Dancing With A Devil (34 page)

He raised his eyebrows questioningly, but she refused to be pulled into the discussion. Once again, she firmly closed her eyes, delighted to realize if she wasn’t looking at Lord Thortonberry she was truly hardly thinking of him. It was too bad she couldn’t say the same of Trent. His ruggedly handsome face and laughing, secretive eyes danced in her head. It was all she could do to hold in her moan of annoyance.

After Audrey stormed away from Trent, he excused himself and departed from the ball as quickly as possible. He headed straight for the Sainted Order. Once there, he made a few discreet inquiries about Thortonberry with some of the demireps who were willing to talk for blunt, got the information he needed that proved the man had paid for their services in the past week, and then Trent went straight to the next hellfire club to see if Thortonberry had been there as well.

Six hellfire clubs, three pleasure halls and four long hours later Trent fell onto his bed, exhausted yet more alive than since the night he realized Gwyneth was not at all who she seemed. Thortonberry had been a busy lord these past two weeks. He had stuck to the same pattern all week of not visiting the hellfire clubs until after one in the morning. Apparently, that was well past Dinnisfree’s bedtime. If Trent’s calculations were correct the man had paid for the services of twenty demireps. That was more than one a night. Trent closed his eyes and grinned. Tomorrow he would make Audrey his and ensure she knew just what sort of man Thortonberry really was.

The next morning at precisely ten, Mr. Barrett, graciously serving as footman so no one who happened to call would know they were desperately poor by the lack of even a simple footman, appeared in her study door and announced Lord Thortonberry’s arrival. Her stomach clenched as Lord Thortonberry entered the room and smiled broadly. She nodded to Mr. Barrett to take his leave―and the coachman or rather footman―at the moment, quickly did.

Lord Thortonberry strolled toward her, and taking her gloved hand, kissed it as had become customary for him. She’d spent all morning fretting about how to confront him and had decided she simply had to brave it and ask him the truth.

He seated himself on the settee and motioned for her to sit by him. She hesitated before doing so. Lately she’d grown more and more comfortable with such intimacies with him, but now that she knew he’d purposely let her believe something that wasn’t true, she felt awkward. Still, she would give him the benefit of hearing why he’d lied, before she threw him out of her house. Once seated, she turned and faced him.

He reached for her hand, and she pulled away. A frown creased his brow before he spoke. “You look beautiful this morning.”

She’d purposely chosen one of the gowns that had been made by Madam Marmont. “Thank you. This is one of the gowns you purchased for me. I can’t tell you again how much I appreciate what you did.”

Lord Thortonberry squirmed on the couch and appeared vastly uncomfortable. Audrey smiled grimly. At least lying bothered him. “Tell me,” she continued ruthlessly, “what made you decide this particular shade of green would look good on me? I’m assuming you chose all the colors for the gowns. Or did you give Madame Marmont the freedom to decide?”

Lord Thortonberry tugged on his collar as perspiration dampened his brow. “I’ve never actually met Madam Marmont.”

“
Really? How odd. Did you correspond with her by letters, then, to decide on my wardrobe?” The blasted fiend could squirm and sweat all he liked. If he intended to sit here and continue to lie to her, she would take vindictive glee out of making him regret it.

“
I―” Lord Thortonberry stopped talking, threw up his hands and sighed. “I didn’t purchase the gowns for you.”

Some of the tension reverberating through her drained away at his regretful look. “I already know,” she admitted. Her face heated a little as his eyes narrowed.

“
Then what’s this about?”

“
I wanted to see if you would finally tell the truth and I wanted to watch you squirm.”

A bark of laughter escaped him. “You’re full of surprises, Lady Audrey.”

She pursed her lips. He wasn’t off the hook, by any means. “As are you.” Her tone was purposely chiding. “I trusted you totally and you lied to me. Why?”

Smiling sadly, he caressed her cheek. “Because I’m human. Because I saw how happy the gowns made you when they arrived, and when you assumed I’d purchased them, I wholeheartedly wished I’d thought to do so. And because I detected you were on the verge of telling me we could never be more than friends. Am I right?”

He was right, but what to say? The purchasing of the gowns had helped her make up her mind to consider him, though he didn’t inspire the passion she wished for. “Perhaps, but I didn’t agree to let you court me simply because I thought you’d bought me a new wardrobe. You’d been there for me and shown me loyalty, kindness and caring. I greatly admire those things.”

“
And now?” he asked. “Do you wish to send me away?”

She didn’t know. She still needed to marry soon, and despite his having lied to her, he was the best candidate, if he cared for her the way she thought he truly might. “I’m not sure. I want to believe I can trust you.”

“
You can.” He clutched her hand with both of his.

With a firm tug, she pulled away. “We shall see. I’ll still see you, but I may need a little time to sort out how I feel.”

“
You can take all the time you need. I’ll wait, but there’s something I must say to you.”

“
Go ahead,” she said cautiously.

“
I saw the way you looked at Davenport last night. I know you still care for him.”

“
I don’t.” Her response rang hollow in her own ears.

“
Come now,” Lord Thortonberry chided. “Who isn’t telling the truth now?”

