by Vella, Wendy
“Run,” he hissed.
“What? Why?” Zach, who was busy scanning the passersby for young women he could flirt with, asked.
“She has a book.” Gabe sighed.
“I say, is that a book, Duchess?” Lord Plunge pulled his carriage up beside the duchess’s monstrosity.
“It is, Plunge,” the duchess said with a sneaky smile on her face. “How clever of you to understand what a book looks like.”
Nathan swallowed his snort as the idiot smiled as if she’d not just humiliated him.
Lord Plunge was dressed in rose pink today. From head to toe. He was and always had been a fool, but a harmless one, for all that he annoyed Nathan to the point where he wanted to skewer him with the nearest sharp object.
“It is the continuing saga of Captain Broadbent and Lady Nauticus,” the duchess continued.
“I say, are we to have an impromptu literary salon?” Plunge’s excitement was palpable.
“No!” all four Deville brothers said in the same cold, hard tone.
“Excellent,” the duchess crowed. “The youngest Deville can go first, as I don’t believe he’s read before.”
“I do have an outstanding reading voice,” Zach said.
“There, darling! Pull up beside that great lumbering carriage the duchess thinks is elegant.”
Nathan watched the Duke of Raven maneuver his curricle into place at his duchess’s urging.
“Raven,” Nathan said. Michael and Zach nodded; Gabe was too busy making pathetic lovey eyes with Dimity to notice their arrival.
“Devilles.” The duke acknowledged, looking like a king, yet far more distinguished.
“They’re a handsome couple,” Zach whispered loudly. “He’s very…” His hand rotated at the wrist.
“Dukish,” Nathan suggested.
“The very thing, and the duchess is beautiful.”
“Extremely,” Michael agreed.
The duke wore a deep green jacket, and the duchess a pale lemon dress with rose trim, bonnet, and gloves.
“My husband has yet to experience an impromptu literary salon,” the Duchess of Raven said. “I think it’s time to broaden his education.”
“Oh goody,” the duke said, his noble voice laced heavily with sarcasm.
“It’s good for your sturdy soul.” His wife patted his hand.
“Quick, maneuver us in behind the Duke of Raven’s curricle!”
Nathan watched another carriage join the group, which was now a half circle.
“Brace yourself,” Michael whispered into his ear.
Chapter Thirteen
“What? Why?”
“Left. I had not seen her until now.”
Nathan turned his head to the left and saw a group of women approaching on horseback. Phillipa Blake, Mary Blake, and Bethany Carlow. Every muscle in Nathan’s body clenched.
He turned away as if he cared little about her arrival. Of course, not before he’d catalogued everything she wore down to the small black leather boots on her feet; such was the way his mind worked. He could remember anything at a glance. The skirts of her riding habit were black, and the jacket lilac. Black military-style braiding ran down the front. On her head was a black hat that curled slightly on either side. Her blonde hair was rolled and twisted into a knot at the back. Beautiful, he thought, and an utter cow.
“Miss Carlow,” the Duchess of Yardly said, singling her out. “I believe this is your first literary salon also?”
He had to look at her now or it would appear odd. She’d changed, he realized, perhaps really seeing her for the first time. It was there in her face. She’d lost the soft innocence he’d fallen in love with. There was a hardness to her eyes now. He’d not noticed it before. She was different and yet outwardly the same. And how he knew that, he had no idea, and yet he did.
Looking beyond her, he noticed a large man on horseback with his back to Nathan. Was he a groom? Who did he belong to?
“I am unsure I will be staying, Duchess.”
“Of course you will,” Phillipa Blake said. “You are here with us, and if we are staying then so must you. Now we will move closer to the Deville brothers so the horseback riders are all nicely grouped.”
“Phillipa, that is not necessary,” Mary said, and Nathan watched her shoot Beth a look, then scowl at Zach, who was ignoring her. But it was too late, Phillipa was moving, and then Mary, which would leave Beth on her own. Nothing showed on her face, not one flicker of what she was feeling. But he knew she would rather walk across jagged rocks before coming closer to him. The feeling, he wanted to assure her, was mutual.
