The Devil's Gift

by Laura Landon

  “Because I won’t let them,” he whispered as he brushed the pads of his fingers over the worry lines on her forehead and down her cheeks. Then he lean over her and kissed her on the lips, letting his chest press heavily upon the flesh of her own in the most satisfying way.

  “Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?”

  “Yes, but it’s not. Not really.” He settled deeper beneath the covers he’d pulled over them. “For the two years I spent fighting in the Crimea, I knew every day there was a chance I might be killed. I tried not to let that happen, of course, but I knew there was the possibility and I accepted it. Now I have you, and I’m not about to lose you. There’s no way I’m going to let Eleanor or her brother kill me.”

  Jenna couldn’t keep the dampness from her eyes.

  He meant it.

  “That’s very considerate of you,” she said in a husky voice that threatened not to work. “I intend to see that you keep your word.”

  “Does that mean there’s finally something you can trust me to do?”

  He rose over her and she looked into the passion-filled depths of his dark eyes.

  “That has yet to be determined,” she answered him, lifting her hands and cupping his cheeks. “You have a lot to prove yet, my lord.”

  “I do?” he answered with a smile on his face. “Then I’d best begin convincing you, my lady.”

  “Now,” Jenna answered, bringing his mouth down to hers.

  “Yes.”

  He kissed her hard.

  “Now.”

  THE DEVIL’S GIFT by Laura Landon

  Chapter 19

  Jenna came down from getting a wrap and caught sight of Jack standing at the foot of the staircase. Her heart leaped joyfully in her chest. He stood there in all his masculine grandeur, trying to hide an impish smile that stole her heart all over again. And the look in his eyes as he watched her was an echo of the one she’d seen last night after they’d made love.

  She smiled as she neared the bottom of the stairs and took the hand he held out to her.

  “You are wearing a very telling expression, my love,” he said softly as he brought her hand to his lips.

  “What expression is that?” she asked, not sure what he meant by his comment.

  “An expression that tells the world that you are a well-satisfied woman,” he whispered to make sure no one overheard him.

  “Oh,” she gasped as she lowered her gaze to the floor.

  Jack laughed as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Just where do you intend to go?” Eleanor’s shrill voice said from behind them.

  Jenna started, and Jack tucked her arm through his elbow and held her securely. “My betrothed and I are taking the carriage out,” he said. “Would you care to join us?”

  Jenna wasn’t sure who was more surprised by Jack’s offer, she or Eleanor. She thought from the expression on Eleanor’s face that it might be her.

  “Surely you’re joking,” Eleanor said, issuing the most unladylike snort Jenna had ever heard from her.

  “My betrothed and I would be pleased to have you accompany us. We’re going to drive around and personally invite some of the long-time tenants who are special to the Kingston family. You may add your welcome along with ours.”

  “You can’t be serious, Lord Devlin. Surely you don’t intend to invite the tenants! That’s...unheard of!”

  “Not so uncommon, Lady Kingston. It’s quite permissible to invite the tenants who have known the family for decades. Jenna tells me her nurse still lives in one of the cottages. As does one of the gardeners.”

  “You intend to invite Whithers?”

  “Of course,” Jenna added, knowing Whithers wouldn’t come even if they made him the guest of honor. But she had to admit that she rather enjoyed watching Eleanor suffer from a bout of uncomfortable mortification.

  “I forbid it!” she said, her voice so loud it caused the two servants clearing the breakfast room to scurry out of sight before they became the object of her rising temper.

  “I’m afraid it’s not within your purview to forbid anything, Lady Kingston. This is my future wife’s wedding and I intend to see she invites anyone she wishes.”

  “I won’t allow this,” Jenna’s stepmother said in a voice barely stripped of its screech. “There are ways to stop your infernal meddling. And I intend to use them.”

  “You might want to be careful, Lady Kingston. That almost sounds like a threat. A very serious threat.”

  Eleanor glared daggers at Jack. Fortunately, Viscount Brackston came down the stairs and put a cover of calm on the situation.

  “Eleanor, would you join me for breakfast?” he asked, walking toward them with a jaunty air. When he reached his sister, he held out his hand and didn’t pull it back until she took it.

  “I see you’re going for a drive,” he said with a jovial smile on his face that seemed out of place considering the tension that filled the room. “Enjoy the beautiful weather, but keep an eye on the sky,” he added, turning his sister away from any further conflict. “My valet tells me we’ll have rain before noon and he’s always right about such matters.”

  “Then extend my thanks to your valet. We’ll be sure to take an umbrella.”

  Brackston put a relaxed yet somewhat insincere smile on his face as he led his sister from the foyer and into the breakfast room. When they were both out of sight Jenna uttered a sigh of frustration.

  “Are you ready to go?” he asked, leading her toward the door.

  Benton wasn’t there, but a footman handed Jack two umbrellas as they walked through the door.

  “Well,” he said when their cabriolet was far from the house and well on the road that would take them past several of the tenants’ cottages. “Do you think it will rain before noon?”

  “If my stepmother has anything to say about it, I think you’ll be fortunate if you live until noon.”

  “Ah, Jenna. You say the dearest things.”

