she sat motionless and speechless. He continued playing solitaire, his fingers caressing the cards as he flicked through them and laid them out. She might as well not be here.

  She took one last look around the library. She had no intention of touring the house and grounds. She was not going to return. Her future lay elsewhere.

  She put her hands on the arms of her chair and pushed herself up. She felt weighted down by melancholy and regret.

  ‘I am leaving now,’ she said softly. He glanced up. ‘I will be staying the night at the inn in town.’ She took a deep breath. There was no sense in keeping from him her plan. He was, after all was said and done, her only living relative. ‘I will be marrying Perth. It will be a small ceremony in the tiny chapel of my Dower House.’ Which would not be hers after the wedding. Another loss.

  For the first time since her arrival, real emotion showed on Mathias’s face. He surged up, beet-red. ‘Perth! I won’t have it.’

  The anger that had brought her here and slowly seeped from her to be replaced by sadness rushed back. ‘You won’t have it? You have nothing to say about it. You squandered a fortune of mine on gambling and have not a shred of remorse to show for it.’

  He took a menacing step towards her, knocking over the card table. He ignored the crash. ‘I have plans for you to wed Chillings or Carstairs. They are as wealthy as Perth and will be better husbands.’

  She glared at him, her muscles tight with fury. ‘You can go to Hades, Brother. I married at your direction once. I won’t do so again. If you are so desperate to repair your fences, then find yourself an heiress and marry her—if one will have you.’

  She cast a critical gaze over his person, seeing for the first time the dissolute man he had become. Once he had been slim and cut a dashing figure. Now he was a caricature of that man. He ran with the Prince of Wales’s crowd and a more dissolute, debauched group would be hard to find. She had let her love for him blind her to his faults. She had made excuses for him.

  She closed her eyes briefly and tried to calm herself. No matter what he had done or what he had become, he was her brother. When she thought she could speak without losing her temper, she opened her eyes and said, ‘I cannot forgive you for what you have done, but you are my brother. My only living relative. At the moment I am very hurt by what you have done, and would prefer that you not visit me. You are, however, invited to the wedding so long as you accept this marriage and do nothing to disrupt it or to cause trouble.’

  He stood shaking in his rage with his lips pinched tight but he said nothing. When she realised he did not intend to speak, she turned away, paused and turned back.

  ‘Did you have Perth whipped ten years ago?’

  The words left her mouth before she realised that she intended to say them. She had thought she did not want to know and that the past was better left buried. Now this.

  Mathias drew himself. ‘That is none of your concern. A lady does not get involved.’

  Lillith’s eyes narrowed. Disappointment ate at her. ‘You did.’

  She did not bother to stay to hear what he might say. She pivoted and left. There was only so much disillusionment she could take about Mathias, and she had reached that point. She had hoped that Perth had been mistaken.

  Her hands shook as she took the hand proffered by her coachman. When she ducked her head to enter the carriage, a tear escaped. She swiped it away.

  As she drove off, she took one last look back at the house she had grown up in. It stood, a dim copy of its former glory. She would never be back.

  She turned her gaze forward and shivered as though a draught of cold air had rushed over her. Against all her better judgement, her future lay with Perth. She loved him and knew he would care for her and the child they had created. Perhaps in time his desire for her would turn to love. She had to hope for that. For she had no other choices.

  Perhaps she could make up for some of the past wrongs done him. If she were strong enough.

  Perth sat in the public room of the inn and drank his ale. Outside snow fell in soft waves of white. The village green was covered and the pond had a thin film of ice. Lillith would pass this way on her return to the Dower House.

  He had been here nearly a week. Fitch had arrived on his second day with the carriage and a trunk of clothes the batman considered appropriate.

  Perth finished the ale and rose. The innkeeper hurried over, wiping his hands on the apron he wore.

  ‘Is there something else I can get your lordship?’ He beamed. Perth was a good customer.

  ‘No, thank you,’ Perth said.

  By now he knew everyone who frequented the pub and many who did not. He was on nodding familiarity with all in the village. He also realised that every man, woman and child in this town liked and respected Lillith. They all watched him to see if he was good enough for her.