“Come along, Miss Carlow!” Phillipa shrilled.
Beth’s lips tightened, and Nathan realized that was new also. She never got angry, well, in front of people anyway. It seemed he’d learned to control his temper and she’d found hers.
“Come along, Miss Carlow. We do not have all day,” the duchess snapped.
“For what, Duchess?” The smile on Beth’s face could in no way be termed friendly.
“Why, a reading, of course!” The duchess was standing in her lumbering open coach, which was large enough to house an entire group of musicians comfortably.
“I shall leave you to your readings,” Beth said, and Nathan wanted to laugh at the defiant look in her eyes.
“As if escape was ever possible when the Duchess of Yardly is in control of the situation,” Zach muttered.
“Well now, this is fortunate timing on our part!” Nathan watched another carriage pull up next to the last. Cambridge Sinclair flung the door open, and his twin sisters appeared in the windows.
“He can sniff out these things,” the Duchess of Raven said, looking annoyed. “I’d so hoped to tell him all about it later, which would have annoyed him excessively.” She looked at Nathan. “You know how it is, Mr. Deville. Annoying one’s siblings is important.”
“I believe it should be considered one of our nation’s most treasured pastimes, Duchess.”
“Will there be food?” Cambridge asked.
“I had wondered that also,” Zach added.
“How is it possible there can be food in the park?” Nathan felt the need to ask.
“I know you are right, but I’d hoped for food.” Cambridge looked forlorn.
“We have roasted nuts,” Mary Blake said. “Come here, Beth.” She waved her closer.
Reluctantly, Beth did as she was asked. Michael moved, trying to avoid Phillipa, who was attempting to wedge herself between him and Zach, and a gap opened up beside Nathan. Beth stopped.
“Hurry up, gal!” The duchess, who seemed to have eyes in the back and sides of her head, roared.
Michael backed up his horse and took the reins of Beth’s. He then led her forward. Nathan glared at him; his brother crossed his eyes.
“Does it matter that I have not read any of the previous books?” the Duke of Raven said to anyone who would listen as Beth moved to Nathan’s side.
“Only for your benefit, Duke,” Gabe said. “It won’t affect your storytelling.”
“Imagine my relief,” he muttered.
“Best to just get on with it, Duke,” Plunge said, smiling like an imbecile. “Live for the day. Carpe diem. Seize the day—”
“Yes, Plunge, I think he understands the concept. No more idioms are required,” Nathan said before the man found any more words to encourage the duke.
The giggle to his right had him facing Beth, eyebrow raised. “Problem?”
Her face was perfectly still, so still he thought he’d almost imagined the sweet little sound she’d made. Not sweet, he reminded himself. This woman no longer had the capacity to be sweet in his presence.
“I beg your pardon, Mr. Deville?”
“You giggled, Miss Carlow.” God, she was beautiful. Her lips were a soft pinky apricot, and her lovely breasts looked superb in that fitted jacket. She looked lush and innocent all at once. He hated that she had this effect on him.
“I did not giggle,” she said,
stony faced.
“Why am I not surprised you can lie with ease now.”
His words had her turning away and presenting him with the back of her head.
Nathan battled the guilt that settled on his shoulders. Yes, she’d hurt him, and yes, she’d left him, but it had been her right to do so.
“Forgive me, that was uncalled for.”
She didn’t answer him, just kept her eyes averted.
“Wait!”
They all looked behind them to the galloping Lady Levermarch. She guided her horse around Phillipa, who was attempting to coerce Zach to move, and wedged herself into the row of horses. Everyone’s mounts stepped left or right and settled once more with her in their midst.
“Sorry, I was busy speaking with that windbag Greyson. Man’s a simpleton and tried to tell me Captain Broadbent was no hero!” Lady Levermarch, beautiful to the tips of her polished boots and every inch of red velvet between, looked indignant. “You may begin now.” She flicked her gloved hand.
