Regency 03 - Deception (7 page)

The food was simple fare, intended not to distract
from the principal entertainment, the dancing. Nothing stronger
than orgeat or lemonade was offered to drink. Aurora wondered why
the gentlemen bothered to come. Unless, of course, they were
actually looking to get leg-shackled.

When Aurora voiced her dismay to Verena and Connor,
who had kindly escorted Aurora and Ellie that night, Lord Connor
just laughed and pointed out that she had best not say such things
within hearing of the patronesses else she’d find herself a social
pariah. Which made Miss Glendenning laugh. Until she saw Lord
Greville.

He was dancing with the most beautiful auburn-haired
siren Aurora had ever seen. Even as she felt a sinking feeling in
her stomach, she was consumed with the sudden desire to dunk the
beauty’s head in a fountain. Alarmed and dismayed, she attempted to
stifle the feeling. It was amazingly like jealousy.

“
Who is the beautiful lady dancing
with Lord Greville?” Aurora whispered to Verena. She refused to
call that particular lady
young
.

“
That is Miss Weatherby. Her
father is a baron and looking to get her off his hands,” the other
woman replied with unusual cynicism. “I don’t know her well, just
that this is not her first season. I suppose Bri’s cousin is
interested in Miss Weatherby’s dowry. It’s said to be quite
large.”

“
Bri’s cousin?”

Verena turned to look at her friend. “Did you not
know?” she asked in surprise. “Levi Greville is Bri’s cousin.”

Northwicke escorted his lady onto the dance floor
before Aurora had a chance to reply to this shocking revelation.
Why had no one told her?

Then she saw that nice Lord Delwyn that she had met
before. He walked toward her and she smiled brightly as he bowed
and asked her for the next set. She saw the look of pique on Levi’s
face as he watched them, so she said yes.

Thankfully, the movements in the dance made
conversation nearly impossible. Aurora wasn’t sure she would be a
very good companion at that moment. She enjoyed the dance,
nevertheless, and thanked Lord Delwyn prettily after he returned
her to Miss Ellison.

He signed her dance card for later in the evening
and she curtsied to him with a bright smile. When she rose, she
noticed several other young gentlemen had joined him, all intent on
dancing with her. With a laugh, Aurora produced her dance card and
allowed the gentlemen to take which dances they would.

Then Lord Greville appeared and none too happy at
that. Several of the men backed away with wary looks on their
faces. Aurora glared at him.

“
How do you do, Lord Greville?”
she asked with a brittle smile.

He bowed, his smile just as false. “Very well, Miss
Glendenning. I wonder, do you have any dances free?” He took her
dance card before she could avoid it. “Ah, the waltzes, I see. Why
is that?”

“
I have not yet been given
permission, my lord,” Aurora said from between clenched teeth,
having been warned by Ellie that waltzes were strictly prohibited
to those without permission. The rest of the gentlemen scurried
off.

“
Then perhaps I should seek
permission for you,” Levi suggested with a hard look in his
eyes.

“
Please don’t trouble yourself,
Lord Greville. I don’t feel like waltzing tonight,” she replied,
forcing a sincerity into her words that she did not feel.
“Especially with you,” she muttered under her breath.

A rude chuckle reached Aurora’s ears. Cheeks
heating, she turned and beheld his grace, the Duke of Derringer,
watching them with open amusement. Apparently, he thought it was
quite a lark to watch the two argue like wronged lovers.

Levi turned on his friend. “This is not a farce for
your entertainment, Hart,” he bit out in an undertone.

“
Ah, but I think it is,” was the
duke’s lazy reply. “Why else would you dare to argue like wronged
lovers in Almack’s? Besides, Vi, unlike those other gentlemen, I
don’t fear you and I find I’d like to dance with the lady even if I
have to meet you come dawn. Adds a certain something to the
exercise.”

Levi bowed, a scowl settling on his boyish features.
“Have at her, my friend. I care not.” And he walked away.

