The Duke of a Thousand Desires

by Jillian Hunter

  With that she swept Ravenna away as if wingborne.

  Neither lady glanced back at Simon. He wanted to follow to reassure himself that Ravenna had recovered. His immediate priority, however, was to search the gardens for any personal articles his assailant might have dropped during his flight.

  Instead, he discovered himself the subject of Grayson’s unwavering scrutiny. The role of host had been discarded as that of guardian to his unruly family emerged. Simon was no coward. He hadn’t thought twice about taking a bullet for Ravenna.

  This challenge required deeper consideration.

  “There will be consequences,” Grayson said in a strained voice.

  “I accept that,” he said. “But believe me when I state that what happened was beyond my control. There are other forces at play. All is not what it seems, as you and Heath have both remarked tonight.”

  Rhys broke in. “I insist on being included in this conversation.”

  “Without question,” Grayson said before he turned back tersely to Simon. “There comes the day when every gentleman realizes he has to pay a price for his impulses. And passions.”

  Simon doubted Grayson had any idea what had occurred, and whether passion had played a part. Perhaps it had. The baying of dogs from the other side of the garden granted him another chance to deflect. He couldn’t admit his deep regard for Ravenna to a chorus of howls.

  Torchlight blazed from the now-deserted Temple of Aphrodite. The flare illuminated the tall, lithe figure of Heath Boscastle as he strode across the lawn.

  He stopped in front of Simon.

  Simon braced himself for an interrogation that would test his mettle. “The dogs have traced the scent to the wall,” Heath said. “Does anyone know why Achilles has lost part of his shield?”

  Simon cringed at the horror that struck Grayson’s face. “My statue has been damaged? How in the blazes did that happen?”

  Heath hesitated before he answered his older brother. “It appears that he was shot,” he said. “I thought the noise was what brought you outside. A few of the guests heard not only a scream but a gun go off.”

  By the curtness of his speech, Simon deducted that Heath had been one of those guests. He raised his hands in surrender.

  “Who shoots an ancient shield during a tryst?” Grayson demanded, glowering in accusation at Simon. “I assume it was not an ardent admirer.”

  “No,” Simon said grimly.

  “A rival?” Grayson guessed.

  “Hold on,” Heath said. “Others may have cause to hate him.”

  Grayson studied Simon from the side of his eye. “Why?”

  “He has made friends and enemies in high places,” Heath said. “For one thing he sponsored Sir Michael Talbot’s passage of his bill against cruel discipline in the navy. He funded an orphanage in a town populated by wealthy residents who did not wish to be reminded of poverty. He has angered more than a few gentlemen with his bluntness.”

  “Men insult one another daily,” Grayson said with a cynical shrug.

  “He also freely admitted to being a Queenite,” Heath added.

  Simon laughed.

  “What is that?” Grayson asked.

  Heath sighed. “He took the side of the degraded Queen Caroline during her trial for adultery. The king invented the charge in an attempt to strip her of her crown.”

  “I supported the queen,” Grayson said. “That was a popular aristocratic cause.”

  “It was popular with the press and the populace, but not with the old guard,” Heath said. “The humiliated queen was not even allowed a peaceful funeral. There were protests and killings even before she was laid to rest. I recall, Grayson, you spoke up vociferously on her behalf.”

  “I shall tell you what I know once we are inside,” Simon assured them. “Until then there is no need to throw another bone in the scandal broth.”

  6

  The marchioness spirited Ravenna up a spiral staircase to a suite of connecting chambers. A trio of trusted footmen shadowed their flight to discourage any wandering partygoers from eavesdropping on what promised to be an enlightening conversation. Jane’s forced gaiety had dissolved. She was a quietly enraged hostess whose green eyes smoldered with anger as she marched into her sanctuary.

  “What an evening,” she muttered, drawing a breath.

  She ushered Ravenna through a receiving room hung with more mirrors than the Palace of Versailles. “I shall leave town in the morning,” Ravenna said. “This is my last social appearance. I won’t shame you again.”

