Regency 03 - Deception (6 page)

Rhiannon imitated her sister and caused the maid to
giggle, which earned that young woman a glare from her
mistress.

Levi feigned hurt. “Well, I like that. No one of
importance,” he grumbled with a distinct twinkle in his dark eyes.
He smiled down at the little girl. “Hello, sweetheart. What is your
name?”

“‘
Annon. Who’re you?” she asked
again with wide blue eyes. A mass of very pale gold curls rested
atop her head, her pixie face set in an expression of awe. No doubt
his size intimidated her a bit.

He fixed a questioning look on Aurora. “My sister,
Rhiannon,” she supplied, trying very hard to keep her face blanked
of any expression at all.

The infuriating man grinned, winked at her, and
looked back at the child. “I am Levi, at your service.” The child’s
look grew intense as she thought about it. She tried to say his
name but found it difficult. The earl smiled. “You can call me Vi,
if you wish,” he offered gallantly.

Aurora had to tell herself not to place too much
credit on the earl’s interest in her sister. He sought merely to
gain her good favor.

But why?

“
Unka Fie,” Rhiannon stated
proudly after studying him for several interminable minutes. The
earl chuckled at the mangling of his name.

Rhiannon held up her hand and stuck it in his,
attempting to lead him away. With a glance of apology for Aurora
and a shrug, the earl followed the little girl, his huge brown mare
walking sedately behind.

“
Ooh, Mistress Rory, I don’t think
you ought to have done that,” the maid squeaked as they followed in
the wake of the other two. It was only natural that the servants
had heard the rumors of Levi as well.

“
Hush, Mary,” Aurora commanded
curtly. “There was little I could do about it then and less I can
do about it now. Rhiannon likes him so I have a feeling we will be
seeing either a lot more of him or we’ll never see him again.” Part
of her wanted the former. She told herself grimly that
all
of her wanted the latter.

The murmur of voices floated back to Aurora as she
walked with the maid. Ordinarily, the maid would have walked a few
steps behind her mistress, but Aurora and Mary had grown up
together. As the daughter of one of Mr. Glendenning’s tenant
farmers, Mary and Aurora had played together as children. Later,
Mary received training as a maid. They were still friends and
Aurora had found she could not part with her after certain events
had forced her to London.

So Mary, empty-headed little widgeon that she was,
knew all of Aurora’s secrets. Well, most of them anyway. Enough
that she could very well ruin Miss Aurora Glendenning should she
wish. Thankfully, Mary did not wish.

Aurora heard the earl murmur something to the child
at his side before crouching down to her level. Aurora watched him
much closer than he realized. She saw the way he winced in pain as
he stooped and she found herself rushing over to him.

“
Oh, are you hurt?” she exclaimed.
Then she noticed the bruise on his face and dropped down beside
him. “You are hurt. What has happened?”

Levi smiled ruefully but his smile disappeared when
she reached out and touched the swelling on his jaw. She didn’t
notice how still he suddenly became nor the way his eyes roved over
her face as if memorizing every curve and line.

Suddenly realizing the impropriety of her actions,
she dropped her hand. She continued to search his face for more
injuries, but refrained from touching him. So intent was she on
avoiding eye contact that she wasn’t fully aware he was talking
until he lifted her chin to force her eyes to meet his.

“
Miss Glendenning? I assure you, I
am fine. I was not set upon by footpads, or highwaymen, or
cutpurses, or the like. Lord Connor has a punishing right, that is
all,” he added with a quirk of his sensuous lips.

Aurora found her attention drawn to those lips. She
wondered what it would be like to kiss him. Would it be as
distasteful as the only other time she’d ever been kissed? Or would
it be as wonderful as she suspected?

Glancing back to his dark brown eyes, she sucked in
a breath. He stared at her with an expression one could only
describe as desire.

Mary cleared her throat.

The spell broken, Levi sighed as he released the
Aurora’s chin, and she leapt to her feet, chagrined at her
behavior. Rhiannon paid them no attention at all as she watched a
butterfly flit around her. Mary gazed at her shoes as if they were
quite the most amazing of inventions.

