Regency 03 - Deception (24 page)

She paused and glanced down at her clenched hands,
swallowing around the growing lump in her throat before adding, “I
realize now the folly of my actions.”

Trying desperately to speak around the terror,
shame, and disillusion that choked her, Aurora opened her mouth
again. But the words could not pass.

A glass was thrust under her nose, making her start
violently. She looked up at Lord Derringer, beheld his unnaturally
concerned countenance, and found that she could be made to feel far
worse than she already had.

Her hand shook so much when she took the glass that
a few drops of amber liquid sloshed over the side. The action
forced a semblance of clarity, however, and Derringer’s mocking
sneer helped further.

Aurora was able to continue after a sip or two of
the spirits in her hand. The duke took her glass away, fading into
the background as she began her story.

“
As a child, I was always curious.
About life, nature, technology, science, astronomy, everything.
Unfortunately, I was curious about…certain things that I had no
business thinking about.” She colored up but went on regardless. “A
certain Mr. Forester agreed to…show me what it was all about. I
realized a month or so later that I was increasing. I knew my
parents would discover it eventually, so I told them right away and
they rushed me off to Bath where I lived as a widow until I had my
baby. I never saw her. Papa gave her away to a family that lived
about halfway between Bath and our home in
Staffordshire.

“
They did allow me to name her. I
insisted on it because of a promise I made to a friend a long time
ago.” She passed a significant look to Verena, who was crying
silently. Lord Connor had his arm around her but his eyes were on
Aurora.

Lady Greville looked down at her hands again. “I
spent the next two years secretly visiting the village where they
lived. I was never allowed actually near her, but just to see her
was enough at the time. Then Mama and Papa died in a carriage
accident and I realized I was free.” Her shoulders shook the merest
bit. “What I did next is something for which I will always be
ashamed. I stole my daughter from the family she thought was hers.
I kidnapped my own daughter and brought her to London where I was
sure they would not, could not find me.” She shrugged, biting her
lip when the ghost of a smile crossed her face. “After all,” she
added, “who would think I would hide in the open?”

Aurora’s knees finally gave way and she slumped onto
the window seat. The enormity of what she’d done came crashing in
on her in one black wave and she was very close to wailing in
agony. The pressure in her chest threatened to tear her apart. She
dropped her head into her hands and tears dripped between her
fingers to plop onto her muslin gown.

The women sat beside her, one on each side. Verena
placed her arm around her friend’s shaking shoulders. Bri removed
Aurora’s hand from her face and placed a handkerchief in it. Aurora
dried her face and blew her nose, then crushed it in her palm. She
took in a shuddering breath, knowing she had to continue, had to
give them what information she could. Sniffling once, she began
again.

“
I came to London and while I did
use my real name, I neglected to tell anyone to which family I
belonged. It was of immense help that everyone was unaware exactly
which branch of the Glendenning family my mother married into. I
also said nothing about my wealth.”

“
But why?” asked Verena. “If the
ton
had known you had such wealth, your way would have been
much easier.”

“
Perhaps, perhaps not,” replied
Aurora. “I did not desire just any alliance. I wanted a man who
would l-love me enough to want to protect me, money or
no.”

“
And you found one,” Levi inserted
blankly. “The least you could have done was tell him the truth so
that he could protect you…and your child.”

Another tear escaped but Aurora was determined not
to cry again. She bit her lip and tried to look at her husband.
Lord Greville, the man who was singularly unsuccessful at hiding
his feelings, had learned how to don a blank façade due to her.

“
I am sorry that I did not trust
you…no, it was not that.” She gave him an earnest look. “I trusted
you with all my heart. I knew you would do anything to help and
protect Rhiannon and me. But I was unsure if you would still love
me or ever come to love me. I-I did not know you loved me at the
time.”

“
In essence,” pointed out Levi
reasonably, “you are a selfish child.”

She gave this careful thought, staring at her
husband. “I-I suppose I was. I suppose I still am,” she admitted
haltingly.

“
And you did not trust that I
would protect you even if I was displeased with you. Have I ever
given you a reason not to trust me?”

“
No, you have not, but you did
only marry me because you compromised me. And you were so angry
when you did find out that I…am, uh, impure.” Her cheeks reddened
painfully but she continued to look at her husband.

“
And you made her feel like she
was exactly that, Vi,” Derringer told his friend
helpfully.

Levi glared at the duke. “I was wrong to do that. I
overreacted.”

Aurora’s gaze swung to the duke. She was
unaccountably angry that he should know of her shame, evidently
before anyone else. “Why are you even here? You cannot possibly
care about any of this, Lord Heartless,” she snapped before she
thought about what she was about to say. Her eyes grew wide and she
clapped her hand over her mouth.

Everyone assembled seemed to hold their breath and
watch for Derringer’s reaction.

Except Levi. He shot his wife an admonitory glance
and said, “That was uncalled for, Aurora. Hart wants to help you
and you insult him. Not wise.”

“
All is well, Vi,” smiled
Derringer. “She has a right to her opinion and I admire that she
even has the temerity to call me to my face what everyone calls me
behind my back.” He shrugged. “She is right anyway. I never do
anything unless it is of benefit to myself.”

“
How,” queried Prestwich, “does
finding Rhiannon benefit you, your grace?”

“
A lark, nothing more.” His
mocking look dared anyone to say otherwise. He returned his black
eyes to Aurora. “Has Forester known all this time that he is a
father?”

“
You tell me,” Aurora retorted.
“You seem to know everything else.”

Derringer shook his head sadly. “Oh no, my dear
little liar. I can tell the people here what I know and some of
which you may not even be aware. I don’t, however, possess
clairvoyant powers and there is only so much I can uncover only
having just met you.” His sharp features turned hard and Aurora
leaned back instinctively. “I suggest you tell the rest of your
tale because I can make it sound much worse than it actually
is.”

