Regency 03 - Deception (21 page)

“
As if you didn’t know,” he
snorted derisively.

Her heart stopped. What was he talking about? He
couldn’t possibly know. “No, I don’t,” she insisted stubbornly.
“Have I done something to displease you?”

The look he gave her then slammed into her chest.
Guilt swept over her and she struggled to keep it hidden.

She must have failed. Whatever it was he thought he
saw in her face made him curse roundly; each word that left his
mouth made Aurora’s eyes widen more and more. Guilt turned to fear
and the clarity she wished she’d had in the beginning struck her
full force. She winced.

“
You are well aware of what you
have done, madam.,” he said, his voice heavy with contempt. “Recall
the discussion we had last night before we…”

Pausing, he glanced away, swallowing hard against
what was most likely a towering rage. Then, in a voice that was
more frightening for its calm, he continued. “Before
we…consummated our marriage, I told you that you fear would only
get worse if we waited.”

Never in her life had she ever wanted to stay silent
more. “Yes, you did,” she agreed, the words slipping from between
her lips of their own will.

His open palm connected with the table, making her
jump. “What in hell was there to fear, Aurora?”

His question cut through the air like a whiplash.
She opened her mouth to respond but he stood and bowed mockingly,
striding from the room without a backward glance. One tear slipped
down her cheek to plop on her tightly clenched fist.

~~~~~

Levi stormed out the door and walked down the empty
street. Then he stopped, turned back, and made his way to the mews.
He ignored the grooms, saddling Hades’ Pride himself. Throwing
himself into the saddle, he galloped off down the street at a
reckless pace.

He reined in before Derringer’s place in St. James’s
Square and tossed the reins to the footman who ran from the house.
Entering the front door, he demanded to know where the duke
was.

“
His grace is in his study, my
lord,” the butler assured him as he took quick stock of the fact
that Lord Greville was as mad as hornets.

“
What are you doing?” Levi
demanded as soon as he entered the book-lined study.

Derringer looked up from the papers on his desk and
eyed his friend mockingly. “I might ask you the same thing, old
man. Should you not be spending the day in bed with your blushing
bride?”

There passed a moment of silence fraught with
unasked questions and unwanted answers.

“
Damn you, you knew!” the earl
shouted. He slammed his fist on the desktop, scattering papers to
the floor.

Derringer stood slowly, his look gone from mocking
to dangerously annoyed. “Levi, I will ask you once to control your
temper.”

“
Go to hell, Derringer! You knew
and you didn’t tell me!”

“
I told her to tell you. It is her
tale, not mine,” the duke explained reasonably.

“
Devil it,” Levi growled. “Someone
should have told me. I should have known.”

“
And what would you have done, had
you known? Would you still have married her?”

“
Of course, I would have. And then
I would have hunted down the bastard and killed him.”

“
Then why are you so
upset?”

“
Because she lied to
me.”

“
But nothing would have changed.
You would still be married to her and still embark on a bloody
rampage to avenge her honor. Although, I might inquire as to
why.”

Levi stared at his friend. Derringer had to be
demented to think that any man who had been with Rory would live to
tell the tale. “What do you mean why? Because any man that forces
himself on a woman should be shot.”

Derringer raised one black brow sardonically. “True.
But did you ask her if she’d been forced, Vi? I gather you did not
give her a chance to explain. I am willing to bet my entire fortune
that you actually assumed it was nothing of the sort. Your injured
pride took control and you stormed out of the house after letting
her know that you think her little better than a lightskirt.”

Shoving a hand through his dark locks, Levi mumbled
something to that effect.

“
And now your bride is sitting at
home in tears because she thinks you don’t love her.” The duke
became suddenly still. “You have told her, have you
not?”

Levi shrugged much like a little boy caught at
something he should not be doing. He could feel red creeping up his
cheeks and struggled to control the humiliation. He slumped into
the chair on the other side of Derringer’s desk, resting his head
in one hand.

“
I’m a fool, Hart. I can’t seem to
make sense of any of this and no one speaks plainly anymore. Why
would she marry me if she doesn’t trust me enough to be
honest?”

Derringer snorted, lowering himself back into his
chair. “Have you noticed women having any other choice? Her only
defense is silence. As long as she thinks you don’t love her, she
will maintain her silence. She won’t trust you until you prove that
you trust her.”

The earl sat up straight, his lips threatening to
twist into a full-blown smile. “Marriage advice, Hart? You are such
a font of wisdom, one might wonder if marriage plans are in your
immediate future.”

Eyes filling with horror, the duke muttered, “Bite
your tongue, Vi. I don’t envy you your connubial bliss.”

Levi just shook his head, the brief spurt of
amusement vanishing like mist. “How am I supposed to prove I trust
her, Hart? I don’t think I do anymore.”

