Midnight Kisses (Midnight Series) (6 page)

“Just imagine how wonderful it would be if you were to buy that house. We could see each other every day!” Eliza exclaimed.

Danielle smiled. Seeing her old friend again had done her a world of good. She was able to leave almost all her worries behind her, and at times she even managed to forget about Matthew, Christopher, and the break-in for a few hours.

“I don’t know, Eliza. It would surely be lovely to live near you, but didn’t you see how people were staring at me when they recognized me?”

“Oh, pishposh! Of course they want to satisfy their curiosity, but they will soon turn their attention to far more exciting things.”

“It’s so humiliating!” Danielle confessed, but Eliza wouldn’t have any of it.

“Nonsense! And now stop fretting about it. Colin has invited an old friend over for dinner tonight. Perhaps that’ll take your mind off things. In all honesty, you should at least consider swapping your mourning dress for maybe a dark blue one. You’ve only been here a few days, and I’m already getting tired of black.”

“Eliza! My husband passed only a few months ago. I couldn’t possibly
 . . . 
”

“Of course you can! And you will! I have a few dresses in my wardrobe that are modest enough to observe traditions but won’t make you look like a pitiful mope. If you ask me, Matthew doesn’t even deserve you mourning his death!”

And thus it was decided, and when Danielle looked at herself in the mirror a few hours later, wearing a coffee-colored velvet gown, she finally seemed to come alive. Since all of Eliza’s dresses were too short for Danielle, a seamstress had, in the short time available, lengthened the gown with a golden, embroidered hem and didn’t fail to add the precious, shiny fabric to the low neckline, and even lined the sleeves. Eliza was delighted and danced around Danielle in circles, looking like a happy frog in her lime green dress.

“Marvelous, my dear, just marvelous! If only your curves had shown up earlier in your life, you could have taken your pick among the finest of gentlemen. Your debutante ball back in the day would have taken a very different turn. Trust me, a low neckline is the best way to catch a man, that’s what my mother always used to say,” Eliza reminisced about memories past.

“Oh, I’m through with men! That is a chapter that shall remain closed for now, and my latest discoveries about the subject have not exactly convinced me otherwise,” Danielle volunteered.

They were making their way to the chimney room where they were hoping to meet up with Colin and his mystery guest, and continued their conversation.

Eliza’s eyes sparkled with wonderment as she asked: “What do you mean? You said something about
latest discoveries
. Are you trying to tell me that you met someone?”

Danielle rolled her eyes. Eliza was beside herself with joy and barely able to contain her curiosity as Danielle was holding the door to the chimney room for her.

“Well, I suppose you could say that! But don’t be getting any ideas. I hate that unrefined, narcissistic, brash person who apparently is not used to being rejected by a woman. His name is
 . . . 
”

Because the gentlemen had been completely absorbed in examining one of the paintings above the expansive fireplace, they hadn’t heard the ladies enter. Now Colin walked over to them, accompanied by his guest, and kissed Eliza’s hand before introducing the man by his side.

“Devlin Weston, Earl of Windham, this is my lovely wife Eliza and her good friend Lady Danielle
 . . . 
”

“Lady Langston, what a surprise,” Devlin skipped over Colin’s introductions, and a wide grin showing off a row of beautiful white teeth spread over his face.

Danielle clenched her fists and decided that, going forward, she would always need to carry a shovel with her since the earth apparently had no intention of opening up and swallowing her whole, no matter how much she prayed for it.

Eliza immediately picked up on Danielle’s sour face and Devlin’s obvious joy, and she connected the dots at once.

“Oh, my god! You two know each other?” she asked, and her eyes darted back and forth between him and her.

With a not-entirely-serious bow, Devlin explained:

“I suppose when Lady Langston talked about me, she described me as an unrefined, narcissistic, brash kind of a man. But for the record, I would like to add that I’ve been getting used to being rejected ever since I met Lady Langston.”

His diabolical wink made the blood rush to Danielle’s cheeks, and Colin gave an embarrassed cough.

