“Come, Jasper,” Angelica said.
The macaw followed them out of the dining room. When they reached the second floor, Robert said, “Come, Jasper.”
Angelica watched in amazement as the macaw followed the marquess down the corridor to the study. The bird had never obeyed any stranger before. Turning away, Angelica hurried upstairs to fetch her gambling paraphernalia.
Walking into the duke’s study a few minutes later, Angelica saw Robert sitting in his father’s chair. Beside him on the desk perched Jasper.
Angelica left the door open to discourage any advance he might be plotting. Robert had pulled another chair close to the front of the desk.
“Sit down,” Robert said, gesturing to the chair.
Whoever sat in the duke’s chair had control, Angelica decided. “I want to sit behind the desk,” she said.
“I’m already sitting here,” Robert replied.
“I liked you better when you were Robert Roy,” Angelica told him.
Robert grinned. “I liked you better before you became a countess.”
Angelica gave him a grudging smile. She looked around and then suggested, “Why don’t we call a truce and sit in front of the hearth?”
“An excellent idea.”
Robert pulled a table close to the settee and gestured to her. Angelica sat down and then realized he was going to sit beside her. The chair in front of the desk would have been safer.
“Who is she?” Angelica asked, looking at the portrait hanging over the mantel.
“My mother.”
“She was very beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
Angelica gave him a sidelong glance and said, “Too bad you resemble your father.”
“Are you implying that my father is less than handsome?” Robert asked in an affronted tone of voice.
“No, I didn’t mean—”
Robert laughed. “I know what you meant.”
“Who are all these men?” Angelica asked, gesturing to the portraits covering the walls above the bookshelves.
“Every Campbell laird since the beginning of time hangs in this chamber,” Robert told her.
“A rogue’s gallery?”
He nodded. “An intimidating sight for a young boy.”
“I cannot imagine you being an intimidated young boy,” she said.
Robert shrugged. “We’ll start with unloaded dice,” he said, producing his own and passing them to her.
“Shall I throw first?” Angelica asked, inspecting them out of habit.
When he inclined his head, Angelica shifted the dice back and forth in her hands, as if getting the feel of them. “Seven is my main,” she said, and threw the dice. A two and a two showed up, her chance to continue.
Again, Angelica tossed the dice. This time a six and a six showed up.
“Winning is more difficult when you don’t cheat,” Robert said, scooping the dice off the table.
“What’s your main?” she asked.
“Seven.”
Robert shook the dice in his hands and tossed them on the table. A six and a one appeared face up.
Again, Robert tossed the dice. They landed on four and three.
“My luck seems to be changing,” Robert remarked. “How about a kiss if I win again?”
“Winning is its own reward,” Angelica said primly.
“A kiss would be a wonderful incentive.”
“Oh, very well.”
Robert tossed the dice. A five and a two appeared.
Angelica grabbed the dice off the table and inspected them. “These dice are loaded,” she said in surprise. “How did you make the switch?”
Robert smiled. “I listened carefully during my last lesson.”
“I had a feeling you were going to do this,” Angelica lied, too proud to admit she’d been bested at her own game. “Cheating successfully in a situation like this is easy. It becomes a bit more difficult when your opponents are alert and bound to call you out if they catch you.”
Robert leaned close. “Are you angry because I beat you?”
“You did not beat me,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze.
“I never would have taken you for a poor loser.”
“I am not a—”
Unexpectedly, Robert drew her into his embrace. Mesmerized by his intense gaze, Angelica was caught by the gleam of desire in his dark eyes. Robert’s face hovered above hers for the briefest moment and then descended as one of his hands held the back of her head. Their lips touched in a kiss.
When she relaxed in his arms, his lips on hers became demanding, stealing her breath away. His tongue persuaded her lips to part and then explored the sweetness of her mouth.
The intoxicating feel of his mouth on hers made Angelica melt. She reveled in these exciting feelings and returned his kiss in kind.
“Hello,” Jasper shrieked, startling them.
Robert and Angelica turned toward the open door. Looking none too happy, Venetia walked across the study toward them.
“There you are, my lady,” Venetia said.
With a high blush staining her cheeks, Angelica rose from the settee and faced the other woman.
Robert stood when she did.
Venetia looked from one to the other and then said, “The dressmaker has arrived.”
“I’ll take my leave,” Robert said to Angelica. “I’ll see you this afternoon for tea.” And then he left the study.
Silently cursing him for leaving her to face Venetia, Angelica started to leave the study. Venetia put her arm out in a gesture for her to stop.
“I met a friend of yours last night,” Venetia said.
Angelica stared at her blankly.
“Prince Rudolf was at the ball.”
Knowing she was caught in a lie, Angelica did the only thing she could do. She stared at the other woman and tried to outface her.
“Prince Rudolf is in England?” Angelica asked, forcing herself to smile.
Venetia nodded but watched her closely. “He can hardly wait to see you again.”
Her statement surprised Angelica. “There is no point in my seeing him. I would only break his heart again.”
“You should have married the prince,” Venetia told her. “There is nothing in England for you.”