  “We shall decide what to do once we get to the bottom of this,” Jane said with a directness that heightened Ravenna’s growing sense of guilt. “Now confess. How did you end up in the duke’s arms after I warned you of his reputation?”

  “It wasn’t his fault.” She sank into a tufted armchair. “As far as I know, he isn’t guilty of any wrongdoing. At least not where I’m concerned.”

  “You are defending his actions?”

  Was she? Ravenna hadn’t decided how to judge Simon. “I can’t speak for his recent behavior, or his intentions. Tonight is the first time he and I have spoken more than a few words to each other since my engagement.”

  “Which is over,” Jane said.

  “I would assume so.” Heaven help her, it had better be over after all this fuss. “That isn’t Simon’s fault, either, by the way.”

  Jane compressed her lips. “Is that what Simon told you? That he was a victim of romance and could not control his attraction to you?”

  Ravenna smiled. “This is how gossip starts.”

  Jane’s hand fluttered in the air. “Let me understand. He positioned you against a tree, kissed you without fanfare, and said something to the effect that he wasn’t to blame because you were a beautiful woman and he couldn’t resist you, and that sort of twaddle? And you believed him with stars in your eyes?”

  “Nothing like that at all. What an imagination you have, Jane. One wonders what manner of education you received.” Simon might have charged Ravenna like a medieval warrior, but his reflex had been motivated more by survival than an opportunity for seduction.

  “I shall start again,” Jane said in a cooler voice. “He lured you out into the garden?”

  “He did not. There was no luring involved -- at least not between him and me.”

  “Honestly, Ravenna. Heath’s wife saw the two of you sneak out together at almost the same instant. You’re not speaking to a dowager, and moreover you are a Boscastle. It’s accepted that sooner or later your passions will get the better of you.”

  “My passions have been provoked, I grant you, although not in the manner you suggest.” Ravenna pulled off one of her elbow-length gloves and folded it in her lap. “Since you’re familiar with amorous mishaps, can you tell me how long it takes for a woman’s heart to stop racing after she has been held captive by a duke?”

  “I haven’t been imprisoned by any man above the title of marquess,” Jane said with a reluctant smile. “And his presence still sends my heart into a furor. But now you’re trying to distract me.”

  “The threat to Simon’s life distracted me. That’s really how it started. I slipped outside on a private matter. I might have fulfilled my objective and caused a different sort of disgrace had I not realized that Simon was about to be blown to kingdom come. Quite reasonably, I couldn’t stand by and watch him die, could I?” She laced her hands together, one gloved, one bare. “More than that I’ve promised not to reveal.”

  “Promised Simon?” Jane said in disbelief.

  “I shan’t say more.”

  She didn’t have an inkling why. She could only hope that the rogue had good cause for his bluff. “He’s going to explain all of this,” she added. “His life was at stake. Mine might have been, too.”

  “Is that what he told you?” Jane said, openly scornful. “Of all the excuses a man could use to mislead a lady, that’s one of the most inventive I’ve ever heard. And I have heard my share.”

&n
bsp; Ravenna opened her mouth.

  Jane spoke again. “I take it he convinced you he was at death’s door and that only your kiss would revive him? Shall we change his nickname to Sleeping Simon?”

  Ravenna shrugged in resignation. “No one will believe me. No one did before. I can’t offer another explanation. Ask him.”

  Jane pressed on. “What was your plan? Why didn’t you confide in me? And our discussion of his love life. No wonder you were so interested.”

  “This is complicated, Jane.”

  “You’re complicated -- not the complete innocent I assumed you to be. Yet I want to believe you. What went on?”

  “For pity’s sake, give me a moment to catch my breath.”

  That moment never arrived. The duke did, and when he entered the chamber Ravenna needed only one glimpse at his austere countenance to realize that she might remain breathless for a long time.

  She had of course reckoned with Simon in various surroundings over the years, but not in a blue-silk boudoir. Did he seem a little too comfortable?