“Hello, Phoebe,” the Sinclair twins cried. She waggled her fingers at them.
“Who is going first, Duchess?” she asked.
“It’s my belief all latecomers should be penalized, so that’s you, Lady Levermarch,” the Duke of Raven said.
“Since when has that been a rule?” Cambridge Sinclair said, hanging on his carriage door eating one of Mary Blake’s roasted nuts.
“As the highest-ranking peer here, it’s my rule,” the duke said, unruffled.
“He does outrank me simply because he is a man,” the Duchess of Yardly said. “However, not by intellect.”
“I read Keats and Shelly. You read Captain Broadbent and Lady Nauticus, Duchess,” the duke said dryly.
“My point exactly,” the duchess replied, deliberately misunderstanding him.
“Very well, hand over the book,” Lady Levermarch said.
The precious copy was passed through hands, and Nathan attempted not to have any contact with Beth as he passed it to her. She did not meet his eyes.
“Beth.” She turned, her face composed, but he saw that didn’t quite reach her eyes now. “I’m sorry. I had no right to be mean, no matter what occurred between us.”
He may be angry with her and believe she’d treated him badly, but first and foremost he was a gentleman, and his words had been deliberately cruel.
Her nod was jerky, then she turned away.
How was he so aware of her? The slender thigh inches from his, the hands that held the reins of her mare. Every damn thing about this woman had his body in high alert.
“Dear Lord, what is she doing?” Beth whispered as Lady Levermarch climbed onto her saddle.
“I believe she once had a groom who was in a circus and taught her tricks,” Michael said.
“Really?” Beth sounded awed now.
Zach, never one to do anything simple when complicated was on offer, stood on his saddle beside her. He was also ensuring he could reach her should she fall. His brother may be many things, but honorable gentleman was top of the list.
As one, the rest of the Deville brothers were dismounting, Nathan included, without a word passing between him. They circled Lady Levermarch’s horse.
“This could either go spectacularly well, or horrifically wrong,” Nathan said to Michael.
“I know how to set a broken bone,” the Duchess of Raven called.
“What, pray tell, are you Devilles doing?” Lady Levermarch looked down at them.
“The ground is hard, my lady,” Nathan said.
“And you will break my fall?”
“That is our plan, should it be required,” Nathan said.
She studied them. Going from him to Gabe, then Michael. Lastly, she looked at Zach.
“I’ve often thought the mark of a true gentleman is not in loud demonstrative gestures or peacocking about the place.” She shot Lord Plunge a look. He waggled his fingers to her. “Thank you, gentlemen.”
They all bowed as one before her.
“I was just about to come over, Phoebe, when Dorrie broke a shoe ribbon!” Cambridge Sinclair called, which had everyone laughing.
Chapter Fourteen
“Someone do a recap,” Lord Plunge said from his curricle. The seats were lavender with pink trim, and Beth thought it was likely the silliest and most impractical interior she’d ever seen.
The man himself stood on his doorstep, waving his hands about with a silly look on his face. Beth had never had a problem with him—in fact, he often made her laugh when she danced with him—yet knew there were those, especially men, who struggled to tolerate him.
Her eyes went to Nathan, who now stood below the beautiful Lady Levermarch. There was nothing feminine about that man. His eyes were on the woman, hands clasped before him. Beth looked at his brothers who were standing as he was.
He’d called her a liar and then apologized, because he may be angry with what he saw as her betrayal, but Nathan Deville was a gentleman to the soles of his large leather-clad feet.
The brothers all stood in the same stance. Feet wide, arms folded in front of them, their attention focused on Lady Levermarch. They would catch her should she fall.
“In the last book, Captain Broadbent and Lady Nauticus were being pursued by a pack of wild stoats. Lady Nauticus feared they would never reach safety and thus never have a fulfilling life with the man she loved and enjoy her happily-ever-after—which, I will add, is rarely true,” the Duchess of Raven said.
“Oh, come now, love, with four children of varying ages and a horde of annoying relatives, surely you have found your happily-ever-after in my arms?” The duke smiled.