Angelica stared at her in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“Robert already has a mistress,” Venetia informed her. “His father and mine desire a union between Robert and me.”
Angelica felt as if she’d been kicked in the stomach but managed to keep her face expressionless. Robert had a mistress and planned on marrying Venetia?
“I wish you well, Lady Venetia,” Angelica said, summoning all the dignity she could muster. “Come, Jasper.” At that, she quit the study.
Chapter 8
“I have Angelica exactly where I want her.”
Sitting in his own study two houses down from his father’s, Robert looked across the desk at his friends, James Armstrong and Adam St. Aubyn. He watched them exchange smiling glances.
“What do you find amusing?” Robert asked.
“I thought you wanted the lady in your bed,” James answered.
“You said you wanted to make her your mistress,” Adam added.
“I did until my father intervened,” Robert replied, and sipped his whiskey. “Now she’s living beneath the umbrella of his protection.”
“Are you certain Angelica Douglas doesn’t have you where she wants?” James asked.
That remark didn’t sit well with Robert. No woman had ever engineered him into anything he didn’t want, and he had no intention of allowing Angelica Douglas to achieve what no one else had.
“What I meant was, Angelica and I have called a truce and are concentrating on her revenge again,” Robert amended himself.
“Do you love her?” Adam asked baldly.
“I want her,” Robert answered.
“You’ve already had her once,” James said. “Why don’t you move on t
o the next lucky woman?”
“If I did that,” Robert answered, “my father would marry her off to someone else.”
“And the problem with that is . . . ?” Adam asked.
“Angelica Douglas is an Original,” Robert told them. “No man of my acquaintance is worthy of her.”
“Except you?”
Robert smiled, as if the other man had asked a stupid question. “I am more than worthy of her.”
“How does the lady feel about you?” Adam asked.
“Angelica adores me,” Robert answered. “She melted in my arms this morning. That is, until Venetia walked into the study.”
At that, his friends burst into laughter. “I wish I had been there,” James said to Adam.
“Seeing the object of her desire embracing another woman must have made Venetia decidedly unhappy,” Adam replied.
“She will survive,” Robert told them. “I refuse to sacrifice myself so that she can become a duchess.”
“What did Venetia do when she found you and Angelica together?” James asked.
“She announced that the dressmaker had arrived,” Robert said with a shrug. “I left at that point.”
“You abandoned Angelica to the wrath of Venetia?” Adam asked. “I’d give a fortune to have witnessed that confrontation.”
“Venetia is only my former sister-in-law,” Robert replied, unconcerned. “What could she possibly say? Besides, Angelica Douglas can take care of herself.”
“What have your investigators discovered about the man who shot at you?” James asked, changing the subject
“Nothing, but I’m positive the man was after Angelica’s winnings,” Robert replied, refilling their glasses with whiskey.
“The culprit was shooting at you, not her,” Adam disagreed.
Robert ripped his whiskey and said, “No one hates me enough to hire an assassin.”
“What about Alexander Emerson?” James countered.
Robert shook his head. “Alexander doesn’t have the stomach for murder.”
“He doesn’t need stomach if he hires an assassin,” Adam replied.
“Alexander Emerson is too honest to hire anyone to do his dirty work,” Robert told them.
“Too bad he doesn’t speak that highly of you,” Adam said.
“You sound as if you like him,” James remarked.
“Alexander is undercutting my prices,” Robert said. “He could be behind the piracy of The Tempest.”
“What does your father say about the attempt on your life?” Adam asked.
Robert rose from his chair and walked to the window overlooking the rear garden. Though not furnished as grandly as his father’s, the house was his own domain. Once he’d married, Robert had felt that he and his wife needed their privacy. Besides, he took enough orders from his father without living with the man. When his father passed on, he would consider moving into the ducal mansion.
Gazing out the window at the garden and courtyard below, Robert felt a sudden surge of remorse when he looked at the gazebo he’d built for Louisa. It seemed lonely without her. He hadn’t loved her but had wanted to make her happy. When she told him how much she loved the gazebo at his father’s country estate, he’d built a replica of it right here in London.
Strange, he had thought little about Louisa and their unborn child in almost two weeks. Angelica Douglas had replaced his deceased wife in his thoughts. Did that mean he loved her?
Banishing both women from his thoughts, Robert turned to his friends and admitted, “I haven’t mentioned the incident to my father.”
“His Grace could have some good ideas about who it could be,” James said.
“Or how to protect yourself,” Adam added.
“My father would hire an army of bodyguards,” Robert told them. Then he changed the subject, asking, “Do either of you have any suggestions on how to bring Angelica together with her intended victims?”
“Invite them to dinner,” James suggested.
Adam smiled. “Think of it as the last supper before financial ruin.”
“Not one of them would dare to refuse an invitation from the Duke of Inverary,” James said.
“That’s a sterling idea.” Robert glanced at his watch and said, “Let’s walk to my father’s house for tea with the ladies. We can discuss this with my father.”
Adam St. Aubyn rose from his chair. “I can hardly wait to see Angelica Douglas melt at the sight of you,” he said.
