Regency 03 - Deception (15 page)

The feeling didn’t pass. Whoever watched her was not
satisfied that she was not the person they sought.

Or perhaps she was, she thought with a sinking
feeling. She knew Levi had been trying to see her for the past
month. It would be just her luck to finally venture out and come
across the impossible man.

Aurora turned her head very slowly. When she saw the
person staring at her, she gasped and instinctively moved to her
daughter’s side. The little girl glanced up at her with a funny
look on her tiny face. She tried to protest Aurora’s tight hold on
her arm but Aurora shook her slightly and told her to hush.
Rhiannon fell silent and watched as a strange man walked toward
them.

This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. If I
close my eyes and open them again, he’ll disappear.
This didn’t
work, of course, just as she knew deep down it would not.

Why, oh why had she decided to venture out? She had
forgotten seeing him all those weeks ago, in this very park—or
perhaps successfully convinced herself she’d imagined him. She
wished suddenly that it had been Levi looking for her. She even
wished for the Duke of Derringer instead of the man who was now
only a few feet away.

Desmond Forester stopped and gave her a
self-satisfied smirk. He hadn’t changed at all in looks, Aurora
thought. He was still the handsome gentleman she had known at home,
his slim form draped in all the sartorial elegance London could
offer. He carried himself with a confidence that was appealing.

He didn’t hold a candle to Levi Greville,
however.

“
I heard you have created a bit of
a scandal,” he remarked casually. He toyed with the ribbon of his
quizzing glass as he carefully watched her face.

Her chin went up a notch. “It is no concern of
yours, sir,” she told him. She forced herself to loosen her grip on
Rhiannon when the child squeaked in pain.

“
And the gentleman involved did
not come up to scratch,” he added with the slightest of
smiles.

“
He did not,” Aurora admitted.
Not for want of trying, I’m sure.

“
I have a proposition for
you.”

Aurora Glendenning immediately distrusted his
confidence. Something was very wrong here. “What?” she asked
anyway.

Forester shrugged, glancing up at the cloudless sky.
“Marry me,” he suggested as if he were remarking on the
weather.

“
Marry you?” she gasped. There was
a time when a proposal from Desmond Forester would have sent her
into raptures. But not now. Now the thought sickened her. “Are you
daft?”

She saw the rage sweep through his beautiful blue
eyes before he had his features under control again. “I am willing
to give you my name to save you from scandal and you ask me if I am
daft?”

“
Yes,” she replied candidly. “Why
would you want to marry me?”

“
I want your money,” he said. “And
I am willing to take on your brat as well.”

“
My brat?” Her tone was
dangerously soft, something Forester seemed not to understand or
even notice.

He gestured to the wide-eyed little girl standing
silently beside her, listening intently. “Mine, unless I miss my
guess. You should have told me, Rory,” he chided.

Aurora remained mute, shock and a sickening dread
silencing her tongue.

Rhiannon had no such impairment. “I’m not yours,”
she told him sternly, frowning as grimly as a three-year-old pixie
could. Aurora reached out to pat the child’s head, trying to convey
a solace she wished she herself could feel.

He continued as if Rhiannon had not spoken. “If you
refuse me, I will tell everyone who and what she is. Not only will
your life be ruined, but hers as well.”

Aurora stifled the fury that rose up at his threat.
“Do not call me Rory ever again, Mr. Forester. And don’t ever
approach me or speak to me again. If you do, I will set the Watch
on you for attacking me. Now leave us be.”

“
Don’t be so quick to dismiss me,
Aurora Glendenning. I am a dangerous man when my will is
crossed.”

Her furious reply hovering on her tongue, Aurora
became aware that someone else had just entered the park gates.
Immensely relieved at the timely appearance of the Lords Derringer
and Greville, she hailed them as if nothing untoward had ever
occurred between them.