“
Sometimes that man makes me want
to scream,” Aurora said without thought. She blushed and glanced up
at the duke. “I apologize, your grace, for that embarrassing scene.
It was ill done of me to indulge in it.”

“
What has my large and not overly
bright friend done to incur your wrath?”

Quite sure she should be insulted by his
impertinence, Aurora simply stared at him for a moment. Then she
shrugged, saying, “He has done nothing, actually. I am not usually
so quick to anger, I assure you.”

Lord Derringer ignored her comment and asked her to
dance.

“
I have only the waltzes, as Lord
Greville pointed out.”

Derringer looked around. He caught sight of Lady
Jersey. “Sally,” he called, “a moment.”

Aurora stared, dumbfounded, when that lady hurried
over at the imperious call of the duke. She was even more surprised
when Lady Jersey flirted with him shamelessly before granting his
request to waltz with Miss Glendenning.

Aurora curtsied to the patroness and murmured her
appreciation. The duke signed his name beside a waltz and took his
leave without so much as a goodbye. Aurora watched him go,
perplexed. The man was rude and a most uncomfortable person to be
around. She wondered how a cheerful flirt like Levi Greville could
even bear being friends with such a man.

Two dances later, Levi returned to her side. He
looked at her expectantly but said nothing. With a sigh and a
feeling of exasperation, Aurora handed over her card. He signed his
name beside her last waltz and grinned.

“
Until then, Sprite,” he murmured
as he raised her hand to his lips.

She restrained herself from slapping the infuriating
man and said instead, “I look forward to it, my lord.” She imbued
as much sarcasm as she could into the statement.

The earl just grinned again and walked away.

“
Infuriating, is he not?” asked an
ironic voice beside her.

Aurora looked up into the black eyes of the Duke of
Derringer. The band struck up a waltz. She curtsied to the duke,
saying with false brightness, “Indeed.”

“
Our dance, I think,” the duke
murmured, offering his arm.

“
Indeed,” Aurora said again,
feeling at a distinct disadvantage with the man Society deemed
dangerous. But Ellie had offered no objection to their dance beyond
a whispered warning to take care.

Aurora followed the duke onto the floor with no
small amount of trepidation. The man was unnerving, frightening
almost. He had a way of looking at one as if seeing every thought
that happened to cross one’s mind or heart. In a way, he was much
like Lord Greville. The earl could pierce her thoughts as well. She
had not the least amount of fear of the earl, however.

The duke never smiled, she thought as she stared up
at the gentleman who held her so close in his arms. He held her a
little too close, actually. And he wasn’t even looking at her. Head
turned, he gazed at someone off to the side.

Miss Glendenning swiveled her head slightly to see
what held his attention. The Earl of Greville watched with a grim
look on his handsome face. Glancing back at Derringer, she caught
the hellish delight that sparked his black eyes.

The cad! He would deliberately bait his own friend
for a lark?

“
What are you about, my lord?” she
asked through a social smile. She wanted nothing more than to lash
out at the man as instinct told her he deserved. Her instinct,
however, also told her how dangerous this man was.

Derringer’s smile never came close to reaching his
obsidian eyes. “That nodcock is in love with you, Miss
Glendenning,” he replied in a smooth voice. “And as much as I think
love is nothing more than the drug-induced imaginings of authors
and poets, I think he would be far better off with you than with
the hellcat, the empty-headed shrew, the even tempered cat-lover,
or even the spineless widgeon.”

“
I assume you are speaking of
certain ladies, Lord Derringer, in whom Lord Greville has expressed
a particular interest,” Aurora murmured as she looked up at him.
“And I thank you for the compliment that I am sure was lurking
somewhere in your rather convoluted opinion.” She saw his eyes
darken and a shiver of fear raced up her spine. “I cannot help but
think that you are wrong about his feelings for me,” she added
quickly. “We have met but twice before tonight.”

Derringer swung her expertly around the floor. He
really was a very good dancer, but he was not the least bit
personable. His penetrating stare threatened to skewer her to the
spot.

“
How so, Miss Glendenning?” he
finally asked after executing several more turns in the
dance.

