by Bree Verity
Lady Diana's Disguise
By Bree Verity
Copyright
Dedication
About Bree Verity
Other Books by Bree Verity
Chapter One.
Chapter Two.
Chapter Three.
Chapter Four.
Chapter Five.
Chapter Six.
Chapter Seven.
Chapter Eight.
Chapter Nine.
Chapter Ten.
Chapter Eleven.
Chapter Twelve.
Chapter Thirteen.
Chapter Fourteen.
Chapter Fifteen.
Chapter Sixteen.
Chapter Seventeen.
Chapter Eighteen.
Chapter Nineteen.
Chapter Twenty.
Chapter Twenty-One.
Chapter Twenty-Two.
Chapter Twenty-Three.
Chapter Twenty-Four.
Chapter Twenty-Five.
Chapter Twenty-Six.
Chapter Twenty-Seven.
Lady Mary's Muddle
Author's Notes
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright (c) 2020 Bardic Books (Briony Vreedenburgh)
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ISBN-13: 978-0-6485824-4-1
Ebook format
Published by: Bardic Books, 3/2 Christopher Street, Pimpama, Queensland, 4209
This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. No part of this book can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the publisher.
Dedication
To my amazing wonderful Grant.
I can't imagine how I thought I would go through life without you beside me.
.
About Bree Verity
Bree grew up on a diet of old movies, tea, crumpets and family values, musicals, dancing and singing. It's no wonder she writes books - it's a wonder she ever thought she might do anything else!
Bree's muses include her incredibly long-suffering partner (who has to put up with her talking through highly unlikely and probably incredibly boring strands of storyline), and two rescue dogs (who are amazed by her talent. No seriously. You can see it in their eyes.)
She is Australian born and bred but prefers the city to the rurals. Shopping and coffee instead of snakes and kangaroos, please.
Bree absolutely adores hearing from her readers, and can be contacted via her website, breeverity.com
Other Books by Bree Verity
Seven Wishes series:
Miss Fenella's Fault
Miss Cheswick's Charm
Lady Diana's Disguise
Revolution and Regency series:
The Hidden Duchess
The Misguided Mademoiselle
The Ruined Lady
The Scandalous Widow
Perth Girls series
Sax in the Park
For Business and Pleasure
Troubled by the Texan
Under the Spotlight
Bouquet of Love - an Anthology by Serenity Press
The Pankstone Chronicles - Four Short Regency Stories.
Chapter One.
A dark fae's anger is truly a sight to see.
Fenella's lip curled and the angry ruby chips in the depths of her indigo eyes sprang to life, as did the spiral of dark smoke around her ankles. Her dragonfly-like wings, usually flapping lazily behind her, agitated the air around them, throwing out cold vibrations and darkening the atmosphere in the formerly bright white room.
She drew back her arm and with as much force as she could muster, slapped the tall, dark he-fae before her across the face.
A moment of stillness crossed the room. In the side of her vision, Fenella noticed Lachlan's white-blue internal light wink on. He was on alert.
Despite the blooming handprint on his cheek, the lightly mocking smile on the dark fae's face did not budge, neither did his slouching stance. However, long experience told Fenella that underneath he was seething, and she allowed a glitter of triumph to cross her features. It didn't last long.
"That's no way to greet your brother now, is it?"
"Brother?" Lachlan was astonished, and Fenella inwardly groaned.
The relationship between Lachlan and Fenella was complicated enough. As her fairy godmother mentor, Lachlan should not even be on Fenella's radar. And Fenella had never been interested in light fae before, preferring the familiar mischievousness of dark fae to the cloying positiveness and brightness of the light. But there was something about Lachlan - something interesting beneath his shining blonde-haired, blue-eyed persona that Fenella felt compelled to explore further.
Still, that did not mean she wanted to tell him about her past.
"He's no brother of mine." Her Irish-like lilt could not disguise the bitterness in her tone. "Not anymore." Her hard gaze remained fixed on her brother's face, her body taut, waiting for Phineas to make a move, ready to counter.
But with a feint and a twist he easily sidestepped Fenella, and approached Lachlan, hand extended. "Phineas O'Flaherty," he said cordially. Over his shoulder, he said, "You never could anticipate my moves."
Bemused, Lachlan took his hand and shook it.
"What do you want, Phineas?" Fenella's voice was steely. Phineas shrugged and dropped Lachlan's hand, turning back to face Fenella.
"Just a simple conversation with my long-lost sister."
"Why?"
He walked back to her; arms wide. "Call it the spirit of reconciliation."
"The spirit of...?"
At this, Fenella's temper snapped. Her hair stood away from her head, and her nails lengthened into sharp talons. The black smoke surrounded her, lit by a thousand tiny red forks of lightning within it. And she started to rise from the floor. Her voice deepened and boomed. "Reconciliation? After you betrayed and abandoned me?"