“
Lord Greville, how lovely to see
you,” she greeted with wholehearted welcome.
Please God, don’t
let him simply tip his hat and ride on by.

~~~~~~

Levi saw the plea in her turquoise eyes and could
only assume the attentions of the gentleman were unwelcome. He and
Derringer dismounted and bowed to Aurora while sending sharp
glances in the direction of the unknown man.

“
May I introduce Mr. Desmond
Forester?” she asked politely of the earl and the duke.

Apparently, Derringer was curious enough to allow
her to do so. Under normal circumstances, Levi knew the other man
would have denied his introduction just to be irritating.

“
Mr. Forester,” Aurora said with
obvious reluctance, “the Earl of Greville and the Duke of
Derringer.”

It may have been some time since Forester had been
in Society but, if his almost panicked look was any indication, he
had heard of Lord Derringer and his exploits.

Derringer smiled most unpleasantly at him. His hand
loosened ever so slightly on Satan’s reins, allowing the horse to
rear up. Forester stumbled back a step and Rhiannon screamed.

Levi instinctively scooped the child up, glaring at
his friend. Aurora actually opened her mouth to snap at Derringer,
quelling her own fear, but the duke immediately reined the horse
in, his purpose served. He had wanted Forester more nervous.
Mission accomplished.

Aurora didn’t care what the duke’s plan involved.
She marched up and struck him on the chest, despite her lack of
inches.

For an odd moment, the duke seemed stunned by the
pale spitfire before him. Then, his eyes glinting dangerously, he
shoved Aurora Glendenning aside, a little less gently than was good
for his health. Levi caught her with his free hand as she stumbled.
If Derringer was looking for a reason to die, he was on the right
track.

Ignoring his best friend’s deadly glare, the duke
addressed Forester. “I can tell you are acquainted with my
reputation. What think you now that you have actually met the
infamous Lord Heartless?”

Levi gaped at him and Forester stuttered something
that made the duke laugh.

“
Just so,” Derringer murmured with
a significant look at his friend.

Levi snapped his mouth shut and turned back to
Aurora. “May we escort you home, Miss Glendenning?”

“
Yes, thank you,” she replied with
heartfelt relief.

The gentlemen turned as one to stare at Forester,
their gazes clearly indicating how unwelcome he was. He clenched
his jaw but made his farewells nonetheless.

Aurora shifted in apparent discomfort at having to
face Derringer and Levi but she stood her ground. Lord Greville
watched her, his mind caught up in all the things he wanted to say
but couldn’t. It was neither the time nor the place for the weighty
matters that preyed upon him.

But someone had to say something. Derringer glanced
from one to the other, clearly amused with their inability to
speak. Levi resisted the urge to lay him out.

Rhiannon squirmed in his arms, becoming bored. “Unka
Fie, I got a flutterby,” she announced to the earl, having
recovered the swiftest from the whole ordeal.

“
That is wonderful, darling,” Levi
smiled, setting her back on her feet.

The child looked up at the tall figure of the duke.
“Who are you?” she asked with a frown, carefully enunciating her
words.

Derringer looked a trifle nonplussed to be singled
out by the little girl. He glanced at Aurora, then Levi. Rhiannon
stared up at him expectantly. He looked helplessly at Aurora again.
She just smiled and shook her head slightly, obviously believing
his discomfort was well-deserved for his earlier behavior.

The duke shrugged and went down on his haunches
before the child. “I am Lord Derringer. You may call me Hart if you
like,” he told her with a half-smile tugging at his lips.

She nodded, satisfied. As was common with young
children, her attention was immediately drawn elsewhere. “Unka
Hart,” she asked as she took his hand, “can I ride?” She pointed to
the giant black stallion that the duke had been riding.

Levi felt Aurora shiver and could only assume she
was nervous over the animal’s immense proportions.

Derringer smiled. “You want to ride Satan?” he
asked.

“
Satan?” Aurora
sputtered.

The duke’s very charming and very rare grin turned
decidedly impish. “Satan’s Son, actually,” he informed her.

Levi shook his head, smiling the slightest bit at
the look on Aurora’s face. “He has one named Lucifer’s Lady, too.
And a dog named Cerberus and a cat named Beelzebub, all black as
sin.”

“
Indeed?” Miss Glendenning asked
as her lips twitched suspiciously. “I think, your grace, that you
are not nearly as dangerous as rumor suggests.”

The duke’s grin was replaced by something almost
sinister. “I am afraid I must disagree with you, my dear. I am far
more dangerous than rumor suggests.”

