Regency 03 - Deception (28 page)

Levi was tempted to plant the duke a facer but he
refrained from doing so. Aurora appeared to be calm and collected,
her serious expression turned to Derringer.

“
You are right, of course, your
grace,” she replied calmly.

Derringer paused in the act of leaving. He looked
down at his friend’s tiny wife, his face an odd combination of
exasperation and weariness. “Do you not think it is time for you to
call me something other than that blasted title, Rory? I have never
been able to abide it and when you say it, it is with such contempt
it makes me want to laugh.”

Lady Greville’s pixie face took on a look of mock
horror, her tone filled with sarcasm. “We would not want that, now
would we? If you go about chuckling all the time, why, people may
start to think you’re not quite the scoundrel that you want Society
to believe you to be. How would you explain that heartless Lord
Derringer has a sense of humor?”

The duke snorted and Levi was quite sure the
black-clad man rolled his eyes. “I take your meaning.”

“
Then I will bid you adieu, my
lord Heartless. I expect to see my daughter soon.” The jocularity
died from her face.

Levi looked at the duke, uneasy at his friend’s
carefully blank expression. The other man continued to stare at
Aurora until she looked away from him self-consciously.

“
I apologize, Lord Derringer, for
all the rude things I’ve said to you,” she told him, surprising
Levi and the duke.

Derringer bowed slightly. “Your apology is
unnecessary, Rory,” he told her softly. “I deserve your contempt
and more.” With that said, he left.

*

Cursing himself for ten times a fool, the Duke of
Derringer downed another glass of brandy, barely noticing the path
of fire that scorched his throat. The decanter beside him was
nearly empty and sitting beside it were two more bottles, one
empty, one full. So much for having little affinity for strong
spirits. At the rate he was going, his reputation as a drunkard
would be true in no time at all.

He sat with his feet propped up on his desk, looking
calm and at ease. The only indication that his thoughts were far
from pleasant was the death grip he had on his glass.

He was reaching that dangerous point of inebriation
where a person acted without thought or care for the consequences.
His anger at the world, Society, and life in general added more
than a token threat to his physical state of well-being. He had a
casual disregard for propriety, nobility, the
ton
, and his
own life. All this made for an explosive combination, much like a
cannon with too much gunpowder.

Unfortunately, the duke had an object at which he
could aim his rage. Desmond Forester would pay for taking that
little girl, swore Derringer as a sneer curled his lips. And he
would not live to harm Rhiannon again.

In an unprecedented occurrence, Derringer found
himself to have fallen in love. He had always sworn never to have
anything to do with such a maudlin sentiment, but was honest enough
to admit that it had happened. He loved that little girl of
Aurora’s as if she were his own daughter. Ever since the first time
he’d made the child’s acquaintance and she’d accepted him without
question, he’d been enchanted by her. She was everything he hoped
for in a child of his own.

This admission startled him. When had he ever
thought about having a child? Devil it, he had no time for a brat!
And why the hell had he gotten so attached to Rhiannon Glendenning
in the first place? He’d only seen her a few times in the park with
her mother. But every time she saw him, she had to walk with him,
tell him all about her toys and butterflies, ask him a thousand
questions about everything under the sun, and wonder why she wasn’t
allowed to ride Satan. The last time he’d seen her, only a few days
before she was taken, she’d confided that she was in love with him.
It had made him want to cry.

He snorted into yet another tumbler of brandy. A
grown man nearly brought to tears by the innocence of a child. A
grown man known ‘round the world as Lord Heartless.

That sweet, innocent little girl was in the hands of
a conscienceless bastard, who would harm her to get what he wanted.
He had her completely in his power. But not for long.