~~~~~

Levi returned to Mayfair far more subdued than when
he’d left. He thought long and hard about Derringer’s words and was
still lost in thought when he entered his wife’s house and nearly
passed her on her way out.

“
Where are you going?” he asked.
He saw Rhiannon clinging tightly to Aurora’s hand and watching him
from big blue-gray eyes.

“
I am taking Rhiannon to the park
as I do every morning, my lord,” his wife replied with a stubborn
tilt to her pert little chin.

“
We need to talk,
Rory.”

“
I think not,” she told him
calmly. “You know the truth now. There is nothing to
discuss.”

“
The truth? Nothing to discuss? I
have not the merest idea what the truth is and we have plenty to
discuss.”

“
My lord, I will return in one
hour. You may ring a peal over my head then.” And she walked out
the door with her tiny sister firmly in tow.

Levi stared at the door, tempted to go after her and
drag her back. Instead, he walked outside and had Hades’ Pride
saddled again. This time, he went to Brooks’s.

Percival Winters was there. Levi remembered
Northwicke’s and Adam’s assurances that the man was a cheat and
immediately approached the gentleman. It was time to tie up certain
loose ends.

“
Winters, what do you say to a
game of piquet?’ he asked by way of greeting.

“
Lord Greville.” Winters’s slow
smile spread across his worn features. “I accept.”

Levi nodded once and followed the older man to a
table at the back of the gaming room where some gentlemen were
already engaged in betting on the cards as they were dealt. Levi
watched the play for a moment before taking a seat.

Before he could even place one bet, the earl felt a
heavy hand clamp down on his shoulder. He looked up into the odd
gray-green eyes of his cousin’s husband. He groaned.

“
May I have a word with you,
Greville?” Adam asked politely.

“
No, Prestwich, you may not,”
growled Levi. “And if you want to live to see your child, I suggest
you leave me be.” He looked back at the game in progress. “How the
devil did you know I’d be here anyway?”

“
Derringer,” Adam replied
laconically, crossing his arms over his chest, his eyes suddenly
focused on the game. “He sent me to fetch you like a mongrel dog
after a bone.”

“
Why the devil is Hart getting
involved?” the other man muttered. He abruptly stood and walked
away from the table and Prestwich.

Adam followed him. “Perhaps because he is your
friend and he cares about you,” he suggested mildly.

Levi stopped and stared at him. Then he threw back
his head and roared with laughter. Several older gentlemen looked
up from their papers and shushed him angrily. He ignored them.

“
Hart? Care? That is rich, I must
say,” Levi chuckled gleefully. Although, he did have to admit to
himself that The Duke of Derringer did tend to keep an eye out for
his, Levi’s, welfare from time to time.

“
Are you done here?” Adam
snapped.

Mirth threatened at Adam’s annoyance, but
determination won out. “No, I find that I need to take care of a
few things.”

The quizzical look Prestwich gave him made him grin
but not in that endearingly boyish way he had. It was rather like
one of Derringer’s dangerous looks.