“
Come along, Rhiannon,” Aurora
commanded gently, holding out her hand. “It is time to go,
dearest.”

~~~~~~

“
Thank you, Ellie,” Aurora said
with an absentminded smile. She then proceeded to spoon sugar into
her teacup—a full six spoonfuls. “Oh, drat,” the young lady
muttered. “It is all his fault.”

“
Whose fault, dear?” Miss Ellison
asked in concern.

The girl had been positively dotty since her return
from the park. Upon entering the house in Mayfair, she had upset
the table in the hall, scattering invitations and calling cards all
over the floor. Then she had overset the first tea tray that Ellie
had ordered and proceeded to shred anything she could get her hands
on.

Then the pacing began. Aurora had found herself on
the floor in an inelegant heap after tripping over a chair. And it
didn’t stop there. She then sat on the backless sofa—and leaned
back.

After changing and applying a salve to her numerous
bruises, Aurora had fared much better, but now it appeared that she
liked a little bit of tea with her sugar instead of the other way
around. Ellie just shook her head and let the girl wallow in
whatever thoughts had her so discomposed. At least now she was
safely seated in an armchair.

Pondering the vagaries of life was exhausting,
Aurora thought ten minutes later. She finally took a sip of her now
cold tea—and promptly spit the sickeningly sweet brew right into
Ellie’s face.

“
Oh, my dear, I am so sorry!”
Aurora scrambled to her feet to help her friend and tripped again
but this time over her own feet. She landed at Ellie’s feet and
burst into tears.

Miss Ellison stood and sighed, handing her young
friend a handkerchief. “I will just go and change, Rory dear. That
will give you time to compose yourself.”

Aurora nodded her head. She stayed on the floor,
snuffling into the handkerchief.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She hadn’t
suffered from clumsiness since she was a child. How could a
charming smile and eyes the color of warm chocolate rob her of her
composure?

That was how Verena and Bri found her. Sitting on
the floor, crying dismally.

“
Rory, whatever is the matter,
dear?” Verena asked in concern. She rushed over and helped her
friend to rise and sit back in the chair she had so recently
occupied.

Bri seated herself next to the distressed young
woman and took her hand, patting it gently. Verena sat on the other
side of her friend.

“
Where is Miss Ellison?” Bri asked
when she was sure Aurora could answer.

Aurora looked into the countess’s emerald eyes and
felt a smile tugging at her lips. She glanced at Verena’s concerned
face and her grin appeared in full force. She tried not to
laugh.

“
I inadvertently spit tea in her
face,” Aurora said very quietly. Then she laughed. Oh, her day had
been horrible but now it was all so very funny. She went on to
explain all about her clumsy day and soon all three ladies were in
stitches.

“
I shall have bruises for months,
I am afraid,” Aurora giggled.

“
No doubt,” Lady Connor concurred.
“Now, I really feel I should tell you why we are here.” She paused
and studied her friend’s face. “It is of a personal nature and
rather impertinent, I am sorry to say.”

To say Aurora was intrigued would be to grossly
understate the truth. She was baffled by her friend’s hesitancy,
alarmed by her seriousness, and made wary by the way the other
woman chewed on her lower lip.

Verena glanced at Bri and Bri complied with her
pleading look by taking the problem out of her hands. “Do you
really have no money?” she asked bluntly.

In a split moment, Aurora realized that she had to
stick with her story of penury even with these, her friends. She
hated that she had to, but she couldn’t take the chance of anyone
finding out.

“
I really have no money,” she
confirmed calmly. “Well, I have some, enough for a Season, but that
is all. If I don’t make a good marriage, I will have to begin a
life of genteel poverty.”

Verena nodded, but Bri looked skeptical. Aurora
realized it would not be as easy to fool the perceptive Countess of
Rothsmere as it would the trusting Lady Connor.

Bri trusted no one.

~~~~~~

The door clicked shut and somewhere in Raven’s
chest, her heart broke. No, it shattered.