  ‘My lord,’ a young boy yelled, rushing in from outside, his cheeks red from the cold. ‘Her ladyship’s carriage just passed.’

  ‘My thanks,’ Perth said, tossing the youth a coin. ‘You have done a good job of watching for me.’

  The child beamed before strutting off proud as a peacock.

  Perth turned to his landlord. ‘Have my mount brought round.’

  Knowing the deed was as good as done, Perth went to his room and donned a coat, hat and gloves. He looked at the cane tossed across one chair. He was not likely to need it here.

  Fitch came in from his room at that moment. ‘You never know, my lord. It saved your life that one time or at least kept you from a severe beating.’

  Perth glanced at his manservant. ‘I doubt Wentworth is here or that he has hired thugs again.’

  Fitch just looked at him.

  ‘But you are right,’ Perth acquiesced. ‘There are thieves in the country as well as the city.’

  The anxiety that had formed lines around Fitch’s mouth eased. ‘Lady de Lisle has returned.’

  ‘Yes, and I intend to speak with her before she has a chance to think up another reason to refuse my offer. Although I have no doubt that she has discovered just how dire her situation is.’

  ‘She is proud,’ Fitch said. ‘As are you, my lord.’

  Perth smiled ruefully. ‘Yes, and we shall have a hard go of it because of those traits.’

  Perth left. Outside his horse waited. He got into the saddle just as another carriage barrelled through the narrow high road. He backed his horse on to the pavement just in time to keep from being run over. The man driving the carriage was hamfisted and in a hurry.

  The cane he had decided to take in spite of its awkwardness on horseback lay on the ground where he had dropped it when his horse shied. He looked at it ruefully.

  ‘Fitch,’ he said to the batman who had followed him down and witnessed the scene, ‘please return that to my room. I will be making greater haste than I had thought and carrying that will only hamper me.’

  Fitch frowned, but picked up the cane. ‘Be careful if you’ve a mind to go after that idiot.’

  Feeling the self-appointed protector of this little village, Perth considered going after the vehicle and putting the fear of God into the occupant. But the need to see Lillith was greater.

  ‘I have a more important meeting.’

  He set off for the Dower House and soon became intrigued when he realised that was where the carriage headed. He slowed his pace to keep just behind the coach for now he had a suspicion of who made such reckless haste in the ice and snow.

  He’
d be damned if Wentworth would interfere this time.

  When they reached Lillith’s house, he reined his horse to a stop right behind Wentworth’s carriage and dismounted. Activity erupted around them. Grooms came for his horse and to lead Wentworth’s carriage to the stables.

  Wentworth disembarked, saw Perth and turned white, then scarlet. He halted for a moment before continuing on toward the door. Perth cut off his path.

  Perth eyed the other man with disgust. Wentworth’s nose was starting to glow red in the cold. His greatcoat with its multitude of fashionable capes made him look like an over-inflated balloon instead of the dashing figure he probably thought he looked.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Perth demanded, hands on hips. He regretted the cane he had left behind when Wentworth’s carriage had nearly run him down.

  ‘Out of my way,’ Wentworth snarled. ‘I need to speak with my sister. What she plans is folly.’ Bold as his words were, he did not move forward.

  A hard grin showed Perth’s teeth and accentuated his scar even as exultation filled him. Lillith intended to marry him.

  ‘What she plans is the only means open to her after the débâcle you have made of her affairs.’ He moved until his face was nearly touching Wentworth’s. ‘A situation you will never have the opportunity to cause again. Mark my words, Wentworth, I will have none of your importuning. I won’t pay a single bill you have now or will have in the future. And if you come around, I will be sorely tempted to horsewhip you myself, instead of taking the coward’s way out and hiring someone to do it—as you did.’

  His deadly calm words filled the cold, still air. Wentworth’s ruddy face blanched. Without a flick of an eye, Perth stepped aside. Wentworth hurried past, pulling on his cape to ensure that it did not touch the Earl.

  Perth followed at a leisurely pace. He had no desire to see Lillith’s brother again. When he finally entered the foyer, Wentworth was gone.

  ‘My lord,’ the normally imperturbable butler said, taking the hat and gloves Perth held out. ‘We were not expecting you. Her ladyship is indisposed.’