Embarrassment heated her from her scalp all the way to her slippered feet. “I don’t wish to talk about him.”

“
Neither do I, but permit me to say one more thing to you.”

She nodded, though it was reluctant.

“
I don’t think you’ll ever forget him.”

Audrey bristled and started to interrupt, but he gently pressed a finger to her lips. “Don’t get upset.” His voice was pleading. “Not being able to forget him is one of the things that makes you so special. You gave him a piece of your heart. You loved him. You shouldn’t forget him. But I want you for myself. If you’ll give me the chance, a real chance, I think you’ll find there’s a piece of your heart you could give to me.”

Was he right, or was she willing to believe anything, grasp at what he was saying, because she had to marry very soon? Conflicting emotions battered her, and she wasn’t certain how to respond. Before she could decide, Mr. Barrett entered the room. She was relieved and agitated. She’d have to speak with him about knocking before he presumed to enter a room. “Did you need something, Mr. Barrett?

“
You’ve another caller, my lady.”

Audrey furrowed her brow. She wasn’t expecting anyone. Who would come this early in the morning? No one had the audacity to do such a thing but― She gasped and scrambled to her feet, hoping to rush Mr. Barrett out the door before he said―

“
The Marquess of Davenport is―”

“
Do be quiet,” she snapped, turning toward Lord Thortonberry in time to see his face darken. He stood, anger twisting his mouth.

“
Do you wish for me to ask Davenport to leave?”

Her heart thudded in her ears. That would be wise. The exact right path for a woman determined to put a man out of her heart and head. She shook her head, mentally cursing herself. “I don’t wish him to think he can cow me.”
Liar.
Deep down, the truth was she would never be able to quit wondering why he’d come here this morning if she sent him away without talking to him. And she knew she could never live with that. “Why don’t you come back to collect me for the art unveiling at one?”

He shook his head. “I’ll wait here to make sure you don’t need me to throw him out.”

She shoved her hands on her hips. “Careful, my lord. I’m not a woman who has ever enjoyed being told what to do.”

“
I know,” he said. “I’m sorry. Davenport brings out the worst in me.”

“
Likewise,” Trent’s voice drawled from behind her.

Audrey gasped and whirled toward the door. Trent leaned lazily against the door frame. His cold eyes belied his easy smile. Dressed in tan leather riding breeches that hugged every bulging muscle of his legs and a dark bottle-green waistcoat cut to fit close to his chest, Trent looked fearsomely handsome and easily capable of stripping off his coat and pummeling any man who irked him into the ground. Audrey gulped, then forced herself to gain control.

“
What are you doing here?”

A genuine smile spread across his face as he raked his gaze slowly over her body and lingered at her chest, exactly as he’d done last night. Oh, the devil! She really wished he’d quit doing that. As if he could sense how discomfited he made her, he chuckled. “I’m here to see you, of course. And might I add it pleases me immensely to see you’re wearing the chartreuse gown that I chose for you.”

She groaned, dearly wishing he hadn’t said that. She’d never intended to tell Lord Thortonberry that Trent had actually been the one to purchase the wardrobe for her. By the satisfied gleam in Trent’s eye, she could tell he was all too pleased to have revealed it was him. “I intend to help sweep the house later,” she snapped. “That’s why I chose this gown. I don’t care about it, so it’s perfect to wear for housework.”

“
Brava, my lady. I’m glad to see you’ve not lost your tart tongue while I’ve been gone,” Trent murmured in a way that managed to sound both seductive and genuine and made a blush sear her cheeks.

Lord Thortonberry stepped beside her and pressed a hand against her back. “Lady Audrey has no need for anything from you. She’ll be sending the dresses back to you to give to whatever mistress you’re currently keeping.”

Jealousy twisted her insides as anger made her bite hard on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from being rude to Lord Thortonberry. How dare he suppose he could tell her what to do, even if his pride was prodding him to act so boorish. Still…perhaps he had a point. She’d not planned to send the dresses back, but perhaps it was the wisest thing.

Trent pushed slowly away from the doorframe and came to stand directly in front of them. He didn’t presume to touch her, the way Lord Thortonberry had, yet Trent didn’t have to. So near to her, he was all she could smell, see and feel. Leather and pine filled her nose with every breath. He’d gone again without shaving, and his whiskers glittered like brushed gold over his skin. His heat wafted to her and made her insides clench.

He looked at her and it was as if it was just the two of them in the room. “I don’t have a mistress. And just so there’s no confusion, I’ve not touched another woman since the day I met you.” His eyes smoldered as they held hers.

The shock of his words hit her full force. Her legs trembled so that she had to lock her knees to keep the shaking from being obvious. “I see,” was all she could manage to say, and that came out as a throaty whisper.

Trent regarded Lord Thortonberry with a coldness that made her skin prickle. “You cannot claim the same loyalty to Lady Audrey, can you?”

Audrey stiffened. Had Lord Thortonberry been pursuing her while sleeping with other women? The rational side of her brain knew it wasn’t uncommon, yet she didn’t want a man who was common as her husband.