Aurora had no trouble following the line of their
conversation despite the long, tension-filled silence. “I admit he
likes to flirt with me, to see my discomfort when he calls me
certain names, but I don’t believe his feelings go any deeper than
that, sir,” she replied softly, praying for the dance to end. She
would much rather dance with Levi and endure his teasing comments
and heated looks. “You should not discuss something of such a
personal nature with me, my lord. It is rude.”

He more or less ignored her mild personal attack.
“Ah, but that is my point, Miss Glendenning,” the duke retorted in
a lazy drawl. “What you believe and the truth often differ. It is
up to you to discover the difference and adhere to the one that
benefits all involved.”

Aurora stared up at him in surprise. The music
stopped and the duke gave her a mocking bow. She curtsied and
waited for him to escort her off the floor. He displayed his bad
manners yet again by walking away from her with a mocking salute in
Lord Greville’s direction.

~~~~~~

Levi gave his best friend a fulminating glare and
went to rescue Miss Glendenning before some other gentleman got the
bright idea in his own head. She stood with a look of surprised
anger on her lovely, pixie-like face. Stopping before her, he
bowed, offering his arm to promenade with her.

“
I apologize for Derringer, my
Sprite,” he said in a soft voice as he led her around the room. “I
hope you will not take it to heart that he treated you so rudely.
He is not partial in his treatment of anyone, I assure you. We are
all as dirt beneath his feet.”

“
I wonder how you could call that
man friend.”

“
Why is that, my dear Miss
Glendenning?” Levi asked in amusement. His dark eyes sparkled with
humor as he carefully watched her changing expressions.

“
Well, you are so very personable,
an incorrigible flirt perhaps, but not the least bit uncomfortable
to be around,” she said with the same candor she had shown earlier.
Then she blushed at her forwardness.

Levi chuckled and leaned closer, whispering into her
ear, “Not the least bit uncomfortable, Aurora?”

She shivered. He would not have caught the movement
had he not been watching her so intently.

“
My lord, do behave yourself,
please,” she said. Her voice came out a breathless whisper, a
circumstance he was sure annoyed her to no end.

Levi was satisfied with her reaction. She wanted
him, he was sure of it. He wanted her, as well, if the sudden ache
he felt was any indication. If only she was a courtesan or a widow,
then he would act on his feelings and enjoy whatever time they had
until he married.

Better yet, if only she had the money he needed.
Then he would marry her and spend the next fifty years or so making
love to her. He suspected that he would never get enough of her
even if he had several lifetimes in which to do so.

Aurora’s next partner approached and Levi
reluctantly relinquished his hold on the enchanting young lady. He
smiled into her eyes as he bowed over her hand. “I shall be back to
claim my dance, Sprite,” he whispered for her ears alone. She
nodded wordlessly and left on the arm of her partner.

Levi wandered toward the refreshment room where he
had seen Derringer disappear only moments before. He was determined
to take his friend to task over his treatment of Miss Glendenning,
danger be damned.

~~~~~~

Instead of Derringer, Levi found Connor and Adam
talking in low tones over in one corner of the room. The area was
otherwise empty except for a few flighty blond debs and their
escorts who exited shortly after Levi entered.

The earl sauntered over to his friends and greeted
them with a little less enthusiasm than was his wont.

Adam cocked a dark brow at him and asked cynically,
“How goes the fortune hunt, Greville?”

Levi glared at him. “I resent that, Prestwich,” he
muttered as he crossed his arms over his massive chest.

The taller man mimicked his movements and ignored
the jab in the ribs he received from Northwicke. “Why would you
resent the truth, Vi? It is a fortune hunt, is it not? You need an
heiress or at least a hefty dowry to reestablish yourself in
Society.”

“
You make it sound so…wrong,” the
earl retorted lamely as his hands dropped to his sides.

“
It is,” Adam replied with a
lifting of his brows. He did not relax his stance. “Two years ago,
even a year ago I would have been the first to tell you that
marrying for love was nothing more than an air-dream. But now I
think you would be stupid to settle for less.”