Deceiving the Duke of Kerrington

by Ginny Hartman

  ***

  Elliot was still fuming when he reached Pierce’s townhouse, the encounter with Noelle had caused his blood to boil and it still hadn’t cooled to its normal temperature. He lifted his arm to knock just as the heavy wood door was flung open revealing a startled Pierce.

  “To what do I owe this surprise visit?”

  Elliot grabbed Pierce by the shoulder and forced him back into the entryway and continued dragging him to the parlor before he finally released his arm.

  “What’s this all about man? I haven’t seen you this incensed since Felicity disappeared.”

  Pierce knew that something was truly bothering his friend when he ignored his comment about his lost love completely and instead began spewing off at him, “There’s no way in good conscience I can allow you to marry that shrew.”

  “Allow me? Since when do I seek your permission for anything I do?”

  “Never but it’s about bloody time that you start. You’re life would’ve been hell had you married Eliza and you’re about to make a similar mistake by marrying that selfish wretch. I beg you, cry off while you can.”

  Pierce was standing uncomfortably close now, towering several inches over his friend, his black eyes flashing dangerously, “Don’t you ever speak of Noelle that way again. You do not even know her and besides, I couldn’t cry off now and you bloody well know it, it would ruin both of us. I couldn’t care less about my so called reputation but I would never do that to her. Not to mention the fact that I love her.”

  “And for that you are a fool.”

  “I think, Elliot, that you are jealous. Ever since Felicity disappeared you haven’t taken anything seriously, including relationships. I think it pains you to see me settling down and truly happy while you are still pining away for something that can never be.”

  “Stop trying to turn the tables. I’m just worried that you’ll get your heart broken again.”

  “I thought I didn’t have a heart.” Pierce said wryly.

  A small smile flicked on Elliot’s face before he said, “I’m not entirely sure that you do. But back to Noelle, you haven’t known her for very long—how can you claim that you love her? I mean she’s quite the enigma; one minute she’s making doe eyes at you and the next minute she can’t even tolerate your presence. It’s like she’s a completely different person here in London than she was at Ridgecrest Manor.”

  Pierce plopped gracelessly into a wing backed chair and huffed as he propped one booted foot on his knee. His eyes took on a faraway look as he rubbed his chin. “I do appreciate your concern and I see what you mean. I’m not convinced her sudden moodiness means she doesn’t love me anymore, but I would like to know what is going on.” After a minute his eyes came into focus and he looked sharply at Elliot, “Wait, what do you mean she’s different here in London, have you seen her?”

  Elliot abruptly turned and walked over to stare out the window to bide his time and avoid looking into Pierce’s eyes, “I just assumed she was acting differently by the way you’ve been acting.”

  “You’ve seen me one night and suddenly you’re an expert on my moods and demeanor?”

  “I’ve known you long enough to read you fairly accurately and I haven’t seen you so despondent over a girl since Eliza. Since when did you start letting women affect you so? It’s completely out of character for you.”

  Pushing to his feet, Pierce rose, “I’m not about to sit here and debate my character flaws with you. My relationship with Noelle is none of your concern. Now if you don’t mind, I have somewhere to be.”

  Elliot twirled to look at him, “Please tell me you’re not going to see Noelle.”

  That’s exactly where I’m going.”

  “Something tells me she won’t appreciate a visit from you,” he warned.

  Pierce called out over his shoulder as he walked to the door, “Stay out of it Elliot.”

  The minute Pierce slammed the door behind him and stood out in the smoggy London air he let his frustration slowly drain from his body. Staying away from Noelle was killing him and it was time he remedied the problem. He instructed his driver to take him to her house then waited impatiently for her butler to answer the door. When he was let into the drawing room he spotted the pink roses he had sent sitting on an end table and smiled to himself. He went and stood before the only window in the room facing the street and watched in silence as the carriages and phaetons drove by.

