Regency 03 - Deception (18 page)

“
Indeed? Sounds excessive. What is
yours?” Bri asked with genuine interest. As was ever the case with
expectant mothers, baby names were of paramount
importance.

“
Aurora Dilys Melodie
Brennen.”

“
And Rhiannon’s?” Verena
asked.

Aurora froze. If she told them Rhiannon’s full name,
Verena would know that she was her daughter and not her sister.
When they were little girls, Verena Westbridge and Aurora
Glendenning had made a pact to name their firstborn daughters after
each other, neither realizing at the time that their future
husbands might not have allowed it.

To seal the bargain, they had traded something of
great sentimental value. Verena had walked away with Aurora’s
treasured pearl pendant from her grandmother. Aurora became the
owner of a well-worn copy of Alexander Pope’s
Rape of the
Lock
that had been a gift to Verena from her brother who, since
that day, had died at Waterloo. They had both kept the promise,
only Verena didn’t know it. Yet.

Aurora took a deep breath and forced herself to
smile. She knew Verena wouldn’t have told anyone else of their
pact, even Bri, so she was sure that her secret would stay between
them. “Dilys Verena Rhiannon Felicity,” she said softly, her eyes
never leaving Verena’s.

Verena’s wide violet eyes grew wider and she became
very still. Aurora wondered if she would say anything and was
greatly relieved when her friend merely frowned.

Thankfully, Bri seemed to have missed the strange
undercurrents in the room. “Verena?” she exclaimed. “Did your mama
like the name, then?” she asked Aurora.

“
Yes,” Aurora lied smoothly. “It
had been a particular favorite of hers. And it helped that she
liked Doll immensely.”

Verena nearly choked on her tea. Aurora’s mama had
never even met Verena. Aurora tried to smile but found it
impossible. She was relieved when the butler announced the arrival
of the Earl of Greville.