“Scoff if you want,” Robert replied, “but you’ll see a woman enthralled when she looks at me.”
“A woman enthralled?” James echoed, and then laughed.
“Watch what I do,” Robert told them jokingly. “You’ll enjoy better luck with the ladies.”
James Armstrong and Adam St Aubyn looked at each other and laughed. “Modesty becomes you,” Adam remarked.
“I can hardly wait to see a master at work,” James said, and headed for the door.
* * *
At the duke’s residence, the enthralled woman sat alone in her chamber and fumed with anger.
Venetia’s announcement had given Angelica a headache, and she’d begged off tea with the others . How dare Robert seduce her and invite her to become his mistress when he already had a mistress and a fianceé, too. Did the man ever rest, or did he spend his days traveling around London, futtering whomever he desired at the moment? She thought she’d been insulted by his asking her to be his mistress, but this was simply unforgiveable.
Angelica suffered the urge to pack her belongings and return to the cottage near Primrose Hill. She didn’t think she could bear seeing Robert with Venetia.
Too bad she needed him for her revenge. Even in death, her father was forcing her to accept responsibility for him.
Angelica felt a pang of guilt. Her father and her mother were dead and needed to be avenged. The fault did not rest with them, but with the men who’d put them into early graves.
When her revenge was complete, she would use her share of the winnings to leave London and her painful memories. Her sisters could marry wealthy men and care for Aunt Roxie.
“Yes?” Angelica called, hearing a knock on the door.
“Yes?” Jasper mimicked her.
“My lady?” The voice belonged to Mr. Tinker. “Lady Roxanne has asked that you attend her in the drawing room on a matter of importance.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tinker.” Angelica checked her appearance in the cheval mirror and smoothed the skirt of her gown. “Stay here,” she told the macaw.
Wondering what was so important, Angelica walked down one flight of stairs. When she entered the drawing room, her heart sank to her stomach, but she managed to keep her face expressionless.
Robert stood there, along with his two friends from the graveyard. He surprised her by crossing the chamber and asking, “How does your head feel?”
“I beg your pardon?” Angelica said, her tone and her gaze frosty.
“Your aunt said you suffered from a headache,” he said.
“Oh, that.” Without answering his question, Angelica brushed past him to join the others. She sat beside her sisters on the settee and smiled at James Armstrong and Adam St. Aubyn.
“My lords, I want to thank you for your assistance the other night,” Angelica said.
“You are welcome, my lady,” James replied.
“We are glad we could be of service to you,” Adam said.
“To what assistance do you refer, darling?” Aunt Roxie asked, clearly confused.
“They helped Robert guard father’s grave,” Angelica told her.
“How generous to help us in our hour of grief,” Aunt Roxie told them. She looked at Robert, adding, “But I thought you said—”
“Robert noticed that being out of season did not stop us,” Samantha interrupted her aunt.
“So he took precautions,” Angelica added.
“What are you speaking about?” Duke Magnus asked.
“We abducted Mr. Lewis from his grave,”
Victoria answered. “Robert buried him again.”
The duke looked shocked. “You robbed a grave?” he echoed in obvious disbelief.
“Believing we were in dire financial straits, my misguided sisters sought the help of Mr. Lewis,” Angelica explained, trying to be delicate. “In life, he always liked us, so they assumed he would wish, in death, to help.”
James and Adam burst out laughing, earning a censorious glare from Angelica. That only made them laugh more.
“The ladies didn’t realize there is no demand for corpses in the summer,” Robert told his father.
Wearing a disapproving expression, Duke Magnus looked at each of the girls in turn. Angelica felt like crawling beneath the settee. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at the crimson, gold, and blue carpet.
“Roxanne, I hope you did not encourage or condone this behavior,” Duke Magnus said.
“No, darling, I insisted they return Mr. Lewis to his—his new home,” Aunt Roxie replied.
Feeling a presence beside her, Angelica shifted her gaze to the left. Robert perched on the arm of the settee, so close to her, she could have pinched his thigh.
Angelica refused to acknowledge his presence. Instead, she looked at her aunt and asked, “What was the important matter you wished to discuss?”
Duke Magnus answered her question, saying, “Robert suggested that I host a dinner party and invite those men you want to meet.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Angelica said with a grateful smile. Finally, after all these long years, her revenge was about to begin.
“James, Adam, and I can ruin three in one night,” Robert told her. “That would leave only Emerson.”
“You told your friends about my plans?” Angelica asked, rounding on him. Only a dead man would have missed her displeasure.
Robert shrugged. “They want to help you get justice.”
“Absolutely not,” Angelica said, rising from the settee.
Robert seemed surprised. “Why not?” he asked.
“First of all, you had no right to tell anyone what my plans were,” Angelica said, her expression battle-ready, her voice rising with her anger. “Besides that, I want to take care of them one at a time, so I can savor their ruination.”
“Well said, Angelica,” Duke Magnus spoke, drawing her attention. “We have another matter to discuss. Your aunt and I believe Victoria should take no part in this. We’ll give her a come-out ball in another year or two.”
To Tempt An Angel (Book 1 Douglas series) Page 11