Levi gestured surreptitiously to the table they had
just left. “See Winters?” Adam nodded, fingering the quizzing glass
that hung from his dove gray waistcoat. “Do you know how much I
have lost to him this Season alone?” The baronet shook his head
vaguely. “Nearly fifty thousand pounds.” Adam’s eyes widened. “You
and Con both said he was a cheat and I believe you. Now I will put
a stop to his games.”

“
Why do you choose to do so now?”
Adam asked almost gently. “You were just married yesterday, Levi.
You should not be gadding about town trying to rid the world of a
mere Captain Sharp.”

Any trace of lingering amusement disappeared from
the earl’s face. “That is none of your affair, Prestwich.”

“
No, it is not. But I happen to
care about that wife of yours, as does Con and probably Derringer
as well. I suggest you try a little harder to understand
her.”

“
Does everyone know of my
problems?” The earl moved as if to return to his game.

Adam didn’t follow, he simply spoke to the other
man’s retreating back. “I have not the first bit of knowledge of
them. I just notice things and apparently deliver messages for
Derringer.”

Levi stopped short. The fact that Derringer thought
it was necessary to seek out Adam—a man the duke quite openly
disliked—was enough to cause an alarming sense of doom in Levi’s
midsection. He turned and retraced his steps. “What message?”

“
He said Desmond Forester is still
in Town and your wife is alone in Hyde Park. I assume you are
supposed to understand.”

“
Damn,” muttered Levi. He abruptly
turned and ran from the club, barely pausing to retrieve his gloves
and riding crop. All thoughts of making Winters pay for his
cheating ways fled from his mind. Let someone else give the man his
comeuppance.

~~~~~

Aurora followed Rhiannon in a sort of miserable
daze. Her marriage was not even a day old and already it was a
disaster. Her husband despised her for her deception and she had
yet to tell him of her wealth and the fact that she was a kidnapper
and her sister was actually her daughter. Oh, she hoped he never
discovered that particular lie.

Clasping her hands painfully tight to stem the
incipient tears, Aurora forced her eyes to the child cavorting
about. What a beautiful child, she thought wistfully. Rhiannon’s
golden curls gleamed in the sunlight from beneath her simple bonnet
and her pale blue dress brought out the amazing color of her eyes.
She giggled and ran up to Aurora.

“
‘Ory, ‘Ory, look!”

She held her prize aloft and Aurora was puzzled. A
pretty little replica of Rhiannon stared up at her from eyes of
blue glass.

“
Where did you get this, darling?”
She reached for the doll, but the girl backed away and clutched it
to her chest.

“
No, ‘Ory, mine,” she cried out
petulantly.

“
Dilys Verena Rhiannon, you let me
see that doll, right now,” ordered Aurora softly. The child obeyed
but only after a drawn-out moment in which a battle of wills
commenced. Clasping it in a hand that shook ever so slightly,
Aurora put it through a closer examination. She had hoped it might
have the owner’s name stitched somewhere on it. It did
not.

“
Where did you find
it?”

“
A man. I can keep it,” she told
her with a proud little tilt of her tiny head.

A shiver scurried its way up Aurora’s spine and she
cursed the inability of a three-year-old to effectively articulate.
“Who was the man, Rhiannon? Did he tell you his name?”

Rhiannon shook her head, a puzzled look on her pixie
features. She looked back in the direction she’d come from. “There,
‘Ory!” she exclaimed suddenly, pointing toward a stand of
trees.

Aurora had hoped she was wrong. She wasn’t. A
strange man leaned negligently against a tree with a look of
supreme confidence on his scarred face. He watched her with
unabashed curiosity, taking in every move she made. Then he pushed
away from the tree and disappeared.

She didn’t know the man’s identity but she was
positive he was in the employ of Desmond Forester.

“
Come, Rhiannon, we are going
home.” And so saying, she grasped the child’s hand and pulled her
from the park.

It wasn’t until she’d entered the foyer of her
townhouse that Aurora realized she was clutching the doll against
her chest. She looked down at it in bewildered disgust and tossed
it onto a table, leaving it there for the servants to dispose
of.