Aurora leapt to her feet and would have excused
herself if her fiancé had not chosen that exact moment to enter.
She went to greet him instead, striving to hold her sudden unease
in check.

~~~~~~

Aurora approached Levi, her hand outstretched. “My
lord,” she said formally. His dark brows rose slightly at this
gesture but he complied, his lips barely touching her fingers.

When he would have released her, she held tight. Her
smile becoming a trifle strained, she asked, “May I have a word
with you? In private? Concerning our engagement?”

“
That depends on what that word
is, of course,” he told her, a tiny smile quirking one corner of
his lips. “I refuse to be private with you if you are intending to
end our engagement.”

“
It is not my intention,” she
assured him blandly. “I have a simple question, that is
all.”

Levi’s dark eyes scanned the room’s occupants. He
saw no reason for her need for privacy and every need not to be
alone with her. “Can you not speak here? It may be best if we are
alone together as little as possible before the wedding.”

With a tight smile, she acquiesced.

They moved off to one corner, the expression on
Aurora’s face revealing the inner turmoil under which she labored.
Levi watched her in some concern, taking in the overall feeling of
nervous tension emanating from the tiny woman beside him.

She was twisting her hands just like some Gothic
heroine. Levi half expected her to suddenly wail, “Woe is me!”

He reached out and stopped her melodramatic
hand-wringing. “Simply tell me, my dear. It is usually best.”

Aurora took a deep breath and squeezed his hands.
“Have you been to see the archbishop?” He nodded. She bit her lip,
obviously indecisive over her next thought. “Was it for a Special
License?” His head bobbed again, a smile twitching the corners of
his mouth. “May we marry within the week, then?”

That wiped the smile from his face. If he didn’t
know any better, and judging by her panicked look, he would suspect
she was increasing.

Making sure they were unobserved, he leaned closer,
his face deadly intent. “Why?”

“
I cannot tell you,” she
blurted.

His fingers tightened around hers. “Cannot or will
not?”

Her lips twisted into a grimace and she ducked her
head, trying to hide her face from his probing look. She had no
idea how guilty she appeared as he continued.

“
Is this something that will not
remain hidden for long?”

Her assent was a barely noticeable bobbing of her
blond head.

A colorful curse blistered her ears. “Are you
pregnant?”

Her head shot up, her turquoise eyes wide. Her mouth
fell open but no words hastened forth.

“
Are you?”

“
Lower your voice, my lord,” she
urged, her eyes darting about. “I am not pregnant and I am insulted
that you would think it possible.”

The surprise on his face was not feigned. “How can I
not? You hint that there is some reason you must marry within the
week. You go so far as to admit that it is something that will not
remain hidden. And you fear telling me outright. What does it sound
like to you?”

Hearing it all said with the logical conclusion
caused pink to tinge Aurora’s cheeks. She hastened to reassure her
betrothed of his misunderstanding of the situation.

“
Oh, bother. I had not considered.
I assure you I am not and could not be pregnant.” Her blush
deepened.

He studied her intently, his dark brown eyes boring
into hers, searching for the answers she would not reveal.
Realizing that not only was she completely serious about wedding
within a week, she was also extremely desperate to do so. He
acquiesced.

Her sigh of relief was heartfelt. “Oh,
wonderful.”

“
Have you considered the damage
marrying so quickly will do to your reputation? Even if you and I
know we have not anticipated our vows, others will not be so
generous.”

She waved a hand carelessly in the air. “I am
already ruined by speech, my lord. There is no cause to fret about
more talk now.”

As she moved to rejoin her other guests, Levi
grasped her hand. “I have something for you,” he said, pressing a
small box into her palm.

She took it, her slim fingers closing over the
object as a stunned expression crossed her charming features. “What
is it?”

A little stunned at her reaction, he grinned. “A
gift. As my betrothed it is quite proper for me to give you a gift.
I assure you it will not damage your reputation further to accept
it.”

He didn’t know what to think when all she did
was stare at the object, her face creased in thought.

*

After what she’d revealed, Aurora knew Verena would
want answers. Whether or not she’d actually mention it, however,
was another matter entirely.

Verena Northwicke tried to be proper at all times.
Aurora was well aware that the majority of Verena’s pluck could
more recently be attributed to her friendship with the notoriously
improper
Lady Rothsmere, wife of Sir Adam Prestwich.

She was not taken completely by surprise, therefore,
when Verena approached her and asked for a word in private.

Excusing herself to Lord Greville, Aurora clutched
the gift she’d so recently received and followed her friend to the
sitting room, where the pale, soothing colors failed to reach
her.

When Aurora lingered in the doorway Verena took her
empty hand and tugged her over to a settee. Aurora gave in to the
inevitable and sat, Levi’s gift a disturbing yet comforting
presence between her folded hands.

“
I realize you may find this
uncomfortable,” Verena began, her face revealing her own unease,
“but it is too much of a coincidence, is it not? Rhiannon having my
name after the promise we made to each other. Did you tell your
mother?”

“
No.”

“
I thought not. Rhiannon is your
daughter.”

“
Yes.”

Aurora could feel her friend’s dark eyes on her,
probing, looking for answers that Aurora was too ashamed to reveal.
She knew monosyllabic responses were unsatisfactory and she
desperately searched for the words that would satisfy her friend
while retaining as much of her dignity as possible.

It was with a definite lowering of spirits that she
realized there were no dignified explanations.

“
You will be so disappointed in
me,” she said, biting her lip.

Verena shrugged, her pretty face tensing for a
moment. “Perhaps. Perhaps not. I will still consider you my dearest
friend no matter what you tell me.”

Smiling slightly—it was really more of a
grimace—Aurora nodded. “Rhiannon is my daughter. She doesn’t know
that, of course. No one does. Except Lord Derringer and now
you.”

“
You have not told Levi? And why
does Lord Derringer know?”

Aurora frowned. “His grace decided to poke around in
my affairs and discovered Rhiannon’s father. Derringer is the
veriest busybody.”

Verena actually snorted—if a lady could be said to
snort. “His grace is King of the Busybodies. But that doesn’t
matter. Have you told Levi?”

“
No. I don’t see why I should need
to.”

Verena’s expression told Aurora how incredibly naïve
she thought that statement was. “I don’t think that is something
you can hide from him, my dear.”

Aurora looked away, her brow furrowing. She knew
Verena spoke the truth but was unwilling to admit it, even to
herself.

So she shook her head, changed the subject, and
stubbornly refused to be drawn. After a few more attempts to make
her see reason, Verena gave up, suggesting they return to the
drawing room.