“Well, it appears we need no further introductions. So, without further ado, let’s enjoy the evening, shall we?” he ended the general awkwardness. “Eliza, my dear, why don’t you two ladies go on ahead to the dining room, we will be joining you presently.”

As the door closed behind the girlfriends, Colin spun around, glaring furiously at Devlin.

“Jesus, man! What the hell was that?”

Devlin shrugged his shoulders.

“A surprise?” he suggested.

“Nonsense! Why didn’t you tell me that you know Lady Langston?” Colin demanded.

“Because
 . . . 
” Devlin explained, seemingly disinterested, while slowly walking from painting to painting, “
 . . . 
you failed to inform me of your wife’s friend’s name. Trust me, if I had known I would have politely refused your invitation.”

“There’s not going to be a scene, Weston, is there?”

Devlin raised his eyebrows. Colin was red in the face from the excitement, and beads of sweat sparkled on his bald forehead.

“I don’t think so. I mean, it’s not as if I’ve taken her as my lover.”

“Good heavens! I should think not! The poor dear has enough on her mind, what with the scandal surrounding her husband’s death and the break-in at her house a few days ago.”

Colin wiped the sweat from his forehead and with his fingers loosened his neckerchief.

“Scandal? What scandal? How exactly did her husband die?” Devlin inquired.

“Didn’t you hear? Well, I guess you don’t get much in the way of news out in the country, but since you know Danielle, I thought you also knew that Lord Langston passed away in a, ahem, certain establishment.”

“What kind of an establishment, Bosworth?”

“Well
 . . . 
” Colin cleared his throat, “
 . . . 
a brothel. He died in a whorehouse with his pants around his ankles. I guess his heart couldn’t take the excitement.”

Devlin gave a concerned nod and, deep in thought, promised: “I shall not cause Lady Langston any further embarrassment. Let us dine. I would like to make up for my behavior and improve on my poor first impression.”

“Danielle, I can’t believe it! This man—Lord Weston—is the man that you hate?” Eliza asked incredulously, not a moment after they had left the chimney room. “Did you even take a look at him? He is incredibly handsome, and then of course his title! And what did he mean when he said he learned how to take a rejection? Talk to me, for I swear I’m going to die if you don’t tell me right away what happened!”

Danielle just about managed to put one foot in front of the other. Answering Eliza’s questions was a little too much to ask of her right now.

Devlin Weston, the man who had haunted her memories on many a night, the man who for the past ten years had been fueling her imagination, whose touch she had been longing for all of her life—that same Weston had overheard her petty words and then ridiculed her in front of her dearest friends without so much as a second thought. Oh, if only he weren’t that good-looking, if only he didn’t hold that kind of power over her, then she would surely hate him!

“Danielle! I’m begging you: please tell me how you know Lord Weston,” Eliza pleaded, grabbing Danielle’s hand.

“He
 . . . 
ah
 . . . 
kissed me,” Danielle stuttered and touched her lips as if to recall that very kiss.

“My god!” Eliza called out, clapping her hands over her mouth just as Colin and Devlin were entering the dining room.

Other than meaningless small talk about the food, which everyone felt was perfectly delicious, the first course passed in relative silence. Colin still seemed worried about a scene, for he kept dabbing the sweat from his forehead, and Eliza was almost unable to eat owing to her observing everyone’s tiniest moves.

Danielle found it hard to enjoy her soup, for all of her senses were honed in on the man sitting opposite her and pretending that everything was perfectly alright. Her stomach was in knots, and her nerves were completely on edge. Never before had she dared to take the time to look him over, for even without taking a good look, she was acutely aware of his immense presence and charisma. His dark hair fit his nefarious behavior, and his eyes clearly showed that he was the kind of man who was used to taking what he desired. And few would dare to stand in his way, given his sheer height.

After Devlin had polished off his plate, he met Danielle’s gaze. With the hint of a smile he noted:

“By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you how lovely you look in this dress, Lady Langston. May I ask what brings you to London? When we last met, you had quite a lot of work ahead of you if I recall correctly.”

Since Danielle found it impossible to swallow another bite, she put her spoon aside and nodded.