  His gaze locked with hers. She might never have been able to break his stare had someone not coughed, and she realized he hadn’t entered the room alone. A line of maids curtsied their way to the dressing closet. One of these attendants was her own companion Isolde, her blue eyes assessing Ravenna in worry. Two other gentlemen hovered behind the duke, intense and darkly elegant.

  She and Simon looked away from each other in the same awkward moment. His face betrayed only a flicker of strain. He seemed to think nothing of their mutual devolution. She felt flushed, taken with a need to fan herself. She hadn’t fully allowed herself to acknowledge his potent appeal until tonight’s encounter. How could she have remained indifferent to the magnetism of that strongly carved face?

  It was possible that interrupting an attempt on his life had temporarily unhinged her. Could she have bumped her head on the tree?

  She deserved answers. Perhaps Rhys would provide some clarity, although he looked anything but composed as he tromped past Simon like a war horse. In fact, no one uttered a word until Jane said, “Where is Heath?”

  Simon stirred. “Investigating in the gardens.”

  “And Ravenna’s fiancé?” Jane asked as if suddenly remembering he even existed.

  Rhys replied with an evil smile that Ravenna knew too well. “Simon and I helped him into his carriage.”

  “Head first,” Simon said after a pause.

  He glanced at Ravenna and again she was suffused with warmth. When would he explain the conditions of their pact? What wicked bargain had she made? What had he done to David?

  How long was she to be kept in suspense?

  “Everyone sit down,” Grayson said. There was an interval of consternation as the gentlemen perched uncomfortably on the fragile spindle-legged chairs scattered around the room. “Rochecliffe has assured me there is an excuse for his behavior. I, in turn, have guaranteed that anything he confides in us will not be repeated outside the family. He swore that he did not mean to dishonor Ravenna.”

  Simon nodded gravely. “I was invited into the garden to meet an anonymous guest on what I thought was a personal matter. It seems I walked into an ambush. Presumably the person who sent me the missive intended to kill me. Ravenna screamed because she spotted him as he aimed at me from the walnut tree.”

  “And struck my Achilles?” Grayson said. “I would have shot back at him if I’d been in your place.”

  “Which I might have done had I been armed,” Simon replied. “However, I’m not in the habit of carrying weapons to a ball. Call me naïve. I was certainly unprepared. The person who fired at me dropped from his hiding place at Ravenna’s feet.”

  “That much is true,” she said with a begrudging nod.

  Simon granted her another heavy-lidded glance. “I judged her life to be imperiled. I reacted by throwing myself at her as a defense. It might have been a graceless act, but in my estimation there was no choice.”

  Grayson turned to Ravenna. “And you have nothing to add?”

  Jane rose and positioned herself beside Ravenna’s chair. “She doesn’t have to say anything at all. I would like to finish speaking to her in private before any further questioning.”

  Grayson’s brow furrowed at her demand. “And you are her legal counsel?”

  “Why not?” she countered. “You’re acting as her judge and jury.”

  “That is my role,” he said.

  “Not in my sitting room. Our other rooms, yes.”

  Simon coughed. “Don’t let me be the cause of a quarrel.”

  “You should have foreseen there would be trouble before you answered your mysterious summons,” Jane said, lifting her chin in displeasure. “Shame on you for thinking to conduct an assignation at my ball without forewarning anyone.”

  “He is a single gentlemen,” Grayson said. “What would you expect him to do? Refuse a simple invitation sent by any of a dozen ladies in attendance who might have held innocent motives? Many a romance has been sparked at our parties.”

  “And how many attempted murders?” Jane retorted.

  Grayson sighed. “Did you have any reason to anticipate an enemy lying in wait?” he asked Simon.

  “Not exactly,” he said, which Ravenna thought was not an answer at all. It was, however, a clever evasion which might have satisfied a less sophisticated couple than Jane and Grayson.

  “You haven’t given a jealous lover justification for offense?” Jane inquired, folding her arms.