  After what felt like an abnormally long time he turned his head to glance at the clock sitting on the mantle and out of the corner of his eye saw movement. He turned to greet Noelle, this time reluctantly keeping his distance. He waited as she walked slowly into the room as if every step was a painful drudgery. When she finally stood a few feet before him she stopped and looked up into his face with the same disinterest he had witnessed on their last encounter. His heart sunk and he felt instantly hollow inside.

  Pierce eyed her wearily, not sure what exactly was different about her, but knowing that something was. When she finally spoke, he regretted his decision to come.

  “Well are you going to stare at me all day or are you here for a reason? I have better things to do with my time than to be ogled by you.”

  By some miracle Pierce hid his frustration at her words, “I know you must be extremely busy planning our wedding, but I came here hoping you’d indulge me. I have a surprise for you.” He keenly tried to ignore the painful stab he felt in the region of his heart at her boorish reception and instead tried desperately to recover even a spark of the former Noelle.

  Noelle contemplated him for one long minute before slumping her shoulders in defeat and accepting the fact that she would have to indulge him. She couldn’t avoid the duke forever, for if she could, she’d certainly find a way to do so. “Very well, but this better be good.”

  They silently walked to his carriage where he assisted her inside, eager for any opportunity to touch her, not matter how brief, though he noted with some disquiet that when he touched her he didn’t feel the usual sparks. They rode in silence the entire way back to Grosvenor Square; she looking out her window and him watching her, trying to decipher what had happened to cause such a change in so short a period. The entire drive he couldn’t help hoping fruitlessly that she would turn her graceful neck and look him in the eyes and that they would share that familiar current of electricity that always seemed to be charging between them, even from their very first encounter, but much to his regret she never looked his way.

  When his driver let them off in front of his townhouse he quickly alighted and turned to help assist Noelle down. Neither of them spoke as they silently walked into the house. Pierce led her to the drawing room where he had instructed to have her writing desk delivered. He was so anxious to give it to her that he knew he wouldn’t be able to wait until they were back at Ridgecrest Manor to present her with her gift.

  Nervously he walked her over to the far side of the room where the desk was sitting, a red satin ribbon tied into a bow on top of it. He turned expectant eyes on her and said, “This is for you,” and waited for her reaction.

  Noelle eyed the desk skeptically, not completely sure why she should be so flattered to be given a piece of furniture, one that she could hardly envision herself using. She ran her fingers over the finely polished mahogany before looking up at Pierce, “Uh, thanks. It will be lovely to sit here and answer all the invitations we will surely get to balls and routs and the like.”

  Pierce stared at her, his mouth open in an unbecoming fashion. Surely she was jesting. “Ever since you mentioned your writing I’ve wanted to get you a desk, something nice. We can have it placed anywhere in Ridgecrest Manor you’d like. I was thinking it could go in the room we will share overlooking the gardens that way you can have a lovely view as you write.”

  It was Noelle’s turn to stare at him quizzically, “You mean to tell me that you expect us to get a considerable amount of invitations, enough to warrant an entire desk devoted to the caus
e?”

  Pierce slowly inched closer to her, his eyes narrowed doubtfully. The only choice Noelle had was to inch her way back from him at the same pace he pursued her. He was silently glaring at her and she wished he would say something, anything to break the awkward silence. Before she had realized it, she was backed up completely into a wall, her shoulders hitting the papered walls with a dull thud. Her eyes widened as she realized that she had run out of room to retreat but that he was still inching closer, stalking her then pinning her against the wall. As he got within a foot of her she reached out her arms to stop him, placing both palms against his chest.

  Pierce watched as Noelle’s eyes darted back and forth, anxious to look anywhere but at him. He reached up and almost painfully clutched her wrists pulling them down and pinning them to her side. “Who are you, and what have you done with my Noelle?” he growled dangerously, fully convinced that the woman standing in front of him could not be the same woman he had fallen in love with. He wasn’t sure how that was possible, he just knew.

  Noelle bit her bottom lip and shook her head back and forth, “I—I am Noelle, I promise.”