  . . .

  Jack kept a steady hold on the reins as the horse trotted down the worn path. This was not at all the way he was accustomed to handling a problem. His first choice was always to take the direct route. Never to skirt an issue or play cat and mouse with an adversary. Yet that was exactly what he’d done with Lady Kingston. He’d purposely antagonized her to the point where she lost control of her temper.

  And he’d achieved the exact result he wanted.

  He’d wanted to find out what threats she would make if pushed far enough and he had. She’d threatened his life.

  He only wished Jenna hadn’t been there to hear it.

  But she had, so now he had to do everything he could to erase her concern.

  Except what he was about to do would only add to her fear and unease.

  “Why did you do it?” he heard her ask.

  He slowed the horse and looked at her. “Antagonize your stepmother, you mean?”

  “Yes. Antagonize my stepmother,” she mimicked back. “You made her so angry she threatened to kill you.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “Stop that this very instant!”

  “Stop what?” he asked as he brought the horses to a halt.

  “Answering every question I ask with another question. You always do that. It’s how you evade answering me.”

  “I don’t mean to evade giving you an answer. I mean to avoid giving you an answer. You put too much importance on what your stepmother said.”

  “How important do you think I should take it when she tells you there are ways to stop your infernal meddling and she intends to use them?”

  Jack relaxed against the back of the carriage cushion. “Your stepmother is hardly capable of doing anything to stop me.”

  “Of course she doesn’t intend to kill you herself. She intends to hire it done.”

  “Do you think she’d go so far?” Jack said, then wished he hadn’t answered her so flippantly when he saw the fear in her eyes.

>   “I’m sorry, Jenna. I didn’t mean to sound so cavalier. I know what you’re saying and I agree with you, but I have to make sure your stepmother understands what a threat I am to her plan. It’s the only way we can draw out everyone who is involved.”

  “And if they’re successful?”

  He heard the tension in her voice and tried to distract her concern by stopping to adjust the cabriolet’s hinged canopy, bringing it farther overhead.

  “That’s better,” he smiled, resuming his seat.

  “It’s not raining.”

  “No, but the sun’s shining. You don’t want to look like an overripe tomato when you say your vows.”

  He should have known she couldn’t be so easily distracted. She clearly wasn’t through discussing what would happen if her stepmother tried to kill him.

  “What if they accomplish what they intend?”

  “Don’t worry. I’ve made sure you’ll be taken care of.”

  He’d shocked her.

  “What do you mean you’ve made sure I’ll be taken care of?”

  “I’ve set up an account in your name. You’ll have more money than you’ll ever be able to spend. And I’ve purchased a home in London and put it in your name, as well as one of the Devlin estates that isn’t entailed. I’ve also employed a team of stewards who will take care of your finances and see that you are protected.”

  She was aghast. His actions in her behalf were magnanimous to the point of overwhelming her. But his final words robbed her of her breath.

  “You’ve hired men to protect me?”

  “And to take care of your finances,” he emphasized. “If something happens to me, I don’t want you to have to worry about how you’re going to survive, and I don’t want you to be afraid of your stepmother ever again. You’re four and twenty. You’ll be wealthier than she will ever be. She won’t be able to touch you.”

  “Do you think that’s why I’m cautious around my stepmother? Do you think I’m afraid of her because of the danger to me personally?”

  Jack turned his head and answered her serious look with a serious look of his own.

  “No. I don’t think you’re trying to protect yourself. I think if it were only you, you would have escaped this nightmare long ago. Bravery is something with which you are well supplied. I think you’re protecting someone else and it’s time I knew why you put yourself in danger rather than escape.”

  Jack turned away before he could see the panic he knew would be in her eyes, and led the carriage along the path that wound through a small copse of trees. There wouldn’t be much time before they emerged on the other side, so he made sure to go far enough into the thickest part before bringing the horse to a halt. When they were stopped he held his gaze straight ahead.

  It only took a second for her to follow his lead. She gasped when she saw what he was looking at.

  “What...”

  Benton and Maggie were already heading toward them.

  “Hurry, Jenna. We haven’t much time,” he said.

  “Time for what?”

  “Do na dally, mistress,” Maggie said, standing at the foot of the carriage.

  Jack helped Jenna down and Maggie climbed in her place. When she was seated, Benton climbed in beside her.

  “Keep in the shade of the hood, Maggie,” Jack said, “and here’s my hat.” He handed it to Benton. “Give us a half hour.”

  “Right, sir,” Benton answered taking the reins in his hands.

  “And be careful, Benton. There are two men following us. They’re keeping to the right about a half mile back.”

  “Don’t worry, sir. Maggie will help me keep an eye on them. We’ll see you back here in a bit.”

  Jack pulled Jenna safely away from the carriage as Benton flicked the reins and the horse set off.

  He knew Jenna was confused. He knew she didn’t understand what was going on, but he admired the way she’d kept her silence and didn’t waste precious time forcing him to explain.

  He only hoped she continued feeling so cordial when she found out why Benton and Maggie had changed places with them.

  “Come on. We have to hurry.”