~~~~~~

Derringer, who was still in Town despite his
always-imminent plans to depart, was not surprised when Levi burst
into his house in St. James’s Square and announced that he was
engaged to Miss Glendenning. He was a little unnerved, however,
when Levi’s good humor suddenly fled and he slumped into the
leather armchair in the duke’s study.

Derringer handed him a brandy and lowered his tall
form into the chair across from him. “What’s to do, Vi? You look
blue-deviled.”

“
She is hiding something,” the
earl muttered. He downed the fiery liquid in one gulp and held his
glass out to be refilled. Derringer obeyed wordlessly and waited
for his friend to continue. “She wouldn’t even look at the gift I
gave her and she wants to marry within the week. After the effort I
went to in order to get her agreement, it is exceedingly odd that
she suddenly cannot wait.”

Derringer sighed. “Has this something to do with
that Forester fellow?” he asked after a moment.

“
I think so; she will not say. In
fact, when I asked her why she wanted to marry so quickly, she said
she could not tell me.”

Derringer stared at Levi. “I should not tell you
this, Vi, but that girl has got more secrets than you would ever
imagine.”

“
Why do you always refer to her as
that girl
?” asked Levi with a sudden lowering of his brows.
“It sounds very disrespectful of my intended.”

The duke laughed mirthlessly. “Don’t try to
reprimand me, Levi Greville. I’ll not have it.” He shrugged one
black-clad shoulder. “Besides, I intended no insult. I like your
Rory.”

Levi’s brows shot up. “You do? But you hate
everyone.”

That made the duke grin. “I do, generally, as a
rule. But your little Rory has a backbone. And I think she is
perfect for you. Provided she confesses.”

“
Do you know something about
Forester?”

“
I know many things about
Forester,” was Derringer’s evasive reply.

“
Such as…?” Levi leaned forward
and demanded.

“
He is a greedy snake with no
conscience or morals. He gets by on his looks and the fact that he
has enough money to be acceptable. He was your Rory’s neighbor and
Verena Northwicke’s as well. Although I doubt Lady Connor has even
met him,” he said thoughtfully. “He is dangerous in that he will
stab a man in the back before accepting an honorable
challenge.”

“
Or he will accept the challenge
and hire someone to sit in a tree with a rifle,” inserted Levi with
a dark look. “I should kill the bastard.”

“
I would enjoy doing that myself,
if I were the type to help someone. But you know I am not. I do
like to see justice done, however.”

“
Justice according to
you.”

The duke grinned. “Naturally.” He sipped his own
drink, repressing the urge to wrinkle his nose. Despite the belief
that he was little better than a sot—a belief the duke
wholeheartedly approved of—Derringer was not overly fond of strong
spirits.

“
When does your mama leave, Vi?”
the duke asked in a sudden change of subject.

“
Soon, I hope. Should I kill him?”
Levi was not to be denied.

“
No, he is not worth hanging
for.”

“
I wouldn’t hang. I’m an
earl.”

Derringer waved this away, viewing it all as
unimportant. There were ways to the rid the world of a nuisance
without resorting to murder. When it came right down to it, there
were ways to kill without committing murder.

Just look at the whole concept of war.

Levi was talking again. “Why is he plaguing Rory, do
you think?”

Derringer’s face took on a closed expression and his
lids lowered partially to conceal his black eyes. He shrugged and
finished his brandy. He knew his deliberate air of mystery would
make Levi think and perhaps he could get the girl to confess before
they married. They were bound for a rough start if she was
determined to keep her past a secret.