Moments ago, she’d received her
congé
from
Lord Levi Greville. She had known it would happen, expected it at
any time. The gossip mill revealed an escalation in his search for
a bride. With several prospects selected, her dismissal was
inevitable.

A certain air about him today, however, suggested
something far different had occurred. He was not simply dismissing
his mistress because he didn’t want a shred of scandal to attach
itself to his wife. He dismissed her because he
wanted
to.
He was done with her. He had moved on to something, someone
else.

He was too much of a gentleman to say such a thing,
of course. But there had been something in his eyes that had said
he was bored.

No, it hadn’t been boredom, but Raven refused to
acknowledge the emotion she had seen.

Reaching out, Raven possessed herself of a letter
opener, idly playing with the sharp little blade. Her mind was not
on the object in her hands.

Levi had left a parting gift. She hadn’t expected
it. She didn’t want it. But it was beautiful and she knew she would
treasure it always. It was the most exquisite bracelet of rubies,
emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires. It was small and delicate
instead of the normal gaudy type of jewelry gentlemen bought for
their mistresses.

Raven Emerson was inconsolable. She sat in her sunny
little parlor, her favorite room, staring at the closed door as if
by doing so she could conjure him back. Why, oh why, did she have
to fall in love with her protector? It was the stupidest mistake a
mistress could make. Gentlemen never married their light-o’-loves.
They had one use for them and that was all.

Raven knew she had been fortunate in her brief foray
into the world of the
demimonde
. She had only had two
protectors and both had treated her with respect and gentleness.
And she had loved them both.

Adam was different than Lord Greville, however. Adam
had been, and still was, her friend. Even his wife was her friend.
She supposed Levi would be her friend, but she wanted nothing to do
with the miserable little heiress he had decided to marry.

Her beautiful face creasing with emotion, Raven
struck the arm of her chair.

For the first time in her life, she felt hatred for
something. She hated whoever the little witch was who put that look
in his eye. And she would get her comeuppance, Raven swore. She’d
see to that.

Raven swept from the room, the letter opener
vibrating mildly in the arm of her chair.

*

If Raven had ever actually met Aurora Glendenning
before receiving her
congé
, she may have changed her mind.
She may have never considered revenge. She may have realized that
she didn’t actually love Levi, she was obsessed. After all, anyone
who met Aurora would have a difficult time hating her.

Miss Ellison was on the point of wanting to strangle
her, it was true. But at least the girl had gotten over that
strange clumsy streak. Now she was just absentminded.

It was Wednesday night and the vouchers for Almack’s
had arrived just that morning for the two of them. Even Ellie was
excited although she told herself she had no reason to be at her
age. She was a spinster of five and thirty, not a green girl in her
comeout year.

Smoothing down the satin skirt of her dark blue
gown, she hoped she looked as well as she felt. It was amazing how
a pretty new dress could make a woman feel as if anything was
possible. Perhaps she would meet someone.

Not at this rate, she thought glumly. First, Aurora
had forgotten her fan so they made their way back. Then, her
reticule turned up missing. They returned all the way home only to
find that it had somehow gotten pushed between the squabs of the
coach and had been with them all along. Her shawl didn’t match her
gown of apple green watered silk and her shoes got splattered with
mud when she wasn’t watching where she was going.

Damn the rain anyway, Ellie thought with
unaccustomed pique. Aurora was hurrying back to the coach and
thankfully nothing befell her to delay them more. As it was, they
would only just make it.

The doors to Almack’s closed at eleven o’clock.
After eleven no one was admitted. The patronesses were adamant in
this rule. Would they make an exception for the Prince Regent? Miss
Ellison thought not. They had refused the Duke of Wellington
admittance when he had arrived after eleven.

~~~~~~

They finally arrived. Ellie was disappointed. So was
Aurora. After everything the ladies had heard, they were expecting
nothing less than Valhalla. The marriage mart looked more like a
cattle auction than the grand place it was touted to be. The
dancing area was actually roped off and the couples promenading
around the edge looked like nothing short of animals being put
through their paces.