Suddenly, she was conscious of a sensation she had not felt for many years. It was as if a copy of herself was being dragged forward, through her chest. As if with enough force, it would exit her body with a pop, and stand before her. With a gasp, she instantly returned to her normal state.
"Stop it," she ordered. "Leave my soul alone, Phineas."
"Your soul?" Lachlan asked. "So, he's blackdark too?"
Phineas grinned. "Ah, so you've made your arts known, have you?"
"Of course not." Fenella stared at her brother. "Did you know those arts are outlawed?"
"Yes, I know," he replied with a shrug, and Fenella's anger began to rise again.
But Phineas was unimpressed. "Oh, put your talons away," he said. "You don't scare me."
Fenella's jaw tightened. She was aware of the bluish-white light moving a little closer to her. It felt good to know Lachlan had her back.
She took a deep breath. "What do you want, Phineas?" she repeated.
"I want you to come with me. Away from here."
Fenella was surprised into a laugh. "What?"
"There is so much more to you than this, little sister. Together we can..."
"No thank you." She linked her arm with Lachlan's, feeling the cold, steely strength of his blue-white light. "I have a new life now, a better one. And I'm not going to let you destroy it again."
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"Oh, come on," wheedled Phineas. "We had some laughs."
"Yes, it was all fun and games. Right up until the time you betrayed me," Fenella replied, the sarcasm thick in her tone. "Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out, alright?" She was vaguely aware that her arm linked with Lachlan's was trembling. With fear or anger? She didn't know.
"I can show you so many things." Phineas' blue eyes shone. "Our power - it is something magnificent, Fenella."
"It is also something illegal and I for one, have no desire to be locked away for the rest of my days."
"They could never lock us up," Phineas replied confidently. "We are too strong."
Fenella's brow creased for a moment. "We?" she said.
"Yes." For a moment, Phineas was uncertain. "You and I, of course. Who else?"
Lachlan unlinked his arm from Fenella's and stood directly in front of Phineas, his light radiating from all around him.
"Fenella has said she does not want to go with you," he said firmly. "I think it is time for you to go."
Phineas looked at him, and Fenella saw a sneering pity cross his face. Without changing his tone, he said to Lachlan, "I could take your soul and fill it so full of holes you'd whistle a tune when you walked."
"Phineas. Leave. Now." Fenella could hear the cold fury in her tone, could feel her anger response prickling her, wanting to be released. The smoke around her ankles started to form again.
"Alright, I'm going." Phineas sauntered toward the doorway. "But I'll be back, little sister." With a final contemptuous glance at Lachlan, Phineas strolled out of the room, hands in pockets, whistling.
It wasn't until the sound had completely disappeared that either of them moved, and the first thing that happened was Lachlan's light winking out.
"Are you alright?" asked Fenella.
Lachlan exhaled shakily. "Up until this moment I thought you were the most terrifying person I knew," he said. "But I was wrong."
"He's no more terrible than me. We just express it in different ways."
Lachlan gave a twisted grin. "Even from within my light, I could feel his power radiating." He came up to Fenella and took her by the shoulders. "Are you alright?"
All the bravado and emotion instantly drained out of her. "I don't know," she whispered, as Lachlan caught her up in a comforting hug. "I mean, what did he mean he wanted me to go with him? He can't have thought that I would just abandon everything and go."
She felt Lachlan shrug. "I don't know. But I do know that the next time he comes around, he better be ready to face the entire fairy godmother academy."
"Oh, no, please don't," Fenella said, pulling away from Lachlan. "Don't make a big fuss, please."
"But he threatened you," Lachlan argued. "And he's blackdark."
"Seriously, Lachlan, don't do anything."
He frowned. "I don't understand."
"He's my twin."
Lachlan's expression cleared and his mouth fell open for a moment. Fae twins were a rarity.
"So, if we tell them he is blackdark, they will know that you are as well."
Fenella nodded.
Lachlan rubbed his eyes with both hands and groaned deep in his throat. "So, what do we do?"
"Leave it to me," Fenella said. "That's all you can do."
"I don't like it."
"Trust me." She put a hand on his cheek and stared into his eyes. He put his arms around her again and dropped his chin to her shoulder. She felt surprisingly safe and warm in his embrace.
"I can't let him take you away, Fenella."
"I know. I won't be going anywhere with him."
"Promise me."
"I promise. And if he tries anything, I know how to pull him back into line."
"That's all I need," Lachlan replied in a tone of sarcasm. "My apprentice fairy godmother using her forbidden dark arts to stop her evil twin brother from... just what is he likely to do?"
Fenella shrugged. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I haven't seen him for years."
"And that," replied Lachlan, untangling himself from Fenella's embrace, "is a story I wish to hear more of, only later."
"Later?"
"Yes. Right now, we have a happily ever after to contrive."
Fenella groaned. "But we only just finished the last one."
"No rest for the wicked, I'm afraid."
Despite her remonstration, Fenella's blue-black eyes gleamed in anticipation. "Who is it?"
Lachlan grinned. "Well, her story goes like this. Once upon a time..."