“You are correct, but
 . . . 
”

“Just imagine, someone broke into her house while everyone was asleep. Isn’t that terrible? No wonder she no longer wants to live there,” Eliza interjected.

Devlin knitted his brow and turned his attention back to Danielle.

“A burglary? Was anything stolen? Nothing happened to you, I should hope?”

His obvious concern touched Danielle, and she allowed herself to offer him a smile.

“It’s hard to say if anything is missing, because the burglars only entered Matt’s study. You’ve seen the mountain of papers and documents. I couldn’t possibly tell if anything went missing. The only reason I even know that there was a break-in was because the window was broken and some drawers had been left open. Perhaps someone was hoping for objects of value.”

It didn’t make sense to Devlin.

“So someone broke into Lord Langston’s study without so much as taking anything of value?” The back of his neck tingled as he remembered an almost-forgotten conversation he had overheard at the village inn. Was it possible he had actually seen the culprits?

“That’s right. Whoever it was, they were looking for something very specific. However, I can’t say for sure whether they found it or not.”

Devlin rubbed his chin reflectively.

“Is it possible that someone was looking for the scrolls you mentioned? After all, Lord Langston published a scholarly essay on the topic in several periodicals a few years ago.”

“Oh, that’s absurd. That was so many years ago! Why should someone be interested in the scrolls now?”

“For the same reason I am interested in them: because of the portrait of the
Venus
. Don’t forget, this is the first time we have so much as a clue as to the painting’s whereabouts.”

With the second course being served, Colin now entered the conversation from the head of the table.

“Is that the
Venus
you were referring to earlier? I must have misunderstood when I assumed you were looking to take a new lover
 . . . 
”

“Colin Bosworth! That’s no conversation for the dinner table!” Eliza warned with her index finger raised and her eyes sparkling angrily.

Devlin tried to defuse the situation, but without taking his eyes off Danielle’s face, as if his answer concerned her, and her alone.

“Don’t worry, Lady Bosworth. I don’t make those kinds of arrangements anymore. I prefer to tend to more
interesting
things.”

Chapter 5

Danielle got the meal over and done with and without further incident. But just when she thought she was out of the woods, Eliza made her excuses and left the room, accompanied by Colin. She only stated that she was feeling unwell.

In order to avoid any confrontation with Devlin, Danielle opened the patio door and stepped out into the cold night.

The sky was clear and bright with stars, and because the night was so cold, her breath formed little clouds in front of her mouth.

“Danielle?”

He startled her. His voice was warm and soft, like honey, and he had never addressed her by her first name before. Slowly she turned around, not entirely surprised to see him casually leaning in the doorway.

“Yes, Lord Weston?”

He approached.

“I’m sorry about how your husband died.”

“You already told me that in Essex, Milord. Rest assured that I have heard my share of condolences.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m sorry about
how
he died. Langston must have been a fool.”

“So you’ve heard.”

Danielle didn’t know what to respond. As always, she was much too ashamed that her husband went to find pleasure in an actual pleasure house.

Devlin nodded. He stepped closer and touched her cheek. Danielle swallowed hard, but didn’t budge.

“And why wouldn’t you? All of London is aware of it and reveling in my humiliation.”

“Don’t take it too hard. Many men go to find pleasure in those kinds of establishments behind their wives’ backs. It has nothing to do with you.”

Danielle raised her eyes, anger and disgust written all over her face.

“Oh, really? Then why don’t you explain to me why my husband, who always claimed that he’d lost his manhood in an experiment gone bad, suddenly finds that very same manhood between the legs of a whore!”

Tears were streaming down her face, but Danielle ignored them. Without giving a second thought, in her pain, as to what Devlin might think about her and her scandalous candor, she continued: “In ten years of marriage he didn’t touch me once, not even once, can you imagine? A man of the sciences, unable to handle the less sophisticated, the less noble desires! His studies and experiments satisfied every need that he had—leaving me to drown in the wake of his intellectual superiority!”

Devlin saw her pain and desperately wanted to take her in his arms, for he did not know what to respond. He could barely believe what he was hearing.