~~~~~~

As much as Levi would have loved to ask Aurora to
marry him that very day, he held off until he discovered more about
Desmond Forester. That Aurora was afraid of the gentleman was
obvious. Levi wanted to know why.

Aurora, of course, refused to tell him anything
other than the man had made improper advances toward her. When he
had suggested that he call the other man out, she told him severely
that Forester’s behavior was only to be expected considering the
recent scandal.

Derringer had been strangely silent on the matter,
only scoffing at Aurora’s replies. Levi suspected his friend
already knew something.

The earl returned to Adam’s in a bit of a temper and
even threatened to call Derringer out when the duke laughed at him.
Derringer called him a gudgeon and went his own way.

Levi was in no mood to deal with his mama. Since the
ball, she had been particularly irritating. Even after the
contretemps involving Lady Marigold Danvers, she had still
attempted to throw him together with any number of heiresses in the
hopes that he would forget about marrying Aurora Glendenning.

She was only against his alliance with Aurora
because he had informed her of that young lady’s lack of money.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have told her.

He had nearly compromised four other girls besides
Lady Marigold. Not in the way he had compromised Aurora, of course,
but he had somehow found himself alone with four different young
ladies on four different occasions. He’d only escaped by the grace
of God and a few timely interventions by Derringer, Bri, Adam, and
Northwicke. He was grateful for the careful watch they kept, even
while he resented the necessity.

“
Levi Sterling, a word!” his
mother called from the drawing room.

He sighed and gestured for the footman to open the
door. “Yes, Mama?”

Lady Greville was resplendent in crimson velvet with
jonquil yellow piping and a cap of puce on her dark hair. He
shuddered.

“
Are you engaged yet?” she asked
imperiously.

“
No, Mama.”
Not for want of
trying.

“
Why not?”

“
Because I have not asked
anybody.”

“
You have not asked anybody?” she
said awfully. “Then ask somebody, you half-wit! I am not getting
any younger and there is a darling pug dog I would like to
purchase.”

Now she wants a smushed-up rat for a pet?
“No, Mama. You cannot have a pug just yet. And I will ask someone
when I am good and ready.”
Which is not until Rory shows the
least interest in marrying me. And why is everyone calling me names
today?

Lady Greville eyed her only child shrewdly. “You are
not still planning to ask that penniless Glendenning chit, are you?
Because I’ll not have it. If she won’t have you, let her stew in
her own juices. You cannot force her to marry you, you know. And
you said we need money. Select another.”

He was suddenly very sick of his mama’s demands and
orders. “No. I will marry Aurora or I’ll not marry at all,” he told
her. “Stop trying to force me to compromise every damned chit doing
the season!”

~~~~~~

That night saw Lord Greville at Brooks’s with a deck
of cards in one hand and a brandy in the other. He rested between
games, staring morosely into his glass and pondering absolutely
nothing. He was more than a trifle well-to-go already.

“
Greville, how goes
it?”

Levi looked up into the pale brown eyes of Percival
Winters. “Winters, how do? Piquet?” he asked as he held out the
cards.

Winters smiled and sat down. He took the cards from
Levi and switched them with his own deck when the earl wasn’t
looking. He dealt the cards.

The game progressed as expected. Levi lost heavily
and Winters smiled smugly as he assured the younger man that he
would accept his vowels. Levi was so beyond caring about anything
that he had signed any number of little slips of paper by the time
Winters stood up to leave.

“
Pleasure, Greville. I expect
payment within a sennight, mind,” he told him right before he
left.

Levi mumbled something in the affirmative and downed
yet another tumbler of brandy. Calling for a new bottle, he leaned
back in his chair. All of a sudden his thoughts focused on Aurora
Glendenning with a vengeance. He groaned, leaning forward to rest
his head in his hands.