Chapter Two.
Lady Diana Dartmore's stomach felt as if it dropped into her fine, white, kid slippers.
She scrunched up her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, but with a quailing heart she saw that her old playmate, Simon Moore, still stood across the parquet floor of the entrance.
He had not noticed her, being engrossed in conversation with their host, Lord Edenburgh, giving her a moment to look him over.
It had been long years since she had seen him last, and time had improved him. Instead of youthful lankiness, he had filled out across his shoulders and chest and had grown into his face which had always sported high cheekbones, but now was balanced with a firm, square jaw. His black hair was brushed off his face and he wore a well-maintained mustache and beard.
His clothing was fine but not ostentatious. Diana knew that he had studied to be a physician and, when she looked at him, she could picture him taking patients in a fine office in Harley Street.
She felt proud of what he had become, and then smiled to herself at her foolishness. She had no hand whatsoever in Doctor Moore's successes. All she had managed to do was push him away when they were just seventeen, so any improvement he had made was completely upon himself.
Ignoring some of the less pleasant of her memories and taking a few deep breaths, she felt as if she could approach him with something like equanimity, when another guest caught her eye, and she had to check herself to keep from sprinting back to her chambers and hiding under the bedclothes until the house party was over.
Captain Littleton was one of her staunchest suitors in town, squiring her to all the best parties and paying her assiduous, and sometimes embarrassingly loud, attention. He had the look of a distinguished military gentleman about him, wearing long sideburns and a fine moustache. He had given up the uniform when he had sold his commission and dressed fashionably, aping the less pretentious styles of the famous Beau Brummel.
While Diana certainly did not dislike being preened and petted, Captain Littleton could sometimes be cloying and limpet-like. Lately it had been proving difficult to shrug him off and Diana had hoped her winter interlude at the Edenburgh's house party might provide her with some respite.
But it seemed that was not to be, for he was standing right there.
And to top it all off, there was Mr. Carling too. Her other suitor.
As opposite to Captain Stirling as could be, Mr. Carling was short and slim, with light colored hair and large expressive eyes surrounded by long dark lashes that almost made Diana jealous. She liked him for his ready laugh and his ability to discourse, but right now, when all she wanted was to be left alone, she wished him at the very devil.
She was just contemplating the unfairness of life when Lady Edenburgh touched her elbow. "Do you see, Diana? I invited Captain Littleton and Mr. Carling just for you."
Lady Edenburgh seemed so pleased with her arrangements, Diana couldn't disappoint her. She turned to the older woman and brought up a smile. "Thank you, godmother," she said.
But her smiled must have looked wan and her thanks less than ebullient, for Lady Edenburgh immediately looked contrite. "Oh, dear, have I made a mistake?"
"No, of course not," Diana said, placing her hand on Lady Edenburgh's arm. "It is only that I thought to have a lovely, quiet Christmas party before I had to..."
"Had to what?"
Diana hesitated, then shook her head. "It is nothing," she said. As a means of changing the subject, she in
dicated Simon with a nod of her head in his direction. "I notice that you have invited Simon Moore as well?"
"Yes," replied Lady Edenburgh, surprised. "Are you acquainted?" Then she clicked her fingers. "Of course you are. Your family's estates butt up against each other."
"We are old playmates," Diana admitted. "However, I doubt he should even still recognize me."
Lady Edenburgh snorted. "Yours is hardly a face that a young man forgets."
"Unless he wants to forget it," Diana said under her breath.
"What was that, dear?"
"Nothing, godmother."
Lady Edenburgh propelled Diana to where Simon and her own husband, Lord Edenburgh, were conversing. "Quincey, look who is here. And Doctor Moore. Lady Diana tells me that you are quite thoroughly acquainted."
Quincey, the rotund Lord Edenburgh, smiled gently at Diana and took her hand. "A pleasure to see you again, my dear."
"Thank you for the invitation," she said, but Lord Edenburgh shook his head. "Oh, that was all Felicity's doing. All I do is turn up when she tells me to!"
They all laughed politely, and Lord Edenburgh said, "So, you are already acquainted with our eminent Doctor Moore?"
Diana gulped before she looked up into Simon's eyes, wondering what she might see there.
Memories of a young Simon pushing his black hair out of his gold-flecked hazel eyes were reignited. Diana was pleased to see that, while his hair was now smoothed back and sported a few fine greys, his eyes remained the same.
But they were serious and cool. "Yes, I remember Lady Diana, very well indeed. How do you do, my lady?"
He took her hand in a limp shake and brushed his lips across it as briefly as he could.
Diana responded politely. "I am quite well, Doctor. You seem to have excelled in your profession."
A smile tweaked at the corner of his lips. "Hardly," he said. "I am the charity case Lord and Lady Edenburgh have chosen to take on this year."
"Charity indeed," scoffed Lady Edenburgh with a wave of her arm. "The work you are doing amongst the poor is invaluable. And your skills, immeasurable."