Desmond Forester had made the worst mistake of his
life when he’d threatened to harm someone who could claim Lord
Heartless as friend.

~~~~~~

Sir Adam Prestwich received the Duke of Derringer
with mixed feelings. He didn’t care for the man at all. He was too
unpredictable, too edgy for comfort. He was a duke, however, and
very deeply involved in Levi’s affairs, so the baronet had the
butler send him up.

Derringer entered the room, dressed head to toe in
black. Adam wondered only briefly why the duke chose to go around
like he was in the deepest mourning. It was absurd.

Rising smoothly to his feet, Prestwich inquired, “To
what do I owe this honor?”

Derringer smirked at Adam’s modulated tones. Adam
knew his dislike of the duke was known to the other man. He cared
as little about that as the duke.

After seating themselves across from each other,
Derringer launched into speech. Well, he started ordering Adam
about, at any rate.

“
What do you mean, keep everyone
out of your affairs?” demanded the suddenly irate
baronet.

“
Did I stutter, Prestwich?”
sneered the duke. “I want you and that meddling wife of yours to
make sure everyone is at the Donners’ rout tonight. I need only a
few hours and I will have Rhiannon back unharmed.”

Adam opened his mouth to tell the bastard to go to
the devil when he realized something. When the duke mentioned
Aurora’s daughter, his voice softened considerably and his dark
eyes held a note of gentleness that was as foreign to the heartless
duke as air to a fish. There was something missing in all of this.
Why was the heartless Lord Derringer taking such an avid interest
in the welfare of a child he’d only known for a month or so?

Instead of commenting on this observation or asking
outright what the duke’s game was, Adam assumed a remote expression
and asked, “Why do you call my wife meddlesome?”

Derringer was not fooled by the baronet’s tone. “Ask
her why she was in Cheapside, Prestwich. I would be very interested
to hear her answer.”

Adam remained silent, inwardly fuming. If that
hardheaded brat he’d married were involving herself in this
ugliness, he’d thrash her…after she had the baby, of course.

“
What exactly do you
require?”

The smile that crossed the duke’s sharp features was
neither happy nor pleasant.

“
I have taken the liberty of
sending your acceptance to Lady Donner. She will be expecting you,
your charming wife, as well as your friends the Northwickes and
Grevilles. I want you to be sure everyone attends and stays for at
least two hours. By the time Rory returns home, her daughter will
be asleep in her bed.”

“
And what if your plan
fails?”

“
It won’t fail,” replied Derringer
with such firm resolve that Adam nearly believed him. “I will not
go alone, if that is what concerns you.”

“
I don’t worry about you in the
least, I assure you,” scoffed Adam. “I think the devil will see you
through this night should anything untoward occur.”

He paused, studying the face of the younger man
intently. His look revealed nothing at the moment. “I am curious,
Derringer. How did you manage to send in our acceptances when we
had already declined?”

Derringer grinned. “I would never divulge my
accomplices, Prestwich. It goes against my somewhat dulled notions
of honorable behavior.”

This answer nearly had Adam smiling but he was
uneasy about the whole situation. No matter what he told the
hotheaded young duke, he did worry that his rash actions may get
someone hurt. But, as did most gentlemen in England, Adam had a
healthy respect for the Duke of Derringer. He was too dangerous to
take lightly.

“
Convince everyone that it is best
to act as though nothing has occurred,” Derringer was saying now.
“Tell Aurora that she needs to put on a brave face and go on as
normal until Rhiannon is safely recovered. But not a word to any of
them that I have taken matters into my own hands.
Understood?”

Resenting his tone as well as his highhandedness,
Adam responded with some asperity. “I am not deaf. I understand the
King’s English, Derringer. I will do what I can since I think you
are right on that score. Everyone should behave as though nothing
has happened. Was there anything else?”

“
Yes,” replied the duke with
contempt. “Take a damper, Prestwich. You weary me with your air of
disapproval. I know you are anxious to give me a proper setdown,
but I’ll not heed anything you say, so don’t waste your breath.” He
bowed mockingly. “Give your daft wife my greetings and tell her
that Cheapside is no place for a…
lady
.”

~~~~~~

Bruiser and Tiny were the only ones to accompany the
duke when he went out that night.

The weather had turned cold and blustery and the
three men were wrapped in greatcoats of midnight hue. Derringer
shivered slightly as they moved swiftly through Cheapside, near
London’s East End.