  Before she knew what he was about, Pierce had dropped to his knees in front of her and began rustling with the hem of her dress. She gasped in shock, “Beg your pardon, but what do you think you are doing?”

  “Finding out if you’re lying to me, now hold still and we can do this the easy way or put up a fight and we’ll do it the hard way.”

  “You wouldn’t dare harm me, I will make sure my father hears of this and—” before she could finish threatening him she felt her satin slipper come off with a small tug as his head dipped down to inspect her foot.

  After a brief inspection he glanced up at her, “Take off your stocking.”

  “This is the inside of enough! I demand you stop this nonsense right now and escort me back home immediately. I will not tolerate this forward and rather odious behavior any longer,” she shrieked.

  “Take it off now or I’ll do it for you,” he snarled threateningly.

  Noelle heard the precarious tone of his voice and knew he would make good on his threat if she didn’t comply. Her hands held her skirt stiffly as she snapped, “At least have the decency to look away.” Pierce complied and as she quickly went about removing her stocking as modestly as she could she barked, “I insist you tell me what this is all about and make it quick before I scream so loud your butler comes running.”

  “That would not be advisable,” he warned without bothering to explain himself further. The minute she had removed the stocking from her foot he reached down to inspect it more fully. The minute he was done with his inspection he let her foot go and returned to standing. Noelle was just about to demand an explanation when she felt his strong hands grasp her shoulders and shove her back into the wall. She could’ve sworn that she saw flames leaping in his obsidian eyes, eyes that had somehow managed to grow darker with barely controlled anger.

  Pierce felt out of control as he leaned in so that his face was at eye level with hers, “Who are you and what have you done with Noelle?”

  “I told you that I am Noelle…I’m not sure what this is all about.”

  “Oh aren’t you? I have a feeling you’re hiding something and I want to know what.”

  Noelle swallowed hard, unsure of how to respond. She knew at that precise moment that he knew she wasn’t the girl he had spent time with the last couple of weeks, but a battle warred inside of her on what she should tell him. She was terrified to admit her plotting and scheming that had led her to this moment. She was terrified to admit to the truth for fear of the ramifications.

  He watched her closely, noting the indecision flitting across her face. She was hiding something and he wanted answers. “I’m warning you, tell me what you know now or you’ll regret the day you were born.”

  The only words that she managed to squeak through her dry lips were, “How did you know?”

  “Oh, besides your sudden change in personality and behavior?” She managed a small nod and he continued, “The proof I needed was on your foot.”

  “My foot?” She asked quizzically.

  “Yes your foot. The real Noelle has an elongated heart shaped birthmark on the arch of her foot that matches the birthmark her father, the earl, has on his forearm.”

  Noelle remembered her father’s birthmark well, though she hadn’t had many occasions to see it over the years since fashion dictated that his arms were usually covered in long sleeves. She remembered walking into his study when she was a little girl and watching him sitting at his massive desk, his shirt sleeves rolled up revealing his arms as he wrote. She would wait until he noticed her and invited her to come sit in his lap before crawling up and making herself comfortable while he explained his correspondence to her. She had often commented on the heart shaped birthmark that branded his arm, asking why she hadn’t been given her very own heart. He would just laugh and tell her that she was lucky that she didn’t have such imperfections marring her beautiful porcelain skin before telling her that God had given her a fine heart all her own but he had kept it hidden in her chest where it could be protected from the world.

  She hadn’t ever known that Hope had a similar birthmark on her foot, but then again, she had never had occasion to inspect the bottom of her foot and briefly wondered when the duke would’ve had such an occasion to do so. She wasn’t sure what it was all about or if it was all just some bizarre coincidence that Hope had a birthmark that apparently matched her father’s, but what she did know was that somehow that mark, or lack thereof, had given her away. Pierce knew she wasn’t the same girl he had been keeping company with the past few weeks and he was furious for her deception.

  Pierce softly pushed her once more against the wall, his grip tightening tentatively on her slim shoulders, “Please, I need the truth.”

  “Maybe it’s best if we both sit down.”