  Jack took Jenna’s hand and led her to the horse the two servants had ridden to meet them. He helped her up first and climbed up behind her.

  He put his arms around her and gathered the reins in his hands. He knew if they rode parallel with the long row of trees that followed the stream that ran through Kingston Estate they’d come out a few yards behind their destination. No one would see them as they entered the cottage, and the men Lady Kingston had ordered to follow them would follow Benton and Maggie without realizing they’d switched places. His plan was error-proof. There was no risk involved.

  At least, that’s what he prayed.

  “Where are we going?” she finally asked.

  “I think you know,” Jack answered, ignoring the way her body had stiffened against him. “Trust me, Jenna. The men following us are following Benton and Maggie now. They’re leading them far away from here.”

  “You had no right.”

  “How can I protect you and your father if I don’t know what I’m dealing with.”

  “You don’t have to protect my father. I’m protecting him. I’ve protected him for months and until now my stepmother didn’t have a clue where I’d hidden him.”

  “She still doesn’t.”

  “For how long?”

  “For as long as you want.”

  When they’d ridden as far as they could without stepping into the open, Jack stopped the horse and dismounted.

  “Do you come here often?”

  Jenna shook her head. “I’ve only been once since I brought him. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Even when your stepmother left?”

  “I’m sure she had someone watching me.”

  Jack felt a wave of anger he could barely control. “How can your father allow you to live like that?”

  The scathing look Jack received made him want to take his words back but it was too late. It was even too late to apologize. Before they reached the cottage, a rough wooden door opened and an elderly man stepped out. He had a large stick in his hands, large enough that Jack knew he intended to use it as a weapon if he had to.

  “Ah, Miss Kingston. ’Tis you. Maude and I weren’t expecting you. But I’m glad you’re here, I am.”

  “Is Papa all right,” she asked, speeding her steps as she walked to the house.

  “He’s fine. Just restless today. And talking Maudie and my ears off.”

  Jack followed her to the cottage and came to a halt when she stopped in front of him. “Please, be kind to him. He gets upset easily.”

  Jack wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her. What was wrong with her that she could endure the abuse she did at her stepmother’s hands while her father remained hidden away in the country safe and sound? How did she have the nerve to tell him to be kind to the coward because he gets upset easily? If Jack had his way, Baron Kingston would be more than upset by the time he left.

  Jack took a deep breath as he tried to calm his temper. For Jenna’s sake he would try to be kind. At least for a little while.

  Chisolm opened the door and stepped aside so Jenna could enter. Jack followed her inside, then came to a halt as if he’d been gut-punched.

  He knew the frail man sitting before the hearth was Baron Kingston, but this wasn’t the sight he expected. He expected to meet a bullying coward who’d left his daughter to do his battles for him. He expected to wage war with a proud, domineering patriarch who issued orders from his place of safety. He expected to face an inconsiderate monster who might go as far as to refuse to allow his daughter to marry for fear he might lose his protector.

  Instead, the man wrapped in a warm coverlet was weak and from the looks of him, near death.

  “Papa,” Jenna said as she rushed to the pale old man and kissed him on the cheek. “How are you?”

  “Ah, my Jenny. I’m so glad to see you. D
id you see your mama? She was here just a minute ago.”

  “No, Papa. I didn’t see her.”

  Jenna’s father looked around the room in search of his long-dead wife. “Oh, she must have gone to the garden. But she’ll be back as soon as she realizes you’re here.”

  “I know she will,” Jenna answered, giving her father a gentle hug before she knelt on the floor beside him. “I’ll see her later. It’s you I’m here to see today.”

  “Oh, that’s nice of you. You’re such a sweet daughter. I told your mama when you were born that you looked just like an angel.”

  “What did mama say when you told her that?” Jenna asked, obviously having heard this story many times before.

  “She said she was rather disappointed in the angels, then. She had never thought of them as being red and wrinkled and sounding so off-key when they sang. But I told her you were my angel and she said—”

  Baron Kingston stopped and frowned. “Do you remember what she said, Jenny?”

  “Yes, Papa. She said that she supposed you’d keep me anyway.”

  “Yes.” He smiled. “That’s what she said. I don’t know why I forgot that.”

  “It’s all right, Papa,” Jenna said, wiping away a tear that rolled down her cheek.

  “Papa,” she said, rising to her feet. “I’ve brought someone I’d like you to meet.”

  “Oh, that’s nice, Jenny. Who is it?”

  Jenna stepped to the side and Jack came closer so Jenna’s father could see him.

  “Papa, I’d like you to meet Jackson Rafferty, Earl of Devlin.”

  Jack gave a respectful bow. “Baron Kingston.”

  “Devlin?” Baron Kingston sat straighter in his wooden armchair. “Bertrum? Is that you?”

  “No, Kingston. Bertrum was my father. I’m his son Jackson.”

  “I thought Devlin’s son was Sheridan,” Kingston said with a puzzled look on his face.

  “Sheridan was my brother. I’m my father’s second son.”

  “Oh.”

  Kingston sank against the cushion in his chair as if he had to digest this information but was having difficulty. He suddenly sat up straight as if he’d thought of something important.