  “Not on purpose,” Simon conceded. “I know that the man in the tree was never one of my lovers. And I am currently unattached and have been for some time.”

  “We might have to remedy that,” Grayson said, and settled his gaze on Ravenna. “Rhys has admitted your scheme to break your engagement. While I’m sympathetic to your position, I wish you hadn’t exposed the snail at the ball. Couldn’t you have baited him after breakfast? It would have been easier all around to do this in private. Now I have a situation to tidy.”

  “Snails come out at night,” Jane said. “He’ll be dealt with later. Our immediate problem is to explain to our guests why Simon was embracing Ravenna.”

  Grayson scratched his cheek. “It is not unnatural for a man to hold a woman when she is under duress. I’ve taken you in my arms during many a crisis.”

  Jane shook her head at this lopsided male logic. “If someone tried to kill you, I doubt your first reaction would be to kiss me.”

  “If I were dying, it might be,” Grayson said.

  Simon cleared his throat. “I wasn’t kissing her, for heaven’s sake.”

  “It looked as if you were about to,” Grayson said stubbornly.

  “He didn’t, though,” Ravenna murmured.

  “Well, unless you explain to everyone what really happened,” Jane said, “that is what everyone will believe. Ravenna, can’t you elucidate further?”

  Simon sent her a mild scowl as if to remind her of their pact. Was she to hold her tongue indefinitely? Why was she obeying him?

  Was it because she found his scowl alluring? That seemed a weak reason to promise him unconditional loyalty. Still, it was obvious he needed her friendship more now than in the past. She would be vastly disappointed if his problems stemmed from his involvement with a woman. But then she could blame David for her present conundrum. Judgment must be delayed a little longer.

  “Simon has instructed me not to talk,” she said baldly, a statement that drew only exclamations of shock from her relatives.

  Simon looked around the room in resignation. “The rest of my story is not for delicate sensibilities. Grayson, Rhys, I believe we should withdraw and make the inevitable arrangements.”

  Heath returned from his investigation outside as the gentleman reassembled in Grayson’s study. Simon explained his situation as simply as he could. “I hoped the stranger in the gardens would reveal something about my sister’s death. I’ve put out word that I’m willing to pay for information about her
purported accident.”

  “You should have spoken to me about this earlier,” Grayson said, reclining like a large desultory lion in his throne-like chair. “Offering a reward is like casting random seeds in a rainy field. You’ll be damned lucky if you attract anything but weeds.”

  “He confided in me,” Heath said. “That should be good enough. One doesn’t openly discuss such concerns at a party as you well know.”

  Simon stared at the note in his hand. “This is all the evidence I have. I never expected that the sender would endanger anyone. Yes, I knew there was a chance it was a lure for a liaison. In any event, Ravenna spotted the man in the tree and called out a warning.”

  “Which was heard halfway around the world,” Heath said. “May I see that message?”

  “Destroy the blasted thing,” Simon answered. “Keep in mind it’s not Ravenna’s fault that someone wishes me dead.”

  “Agreed,” Grayson said. “Nonetheless, she should not have wandered off in the dark by herself.”

  “She did not wander off,” Simon said carefully. “She went outside for her own reasons. It was my duty to defend her.”

  Grayson placed his hands on the desk. “That suggests a commitment. Are you offering to make amends?”

  “Do not doubt it.”

  “The disgrace to her name is rather irrelevant in light of what we know,” Grayson said. “I met Sir David for the first and, let us hope, the last time this evening. I admit I was deeply unimpressed. A match to a man of your lineage is a vast improvement over Ravenna’s chosen lot. Not that I’m one to meddle in the course of true love.”

  “Never,” Heath said with an arch look. “No one would ever call you the Marquess of Matchmaking.”

  The group lapsed into silence. Grayson picked up a letter-opener and stabbed it in the air for emphasis. “It isn’t up to us to give permission for another marriage. That thankless job belongs to Griffin. We could reach him on the road by courier if we knew where he was.”