Beth saw the look of love that passed between the duke and duchess and swallowed her sigh. Two beautiful people who shared a deep connection. In fact, from what she knew of the Sinclair and Raven families, each had found love in their partners. An enviable thing, especially considering she would never marry the man who would always hold her heart.
“Wild stoats; must have been terrifying.” Cambridge Sinclair shuddered. “Are there props?”
“Props?” Alexander Hetherington wandered into the middle of the gathering with his twin brother, Benjamin.
More good-looking men, Beth thought, looking around the gathering, and yet not one of them made her heart thud as Nathan did.
“For the readings,” one of the Sinclair twins said. They were beautiful young ladies, with pale skin and black hair.
“Ah, thank you, Somer.” Alexander bowed. “As luck would have it, I carry my wife’s scarf close to my heart.”
“Utter rot,” Benjamin said. “You found that in a bush not minutes ago. I saw you unwind it and push it into your pocket.”
“Oh, but his story was so much more romantic.” Mary sighed.
“Thank you, Miss Blake.” Alexander bowed before her.
“Is there any chance at all that we could begin? I have a pressing need for a peas and kidney pie,” Cambridge Sinclair said.
“From the Speckled Hen?” Mr. Zacharial Deville asked.
“Is there anywhere else with such high standards? If there is, I have yet to locate it.”
“Unlikely,” Nathan said, shooting her a look. Their gazes locked.
One day she’d been in the gardens of her father’s townhouse and Nathan had appeared. In his hands had been a pie from the Speckled Hen. They’d sat on the grass sharing it.
He looked away first, and Beth drew in a shaky breath. He’d remembered just as she had.
“Oh, for the love of god, someone read before they move on to the entire menu!” the Duchess of Yardly snapped.
“Now now, Duchess, there is no need for haste. Like a good pie, a reading is to be savored,” Michael Deville said.
Beth couldn’t be entirely sure, as she was still a few feet away, but thought the duchess growled. The large dog seated in her carriage barked loudly at the little black one, who appeared to be licking his face.
“Stop grooming Walter, Romulus,” the duchess sna
pped.
“True love,” Lord Plunge sighed, looking at the canines.
“For pity’s sake, Plunge, exhibit some manly behavior,” Benjamin Hetherington snapped. Lord Plunge simply pulled out his lace handkerchief and bowed in the doorway of his carriage. “There is no hope at all.”
“Meanwhile, I am still standing on my horse surrounded by handsome men, not entirely uncomfortable,” Lady Levermarch said, “but still I should like to begin.”
“Begin!” the duchess commanded.
“La, Captain Broadbent—”
“Does he have a first name?” Nathan asked. “I wonder why, if they are as close as supposedly they are, she does not use it, or he hers for that matter.”
Silence fell in the circle.
“Horatio,” Zach said.
“You made that up,” one of the Sinclair twins declared.
“Of course.” He gave them a roguish smile that had the girls blushing.
“Do you know, Nathan, that is an excellent point. I don’t think we’ve ever been told their names,” Michael Deville added.
“Who cares, read on!” the duchess demanded.
“We shall call them Horatio and Dorothea,” Lady Levermarch declared.
No one appeared to take issue with that, so the reading continued. Beth listened, alternating between watching Lady Levermarch’s brilliant performance and Nathan. From her position, she had his side profile. His nose was slightly crooked, courtesy of Zach, who had punched him when their play turned rough when they were children.
Thinking back, Beth realized what had drawn her to him was his passion for life and his family. He loved them and would do whatever it took to ensure they stayed safe and happy. Nathan was a man who lived life as if each day mattered. His temper, he’d told her, was not his finest quality, but he was working hard to control that. Beth had never known a man like him.
“‘Alack, my poor lady love has fallen down a crevice,’ Captain Broadbent said.”
“Weren’t they just running down a path? What the hell is a crevice doing on a path in an English woodland?” Lord Raine asked.
“Language!” the duchess shrieked.
“Your pardon.” Gabriel bowed.