No one said a word. Perhaps it was the shock of a
gentleman threatening a lady in the presence of other gentlemen—one
of whom was the lady’s husband. Or perhaps it was the inability to
determine the consequences beforehand. Some may have even felt the
countess deserved the harsh words. Whatever it was, it rendered
absolute silence.

Aurora lifted her head defiantly, looked straight at
the infuriating duke, and said, “Desmond did not know of Rhiannon
until he met us in the park one day. He knew as soon as he laid
eyes on her that she was mine. And his. Then he told me I must
marry him if I wanted to keep the circumstances of her birth a
secret. When I asked him why he would marry me, he admitted that he
only wanted my money.”

Derringer nodded, apparently satisfied with her
response. Aurora looked away, inadvertently meeting the dark brown
eyes of her husband.

There was a scratch at the door. Derringer thanked
the butler and opened the ransom note addressed to the Countess of
Greville. He read it swiftly, shoved it into his pocket without
letting anyone else see it—much to the astonishment of Northwicke
and Prestwich—and snapped his fingers rudely in Levi’s face to get
his attention.

“
Ransom note arrived. Forester,
although he did not actually sign the note, is asking for…well, far
more than I expected him to demand for the return of Rhiannon
Glendenning. How does he know exactly what you are worth?” inquired
the duke curiously, turning his black gaze on Aurora.

Aurora shrugged, gave him a limpid look, and
countered, “How do you?”

Derringer smiled. “I did not until now. You have
enough to pay it should you choose.”

“
Should I choose?
” she
exclaimed in astonishment. “Of course I choose. I want my daughter
back.”

“
Do you want to pay this bastard
or do you just want your child?” he asked brutally, placing the
slightest stress on a certain word.

“
Are they not one and the same?”
she asked, angry at his callousness and too distraught to
understand his meaning.

“
What his grace wants to know,
little Rory,” Prestwich inserted helpfully, “is do you want to pay
to get her back, or do you just want us to retrieve the
child?”

“
There is no
us
about it,
Prestwich,” Derringer said firmly. “I will get the girl back and
Forester will not be a threat when I get through with
him.”

Prestwich and Northwicke opened their mouths to
protest but Levi forestalled them. “I, at least, am helping you,
Hart. That is
my
child he has and
I
will kill Desmond
Forester when we find him.”

Aurora’s heart leapt when she heard his words. His
child. The rest of his speech she discounted. They could not
possibly be contemplating murder with such equanimity.

“
I shall return presently,” stated
Derringer abruptly. He strode from the room with six pairs of
curious eyes boring into his black-clad back.

“
I wonder what that was all
about?” murmured Verena.

Bri shrugged, her eyes darting from one gentleman to
another until they finally rested on her husband. He gave her a
rather bleak look.

Aurora moved closer to Levi. She had no patience for
the duke at the moment and little desire to know what insane
decision had sent him from the room. She had only one thought in
her mind and that was her husband’s words.

Gazing up at him hopefully, Aurora could not keep
her heart from her eyes. “Did you mean it?” she asked.

“
Mean what?” His voice was
carefully blank and Aurora felt her heart sink to her
toes.

“
About Rhiannon being your
child?”

The earl shrugged noncommittally. “I suppose
I did. I do care for her.” His dark eyes looked down at his wife.
“No matter what lies her mother has told.”

*

The Duke of Derringer had no intention of allowing
anyone to “help” in the recovery of Rhiannon Glendenning. He knew
from experience that those wanting to help were generally more of a
hindrance.

A part of his rarely active conscience told him he
should at least allow the child’s adoptive father to help but his
practical side told him that Levi had more on his plate than he
could currently hold. He believed his wife was little better than a
lying trollop. It would take time to sort that out.

After questioning the butler and footman minutely,
Derringer ventured out into the streets of London. In his years of
supporting the claim that he was as dangerous as he was heartless,
the duke had made several friends among the lower reaches of
London’s dregs.

~~~~~~

He was annoyed when he walked out his back door and
literally ran into Levi. “Leave me to handle this, Vi. I will do
much better alone.”

“
Where the devil are you bound?”
Levi asked, taking in his friend’s appearance. He laughed.
“Almack’s?”

“
Heavens no! Once was enough.” He
shuddered. “What a nightmare.”

“
So where?”

“
If you must know, you interfering
jackanapes, I am off to confer with some friends of
mine.”

“
In the slums?”

“
Yes.”

Levi’s eyes widened. “Are you in earnest? Who do you
know in the rookeries?”

Derringer released an exasperated sigh and glared at
the earl. “Whoever it takes to end this annoying farce that girl
has landed herself in,” he replied scathingly.

“
Careful, Hart. I don’t care what
rumor calls you. I still love ‘that girl’ and I will call you
out.”

“
Behold me frightened.”

Levi’s eyebrows quirked slightly. “Indeed. You
appear as you always do,” he remarked. “I am going with you, Hart,”
he added stubbornly.

“
As you are?”

The earl looked at Derringer’s black raiment,
tattered coat, old leather breeches and worn topboots, his forehead
creasing as he took in the odd spectacle before him.

The duke knew what he looked like. He looked a
villain, the part he wanted to play in the darkness of London’s
East End. A nobleman could not venture into the rookeries at night
and expect to live through the experience.

Levi glanced down at his own dark brown coat, gold
waistcoat, buff leather breeches, and shining Hessians. Amusement
lurked in his eyes. “That would be suicide, I believe.”

~~~~~~

Derringer’s butler, a gruff ex-pugilist, was sent to
a secondhand shop to root out a suit of clothes for Levi. The
butler usually accompanied his master into the rookeries to act as
a sort of bodyguard.