He was tired of playing games with these bloody
parasites. They would learn tonight what it meant to annoy the Duke
of Derringer.

~~~~~~

“
It is most odd, Levi,” commented
that gentleman’s wife. “I don’t want to pretend as if nothing has
happened and I don’t understand why Adam has taken it upon himself
to inform us that we should.”

Levi shrugged into an evening coat of dark green. He
glanced at Aurora, who stood just to his left, twisting the life
out of what appeared to be a silk scarf. “Rory love, he is right.
Think of what a scandal will ensue should we raise a hue and cry
over Rhiannon’s disappearance.” He took both her hands in his,
squeezing them gently. “It will all be over after tomorrow night so
take heart.”

Aurora glared at her husband. “My daughter is at the
mercy of a madman and you worry about the scandal?”

Levi dropped her hands as he would drop a hot coal.
“I am surprised,” he uttered scathingly. “You must not realize that
if word about this gets out the world will brand you for a whore
and treat Rhiannon like the illegitimate child she is. Oh, but I am
sure you will come up with some lie to explain everything.”

The sound of flesh striking flesh seemed to echo in
the relative emptiness of the chamber.

Levi reacted without thought. He reached out as she
tried to flee, hauling her up against his hard body. His other arm
snaked around her waist in an iron grip. “Much as I would like to
spank you for that, madam wife,” he told her angrily, “I haven’t
the time. You will finish dressing, you will accompany me to this
damned rout, and when we get back, we will discuss this incident in
detail.”

Eyes growing huge in her small features, Aurora
nodded, her unease in the face of her husband’s anger apparent to
the veriest lackwit.

Levi stared down at her, hating the look of fear in
her huge turquoise eyes. He hadn’t meant to be so harsh but he was
feeling the unease and anxiety just as she was. With a muttered
oath, the earl covered her lips with his, kissing her until she
responded. Her arms slid up around his neck and he lifted her up
against him.

~~~~~~

In spite of his anger, Levi’s kiss was achingly
tender, so full of love and the promise of future happiness that
tears sprang to Aurora’s eyes and she held him tighter.

“
Ah, Rory,” groaned her husband.
“I would to God that none of this had happened.”

Aurora looked up, her eyes awash with tears, saw the
suspicious brightness in Levi’s dark brown gaze and suddenly
couldn’t stop her own tears from falling. She hadn’t realized,
hadn’t truly believed until now that her husband was suffering as
much as she was with Rhiannon’s kidnapping. Probably even more
since he also had her lies to contend with. All the times she’d
cried since Forester took her child were nothing compared to the
agony that ripped through her in that moment.

It was a Herculean effort, but Aurora managed to
shove the agony aside, leaving a bitter, dull ache in its place. A
watering pot could not help Rhiannon. One tear escaped, captured on
Levi’s thumb as he stroked her cheek.

“
I apologize, Levi,” she told him
sadly, evidence of her distress mirrored in her watery gaze and
shaky voice. “I should not have struck you. I deserve your contempt
and more.”

Cradling her face, he replied, “No, my love, you
don’t. You made a few mistakes; so have I. I should not have said
what I did. I should not have handled you so roughly. I am
sorry.”

He gathered her to him, wrapping her in his warmth
and safety. Aurora sighed, feeling the security seep through her
and praying desperately for an end to all the miserable drama she’d
instigated.

Levi held her like that for another moment, then
stepped away, his hands gently holding her upper arms. “Much as I
would like to stay home and prove to you how sorry I am,” he said
with a gleam in his dark eyes that told her exactly what he meant,
“we really should make an appearance at Lady Donner’s.”

~~~~~~

Nearly two hours later, the Grevilles descended
their carriage in front of a mansion in Cavendish Square. Carriages
lined the street and there were members of Society everywhere.

“
Sad crush,” remarked Levi as he
handed her down from the coach. He saw the bleak expression on her
face. “Chin up, my sprite. If I am not mistaken, Connor and his
lady are just over there and I see Adam and Bri’s carriage only
three behind us.”